---

This page is divided into the following sections:

Click on the section names or to return to the top of the page.

---

THE KTTVO-BZTVONN SYSTEM

The centre of the star system in which the Wustrtuu evolved is a pair of close binary stars, Kttvo and Bztvonn. Kttvo is a G9V star somewhat more orange than the Sun with some 85% of its mass, giving it a luminosity of some 51% times that of the Sun and 90% of its radius. Bztvonn is orange and of classification K2V, with some 75% the mass of the Sun, giving it a luminosity some 32% times that of the Sun and 90% its radius. The stars and the Kttvo-Bztvonn system as a whole are some 8.2 billion Earth years old [as compared to 4.6 billion years for the Solar System]; however, the lower masses of the two stars means their expected lifetimes are longer than those of the Sun at some 15 and 20 billion years respectively [as opposed to some 10 billion years for the Sun]. From Vvvuurrukst, the home world of the Wustrtuu, both Kttvo and Bztvonn appear to be, on average, roughly 0.47° wide in the sky [slightly smaller than the Sun as seen from Earth].

Kttvo and Bztvonn have roughly circular orbits about their common centre of mass, and maintain a roughly constant separation of some twenty million kilometres. Their different masses mean that Kttvo, the heavier G9V star, orbits some 9.4 million kilometres from their centre of mass while Bztvonn, the lighter K2V star orbits some 10.6 million kilometres from it. Both stars take some 18.8 local days [14.1 Earth days] to complete an orbit about their centre of mass.

---

THE WORLDS OF KTTVO AND BZTVONN

From SolStation.com models have shown that there is a range of orbital radii between about 1/3 and 3.5 times the stellar separation for which stable orbits around two stars together are not possible. For this pair of stars there are thus stable orbits beyond some 70 million km 0.54 AU from their centre of mass.

Closest to Kttvo and Bztvonn, orbiting at close to the minimum stable distance from them, some 75 million kilometres [0.5 AU] from their centre of mass, is the world of Stllztrraa. This is a small, airless, rocky and cratered world some 7600 km in diameter [60% the diameter of the Earth]. It has a density of some 120% that of the Earth, giving it a mass of 25% of the Earth and a surface gravity of some 79% that of Vvuurrukst [72% of that of the Earth]. Its average surface temperature is some 352 K [78°C]. It takes 137 Vvuurrukst days [102 Earth days] to complete one orbit of the centre of mass of Kttvo and Bztvonn. It has no moons. Stllztrraa has a 12° axial tilt, though this wobbles a great deal over geological time [much like Mars in the Solar System], and rotates on its axis once in one and a third Vvuurrukst days [24 Earth hours]. Because of its lack of atmosphere, axial tilt and wobble there are no permanently shaded areas on Stllztrraa, so that despite its relatively low average temperature, no ice exists on its surface, it all having sublimed away over millions of years. Because of its high density, Stllztrraa is rich in minerals and would make a good site for mining.

Beyond Stllztrraa, orbiting some 119 million kilometres [0.8 AU] from the centre of mass of Kttvo and Bztvonn is the world of Llvozkzbkt. Like Stllztrraa this is a small, airless, rocky and cratered world some 7000 km in diameter [55% of the diameter of the Earth]. It has a density of some 110% that of the Earth, giving it a mass of 18% of the Earth and a surface gravity of some 66% that of Vvvuurrukst [60% of that of the Earth]. Its average surface temperature is some 279 K [6°C; this is almost the same average temperature as that of Vvvuurrukst]. It takes 273 Vvvuurrukst days [205 Earth days] to complete one orbit of Kttvo and Bztvonn. Like Stllztrraa it has no moons. Llvozkzbkt has a 48° axial tilt, though like Stllztrraa this wobbles a great deal over geological time [again much like Mars in the Solar System], and rotates on its axis once every 0.61 Vvvuurrukst days [11 Earth hours]. Again like Stllztrraa, because of its lack of atmosphere, axial tilt and wobble, despite its relatively low average temperature, no ice exists on the surface of Llvozkzbkt, having sublimed away as there are no permanently shaded areas there over the long term. As with Stllztrraa, Llvozkzbkt is rich in minerals (though not as much so as Stllztrraa) and so would also make a good site for mining.

Vvvuurrukst, the home planet of the Wustrtuu, orbits the centre of mass of Kttvo and Bztvonn at a distance of some 152 million kilometres [1.02 AU], taking some 394 local days [295 Earth days] to do so. This is described in more detail below.

Beyond Vvvuurrukst, orbiting some 283 million kilometres [1.89 AU] from Kttvo and Bztvonn lies Ssztktzk, a world some 16500 kilometres in diameter [some 1.3 times larger than the Earth]. Ssztktzk has a density some 1.05 times that of the Earth, giving it a mass some 2.3 times that of the Earth and a surface gravity of some 1.36 times that of the Earth [1.5 times that of Vvvuurrukst]. It orbits the barycentre of Kttvo and Bztvonn in almost exactly 1000 Vvvuurrukst days [750 Earth days].

Ssztktzk has a dense atmosphere at a pressure some 2.7 times that of the Earth [4.9 times that of Vvvuurrukst] made up of nitrogen and a high proportion of volcanic gasses such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and methane. 84% of its surface is covered in ice. Taking all of this into account it has an average surface temperature of some 192 K [-81°C], reaching some -57°C at the equator and some -137°C at the poles. This hostile environment means that Ssztktzk is entirely lifeless. Ssztktzk is circled by a pair of large, close moons.

Its size and the presence of its two large moons means that Ssztktzk has active plate tectonics and volcanism, as well as a high degree of planet-quake activity. Because of its proximity to the Hhbzaadz Belt, Ssztktzk and its moons also suffer a significant rate of asteroid bombardment.

Centred some 598 million km [4 AU] from Kttvo and Bztvonn is an asteroid belt some 300 million km [2 AU] in width. This is known as the Hhbzaadz Belt. It is a mixture of rocky, metallic and icy bodies with an average size of some 100 km and some bodies reaching a maximum size of some 1000 km.

Beyond the Hhbzaadz Belt is a wide empty gap.

Beyond the gap, orbiting some 2394 million km [16 AU] from Kttvo and Bztvonn [equivalent to between Saturn and Uranus in the Solar System] lie Aahhzb and Sstrff, a binary pair of gas giant worlds. They orbit Kttvo and Bztvonn in 62.4 Vvvuurrukst years [50.5 Earth years].

The larger of these, Aahhzb, is some 2.2 times the mass of Jupiter in the Solar System [700 times that of the Earth], while the smaller, Sstrff, has roughly the same mass as Saturn [95 times that of the Earth]. Aahhzb radiates considerably more heat than it receives from Kttvo and Bztvonn [not unlike Jupiter]. They orbit their common centre of mass with a constant separation of some 1.4 million kilometres, taking some 57 Earth hours [3.2 Vvvuurrukst days] to do so. Aahhzb orbits some 168000 km from their common centre of mass, while Sstrff, as the lighter world, orbits some 1.23 million kilometres from it.

Beyond the orbit of Aahhzb and Sstrff some 6 billion km [40 AU] from Kttvo and Bztvonn lies Uuukztzk, a lone gas giant some 40 times the mass of the Earth [between Saturn and Uranus in size]. It takes some 248 Vvvuurrukst years [201 Earth years] to complete a single orbit about Kttvo and Bztvonn. It and its moons have an average temperature of some 40 K [-233°C].

Beyond Uuukztzk lies the cometary halo and interstellar space.

