Barbu'tayna

[Fitermon 667]

Barbu'tayna, the Biological Horror

((Image credit to somebody else, not my own work. http://www.aidedd.org/dnd/images/grayOoze.jpg))

“The dark, thick mass contorted, twisted, and deformed, its own structure altering from a shapeless blob into that of Aurela, from her auburn hair, to her button nose, to her freckles, to her smile. Her smile, the one I’ve grown to love, the fair lips that sung happy melodies turned eldritch and false…” - Illerion Ihnsil, 'Barbu’tayna'

 

Introduction

 

Barbu'tayna is the given name for the organic horror that is effectively just that, variously sized splotches, masses, and collections of a black, thick, sludge like substance, which holds incredible organic properties, being able to absorb other biologically based organisms and replicate itself as them as well.

 

Features

 

Barbu'tayna, expectedly, is a viscous, black, slimey organism that when in its true, undisguised form would very much appear to be tar, or syrup that was dyed. When in this state, the creature is easily identifiable due to its unique appearance, made even more distinguishable when a mass of any size is in motion, where the sludge will have its matter spill in its intended direction, with the matter on the opposing end pulling itself along with the leading end, akin to a worm slinking along the ground. Barbu'tayna will usually not be seen going along a road in a massive blob, however, usually opting to find a place to nest, where the largest portion of the creature will remain and stay for as long as it is able to.

 

Instead of going off on its own, this larger blob, now referred to as the “Hive” will send off smaller divisions of itself, usually ranging from the size of a human head to that of a troll, these segmentations called “Harvesters.” The goal of the Harvesters is not to simply wander about all day, however, but rather to fulfil both the method of survival and growth of Barbu'tayna: Absorbing as much organic material as possible, including dead wood, grass, dogs, people, flowers, or even at times waste and other byproducts of organic beings. This is done by the Barbu'tayna releasing incredibly small parts of itself into the various pores, cracks, holes, and slits in its prey, where the mass then begins to steadily break down the plant material, flesh, or respective matter of the biological being that it latched onto, turning the broken down basic building blocks of life into its own matter, effectively recycling and repurposing it. Furthermore, upon absorption of even the tiniest of bits of matter from a subject, the individual Harvester can merge with other Harvesters, or with the main Hive, effectively “sharing” the biological makeup of the creature it stole matter from, allowing the creature to take on its possibly most useful, yet dangerous ability. Upon storing the biological information of wood, grass, a person, a wolf, or any other organic being, the mass can alter its shape, size, density, and physical makeup to replicate the being it gathered from, allowing the Barbu'tayna to disguise itself as the dog, cat, person, grass, or other organic being. However, the transformation is not instantaneous, and will usually have a flaw or two, such as sludge in its regular form lingering about in some places, or making unnatural motions for the creature it replicates. To break the replicated form and revert it to its true form, the Barbu'tayna must simply be disturbed enough in order to force it to revert to its true form, be it slashing through it with a sword, a mace slamming through the sludge, or an arcane missile sending bits of Barbu'tayna flying about.

 

Despite holding such a tactical advantage as being able to replicate most organisms as long as it’s gathered some of its essence, Barbu'tayna of course, as most creatures are, is killable, although it is incredibly peculiar on how to do so, and does not directly cause the organic matter to “die” persay, but rather go entirely dormant or be rendered docile and non-threatening whatsoever. The two factors that affect the volatility, aggressiveness, and power of Barbu'tayna is temperature and size. The hotter or larger the mass of Barbu'tayna is, the more aggressive, offensive, and dangerous it is, making the Hives, large Harvesters, or heated up Barbu'tayna much more difficult to fight or prevent further growth from, proving to be an ever growing problem especially if the Hive resides in a hot climate, or one with bountiful amounts of organic material to eat up. Conversely, the smaller the individual bloblets of Barbu'tayna are, and the colder they are, the creature begins to act much more calmly and timidly, even adorably so when in masses no larger than the average thumb. In this state, Barbu'tayna will slither around calmly and collectively, not making any efforts to absorb flesh, blood, or any other biological nutrients. So, an excellent way to combat Barbu'tayna is to scatter and separate the small bits of it, rendering it tame. Even more effective is cooling the substance, with colder temperatures making it less and less active and powerful, meaning even the largest of masses can be tamed if kept cold enough. However, the only nuance is that if multiple tiny bits of Barbu'tayna are in close proximity to one another, the smaller bloblets will exponentially in effort try to regroup and reform a larger sized mass, making just blasting a Hive to oblivion a poor choice of containment, as the individual pieces will violently try to reform. All in all, there is no way to truly “kill” Barbu'tayna, aside from depriving it of any organic material whatsoever. Instead of growing, with a lack of nutrients the mass’ individual droplets begin to degrade and wear away into organic biowaste that even Barbu'tayna cannot repurpose, leaving behind a filmy, web-like black collection of layered material, almost like dead skin that is peeled off. So, the best ways to “kill” Barbu'tayna would be to cool the mass, then to separate it, then to deprive it of any nutrients while ensuring no bloblets are to regroup with other bloblets.

