Mephistopheles –The Demon Planet
The Planet of Mephistopheles is cool and even cold in places; its sun is a dim red dwarf. Gravity is a reasonable amount lower than on Earth, there is more dry land, and fewer oceans. Thus, much of the planet is covered by sparse, steppe-like plains, and weedy, taiga-like forests. Atmosphere is a gaseous mix containing slightly more oxygen than is present on Earth.
Native flora is adapted to survive on less water and less light, plants here are always dark blackish or dark brown instead of green, using unfamiliar pigments to photosynthesize. Their structural turgidity or upright stature is provided by waste gases instead of water. Some plants are held upright by balloon-like bags of gas, others have tubes of gas like labyrinths inside them. Most plants have a primitive, leafless, branching structure like seaweeds, though some have growths which are flattened or bulbous.
“Animal” biochemistry here is familiar yet not quite. “Vertebrate” bones have calcium carbonate as its main structural component, but claws, horns, beaks and integument are keratinous as on Earth. Blood is copper-based, using Hemocyanin to transport oxygen, as in many of Earth’s invertebrates.
The backboned animals of Mephistopheles are striking and often foreign in appearance, this is the result of a fairly different set of circumstances, and a vastly different ancestral form.
Vertebrate physiology consists of 5 limbs, with 2 pairs, and one posterior singleton where the tail would be. The front limb pair is often for manipulation or prey capture, but not always. Their excretory orifice is next to the hindmost (5th) limb. Mouths are beak-like and mounted on a tube that also bears olfactory pores; stalked compound eyes vaguely similar to Arthropods provide sight. A large horn-like cranial lance is common to all vertebrates, and serves a variety of purposes in different species, from defence, to killing, to feeding. Air is taken in via slits at the base of the jaw, and passes down to lung-like structures in the chest. Hearing organs are relatively simple tympanum like those of frogs, usually obscured by fur. Metabolism is endothermic and vaguely mammalian, with most species covered in hollow fur. Their young are born live, hatching from egg-like pouches within the mother’s reproductive tract.
Many of the invertebrates here are radically symmetrical, rubbery creatures that resemble tiny squids and naked starfish, though they move via a muscular foot instead of tube feet. Segmented, worm-like creatures are the common soil-dwelling decomposers; worm-like invertebrates have arisen separately on many planets.
Early human explorers of this planet compared these odd beasts to demons of the circles of hell, and the planet itself to a barren, cold purgatory. Thus, this planet was eventually named Mephistopheles, after the servant of Satan himself.
The Planet of Mephistopheles is cool and even cold in places; its sun is a dim red dwarf. Gravity is a reasonable amount lower than on Earth, there is more dry land, and fewer oceans. Thus, much of the planet is covered by sparse, steppe-like plains, and weedy, taiga-like forests. Atmosphere is a gaseous mix containing slightly more oxygen than is present on Earth.
Native flora is adapted to survive on less water and less light, plants here are always dark blackish or dark brown instead of green, using unfamiliar pigments to photosynthesize. Their structural turgidity or upright stature is provided by waste gases instead of water. Some plants are held upright by balloon-like bags of gas, others have tubes of gas like labyrinths inside them. Most plants have a primitive, leafless, branching structure like seaweeds, though some have growths which are flattened or bulbous.
“Animal” biochemistry here is familiar yet not quite. “Vertebrate” bones have calcium carbonate as its main structural component, but claws, horns, beaks and integument are keratinous as on Earth. Blood is copper-based, using Hemocyanin to transport oxygen, as in many of Earth’s invertebrates.
The backboned animals of Mephistopheles are striking and often foreign in appearance, this is the result of a fairly different set of circumstances, and a vastly different ancestral form.
Vertebrate physiology consists of 5 limbs, with 2 pairs, and one posterior singleton where the tail would be. The front limb pair is often for manipulation or prey capture, but not always. Their excretory orifice is next to the hindmost (5th) limb. Mouths are beak-like and mounted on a tube that also bears olfactory pores; stalked compound eyes vaguely similar to Arthropods provide sight. A large horn-like cranial lance is common to all vertebrates, and serves a variety of purposes in different species, from defence, to killing, to feeding. Air is taken in via slits at the base of the jaw, and passes down to lung-like structures in the chest. Hearing organs are relatively simple tympanum like those of frogs, usually obscured by fur. Metabolism is endothermic and vaguely mammalian, with most species covered in hollow fur. Their young are born live, hatching from egg-like pouches within the mother’s reproductive tract.
Many of the invertebrates here are radically symmetrical, rubbery creatures that resemble tiny squids and naked starfish, though they move via a muscular foot instead of tube feet. Segmented, worm-like creatures are the common soil-dwelling decomposers; worm-like invertebrates have arisen separately on many planets.