---

VVVUURRUKST

Vvvuurrukst, the home planet of the Wustrtuu, orbits the centre of mass of the binary stars Kttvo and Bztvonn at a distance of some 152 million kilometres [1.02 AU]. Because of the larger collective mass of the two stars, despite being somewhat further away from them than the Earth is from the Sun, its year is somewhat shorter, being some 394 local days [295 Earth days] long. Despite Kttvo and Bztvonn orbiting one another in 18.8 local days, because of Vvvuurrukst also moving on its orbit over time, from the perspective of Vvvuurrukst they reach the same position relative to one another in the sky every 19.7 local days [14.8 Earth days].

At most Kttvo and Bztvonn appear some 6.3 degrees apart in the sky of Vvvuurrukst [more than thirteen times their own diameters]. Because of this at their widest separation one of Kttvo and Bztvonn will be above the horizon for up to some twenty minutes before or after the other rises or sets.

Vvvuurrukst is some 11340 km in diameter [89% the diameter of the Earth], with a molten core like the Earth and a density of some 1.02 times that of the Earth; this gives it a volume of 70.5% that of the Earth, a total surface area of some 79% of it and a mass some 72% of it, giving a surface gravity of some 91% that of the Earth. It has a rotational period of some 18 Earth hours, a 14° axial tilt, and an orbital eccentricity of 0.005.

The smaller size of Vvvuurrukst relative to the Earth, and its smaller and more distant satellite of Twttzbshoort means that tectonic activity on Vvvuurrukst is quite weak compared to that of the Earth. The crust of Vvvuurrukst is thicker than that of the Earth and there are only a few large tectonic plates. These move only slowly past one another, so that there are few planet-quakes and mountain ranges build only slowly, meaning that erosion prevents them gaining any great height; for the same reason the seas of Vvvuurrukst do not reach the same depths as those on Earth. There is volcanic activity, some of it on the plate boundaries, but most of it concentrated around a number of volcanic hot spot regions scattered about the planet. As a result of this the highest regions of Vvvuurrukst are volcanic is nature [not unlike the case on Mars in the Solar System].

Vvvuurrukst has a strong magnetic field some seven times more powerful than that of the Earth. This is misaligned with Vvvuurrukst's axis of rotation by some 20° [as compared to some 10° for the magnetic field of the Earth].

The atmosphere of Vvvuurrukst is thin, with a pressure some 55% that of the Earth [equivalent to an altitude of some 4800m (15700 feet) on Earth; this pressure data is from EngineeringToolbox.com]. It consists of some 87% nitrogen and 12% oxygen, plus traces of other gases such as carbon dioxide [this is lower than on Earth, where some 21% of the atmosphere is oxygen; taking into account the lower pressure of the atmosphere of Vvvuurrukst, this means that a given volume of air on Vvvuurrukst has some 31% the oxygen of the same volume on Earth; however, as, on Earth, a human only uses some 20% of the oxygen in each breath they inhale this should still provide enough oxygen for human survival]. This lower pressure means that the boiling point of water on Vvvuurrukst is lower than on Earth, at some 84°C [using data from EngineeringToolbox.com].

An effect of the slightly greater distance of Vvvuurrukst from its suns compared to the Earth is that, even taking into account its different planetary characteristics, Vvvuurrukst is somewhat colder than the Earth, with an average surface temperature of some 5°C [as compared to 14°C for the Earth]. This varies by roughly 2°C up and down depending on the relative positions of the two stars Kttvo and Bztvonn, and dips further when one star eclipses the other, as happens once per orbital cycle. However, these eclipses take less than half an Earth hour from start to finish and so do not cause major temperature variations.

In addition to this, latitude and day-night cycle effects mean that temperatures vary from +29°C on the equator at the end of the day to -76°C at the poles at the end of the night. The maximum temperature at the poles is some -22°C. The thin atmosphere of Vvvuurrukst means that temperatures fall rapidly after dark, so that even at the equator, the minimum temperature at the end of the night is roughly 0°C, and frosts can easily form there, especially away from the temperature-moderating effects of the seas. However, despite this the permanent ice caps of Vvvuurrukst only extend out some 27° from the poles [roughly equivalent to the position of the Faroe Islands on Earth], covering some 11% of its surface.

The hydrosphere of Vvvuurrukst is also smaller than that of the Earth. As part of this only some 32% of its surface is covered in water [as opposed to some 72% of the surface of the Earth]. This is divided between one major ocean, five minor ones, five small seas and eleven scattered lakes of significant size. Again unlike the case on Earth, these do not directly connect into a single world ocean. The seas of Vvvuurrukst do have solar tides, which are roughly as powerful as those of the Earth. The seas of Vvuurrukst are significantly more salty than those of the Earth, [though not as salty as the saltiest bodies of water on Earth such as the Dead Sea].

Maps of Vvvuurrukst

Video of a flight around Vvvuurrukst Note that this is some 17MB in size

Although as a world it is smaller, because of this smaller ocean area, Vvvuurrukst has a land area of some 184% of the land area of the Earth. However, much of this is far from any ocean or sea.

Much of the continental interiors of Vvvuurrukst are made up of very dry, very cold, deserts, not unlike the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica on Earth, though even dryer than them. Because of this much of the continental interiors of Vvvuurrukst are shaped by Aeolian processes [the wind] rather than by rain and other forms of erosion that are more common on Earth. Parts of the continental interiors are covered by vast wind-carved canyon systems and badlands. Also, in places the action of the wind over millions of years has carved out parts of the land to below sea level, but because these places are so far from the coast and never see rain they remain dry, apart from a few cases where aquifers have been opened to the air. Some of these depressions have also filled with sand.

As such large parts of the continental interiors of Vvvuurrukst are dead land, so dry that nothing can live there. The only exceptions to this are the rare places where ground water emerges at the surface and oases near to rivers and the coast, but in the deep continental interior such things have long since dried up.

Because of the thinner atmosphere of Vvvuurrukst the air can hold less water vapour. As such clouds and rain are less common there, even close to the seas, and there are fewer large rivers than on Earth, and even near the seas less water-driven erosion.

Another effect of the lower pressure of the air of Vvvuurrukst is that the effective boundary of space is considerably lower on Vvvuurrukst than on Earth. However, the somewhat lower gravity of Vvvuurrukst means that its air pressure falls off more slowly than on Earth and so the atmosphere does extend a little further into space than the surface pressure would otherwise indicate.

The atmosphere does, however, hold significant quantities of dust, mainly eroded from the large dry regions of the planet. This gives a pink tinge to the sky [not unlike that of Mars in the Solar System]. Localised dust storms are common across Vvvuurrukst, and from time to time larger dust storms occur that can, at their most extreme, blanket the entire surface of the planet, though such planet-wide dust storms are rare.

One feature of Vvvuurrukst that makes it significantly different from the Earth is that the low oxygen level in its atmosphere means that nothing will burn there. There is thus no natural fire on Vvvuurrukst. The closest natural equivalents are volcanic eruptions and their molten lava, or lightening, which arises from dust storms as much as from rainstorms.

---

THE LIFE FORMS OF VVVUURRUKST

With a longer evolutionary history than those of the Earth, the life forms of Vvvuurrukst come in a wider variety of shapes and forms than those of the Earth. Biochemically, they are fairly compatible with the life forms of Earth, to the point that each could eat the life forms of the other and gain enough nutrition from them to survive, although in time they would begin to suffer deficiency diseases due to lack of specific vitamins, trace elements and so on in the other.

