Post by TiJiL on Feb 28, 2004 0:40:18 GMT -5
Tockneff Anatomy
Nervous System:
The Tockneff sense of touch is extremely precise. Much like dipterans, they can feel air currents particularly well. A tockneff can literally feel an enemy’s incoming blows or slugs before they reach it. Many of the more adept individuals learn to utilize this feeling to great effect, making them superb dodgers and blockers, innately avoiding damage. The other notable feature of their extremely dense and branched nervous system is that their nerves can be adjusted, so to speak. Tockneff can, as a pseudo-voluntary action, ‘turn off’ nerves in a particular area. The nerve endings in question extend or retract different degrees to give them greater sensitivity. They can be extended in combat to increase the tockneff’s propensity to dodge effectively (though making a successful hit much more painful) or retracted to remove the dodging advantage but greatly reduce pain. Similarly, tockneff can gain great endurance by simply dulling the pain in their muscles. This can wreak untold damage on their bodies, but allow them to run for great distances, providing they concentrate on remaining painless.
Respiratory System:
Tockneff breathe through a system of spiracles along their torso and legs. These tiny holes are held open with the tockneff’s rigid skin (see below) and can be opened or closed with a membranous flap. Each of the holes is about a quarter inch wide. Air inhaled through the spiracles is routed through a long network of narrow tunnels into a slender central channel in the lower neck. As it travels through this channel, the blood vessels around it extract oxygen. The channel contracts every second or so, sending used air out of the mouth.
Circulatory System:
Tockneff circulatory systems are connected to their respiratory systems. Along the spiracle tubes that rout air into the central channel are also thick, branchless blood vessels. The same muscles that contract the central respiratory channel expand the adjacent heart at the same time. Thus, the muscles are alternating a beat for the heart and an exhalation, etc. The vessels do not split off into capillaries at all. Rather, thick, absorbent cells surround them and collect the oxygen and nutrients as they go by. These cells then send the oxygen and nutrients to all nearby tissue. Each cell passes on what it can spare with a group of carrier organelles. Because the vessels do not branch, Tockneff generally don’t bleed when cut. Obviously, though, if one of the larger vessels is severed, the individual is in a lot of trouble. Their peculiar system of distributing nutrients makes tockneff particularly easy to poison with the proper chemicals, as the poison will spread very quickly to every cell in the body. (Providing it is not a poison that the body recognizes) This must not be confused with tockneff being easy to make ill.
Digestive System
Tockneff have developed for many years to live on little food or food of very low quality. Thus, their body is adept at stopping microbe invasions and extracting every ounce of nutrition in a particular substance. First of all, tockneff possess an impressive dental array. They have a flat expanse of teeth on the roof and floor of their mouths. A tockneff’s mandible contains 4 bones, allowing it to be slid back and forth, grinding the two plates of teeth together. This chewing reduces even the hardest food into tiny pieces. Probably the most notable feature of the tockneff digestive system, however, is their stomach. The acid within it is particularly powerful, destroying parasites and microbes that manage to enter the stomach. The thick, smelly liquid is very painful to the touch and can break down just about any organic material. Even so, tockneff are often so hungry that they eat things that are very bad for them. In just such a situation, the other amazing adaptation of the tockneff stomach comes in handy. Tockneff can regrow their stomach lining quite quickly (over the coarse of about two days. They can eat again within one). In the event that something sharp or otherwise deadly enters the stomach, the tockneff can regurgitate it on command, along with the stomach lining and all of its contents (including the acid). As a last resort, some tockneff will cough their stomach at an enemy, but this is painful and damaging to the tockneff, so it is rarely enacted.
Endocrine and Immune Systems
Unlike their Snodeck ‘partners’, the tockneff have developed in a world covered with pestilence and disease. Because of their unhealthy conditions, they have adapted a powerful immune system. Cells floating in the blood identify foreign microbes. They make a protein ‘blueprint’ of the invader’s specifications and begin to produce it. Cells that receive this protein will create several of their own. Soon (in theory) the entire immune system will be ‘informed’ as to how to deal with the microbe. The invader itself is captured by one of these cells and deposited in one of the thick distributor cells to be dealt with. The microbe will be taken apart. Its useful pieces will be distributed to where they are needed and the useless or dangerous parts are forced into one of the spiracle tubes to be expelled.
Reproductive System
The tockneff utilize internal fertilization. At about two twassecc years of age they are sexually mature. Mating season is all year and is often triggered by times of particular prosperity. When conditions are right, a male tockneff’s crest will flush with blood and change to a bright red. He will parade his crest about and fight other males, attempting to attract females. Tockneff are vicious creatures, even to their mates, but they do practice monogamy. A nesting pair will lay up to ten perfectly spherical eggs, often putting them in a sand and grass nest. The parents then take turns sitting on and protecting the eggs for the mere five to eight days it takes for them to hatch. They must be vigilant and separate themselves from their mob, as even friendly tockneff would consider a fellow tockneff’s eggs a delicacy. The young grow fast. Within an erker or so of birth they can run very quickly and hunt insects for themselves. The parents will protect them for about half of a series before they have grown enough to be considered rivals. After this point, the parents will split up.