Early human explorers of this planet compared these odd beasts to demons of the circles of hell, and the planet itself to a barren, cold purgatory. Thus, this planet was eventually named Mephistopheles, after the servant of Satan himself.
Faunal Examples -
Pickhead (Anurosatanus ceratops)
Pickheads are 2.5 meter long predators, wickedly endowed with clawed forelimbs and a stabbing cranial spur. Able to bound or leap along fairly quickly, they feed mainly on medium and small-sized “vertebrates”. They can produce a rasping call by scraping their horned mouth along the underside of their cranial spur.
Pickheads are 2.5 meter long predators, wickedly endowed with clawed forelimbs and a stabbing cranial spur. Able to bound or leap along fairly quickly, they feed mainly on medium and small-sized “vertebrates”. They can produce a rasping call by scraping their horned mouth along the underside of their cranial spur.
Gougeflapper (Ceratovolans fructophagus)
Gougeflappers are a member of the relatively few kinds of Mephistophelean vertebrate to have mastered flight. These awkward flapping creatures generally try to avoid landing on the ground, but they can launch from a standing start with a flip of their 5th limb, which also serves to steer. They move in large flocks, searching for the engorged fruiting bodies of the brown and red plants, using their long horn to pierce the rubbery outer casing, and inserting their proboscis to slurp up the nutritious pulp.
Gougeflappers are a member of the relatively few kinds of Mephistophelean vertebrate to have mastered flight. These awkward flapping creatures generally try to avoid landing on the ground, but they can launch from a standing start with a flip of their 5th limb, which also serves to steer. They move in large flocks, searching for the engorged fruiting bodies of the brown and red plants, using their long horn to pierce the rubbery outer casing, and inserting their proboscis to slurp up the nutritious pulp.
Hoehead (Ceratobahamut bovinus)
Hoeheads are as large as white rhinos, commonly 3 meters long and 1.8 meters tall. Found mainly on the plains, they mainly graze on brown weedy shrubs and the ubiquitous, waving tubular “grass”. Their cranial spur is adapted to dig for the nutrient-and-water rich tuber-like growths that commonly occur about 25 centimetres below ground. Such growths are essential during the dry, cold winters when a lot of growth dies back.
Hoeheads are as large as white rhinos, commonly 3 meters long and 1.8 meters tall. Found mainly on the plains, they mainly graze on brown weedy shrubs and the ubiquitous, waving tubular “grass”. Their cranial spur is adapted to dig for the nutrient-and-water rich tuber-like growths that commonly occur about 25 centimetres below ground. Such growths are essential during the dry, cold winters when a lot of growth dies back.
Crawtee (Cancriomanatus rhynchops)
The shallow, less extensive oceans of Mephistopheles are mostly choked with tangled growths of various sorts of algae, as well as plants like those found on land, but having less need for gaseous support structures. This place is mainly the domain of grazing slug-like invertebrates and predatory worms, but the Crawtee is one of the few large vertebrates to flourish here, reaching 4 meters. It spends its days lazily swimming and crawling through the choking tangle of water plants, methodically eating them as it goes Crawtees leave a trail of destruction that allows new growth to emerge, and in some places, prevents the water from becoming a giant dense mass of plant matter.
The shallow, less extensive oceans of Mephistopheles are mostly choked with tangled growths of various sorts of algae, as well as plants like those found on land, but having less need for gaseous support structures. This place is mainly the domain of grazing slug-like invertebrates and predatory worms, but the Crawtee is one of the few large vertebrates to flourish here, reaching 4 meters. It spends its days lazily swimming and crawling through the choking tangle of water plants, methodically eating them as it goes Crawtees leave a trail of destruction that allows new growth to emerge, and in some places, prevents the water from becoming a giant dense mass of plant matter.
Hookapi (Triungulatus macronyx)
The swirling forests of air-filled branching plants, Mephistophelean “taiga” are commonly inhabited by wide ranging herds of Hookapi. These 2.5 meter tall herbivores feed on the choicest growth at the end of the branches of the brown “trees”. Using their cranial spurs and large clawed forelimbs, they pull down great clusters of branches, embracing them and selectively picking out the most nutritious parts. This feeding method has a way of stimulating budding and new growth, ensuring more feeding grounds to come.
The swirling forests of air-filled branching plants, Mephistophelean “taiga” are commonly inhabited by wide ranging herds of Hookapi. These 2.5 meter tall herbivores feed on the choicest growth at the end of the branches of the brown “trees”. Using their cranial spurs and large clawed forelimbs, they pull down great clusters of branches, embracing them and selectively picking out the most nutritious parts. This feeding method has a way of stimulating budding and new growth, ensuring more feeding grounds to come.