-Abyssian: Voidskipper-
Voidskippers are large, rather ornate creatures that are remarkably distinct compared to other Abyssians. They are all visually identical yet are stunning to look at. Like Lentoakel, Soul Hunters, and some other Abyssians, Voidskippers have mortal forms and can reside in the Mortal Plane, though the Abyss remains their home.
Voidskippers are not notably gregarious nor solitary, but do have rather diverse personalities with a consistent basis of neutrality and curiosity. They can form close relationships with other entities, yet don't mind if they are ignored or excluded. Like most Karitzuians they are quite contentious with those who are hostile to them or something they may want to protect, although they are not bellicose and typically avoid confrontation. They also do not fully understand wild temperaments, but are often willing to be a comfort for someone who is upset. |
Image: Voidskipper concept art.
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Appearance
Voidskippers are built similarly to Tyrox, consisting of a vertical upper body with four legs on the pelvis, each one across from another in an X formation. Voidskippers have two arms which are topped by bladelike growths, and each hand is elongated, with a thumb to the side, one finger, and another offset finger on the other side of the hand, somewhere between a finger and a thumb. The face is small and narrow with the skull stretching out behind it, rounded and tapered like a squid's head. Each foot is like a hoof, lacking any distinct joints or really any organic definition. A single, indigo round eye sits in the middle of the face, which uses refraction and many speckles to provide a spectacular glossy lens that seems to be staring into the cosmos. No other facial features are present.
Voidskippers are covered in a dark blue, subsurface-scattering, chitin-like material that is hard yet light, like quartz. The larger plates are stiffer and more obvious, and have ornate etching all over them; in many places the etching circles back on itself, and these circles glow a bright cyan. Between and under some of the plates are vitreous orbs embedded in the Voidskipper, which are black when empty but glow a bright fiery orange when full; these are the Voidskipper's energy reserves. Between the plates, the underside of the neck, the front of the chest, the face, and most of the joints all have exposed, softer chitin plating that allow freer movement and are a darker, duller blue than the large plates. The Voidskipper additionally has brassy, metal-like growths: one goes from the underside of the head to the back of the neck, one across the collarbone, two from the back of the jaw to the front of the face, eight edging the sides of the legs - two to each leg - and arches decorate the tops of the calves and forearms. There are also metallic braces under each thigh. These seem to consist of true metal and help reinforce the Voidskipper's build further.
Voidskippers are covered in a dark blue, subsurface-scattering, chitin-like material that is hard yet light, like quartz. The larger plates are stiffer and more obvious, and have ornate etching all over them; in many places the etching circles back on itself, and these circles glow a bright cyan. Between and under some of the plates are vitreous orbs embedded in the Voidskipper, which are black when empty but glow a bright fiery orange when full; these are the Voidskipper's energy reserves. Between the plates, the underside of the neck, the front of the chest, the face, and most of the joints all have exposed, softer chitin plating that allow freer movement and are a darker, duller blue than the large plates. The Voidskipper additionally has brassy, metal-like growths: one goes from the underside of the head to the back of the neck, one across the collarbone, two from the back of the jaw to the front of the face, eight edging the sides of the legs - two to each leg - and arches decorate the tops of the calves and forearms. There are also metallic braces under each thigh. These seem to consist of true metal and help reinforce the Voidskipper's build further.
Abilities:
A significant portion of a Voidskipper's mind is called the metacortex, and is the primary drive for using abilities. It's activated when the Voidskipper consumes its energy reserves. Energy is stored in the vitreous orange growths on its body, which dull to black when empty. Energy is replenished by absorbing actual energy; the more benign the energy would be for an ordinary living creature, the less energy the Voidskipper gleans from it, so softer energy like low heat or sunlight energize it less, while harsher sources like lots of kinetic force or dangerous radiation energize it more.
Because a Voidskipper taps into all of its reserves when using an ability, and it only has one metacortex, it cannot use more than one ability at a time.
Because a Voidskipper taps into all of its reserves when using an ability, and it only has one metacortex, it cannot use more than one ability at a time.