Skeletal and Muscle Systems:
Tockneff are extremely spindly, but really quite strong. To accommodate their narrow but very long limbs the muscles work in chains. These chains are sinuous and are excellent for producing short exertions. In their legs, especially, tockneff muscles really shine. With a sudden burst of power, a tockneff can leap from a resting position over twenty feet in the air, or a long jump of about forty feet. They are not only the best jumpers of any species but also the quickest sprinters. While not very maneuverable at full speed, a tockneff can run at almost ninety miles per erker. They often cannot keep this speed up for long, however. Tockneff skeletons are fairly brittle but are very good at repairing fractures. Every inch or so along the bone is a tiny spur along the limb bones where the muscle chains can attach. It is important to note that tockneff vertebrae are very simple and unrestrictive. They can turn their heads more than three hundred sixty degrees, as well as rotate any part of their spine similarly well. This gives them great flexibility in combat.
Sensory Systems:
Tockneff senses are moderate, though they do have a few advantages. Their hearing is not particularly adept and their sense of smell leaves something to be desired. Seeing as their tongues adorn the very back of their throat and serve more as an aid to vocalizing than to tasting, they have very little care for what it is they eat. However, their eyesight does merit explanation. They have a single, immobile eye that adorns the very front of their face. The eye is fixed in place. Obviously, having only a single eye means for pretty poor depth perception, but the eye is very powerful. Tockneff have very good distance vision. (They often compensate for the lack of stereoscopic vision by bobbing their head around very quickly while gunfighting, allowing them to aim better.) Tockneff also have from four to twenty punktaugen fixed on a ridge along both sides of their heads. These eyes can do little but detect movement and light changes, but nonetheless make tockneff difficult to surprise. These eyes are not attached very well and often fall out with a significant blow to the head. Luckily, however, they grow back.
Skin:
Tockneff skin is very rigid and inflexible, rather like very thick leather. While not an exoskeleton per se (as the skin does not serve as an attachment point for muscles), their strong epidermis grants them greater durability. Probably the most important role if it, however, is ensuring that the tockneff’s weight does not collapse the spiracles. With thinner skin, these holes would most likely be crushed or blocked, asphyxiating the tockneff.
Nervous System:
The Tockneff sense of touch is extremely precise. Much like dipterans, they can feel air currents particularly well. A tockneff can literally feel an enemy’s incoming blows or slugs before they reach it. Many of the more adept individuals learn to utilize this feeling to great effect, making them superb dodgers and blockers, innately avoiding damage. The other notable feature of their extremely dense and branched nervous system is that their nerves can be adjusted, so to speak. Tockneff can, as a pseudo-voluntary action, ‘turn off’ nerves in a particular area. The nerve endings in question extend or retract different degrees to give them greater sensitivity. They can be extended in combat to increase the tockneff’s propensity to dodge effectively (though making a successful hit much more painful) or retracted to remove the dodging advantage but greatly reduce pain. Similarly, tockneff can gain great endurance by simply dulling the pain in their muscles. This can wreak untold damage on their bodies, but allow them to run for great distances, providing they concentrate on remaining painless.
Respiratory System:
Tockneff breathe through a system of spiracles along their torso and legs. These tiny holes are held open with the tockneff’s rigid skin (see below) and can be opened or closed with a membranous flap. Each of the holes is about a quarter inch wide. Air inhaled through the spiracles is routed through a long network of narrow tunnels into a slender central channel in the lower neck. As it travels through this channel, the blood vessels around it extract oxygen. The channel contracts every second or so, sending used air out of the mouth.
Circulatory System:
Tockneff circulatory systems are connected to their respiratory systems. Along the spiracle tubes that rout air into the central channel are also thick, branchless blood vessels. The same muscles that contract the central respiratory channel expand the adjacent heart at the same time. Thus, the muscles are alternating a beat for the heart and an exhalation, etc. The vessels do not split off into capillaries at all. Rather, thick, absorbent cells surround them and collect the oxygen and nutrients as they go by. These cells then send the oxygen and nutrients to all nearby tissue. Each cell passes on what it can spare with a group of carrier organelles. Because the vessels do not branch, Tockneff generally don’t bleed when cut. Obviously, though, if one of the larger vessels is severed, the individual is in a lot of trouble. Their peculiar system of distributing nutrients makes tockneff particularly easy to poison with the proper chemicals, as the poison will spread very quickly to every cell in the body. (Providing it is not a poison that the body recognizes) This must not be confused with tockneff being easy to make ill.