The land-living life forms of Vvuurrukst are all at least somewhat more drought-resistant than the life forms of the Earth. Some of them are much more drought-resistant.

Most life on Vvuurrukst also uses a number of types of biological antifreeze to allow it to survive the low temperatures there. Some creatures generate this antifreeze themselves, while others have to ingest it from those that do and use it themselves.

The isolation of the different oceans of Vvuurrukst from one another had led to divergent evolution so that in the present day they all have ecosystems much more different from one another than is the case in the oceans of the Earth, and much more like the diversity that exists between the different isolated continents on Earth. Land life is also very diverse as the deserts of Vvuurrukst also form major geographical barriers.

---

CELLULAR STRUCTURE

This is based on there being grape-sized amoebas in the depths of the Earth's oceans with a volume of some 14 cubic centimetres; see also here Unfertilised ostrich eggs are the largest known single cell, and slime moulds also form large undivided cells at some points in their life cycle.

One major structural difference between the life forms of Vvvuurrukst and those of the Earth is that rather than being constructed from tens of trillions of tiny cells as most life forms on Earth are, the life forms of Vvvuurrukst are composed of much smaller numbers of much larger cells. These cells are macroscopic in size, and are normally at least as large as a grape, so that a human-sized organism might be made up of some hundred or thousands of these large cells.

In many organisms each organ is essentially a single large cell, so that each muscle is one cell, each bone is one cell and so on. In others parts of an organ are a single cell, so that for example each chamber of a heart might be a single cell.

These large single cells are generally about as long-lived as the organism, and they all have their own repair mechanisms to cope with the stresses of everyday life, the level of which varies with how essential the cells is to the survival of the organism as whole, so that more essential ones have less self-repair capability [not unlike organs in animals on Earth]. This does mean that some exceptionally long-lived individuals can be crippled in various ways as what is essentially an entire organ is lost at a stroke as a non-essential cell dies before the body as a whole.

---

SOURCES OF ENERGY

The thin atmosphere and limited amount of tectonic activity on Vvvuurrukst means that most of its life forms depend, directly or indirectly, on energy from the two stars Kttvo and Bztvonn which is turned into chemical energy by plants using photosynthesis. There are a small number of life forms that subsist using chemosynthesis, but because of the limited amount of tectonic and volcanic activity on Vvvuurrukst these are much rarer than on Earth.

---

PLANT LIFE

Because of the redder spectral output of Kttvo and Bztvonn compared to that of the Sun the vegetation of Vvvuurrukst uses different photosynthetic pigments to plants on Earth. Because of this, rather than being green, Vvvuurrukstian plants tend to be a greyish green-blue.

There are the equivalent of flowering plants on Vvvuurrukst. These use a mixture of visual, olfactory and sometimes audible cues to lure in animals to carry their genetic material to another compatible plant. Because the thin air of Vvvuurrukst means there are few flying creatures these flower-analogues tend to be at ground level, either on drooping branches or around the base of the stem(s) of the plant. Some plants have evolved structures of chambers and tunnels to allow in only desirable pollinators and exclude others.

The thin air of Vvvuurrukst also means that those plants that spread their seeds using the wind make use of vast numbers of very light, and often very fluffy seeds, or of structures analogous to the tumbleweed. As an alternative to this many other plants use animals to spread their seeds. To avoid the need for seeds altogether many plants use runners to spread themselves across the ground.

Some runner-using plants have evolved into 'arch trees', which make up the dominant type of large plant on Vvvuurrukst [analogous to trees on Earth]. In these types their runners root at each end with the runner between the ends arching upwards into a tree-like structure, from which leaves and branches grow outwards. These can be taller than trees on Earth due to the lower gravity on Vvvuurrukst, and their trunks and branches either thinner and/or more rigid because of the weaker winds in the thinner atmosphere. Their leaves are often flexible, however.

Away from the coasts of Vvvuurrukst most plants are highly drought-resistant. Because of this many of them have features analogous to those used by cacti on Earth, and have very much reduced processes equivalent to the transpiration used by plants on Earth, or no such processes at all. Plants often have very deep tap roots for storing water, and their leaves are small [not unlike pine needles] to reduce water loss. Many plants deal with dry conditions in a manner not unlike the resurrection plants of Earth [in particular Selaginella lepidophylla] in that they survive dry conditions by desiccating and reviving what moisture becomes available again.

Many have also evolved protection against the omnipresent dust, with slippery-surfaced leaves that point downwards. Some also have hard surfaces to resist damage from dust storms. Plants in dust storm-prone areas often store nutrients and so on to allow them to survive dust storm periods when they are without sunlight.

Plant lifetimes are often longer than Earth plants, but as this is a side-effect of adaptations to the harsher environmental conditions on Vvvuurrukst they often also grow and heal more slowly than plants on Earth, and reproduce less frequently [not unlike desert plants on Earth].

---

ANIMAL LIFE

Like the plants of Vvvuurrukst, its animals tend to be resistant to dry conditions, cold and dust. All land animals have some form of biological anti-freeze in their blood.

The dry and rather resource-poor environment of Vvvuurrukst has further driven its native animals, particularly those that live away from the coasts, into the use of very energy-efficient lifestyles. Because of this they can be either slow-moving or slow living or both, or have energy-saving physiological adaptations [not unlike the jumping of kangaroos]. As part of this many of the animals of Vvvuurrukst also use of hibernation and aestivation to survive the harsh conditions that exist in many parts of their world. For the same reason many animals use burrows or other forms of shelter to sleep in as protection from the cold.

Because of the relatively thin air, all Vvvuurrukstian animals have very efficient respiratory systems, not unlike those of birds on Earth, with very efficient oxygen-carrying chemicals in their circulatory systems. Many creatures also have a supplementary respiratory system not unlike the trachea of insects on Earth to extract more oxygen from the air. Their respiratory systems usually have at least some ability to filter out dust from the air before it reaches the lungs (or equivalent) and remove dust if it does reach the lungs.

Because of the large cells making up their bodies, none of the animals of Vvvuurrukst use an equivalent of red blood cells to carry oxygen about their bodies. Instead, the oxygen-carrying molecules that their bodies use are suspended in the blood itself [not unlike the hemocyanin used by molluscs and arthropods on Earth]. Likewise, the immune systems of Vvvuurrukstian animals do not make use of any equivalent of white blood cells, though they have other mechanisms that compensate for this lack.

Even with their very efficient respiratory systems, many of the animals of Vvvuurrukst are slow, with low-energy lifestyles. A side effect of this and the generally thin air of Vvvuurrukst is that there are far fewer flying creatures on Vvvuurrukst than on Earth. Like Earth animals they use anaerobic respiration for bursts of activity [such as escaping predators], recovering afterwards. They can, however, perform anaerobic respiration for considerably longer than Earth life forms, and recover faster from its effects.

Some of the animals of Vvvuurrukst from both of the major groups are [cold blooded] while others are homoeothermic [warm blooded]; the advantages and disadvantages of these two strategies are roughly the same as for animals on Earth. Some animals, including the Wustrtuu, are a mixture of the two [not unlike swordfish on Earth] with some organs - in particular the brain and sense organs - maintained at a steady temperature while the rest of the body functions are roughly the temperature of the environment around it. In these creatures the warmed organ(s) are well insulated and otherwise protected from the varying temperatures of the body they are part of. In creatures whose brains are maintained at a constant temperature the brain works better and more efficiently, so that they tend to be the more intelligent animals of Vvvuurrukst.

