Festucam

Conscious and sentient bacteria. Pl. festuca.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Elementals

• Alignment: Aetherial

• Energy: Vegrandis

• Lifespan: 200 days

• Diet: Detritus

• Habitat: Anywhere

Origins

The festuca formed among the earliest microbes on Shem, gaining consciousness billions of years later.

Description

Festuca have a spirochete form - a helix shape - that has a flagellum. When observed under plain light, they appear to have a green hue.

Procreation

Festuca reproduce by binary fission.

Powers

Festuca are aetherial bacteria. Most form a symbiotic relationship with other aetherial beings, living in animal guts or amongst the detritus of a forest or deep in a wetland. They are everywhere. They are sometimes spread into other bodies if they are in drinking water.

Because they are bacteria, their senses are bacterial - chemical and tactile.

Festuca can influence the growth and actions of other microbes, specifically other bacteria, protists, and archaea.

Infections

If festuca get into the system of non-aetherial beings, they may cause infections:

• Abomination: vellification - a soft fuzz forms over their bodies and they decay alive.

• Adaalts'iisigii: intense fever and chills.

• Aeonian: varies by individual.

• Aerligian: tongue-swelling and vomiting.

• Akka: cramping and fever.

• Ambage: no infection possible.

• Ancestor: no infection possible.

• Ancient: varies by individual.

• Angel: no infection possible.

• Anin: transforms them into iwi atua.

• Asduidah: strong hallucinations.

• Athak: unvoids them.

• Aummeglekh: half of them bleeds out of the eyes, the other half is stronger

• Awon Emi: body aches and forgetfulness.

• The Baleful: intense hemorrhaging that cleanses them of baleblood

• Barhana: transforms them into iwi atua.

• Bocador: inflicts intense empathy into them.

• Brannish: makes their joints ache.

• Bukhana: no infection possible.

• C'hoar: sleeping sickness that causes looping dreams.

• Cephalan: dysentery and earaches.

• Cocidian: blood poisoning.

• Coeligian: they turn into actual rainbows.

• The Contagion: the miasmas are eradicated; the venomirs are cured.

• The Cunning: intense rashes all over their bodies.

• Cyclops: uncontrollable shouting.

• Cytheulig: they begin to see things through the eyes of their animal targets.

• Dantakatha: gastroenteritis.

• Demon: no infection possible.

• Destroyer: no infection possible.

• Divinity: no infection possible

• Diwata: sneezing fits.

• Dongxue: whole-body dandruff and bone pain.

• Doppelganger: they become plants.

• Dragon: varies by draconic accumulation, but usually scale-loss and heartburn.

• Dreorcwenn: they become repulsed by blood.

• Ejderha: no infection possible.

• The Eldritch: no infection possible.

• Elimo: no infection possible.

• Eloko: intense headaches, blindness, and stony skin.

• Emet: amnesia and aphasia.

• Empath: heart palpitations.

• Ender: their muscles burn and their eyes turn green with mold.

• Eximus: swollen lymph nodes and nasal congestion.

• Fairy: they turn into a purple gas for a few days then recover.

• Flussjungfrau: they feel compelled to live underwater until it passes.

• Froemmler: muscular dystrophy.

• Fuliginite: they become worms.

• Gargoyle: no infection possible.

• Geliqurofi: significant weight loss over a short period.

• Gnome: their noses grow ten times their usual size and they start making spreadsheets of incomprehensible data.

• Goblin: intense insomnia.

• Golem: no infection possible.

• Gondal: inability to absorb nutrients until it passes.

• Grile: they feel inexplicably happy and experience intense pica.

• Harpy: feather-loss and intense cravings for water.

• Hollow Child: they explode.

• Homunculus: uncontrollable hiccups.

• Hueyotl: intense nyctophobia.

• Human: hardening of skin (dendrification) and ferality until it passes.

• Iksisstoohkot: mimics the symptoms of menopause.