Digestive System
Tockneff have developed for many years to live on little food or food of very low quality. Thus, their body is adept at stopping microbe invasions and extracting every ounce of nutrition in a particular substance. First of all, tockneff possess an impressive dental array. They have a flat expanse of teeth on the roof and floor of their mouths. A tockneff’s mandible contains 4 bones, allowing it to be slid back and forth, grinding the two plates of teeth together. This chewing reduces even the hardest food into tiny pieces. Probably the most notable feature of the tockneff digestive system, however, is their stomach. The acid within it is particularly powerful, destroying parasites and microbes that manage to enter the stomach. The thick, smelly liquid is very painful to the touch and can break down just about any organic material. Even so, tockneff are often so hungry that they eat things that are very bad for them. In just such a situation, the other amazing adaptation of the tockneff stomach comes in handy. Tockneff can regrow their stomach lining quite quickly (over the coarse of about two days. They can eat again within one). In the event that something sharp or otherwise deadly enters the stomach, the tockneff can regurgitate it on command, along with the stomach lining and all of its contents (including the acid). As a last resort, some tockneff will cough their stomach at an enemy, but this is painful and damaging to the tockneff, so it is rarely enacted.
Endocrine and Immune Systems
Unlike their Snodeck ‘partners’, the tockneff have developed in a world covered with pestilence and disease. Because of their unhealthy conditions, they have adapted a powerful immune system. Cells floating in the blood identify foreign microbes. They make a protein ‘blueprint’ of the invader’s specifications and begin to produce it. Cells that receive this protein will create several of their own. Soon (in theory) the entire immune system will be ‘informed’ as to how to deal with the microbe. The invader itself is captured by one of these cells and deposited in one of the thick distributor cells to be dealt with. The microbe will be taken apart. Its useful pieces will be distributed to where they are needed and the useless or dangerous parts are forced into one of the spiracle tubes to be expelled.
Reproductive System
The tockneff utilize internal fertilization. At about two twassecc years of age they are sexually mature. Mating season is all year and is often triggered by times of particular prosperity. When conditions are right, a male tockneff’s crest will flush with blood and change to a bright red. He will parade his crest about and fight other males, attempting to attract females. Tockneff are vicious creatures, even to their mates, but they do practice monogamy. A nesting pair will lay up to ten perfectly spherical eggs, often putting them in a sand and grass nest. The parents then take turns sitting on and protecting the eggs for the mere five to eight days it takes for them to hatch. They must be vigilant and separate themselves from their mob, as even friendly tockneff would consider a fellow tockneff’s eggs a delicacy. The young grow fast. Within an erker or so of birth they can run very quickly and hunt insects for themselves. The parents will protect them for about half of a series before they have grown enough to be considered rivals. After this point, the parents will split up.
Skeletal and Muscle Systems:
Tockneff are extremely spindly, but really quite strong. To accommodate their narrow but very long limbs the muscles work in chains. These chains are sinuous and are excellent for producing short exertions. In their legs, especially, tockneff muscles really shine. With a sudden burst of power, a tockneff can leap from a resting position over twenty feet in the air, or a long jump of about forty feet. They are not only the best jumpers of any species but also the quickest sprinters. While not very maneuverable at full speed, a tockneff can run at almost ninety miles per erker. They often cannot keep this speed up for long, however. Tockneff skeletons are fairly brittle but are very good at repairing fractures. Every inch or so along the bone is a tiny spur along the limb bones where the muscle chains can attach. It is important to note that tockneff vertebrae are very simple and unrestrictive. They can turn their heads more than three hundred sixty degrees, as well as rotate any part of their spine similarly well. This gives them great flexibility in combat.
Sensory Systems:
Tockneff senses are moderate, though they do have a few advantages. Their hearing is not particularly adept and their sense of smell leaves something to be desired. Seeing as their tongues adorn the very back of their throat and serve more as an aid to vocalizing than to tasting, they have very little care for what it is they eat. However, their eyesight does merit explanation. They have a single, immobile eye that adorns the very front of their face. The eye is fixed in place. Obviously, having only a single eye means for pretty poor depth perception, but the eye is very powerful. Tockneff have very good distance vision. (They often compensate for the lack of stereoscopic vision by bobbing their head around very quickly while gunfighting, allowing them to aim better.) Tockneff also have from four to twenty punktaugen fixed on a ridge along both sides of their heads. These eyes can do little but detect movement and light changes, but nonetheless make tockneff difficult to surprise. These eyes are not attached very well and often fall out with a significant blow to the head. Luckily, however, they grow back.
Skin:
Tockneff skin is very rigid and inflexible, rather like very thick leather. While not an exoskeleton per se (as the skin does not serve as an attachment point for muscles), their strong epidermis grants them greater durability. Probably the most important role if it, however, is ensuring that the tockneff’s weight does not collapse the spiracles. With thinner skin, these holes would most likely be crushed or blocked, asphyxiating the tockneff.