 

Spoiler

Artist's depiction of Barbu'tayna emerging from its transformation into a disguised form.

 

 

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a6/e0/ea/a6e0ea56e08f2d1cf94f792e5e5f579f.jpg ((Also not my own art.))

 

 

History

 

The history of Barbu'tayna is a simple, yet vital one to how it became native to Axios. In the deserts where the city of Arcadia resides, the first living Barbu'tayna specimen was, with the Hive of the Barbu'tayna nestled in the once lush, fertile silt deposits with running green hills, brilliant displays of flowers, and life abundant and widespead, that is, before it was the barren desert it now is. The Hive suffered greatly due to the cold temperatures produced by the thanhium deposits in the desert, giving it its unforgettable chill, while flourishing due to the large number of plants and vegetation that grew due to the silt deposits from the river flowing North. As time went on, the first Hive sent Harvesters further and further along the lands, begrudgingly trekking along the cold sands, growing more and more barren as the Hive continued to eat to survive, no longer having new life grow around it, but surviving off of whatever wasn’t absorbed already. If it weren’t for the thanhic deposits cooling the entirety of the Hive and desert, the Barbu’tayna could’ve possibly expanded further, deconstructing and absorbing even more life on the island. However, as the continued temperature made gathering for the Hive increasingly more difficult, individual Harvesters exited the now mostly barren lands, leaving the sands that were once rich, fruitful soil for plants and life, dry and cold, dooming the Hive to starve out and the lands to remain a desert even through the present, the Harvesters having went to scavenge and find new places to hunt for life, a Hive as large as the original not seen ever since. From the desert, Harvesters scattered throughout Tahn, with some smaller masses of the organism being swept out through the river, smaller bits landing and nesting in on the other islands in Axios, perhaps one day posing a threat were such a Hive as the original to ever return and reform.

 

Purpose of the Lore

 

The lore was written for a multitude of reasons, the most prominent one to provide official lore ingrained in the world for an ongoing event line, while also allowing the Event Team and Lore Team to use Barbu’tayna to their own discretion in events, be it as an antagonistic force, the subject of tests done by a mad alchemist, or whatever reason deemed necessary. Furthermore, the history aspect of this lore would not only explain where the Barbu’tayna originated from in Axios, but also to explain why the desert beneath Arcadia is a desert, since many seemed to not be appeased by the geographical conditions that mountains would do to a desert, along with providing a reason as to why there are some incredibly lush patches in the area, since the sand is intended to be silt, a mixture of sand and other sediment that allows plants, fruits, vegetables, and more to grow with ease.

 

Unique Interactions with Descendants

 

Barbu’tayna, given its already unique nature, has similarly unique possibilities when dealing with non-plantlike organisms, namely the races such as the Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Kharajyr, Hou-zi, and others. The organism can gain communicative abilities by absorbing parts of those races, being able to speak and converse as a result. Additionally, if a mass of Barbu’tayna clings to somebody, say inside of their mouth, or in their ear, it can eat away some of its host as it would normally, but from there it can begin to seamlessly “take over” its host through a long-lasting process, slowly eating away at bits of the host, while replacing the missing parts with its own disguised essence, effectively switching out the matter that makes “You” into the matter that makes “It.” The one and only upside to this also acts as a downside of any Barbu’tayna infesting itself into one’s body: It will act symbiotically, until it has absorbed enough of one’s body to rapidly eat and add to itself the rest. For example, if one were to have a fistful of the substance in their body, and they were to recieve a large gash to the arm, the Barbu’tayna, amazingly enough, would travel to that spot on the body, and using its own essence copy the muscles, blood, bone, and other damaged parts with its own, effectively acting as a rapid healing system of the sorts. However, this docility and friendly nature is not for the goal of keeping its host safe, only to keep them alive in the meanwhile while they steadily absorb more and more nutrients, be it from food they eat or drinks they ingest. After growing to a reasonable size, and being heated up by the body’s latent heat, it’d go to rapidly absorb and ingest the vital organs in the body, followed by the rest of it, seamlessly taking the host’s place with its own. In conclusion, Barbu’tayna can prove to be an incredibly dynamic, influential force in events, on individual characters, and in grander cases, the realm as it is known.

[Kvasir 1118]

Anything for Fiter + 1

[BrandNewKitten 2788]

I think a LT might ask for this to go into the creature index, buddy. Looks neat!

[Andustar 2116]

Another good lore suggestion. If used by the ET correctly this could create interesting role play scenarios.

[Archipelego 2093]

It'd be cool to see it used in an event.

[shimmeringbliss 267]

Wouldn't this fit under the creature index?

[MangoArt 399]

This makes me think of Star Trek. Automatic +1

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Under review.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

This lore is pending, as a few issues have been brought up regarding the piece. I will be contacting you with more information.

[lawnmowerman 3040]

YAS KWEEN

 

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

You have two weeks to address the concerns raised by the team, if they are not met by 7/18, this lore will be denied. Once you have edited your piece, send me a forum PM and your piece will be reviewed.

 

Edit: As the lore has not been edited in the time span given, it is now denied.