• Ilaaliye: hyperfocus on seeking out and destroying brown aether.

• Ilitkuaik: blindness and deafness.

• Imyuka: aphasia and partial hearing loss.

• Ispilu: they forget who their twin is until it passes.

• Jamuqa: they grow dimmer.

• Jark’aqaña: they become comatose until it passes.

• Jasad: they feel compelled to bury themselves in the sand to sleep.

• Jingshen: everyone near them gets intense fatigue.

• Jinni: overwhelming depression.

• Kashirum: they simply turn into a giant arthropod.

• Kavangunnu: no infection possible.

• Lemniscate: stomach pain and swollen livers.

• Lilithian: their hair falls out and their eyelids burn.

• Lutipariant: they burn bright green and die.

• Mafi Girma: no infection possible.

• Mammonite: their white sludge boils them alive.

• Managpanunot: mind fog.

• Mangeur: dementia.

• Manifestation: no infection possible.

• Mechanical: no infection possible.

• Menywod: lose their voices.

• Merfolk: scale-loss and chills.

• Mesecina: they shine and flicker for hours.

• Minotaur: encephalopathy.

• Miro: no infection possible.

• Muse: artist’s block.

• Mutumwa: they turn into goop for a while.

• Naat: dissociative identity crisis.

• Naga: paralysis for 24 hours.

• Nanmai: obsessiveness.

• Nitotem: crying sickness.

• Nymph: fever and

• Ogbanje: their lungs collapse.

• Ogre: inability to keep food down.

• Oni: physical weakness.

• Pedigamek: they become trees.

• Pesperian: bloating.

• Psionist: headaches.

• Pusaran: no infection possible.

• Rainbow Woman: they become rainbows.

• Roho: unending self-obsession.

• Serpentine: they become snakes.

• Shapeshifter: they take on animal forms.

• Specularo: they become glass.

• Spirit: no infection possible.

• Succubus: intense self-loathing.

• Taala: no infection possible.

• Tantum: sanity.

• Thaumar: psychosis.

• Transcendent: no infection possible.

• Troll: migraines.

• Umurinzi: agoraphobia.

• Undead: no infection possible.

• Uruvakankal: no infection possible.

• Vaettir: rosacea.

• Validus: their bodies begin to ferment.

• Valkyrie: psoriasis.

• Wathite: weakened skin.

• Wearg: tooth decay.

• Wekufe: truth serum effect.

• Wild Hunt: they turn into dogs.

• Wild Talent: inflammation of spleen.

• Yokai: intense shivering.

• Ysian: they cannot remain at the bottom of the ocean very long.

• Zile: throat inflammation.

Non-infernal beings rarely die of these infections, passing it within a day or so, even with the strangest effects. Infernal beings die quickly.

Detrital Conglomeration

If a cluster of festuca gather strongly enough in a pile of detritus on a forest floor, and if they have the need to engage with the larger world, they will draw the detritus together to form an anthropomorphic figure that can act on a larger scale. They still will not have speech, but can try to communicate through gesture. These conglomerations will seem very slick and foul to others, as the massive amount of festuca forms a film over them. Festuca only use this to address some urgent danger to their environment, such as pollutants or clear-cutting, making them the subject of many spooky stories told by loggers.

Weaknesses

Brown aether destroys them.

Nations

Festuca are intelligent microbes, numbering in the trillions, and there are millions of nations amongst them. The only ones that have made contact with larger mortals are those that hypermicrobists, druids, and other wielders of aether have found. They have identified six notable nations among them. Because the festuca communicate chemically, their names and language has been translated into scientific language:

• Exiguus: the first discovered nation, the originals

• Haurio: festuca who are more parasitic.

• Informis: festuca who shed their flagella and take on amoeba-like shapelessness.

• Limus: festuca who farm slime molds.

• Verbera: festuca whose flagella are longer and stronger.

• Veteres: “the ancient ones”, festuca who farm archaea.