Some animals have water storage capabilities analogous to those of camels on Earth, though not using humps. Many store water in their skins or internally using specialised water storage cells.

Because of the shorter day-night cycle of their world compared to the Earth [being 18 as opposed to 24 Earth hours long], many of the animals of Vvvuurrukst have endurance linked to this shorter cycle, and so can only work, hunt and so on for a proportionately shorter time before needing rest, sleep and so on.

Mainly because of the longer history of life on Vvvuurrukst there is a very significant amount of convergent evolution among the animals of Vvvuurrukst, more so than is the case on Earth.

As there is no natural fire on Vvvuurrukst, animals there have no experience of it and so no fear of it, at least initially. They would quickly learn to have such a fear if required, however.

---

NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

Perhaps as a side effect of their cells being much larger than those of life forms on Earth, all of the animals of Vvvuurrukst do not have brains composed of vast numbers of tiny cells linked and communicating by electrochemical means [like those of Earth animals]. Instead, their brains consist of one of more sacs containing a complex chemical mixture the exact composition of which varies on a very small scale, both in position in the brain and also in time. The processes of thought are carried out by overlapping and interacting waves of chemicals within the brain-sacs. These are both received by chemical receptors on the walls of the sac, triggering nerve impulses and such events elsewhere in the body, and also triggered by chemical transmitters on the sac walls whose activity is triggered by events elsewhere in the body, such as the receipt of sensory information. This gives a brain that gives the equivalent of human-level mental power in a somewhat smaller volume. The brains of the animals of Vvvuurrukst are thus a natural version of the chemical computer. [See also the BBC, more on chemical waves, their phenomenology and using them move objects.]

The development of sentience in the chemical brains used by the animals of Vvvuurrukst is, in my opinion, not necessarily more unlikely, over a timescale of billions of years, than a mass of tiny intercommunicating cells doing the same thing.

It is speculated by the Wustrtuu that their form of brain evolved from that used in large unicellular organisms in which chemical computing helped the cell respond to its environment more effectively. Larger and more specialised cells gave more processing power, so their brain is a collection of a small number of large cells, each one of which forms one sac, and each of which is a very powerful chemical computer.

Outside the brain, the nervous systems of the animals of Vvvuurrukst are a mixture of the purely chemical, like their brains, and the electrochemical [not unlike those of animals on Earth], with electrochemical signals triggering or being triggered by purely chemical activity in the brain.

In the former chemical waves in thin chemical-filled tubes carry messages from end to end, and can also send messages to, or respond to messages from, transceivers along the length of the tube [this has not been shown to occur in the laboratory, but it is not theoretically impossible for faster chemical wave fronts to occur]. Nerves can also, using different waves, carry multiple messages in parallel, and even perform some processing of them in the same way as their chemical brain does.

Because of the high degree of neural plasticity this brain structure allows, animals on Vvvuurrukst tend to be somewhat more adaptable, if not more intelligent, than those on Earth, and more creatures are social, or at least take care of their young, because they have much less in the way of instinct than is the case with animals on Earth.

The muscles of some groups of creatures are also part of the same system, with powerful moving chemical waves coupled with hydraulics giving motion. In these types of creatures the muscles, nerves and brain are all part of what is fundamentally the same system.

Low level chemical brain functioning begins in the foetal stage via a form of 'bootloader' [not unlike the case for Earth animals], so at birth all creatures of a given kind are roughly the same. However, after that the way in which they are raised to adulthood has a huge impact on the way they think and live, so that development can go in a vast range of directions, far more so than is the case for humans.

Because of the structure and functioning of their chemical brains most animals suffer quite a high percentage of 'bootloader' failure, with on average some half of all births failing to come to term. Some are miscarried and ejected from the host. Others can turn into a true cancer that devours the host. Others again simply remain as an inert mass within the host for the rest of their life. Some again are beaten by the immune system of the host and absorbed back into them. The animals of Vvvuurrukst can live with such a high mortality rate among their young because, evolutionary speaking, it is not the genetic parents bearing the cost, but the unrelated host. Among those that do come to term there is also a small percentage of young animals that suffer mental dysfunction of some greater or lesser kind. In a very few cases 'bootloader' errors lead to an advance in mental function. This kind of noetic [mental] mutation can be the source of step changes in the mental functioning of a type of animal.

The brains of animals have a noetic stability, analogous to software stability, that is, how likely a given program (brain) is to suffer catastrophic - fatal - failure or do something unexpected in a given time period. In most species evolution has adapted them so that the brains of individuals have a mean time to failure MTTF of about the same as their physical lifespan, and not much less, but sometimes more.

In addition to total failure, the chemical brains of the animals of Vvvuurrukst can also suffer sudden catastrophic changes to the entire personality and behaviour of an individual. Different noetic populations have different rates of this and therefore different needs to cope with individuals changing dramatically. Most are fairly stable, but not all...

In contrast to this most animals do change somewhat as they encounter and adapt to differing circumstances through the course of their lives. However, these changes build on a fairly stable set of noetic processes that are defined in the early stages of their lives.

Some primitive, unintelligent creatures are able to switch their brains between different noetic states to give them different types of thinking and behaviour as their lifestyle and the pressures of their environment require; this occurs in almost a lycanthropic manner. More advanced creatures cannot do this as it tends to irreversibly overwrite the preceding brain state, so although it would be possible to shift back to the earlier state the memories and so on associated with it - and encoded in the chemical wave patterns of the brain - would be lost and at best they would be amnesiac. This also limits the amount of brain surgery and brain injury animals can suffer without loss of what is essentially the original individual.

A side effect of this chemical brain structure is that animals on Vvuurrukst have a greater ability for their brains to find 'workarounds' to damage and other physical problems when compared to Earth animals. They are also much less susceptible to blunt brain trauma than a human, although punctures to the brain can be very serious indeed. Of course, given that as with Earth animals the brain is as well-protected as possible, damage sufficient to puncture the brain is often likely to kill the animal anyway.

---

NEUROPLASTICITY

The fact that brain function in Vvuurrukstian animals is based on interactions between chemical waves and other processes within their brains, rather than on a physical arrangement of brain cells as is the case with Earth animals, means that animals of the same species can have a much wider range of brain 'architectures' than is the case for Earth animals, and also that the functioning of their brains can be altered much more thoroughly and easily than is the case for Earth animals [including humans]. This means that all of the animals of Vvvuurrukst have a much greater degree of neuroplasticity [that is, the capacity to change the physical structure and organization of the brain - and so its function - by experience] than do Earth animals.

Because of this high degree of neuroplasticity that the animals of Vvvuurrukst possess, different groups of creatures, even if of the same genetic species, can have minds structured in utterly different ways to one another, so that their mental processing and thought processes work in utterly different ways. This variation becomes greater with distance, and also on opposite sides of geographical and other such barriers to the motion and intermingling of populations. Because of this most of the animals of Vvvuurrukst, whether social or solitary in nature, have an intrinsic distrust of strangers, because even among social species strangers may be, effectively, alien in their modes of though, and so cannot be relied on to behave in a manner that one group might consider to be the obvious or sensible one.

Because of this mental plasticity animals - and indeed other Wustrtuu - can be very easy to domesticate or brainwash by surgical or chemical means, though the success of this is not guaranteed.

---

ANIMAL EVOLUTION

Because of their high degree of neuroplasticity the animals of Vvvuurrukst actually develop by way of two parallel evolutionary processes. The first of these is physical (genetic) evolution, basically the same as that which occurs on Earth. The second is noetic (essentially algorithmic) evolution taking place at the level of their brains, but not genetically determined. This is similar to memetics but of a more fundamental - more physical - nature than it, perhaps more equivalent to a combination of memetics and Lamarckian evolution [the idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring].