- Blink:
This is one of those abilities where the Abyss' lack of logical, natural law is very obvious: Voidskippers can teleport in a method called "blinking". To do so, the Voidskipper focuses on jumping from one reality to an alternate one, and because each layer is slightly offset from the original, and because people can somehow see all adjacent realities before them, to the observer it looks like the Voidskipper simply teleported. Yup. Makes just about as much sense as the Warped pockets in the Abyss itself. Voidskippers have tried to explain it though...
They say that there are many different layers to perceived reality: planes highlight spiritual and mortal places, dimensions are how the world is structured and/or perceived, and parallel universes are alternate versions of the reality we think we're in but with a single change each time. Then there are alternate realities, which are like parallel universe but differ in two ways: one, the "placement" is different; parallel universes are somehow far away from us relative to alternate realities, which sit just beside our reality, stacking by one another, forming adjacent layers; and secondly, Voidskippers stress that alternate realities don't have the butterfly effect, even though it makes sense for any minor change in one reality to create the butterfly effect and therefore become quite different from the reality it "stemmed" from. Voidskippers also describe "bundles of reality", and like using the onion analogy: the reality we perceive is actually many different realities laying before us, because we can make choices that allow us to choose a particular path and each path is us making the choice that created that path. So the reality we see is the onion, and the choices, or alternate realities, are the layers in the onion. So technically, a Voidskipper blinking is just the equivalent of it jumping between onion layers. As if all of that wasn't bewildering enough, have you ever taken out a couple pieces of onion and noticed that one piece had the thinnest film between it and the next piece? Voidskippers describe that tiny bit as equivalent to the void, or "blankspace", between realities. In order to travel to an alternate reality - or any parallel universe - one must pass through this blankspace. This blankspace is literally nothing. Not like outer space nothing, where it still has debris and atoms and the fabric of time. Literally nothing; and this is the greatest feature of the Voidskipper, is that it can pass through the blankspace for a very short period of time in order to hop from one reality to the next! - Stasis Field:
As it's named, the Voidskipper can project its energy-absorbing ability out around it, forming a stasis bubble and leaving the space freezing cold. Because the absorption is "diluted" from having to cover a greater surface area, it only effects surfaces exposed to air, which is the only medium the bubble will affect; any underlying functions - such as heartbeats, internal mechanisms, or even surface blood vessels and nervous systems - will remain unaffected by the stasis field. The cold will penetrate as normal, as a result of the Voidskipper absorbing all energy within the bubble, but due to the dilution effect it cannot lower the temperature below 10F.
The radius of the field can be no greater than the height of the Voidskipper casting it. The Voidskipper cannot move while the shield is raised since it's technically also immobilizing itself, and the shield cannot do anything else with objects caught in it other than immobilize them. Once the field is dropped, all forms of energy will rush back into the space and instantly normalize it, allowing things to move about yet lacking any kinetic, thermal, electrical, etc. energy they had before. - Telekinesis:
Also self-explanatory, a Voidskipper can use its energy reserves to activate its metacortex, allowing it to remotely manipulate its surroundings. This is no different from regular telekinesis except in that the Voidskipper cannot move anything it cannot visually "latch onto", as its ability to manipulate objects remotely is linked to its sight. This includes fast-moving objects: without a clear line of sight or focus on the object, the Voidskipper will struggle to grab it. - Pulse: This is when a Voidskipper completely expels all of its energy stores. Because this would prevent it from Blinking - as it would die instantly upon entering the blankspace - as well as using any other abilities, it is done only as a last resort. The effect severity depends on the amount in the Voidskipper's stores and how the environment is, as the energy is released in many different forms in a haphazard way. The forms are mainly kinetic, thermal, electrical, and light energy; there is radioactivity as well but it is promptly reabsorbed by the Voidskipper. Full stores would excite all of the atoms within its vicinity and could cause chaos or be benign depending on what's in the environment.