Culture

In petri dishes! Ha, I am so funny. Okay, so.

The Exiguus are most commonly found in forest floors with a thick layer of detritus, ones less commonly trod by mortal feet. They thrive off the natural cycle of decay and rebirth there, and therefore, their culture is one that is largely unaffected by the larger world, which they think of as other mortals think of the universe as a whole - so vast as to be incomprehensible. Their awareness of it is limited to the ways in which they can interact with it - either by directly touching it or through sensing of chemicals. They can, however, determine a great deal from both that goes beyond what one would expect.

Their lives are considered brief by comparison to other mortals, but they consider them full and rich. They know that part of themselves lives on every time they reproduce, and therefore, they focus on what they call obnatus (“growing”), the progression of their lives from fission to fission. In the first five days, they are guided and taught how to use their inherent powers to draw sustenance. In their next ten days, they are guided in seeking out information via the chemicals and materials they interact with. In their next twenty days, they are directed to explore. For the next forty days, they are directed to engage with their community. For the next fifty days, they take part in the tasks and celebrations of the community. And for their final 75 days, they are celebrated and honored as leaders and elders until they split into new festuca.

Common tasks in their community include bringing sustenance to those who can’t find it themselves, protecting the community from dangers such as certain chemicals that are deadly to them, and monitoring the detritus for signs that it is being tainted or reduced. Community celebrations take the form of dances, chemical sharing (which is equivalent to both singing and kissing), and shaping of detritus (devouring it in such a way as to form unique shapes, a form of sculpture). They also often bump into each other intentionally in what is a greeting that is a cross between hugging and handshaking.

National Cultures

The other identified and notable nations of festuca have some variations in their cultures:

• Haurio: the Haurio are a violent and dangerous group who seek out mortal bodies to infect and harm.

• Informis: the Informis are much like the Exiguus, but they have a fashion of removing their flagella and being more freeform in their bodies. This is considered the equivalent of nudism in the festucam world.

• Limus: the Limus dwell in suburban areas where they live in gardens and lawns, farming slime molds there to survive. They are at war with the mortals who use chemicals to destroy them, though the mortals are largely unaware of it.

• Verbera: the Verbera are the opposite of the Informis, growing their flagella out, like mortals who prefer long hair. They have strict rules about their body shapes.

• Veteres: the Veteres live in extreme places and farm archaea as guards and pets.

Esoterica

Festucam are beings of vegrandis and wield it inherently. They are able to wield other aetherial energies in their peculiar ways, on a microscopic level. Usually, they interact with viridian aether or tykva vlast, using it to protect their homes or foster detritus. They are capable of wielding other powers except for vile energy or brown aether.

Religion

Many festuca believe in Primogentius, a first-born festucam who all of them are a copy of. Primogentius is worshiped among some of the festuca communities, usually through special dances of thanks. Larger mortals believe in Primogentius as a god of “good bacteria” or “good microbes”, a sign of decay in nature.

Gender

The concept is unknown to them. They are all the same.

Economy

Theirs is a classless community.

Military

There are some festuca who take on a role of guard, lookout, or protector, but they have no special properties. They simply take up a position to allow them to be aware of coming dangers and respond to it.

Language

They are described in Latin.

Occupations

There are some common roles in their communities: guard, elder, caretaker, dancer, guide, explorer, and so on.

Outside View

The only people aware of the festuca are either scientists who study them, druids and other wielders of aetherial powers that allow them to sense them. They are known to be bacteria who protect and help nature. In some class societies, if the powerful become aware of them and their negative effects on industry (i.e., their ability to kill polluters), they spread rumors about them as being dangerous bacteria to be destroyed with special chemicals - usually infused with brown aether.

Notables

• Viridis Unus, Festucam Manifest, Aeonian

Estimated Populations

There are trillions of festuca in the world.

Sample Stats

PRO 8
ATH 8 Dodge 25
STR 1
AWA 20
WIL 17
PRS 7
STH 75