Genetic speciation among the animals of Vvvuurrukst is slower than that of animals on Earth, because noetic evolution and speciation is faster. Creatures adapt noetically rather than physically where they can, and only when physical limits are reached is there a drive for physical (genetic) changes to occur. Thus, genetically speaking, animal species last longer than those of the Earth due to their noetic flexibility; noetically speaking they last much shorter times.

Populations of animals have an optimal level of noetic variation, which varies with the environment in which they live in a balance between flexibility and stability. Populations can become too noetically unstable to survive. Also, with this form of memetic Lamarckianism, it is possible for animals to adapt themselves into evolutionary dead ends so that they cannot escape a certain way of thinking or of doing things, which may lead them into situations they cannot evolve out of. However, this is no more likely than an organism physically evolving into such a dead end.

Because of their differing and sometimes somewhat unstable mental structures individuals and groups of animals can acquire a sudden 'breakthrough' - a noetic mutation - that gives them an advantage. Because they are thus likely to dominate those without it, the advantage can quickly be spread across their home range, being passed on by the way young creatures are raised by their parents, the lack of a genetic component allow the faster spreading of such advantages. This is mental evolution by a form of punctuated equilibrium [a theory in evolutionary biology proposing that most species will experience little evolutionary change for most of their history and that when evolution occurs, it is localized in rare, rapid events of change and diversification].

---

GENDERS, LIFE CYCLE AND REPRODUCTION

All macroscopic multi-cellular animals on Vvuurrukst are hermaphroditic, but require genetic material from another individual of the same species in order to reproduce; they cannot self-fertilise. They gain this genetic material by eating part of the other individual. The eaten part has nodules of 'stem cells' containing a half genetic code (equivalent to sperm) scattered through it.

In some animals the genetic material resides in something not unlike sub-nuclei within the larger cell; in others it is contained in nested genetically distinct cells within the large cells making up the body of the animal. In some groups of animals, including the Wustrtuu, evolution has driven the development of a specialised appendage which is eaten when reproducing. This appendage typically has no pain receptors and a compartmentalised blood supply so that its being eaten causes as little pain and blood loss as possible to the individual bearing it.

Some creatures can eat parts of more than one other creature of their own species, with impregnation essentially at random from among the eaten genes. With others the new part replaces the genes from the old eaten part.

There is a time delay of perhaps a day after eating during which the genetic material is digested out of the ingested part, combined with the genetic material of the eater and used to produce a number of zygotes made up of a number of undifferentiated virus-like cells. Once these cells have developed impregnation can occur.

Rather than having organs to grow and support their young, the animals of Vvuurrukst instead grow within a host creature that can be genetically unrelated to either parent.

Offspring grow by a process that combines aspects of Earthly viruses, cancer and tumour growth. The parent injects a host creature with a zygote made up of a mass of virus-like cells, each of which holds the genetic material of the new individual. This host creature cannot be too different to the parent [so an equivalent of mammal-to-mammal would work, or reptile-to-reptile, but not reptile-to-mammal or vice versa]. Some of these injected cells are inevitably lost in this process, but at least some survive. They infect cells in the host organism, subverting them to begin cellular division, but using, and reproducing, the new genetic material rather than that of the host, to form tumour-like cell clusters - effectively neoplasms containing the genetic material of the parent.

As these cell clusters grow, they plumb themselves into the circulatory system of the host, and also meet and merge with other clusters of viral cells. In general, as the injection is in one place all of the subverted cells normally merge into a single new individual. However, if some become too far apart from the others - perhaps by being carried in the blood steam - it is possible for them to develop separately into the equivalent of multiple births. Some animals do this deliberately to produce multiple births. In some cases a host can be injected with zygotes from more than one individual, and these can also merge as they grow to form a chimera made up of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells. Unlike cancer the viral cells do not spread to other parts of the body [metastasize], but grow only where they are initially injected or settle.

When these merged cell clusters grow above a certain size they begin to differentiate into a foetus which then develops into a new organism of the parent species. When the new organism is sufficiently well developed - which in most cases means that it is physically well-developed and at near to its adult size - it eats or cuts its way out of the host and begins independent life. How much effect all of this has on the host depends on the relative sizes of host and offspring, but can vary from inconvenience and discomfort to agonising death. Certainly if cell clusters grow in the wrong place, such as the brain or heart, then this will obviously be fatal to the host.

In most creatures the immune system of the host attempts to fight off the effects of a zygote injection. Thus many Vvuurrukstian creatures have very strong immune systems and a high degree of resistance to cancer and similar diseases. Because of this the injected zygote cells often actively attack or suppress the immune system of the host, or subvert it to be ignored. This does not always work, so not all impregnations succeed. The use of cancerous reproduction evolved in animals because the use of (more simple) parasitism became more difficult due to the evolving immune systems of the host creatures detecting and rejecting the implanted parasite, and also because implanting a parasitic offspring is rather hit and miss regarding its location and the goodness of the food supply and protection of the embryo. A mutation in which a group of animals developed the cancerous method allowed them to more readily avoid the immune system of the host, as well as growing the correct environment for the embryo regardless of its location in the host, giving a higher success rate for their offspring, and allowing them to dominate. There are still some animals that reproduce via parasite offspring, but they are very much a minority.

Some animals have evolved to have what is effectively a womb into which the fertilised viral cells are injected and inside which the offspring grows in what might be considered to be 'normal' (if hermaphroditic) sexual reproduction. There are also parasitic creatures that act as 'cuckoos', putting their offspring into the 'womb' of a host where it replaces the true offspring with another. Some animals specialise in implanting their offspring into a small range of hosts; others, including the Wustrtuu, are generalists and can impregnate any animal.

There are creatures of the same species that fight at the breeding season not to mate as such but to determine which individuals are impregnated and which do the impregnating.

Some animals have mutualistic relationships with other species. In these relationships one (normally the larger) species hosts the offspring of the other in return for (for example) protection from predators or a supply of food. Some creatures that make use of these relationships also have a 'womb'. Other creatures are simply parasites on the host, exploiting it for their own ends. Other still are parasitoids and use the injection of young to also eventually kill the host, providing a supply of food for the young once it hatches.

Because of this the animals of Vvvuurrukst have far more parasitic, symbiotic and so on relationships among different species than is the case on Earth.

The most extreme examples of the mutualistic relationships among animals on Vvuurrukst are a group of 'mother' creatures. These have well-developed 'wombs' in which they host the young of one or more other species in return for food and protection, as well as the carrying of its genetic material to others of its kind.

Within this group the most extreme form of these 'mother' creatures are entirely immobile 'mother mounds', an old group of creatures in a stable niche that have not changed very much in a long time. They provide many 'wombs' for hosting the young of their symbiotic protectors. Different species are of different sizes, but all have very little in the way of intelligence or senses. Some of these animals live in symbiosis with 'rat-bees' or amoeboid creatures to provide gene exchange with others of their species. Others have motile macroscopic gene packets.

Among some creatures the young of the species are the ones that have the mating parts that are eaten. Their greater regenerative powers help them grow them and re-grow them over time. For creatures of this type the end of this is the generally accepted transition to adulthood.