- Reception:
This is a passive ability that does not require energy or the metacortex to use, but Voidskippers are very receptive to mental imagery and can skillfully draw what they picture in theirs' or others' minds. So even though they can't read minds, they can pick up on imagery from other entities and send it back to them. This involves being receptive to brain waves or similar energies, so while they can't see spirits they can "read" them, but they can't read something like a machine or an undead creature (provided the undead isn't reanimated with something like a soul). They also cannot cast illusions but can confuse adversaries by bombarding them with mental images. - Other Energy Uses:
The Voidskipper can perform other tasks using its energy, though they are minor. Among them includes forcing combustion on a flammable surface (but it cannot control elements), emitting light or heat on a spot, or pulsing out energy to make the ground shake. It can only transfer energy in this manner by having contact with the surface it is affecting (so it can touch a tree to combust it but it can't do so at a distance); gases don't count unless they are dense enough to be visible. It can also overcharge entities with energy, the effects of which vary on the target (living things may feel static shock or squirm in place, computers may be empowered or be fried, etc.). Radioactivity cannot be created or emitted with any effect other than consumption because the Voidskipper passively feeds on radiation; however, this does mean that a starving Voidskipper can feed itself using its own reserves by emitting radiowaves then reabsorbing them, at least until its reserves run out.
Trivia
- Despite their great weight, Voidskippers almost prance about, moving around with light ease.
- Voidskippers do not need to breathe, drink, relieve themselves, or consume matter, but they do passively feed on radiation. Alpha and Beta rays are sufficient to keep them alive, while Gamma rays stimulate growth, self-regeneration, and empower their abilities, giving them a luminescent glow. Starved Voidskippers lose their luster and become empty husks of themselves, expiring into a statuesque form which can retain all of its details for many years. A Voidskipper with full reserves cannot go without this constant trickle of energy for 25 seconds before becoming sickly, and would be deathly ill in 1 minute.
NOTE: Voidskippers feed on radiation but not all energy. Other forms of energy are stored for abilities. Because radiation is also energy, they can feed and recuperate on it at the same time. - To avoid confusion, potential harm, and economize energy use, Voidskippers only Blink to alternate realities with extremely benign changes, such as one where they have different names or where someone made a different meal choice. They typically choose name changes. Because they are aware of their name changes and the changes to other Voidskippers' names, this isn't confusing for them, though if they converse with other species they allow them to pick names that will be used universally across realities.
- Voidskippers grow only when their reserves are full and they are consuming more radiation. When they rapidly overeat from this they start replicating themselves, gaining twice as many limbs and two heads, joined in the middle by crystalline growths. Once the other half is developed and the Voidskipper has enough energy to do so, it will give its other half its own consciousness and they'll break the crystals to part; although in unusual cases Voidskippers will choose to remain fused together. In this instance they will be unable to replicate again but will have doubled their abilities and reserves, provided they can work together. A single Voidskipper that has fully replicated but has not yet granted consciousness to its other half does not have this ability, as the reserves and therefore the capabilities of the other half aren't active without an active metacortex, which requires consciousness.
Voidskippers won't start replicating if they don't have sufficient excess energy for it. For example, a Voidskipper can have full reserves and still have a pool of radiation to feed on, but even if the pool is actively being added to, if the trickle is too slow, the Voidskipper won't replicate. it will replicate however if it has many of those same sources all in one location or if radiation is being pumped out by the source, like from a nuclear reactor. Celestial objects close to stars and large deposits of uranium or other unstable elements are favored natural replicating locations. - Voidskippers can take inanimate objects with them during a blink, but can't take a living thing as it'll die instantly upon entering the blankspace.
- No Voidskipper can speak, but since glyphs are just pictures, they can project writing into others' minds in order to communicate.
- Like all Abyssians, Voidskippers have a rumored origin related to mortals: they're said to be personified determination, as they will reality-hop endlessly and can absorb tons of energy and damages before needing self-repair. Like the bugs in leaf litter, their primary purpose is to consume radiowaves and "clean up" the universe of radiation that is not actively being emitted by something like a star. They also have a symbiotic relationship with another Abyssian that rushes around collecting information; the Voidskipper uses the information to learn of new places to clean, and the other Abyssian uses the Voidskipper's energy reserves to recuperate. Some Voidskippers will become attached to their symbiotes and will stay close to them.
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