Some animals lay 'eggs', budding off self-contained 'cancers' that grow and develop. Others go through generations with the generations of a host creature as a form of inherited cancer. Others again have two species which alternate generations; one lives while the second grows inside it; the first dies as the second emerges, with a 'cancer' of the first growing inside it; a 'yin-yang' life cycle.

A small number of (mostly related) species of carnivorous animal use specialised injections of modified viral cells to kill prey via a severe allergic reaction. Others use viral cells modified in a different way to digest prey alive prior to eating it.

As with reproduction on Earth, there is a failure rate associated with the Vvuurrukst method of reproduction. This tends to be of one of two types. In the first, the growing young fails to develop properly and dies within the host. In this case it may simply remain in the host as an inactive mass of cells, or it may be reabsorbed by the host. At the other extreme the young develops into a malignant tumour which grows in an uncontrolled fashion, consuming resources until it either is removed or kills the host.

---

ANIMAL DEVELOPMENT

Because of the high degree of neuroplasticity in their chemical brains, none of the animals of Vvuurrukst possess a high degree of instinctive behaviour. Instead all but the very simplest animals must learn how to live and survive from their parents or other such individuals, otherwise they will remain incapable of all but the simplest behaviour and most likely not survive. Thus their lack of instinctivity means that most creatures have to care for their offspring, and that nature, which supplies the basic 'hardware' only, is much less important than nurture for Vvuurrukstian animals.

Because of this the raising of the young involves a very high degree of contact with and observation of others from the very start of life, that is, from even before they are born. This is effectively continuum concept parenting. If this is not done, the young creature develops with 'holes' in its understanding that can lead to all kinds of problems in later life.

Because of this there are a number of ways animals on Vvuurrukst care for and raise their offspring.

• The most primitive provide no care at all. These tend to be very simple creatures which can survive using the very basic low-level functionality that a chemical brain is born with. Young are injected into a host, after which they must fend for themselves.
• Above this are those whose young are raised by the first group of its species that it encounters.
• Beyond this are creatures that implant their young in host knowing when the young is to be born, and that then catch up with the host at that point and take the offspring to raise it. Some primitive groups of Wustrtuu use this strategy.
• There are also species where the hosts and parents live in the same territory, or who migrate together. This is very widely used, particularly among species where there is no competition between the host and implanter for food and so on as for them both species gain an advantage. The host normally gains protection while the parents gain knowledge of the location and state of their offspring and the ability to care for them if required. This is also used by creatures that host their young in members of their own species. In some cases creatures that utilise this strategy keep the hosts under control, herd them, and look after them. Most Wustrtuu use this strategy.
• There an some animals, not unlike cuckoos, in which the rearing of the offspring is foisted off on the host creature. This generally only works when the host and implanted animals have similar lifestyles, though of course convergent evolution is likely to drive this in this case.

Because of the need to teach the next generation most of the animals of Vvuurrukst, including the Wustrtuu, have very good memories of their pre-birth lives [as they begin to develop consciousness then, much as Earth animals do], birth and early childhoods. The do not have to use these memories, but they can and most do.

---

TYPES OF ANIMALS

As on Earth, the original life forms of Vvvuurrukst were microscopic single-celled organisms, and there are still a vast number of species of these types of creature on Vvvuurrukst. However, from this point Vvvuurrukstian life has diverged from Earth-type life. This divergence took the form of the growth of single-celled organisms into larger and larger sizes, until they became macroscopic. It was from these macroscopic single-celled organisms that the first multi-cellular organisms evolved, and these retain the large cells that made up their ancestors to this day.

In the oceans of Vvvuurrukst multi-cellular animals evolved into a wide variety of forms, some worm-like, some jellyfish-like, some tentacled and ball-like [not unlike a soft spine-less sea urchin].

---

SENSES

---

THE VOVODZUUAA [THE PREDECESSORS]

Dotted across the Kttvo-Bztvonn system are the remnants of an ancient sentient species, now apparently extinct. These are some 1.6 billion years old. Geological evidence from Vvuurrukst, preserved by its low level of geological activity, indicates that the ancient race evolved there, but other than that very little is known about them. Their main remains are on tectonically inactive bodies such as Twttzbshoort as well as Stllztrraa, Llvozkzbkt and some of the moons of Aahhzb and Sstrff. They consist of the ruins of buildings, mines, tunnels and so on, and have been stripped of any clues as to the race that built them. This race has become known as the Vovodzuuaa [the Predecessors].

---

THE WUSTRTUU

The Wustrtuu are omnivorous creatures that form part of the non-dominant radially symmetrical group of Vvvuurrukstian animals. They evolved on a largely isolated triangular island continent, an environment that allowed the sightless radially symmetrical creatures to dominate the ecosystem.

Their ancestral creature was a flat starfish-like cliff-dwelling hunter that required more central brainpower and limb control than similar creatures in other niches. This brainpower was advantageous in other ways, in particular allowing them to work together to achieve goals and acquire food that they could not do alone. Thus it was kept as the ancestral creature evolved into other niches, away from cliffs to mountains and forests, becoming brachiators and in the process more as they are now. From there they developed to live on flat land, becoming full walkers in the process. As the ancestral Wustrtuu were relatively small hunter/omnivores [omnivores with a carnivorous bent], not unlike pack raccoons, their relatively high intelligence was again retained as a great advantage to them.

Over millions of years, tectonic activity, silting of parts of the ocean and other geological changes built up land bridges between the triangular continent and the adjacent continents, where the ecosystems were dominated by sighted spherically symmetrical creatures. The migration of sighted creatures onto the triangular continent utterly disrupted the ecosystem there as the better-adapted sighted creatures displaced the native creatures. Many native creatures became extinct, and others had to adapt to new niches and lifestyles. The proto-Wustrtuu were one such group. Their acute hearing and chemoception, plus their use of active and passive electroreception at close range allowed them to survive well enough to avoid extinction, and this evolutionary pressure drove them to become more clever, nocturnal - as their lack of sight was then not so much of a disadvantage, though they could be active in daylight if required - and, eventually, into sentience.

Physically, a Wustrtuu is some three metres tall, but with a small body and relatively thin limbs. Thus they nonetheless mass perhaps half as much as an average human. Like some of the other radially symmetrical creatures on Vvvuurrukst they are semi-warm blooded, with their chemical brain and sense organs held at a constant temperature while the temperature of the rest of their body varies with that of the environment. They are resistant to the cold, with a natural antifreeze in their blood. Thus a Wustrtuu needs less food than a human, and because of the very dry environment of Vvvuurrukst also less water. So although Vvvuurrukst could not support as many humans as the Earth can, it can support a much larger population of Wustrtuu.

Similarly to the related animals of Vvvuurrukst, the Wustrtuu are five-fold radially symmetrical. In terms of body plan, the Wustrtuu consist of an ovoid central body suspended below the junction of five multiply-branched tentacular limbs. These limbs act as both arms and legs, with the main trunk of each tentacle supporting their weight and the thinner branches providing manipulative and sensory ability. Some branches are held raised to help increase sensory acuity. Each limb branches essentially at random, so that the limbs of individuals all differ from one another, as do limbs between individuals. Each tentacle and branch is tipped with small hard nail or hoof-like structure, to protect them.

Their bodies are covered in hairless skin that is a pale purplish-white on their upper surfaces, with darker blue-black undersides. However, given their large number of flexible tentacles this is often less than obvious. With training a Wustrtuu can flex their limbs to present a zebra-like camouflage pattern that breaks up their outline still further. Of course, before the invention of Wustrtuu-compatible video technology, they had no idea why such a thing worked, simply that it did. The skin is dotted with sound sensing organs [not unlike the tympanal organs of Earth insects] that provide them extremely sensitive and direction hearing.

A picture of a typical Wustrtuu is shown below:

Dangling from the bottom of the body is the part of the body that holds their genetic material and that is eaten by a partner. This is a limp tentacle with no muscles made up of a roughly segmented chain of single cells. It grows constantly from its base at a slow rate, so that fresh genetic material is always available, and its blood supply is adapted so that when a segment is removed the blood vessels above the eaten part constrict to stop blood flow. Because of the limited blood supply of this body part if it becomes too long the end may begin to suffer from oxygen deprivation. If this occurs then its owner will normally trim the end by eating it, leaving fresh segments available for mating; doing so is something of a nervous tic among Wustrtuu. It cannot cause the Wustrtuu to create injectable viral cell clusters as they cannot self-fertilise. Having a reproductive segment eaten is somewhat painful, but only briefly [the analogous feeling to a human might be pulling off a hangnail], and also has a certain sense of relief to it.

The reproductive segment of another Wustrtuu that is eaten to reproduce tastes delicious to them, a fantastic orgasmic kind of taste. This is an evolutionary adaptation to encourage such ingestion.

Also at the lower end of the body is a single opening that functions as a combined mouth, anus and sexual opening. They have no sense of taste or smell in their mouths; it is instead located in their limbs. Inside this opening they have a five-way jaw/mouth not unlike that of a sea urchin on Earth. Above this is the digestive system, which includes a secondary part for digesting genetic material out of the eaten reproductive parts of another. In the centre of the body, where the temperature is most stable, are the series of chemical sacs that make up the brain of the Wustrtuu. Above this is a complex ten-chambered heart surrounded by the five highly efficient lungs they use to extract as much oxygen as possible from the air of Vvvuurrukst [like those of other animals on Vvvuurrukst these are not unlike the lungs of birds on Earth]. Each lung connects to the outside world via a nostril on the top of the body that includes highly efficient dust-filtering mechanisms. The lungs are supplemented by a system of trachea not unlike those of insects on Earth. The nostrils also contain structures to produce the multi-tonal whistling sounds that make up audible Wustrtuu language.

Also tucked inside a pouch in the mouth of each Wustrtuu is a second tentacle. Unlike the eaten part, this is shorter, stronger and very much under their control, and is tipped with a hard needle-like horn. It is used to inject mature viral cell clusters into a host creature. Not unlike the eating of the genetic material of another, the injecting of genetic material into a host has an orgasmic kind of pleasure to it, though one different to eating genetic material. This again is an evolutionary adaptation to encourage injection.

Individual Wustrtuu are not terribly strong, but they are fast (though not the fastest creatures on their world) and dextrous, with their many manipulative limbs which they use ambidextrously. Because of their physical weakness they have always lived and worked in groups and most of them, when alone, feel vulnerable and afraid, that is they have a racial form of (mild) autophobia [fear of being alone]. They can function when alone, but less well than when in the company of others. Tricks such as the use of recorded sounds, scents and so on can alleviate these feelings by fooling their subconscious minds into believing they are not alone.

Like related creatures the Wustrtuu have no eyes, but they do crudely sense light levels - though not colours - through receptor cells that are sparsely scattered across their skins. Because of this they can tell whether it is light or dark - the overall light level - and also, very roughly, the direction from which any sufficiently bright light is coming.

Like their ancestral creatures, the Wustrtuu have very acute senses of hearing and chemoreception [combined smell and taste], as well as active and passive electroreception. Their chemoreception is sufficiently acute that they can identify individuals and track by scent. Like many other animals on Vvvuurrukst the Wustrtuu also possess a magnetic field sense. [Were the electroreception of a Wustrtuu to be translated to audio it would be heard as a highly complex set of sounds over many frequencies, like something combining multi-layered noise, Theremin music and rhythmic signals; the icon to the right links to an example of this.]

Because of their high intelligence the Wustrtuu have quite large young. Because of this they require large hosts for them. As such a Wustrtuu cannot host a young Wustrtuu and survive, and so in general animals are used as hosts.

---

WUSTRTUU HISTORY

---

CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Because of their high degree of neuroplasticity the Wustrtuu have a very wide range of different cultures and societies, far wider than is the case for (for example) humanity. However, there are common threads to all of their societies, based on their genetic and noetic evolutionary histories, and their history in general.

Wustrtuu society has developed from the pack/troop social organisation used by their non-sentient ancestors, with a number of Wustrtuu living in cooperative groups to survive. It has also been shaped by the need to provide a high level of care to their young to raise them to productive adulthood; this same need has driven most animals on Wustrtuu to be at least marginally social.

Because of their historical need to cooperate to find food and hunt, all Wustrtuu work well together and prefer to seek out company rather than be alone. As such they have little concept of privacy, and are often terrible gossips. On the other hand, because of their drive to succeed within the group - and thus to gain more reproductive success - they are also, as individuals, proud, feeling a need to ensure everyone else knows of their individual importance and being very concerned about individual success, wealth and social standing. Because of this there are constant dominance struggles within groups of Wustrtuu, although because of the noetic mutations that allowed them to live and work in large close groups these rarely descend into physical violence.

Thus because of their both social and proud natures, Wustrtuu society is full of gossip, plotting, social climbing, politics, shifting alliances and so on. They have no nobility as such; individuals may be born high on the social ladder but once adults they only remain there by their own efforts and those of their family.

They can be harsh and merciless to failure, and have very little concept of welfare or a welfare state. Instead they have what is effectively workfare, and indeed often the workhouse instead.

The combination of differing jobs/roles, along with nepotism, means that all Wustrtuu societies have a tendency to fragment into different groups. Because of this tendency to schism into new and different castes, only the evolution of the Zkuktnn [Connectives] has allowed technological civilisation been able to grow and prosper in the longer term. Even so, all of the dominant advanced and high-technology Wustrtuu societies on Vvuurrukst are caste-based ones, where all are part of a larger whole. Individuals buy into the caste system as they are told, and indeed can see, that the alternative is worse [and this is probably actually true!].

Zkuktnn [Connectives] and Nnsteetwtzkmdkm [Caste Engineers] are what allow Wustrtuu society to be unified (via the Zkuktnn) and able to adjust, adapt to and cope with change (both the Zkuktnn and Nnsteetwtzkmdkm). In addition to this the Wustrtuu try to build adaptability into their social system (if normally imperfectly), because they know that they will change, and if they do not adapt they will fail. Zkuktnn and Nnsteetwtzkmdkm provide a structure into which castes can slot, but the structure itself can (and must) also change. This change often consists of expansion, as the demands of technological society lead to more castes being necessary, but it also adapts to castes changing, or some castes being replaced by others. Thus Wustrtuu society is in fact highly robust against attempts by outsiders to disrupt or change it.

As a side effect of their acute sense of smell the Wustrtuu are all very aware of differences between themselves and outsiders, however that may be defined. Because of this chauvinism and the treatment of some individuals as lesser, second class, members of a group is almost universal among them.

The master-servant relationship that individual Wustrtuu have with their own limbs also means that the Wustrtuu are more accepting of the slavery or servitude of other individuals, or their being kept in subordinate social and political positions, than is the case with humans. On the other hand, and for the same reason, this subordination is coupled with respect for those in that condition too, as one must respect ones own body parts.

The competition between different Wustrtuu cultures and societies has also driven their social and noetic development. It has made the dominant Wustrtuu cultures and societies clever, innovative and aggressive but also essentially short-termist and reactive to events rather than proactive, as immediate needs inevitably gain higher priorities over long-term goals. This makes most Wustrtuu cultures essentially unsustainable in the long term. Therefore they tend to career from crisis to crisis, usually finding expedient solutions but not fundamentally changing. [This is not unlike an enhanced version of capitalist western civilisation from the real world.]

This short-termist and expediency-driven outlook drives the Wustrtuu to be expansionistic and growth-orientated in order to survive, but also - and basically inevitably - leads to disasters from time to time. This view gives members of all of the dominant Wustrtuu cultures a surface pessimism overlying a deeper and perhaps unrealistic optimism and they consider that, yes, bad things will happen, but that in the end they will pull through. This makes them all rather 'Micawberish'.

Of course, some Wustrtuu realise that their short-termism may doom them all in the longer term, but cannot stop it or their culture will lose to those who do not stop. Thus they are trapped. As one way to escape this trap more than one culture desires to take control of all Wustrtuu, and then impose a longer-term and more sustainable view on them all. This is, needless to say, a difficult proposition!

In the past there were a number of Wustrtuu societies that were in tune with nature and so on, primitive philosopher-types living sustainably on the land. They were wiped out by more expansionistic cultures. However, the dominant Wustrtuu cultures tend to be not very interested in history. Their short-termist view of the world discourages it. In addition, the fact that many older noetic groups - including in some cases their own ancestral groups - are essentially alien, and because of this difficult to comprehend, further discourages many of examining the past in any detail.

The Wustrtuu have always made great use of mass communications to bind societies together. The first such means was town criers making public announcements in the streets, but with the development of technology to do so, newspapers, radio and then other means of mass communications have largely taken over this role.

There have, in the past, been some attempts by some governments to force a fixed social hierarchy on the Wustrtuu. However, these have all failed, some of them disastrously, because of the occurrence of noetic evolution and mutation regardless of all attempts to control it. Others have attempted to stabilise society by avoiding nepotism and having all Wustrtuu start on an equal footing. This is also difficult to achieve. For the Wustrtuu caste systems seem to be the only practical way of including change within a roughly stable society.

Wustrtuu societies divide into two broad groupings depending on how their young are cared for. This split is between communal and parental care of the young. Most of the more successful Wustrtuu cultures make use of the latter as it allows individuals to become more competitive and expansionistic to maximise individual success (or that of the family), and so, generally, the success of their culture.

Because the raising of young Wustrtuu involves contact with and observation of others from the very start of life all Wustrtuu are raised using what is effectively the continuum concept parenting, that is near constant physical contact and interaction with those looking after them. If this is not done, their very plastic brains develop with 'holes' in their understanding leading to all kinds of problems in later life. Therefore crèches and the young being present in workplaces are very common among the Wustrtuu.

In most Wustrtuu castes it is possible for there to be love between individual Wustrtuu, and in particular those who pair-bond and care for their offspring in a family unit of some kind. Between partners this love does not have a protective elements to it [as a human man might have for his wife] as neither member of a pair is any more or less physically vulnerable than the other. On the other hand, most (though not all) Wustrtuu are highly protective of the host of their young, at the very least while they are carrying them if not necessarily afterwards. Wustrtuu are even more protective of their actual children. And of course, not unlike humans, most Wustrtuu can also feel jealousy and passion, and are entirely capable of committing crimes of passion if suitably provoked.

Some Wustrtuu cultures see themselves as the peak of evolution and so try to preserve their noetic groupings (phenotypes) as they currently stand. This means that many dominant groups have a tendency to drift into rigidity and stasis.

A minority take a more evolutionary view, and see themselves as inevitably being superseded, but as this will be by their own children, who will hopefully be better than themselves, do not object to this, and would see them adapt and advance down the generations.

Even with their efforts to maintain societies in a relatively stable, correctly functioning state, there are rare outbreaks of 'noetic cancer' where something, some idea or noetic process, goes wrong so that dangerous ideas and behaviours begin to spread through a society and must be contained, or that society as a whole will be in danger. This is the very thing brought down a number of ancient societies. The Nnsteetwtzkmdkm [Caste Engineers] are, in general, those responsible for detecting, controlling and stopping any such noetic cancers. Of course they are also, from time to time, responsible for attempting to create such cancers among enemy societies [something perhaps as dangerous and liable to grow beyond control as is the case with biological warfare].

---

CRIME AND LAW

Among the dominant Wustrtuu cultures, the purpose of the law is seen as maintaining the social fabric and society as a whole, with individuals having to fit into this overall goal. Attitudes to individual rights and freedoms vary widely across different cultures, but in all of them they are considered subservient to the good of society as a whole.

As such there is no unified code of law among all Wustrtuu, even those within a given culture/society. Instead, what is a crime, and what the penalty for committing it is varies between castes, and sometimes also between different locations.

Also, as an offshoot of their spiritual beliefs, among most Wustrtuu cultures it is considered that all events occur because someone or something caused them, and so that nothing happens by random chance or bad luck. Thus all accidents and so on are normally investigated as if they were crimes, normally considered to be of violence or vandalism.

Theft, violence and murder are considered to be crimes for all castes. The severity of theft depends on who it was done by, to whom, and what was stolen. Violence that affects the ability of an individual to work - culminating at its most serious in murder - is always considered a crime. It may be considered to be theft, either from a caste or from society as a whole. Murder is considered to be the ultimate form of such theft.

For many castes trespass is also considered a crime. Among the Wustrtuu trespass is part of a group of crimes covering actions seen to attack or undermine the caste system itself, and so society as a whole. As such it is treated very seriously and is covered by a variety of sumptuary laws. As part of this some castes are forbidden some types of things. Trespass outside defined physical and intellectual boundaries for ones caste and level within that caste are also considered to be crimes. How serious this is depends on the caste, and the level of the perpetrator within the caste. Other crimes considered to be trespass include illicit cross-training, unauthorised mind-wipes, child rearing or experimenting with same being overseen by non- Nnsteetwtzkmdkm, and so on.

There are some sex-related crimes among the Wustrtuu. Breeding outside of ones caste is not a crime; likewise there is no miscegenation. There is no rape as such among them. The taking of genetic material without permission is sometimes considered as minor theft and sometimes more as a form of assault. Impregnation of a Wustrtuu by another can be considered murder, but not always, depending on the relative caste/social positions of the parties involved.

The detection of crime among the Wustrtuu uses forensics and deductive skills, not unlike humans, with trials being carried out by members of a judicial caste (or the equivalent).

The punishment for a given crime depends on the crime, the caste of the perpetrator, and the level of the perpetrator within their caste. Punishments tend to be harsher for lower castes and lower level members of castes, though depending on the crime they may also be more lax. For example, lower castes have harsher punishments for breaking the rules, trespass outside defined physical and intellectual boundaries and so on, but less harsh ones for intra-caste violence, theft and so on.

Punishments include:

• Fines.
• Corporal punishment.
• Re-education by the Nnsteetwtzkmdkm [Caste Engineers]. They give the offender a 'refresher course' intended to (attempt to) return them to 'normal' via the manipulation of brain plasticity.
• Imprisonment, with or without labour.
• Solitary confinement. This is either for a fixed period, which may cause madness or other noetic changes due to isolation, or until madness ensues. This latter is a punishment for particularly heinous crimes. 'Sending to Coventry' is a form of this punishment practised by some cultures. Because of its mental effects this punishment is very feared, more so than death in many groups.
• Mind-wipe; done by disrupting the chemical computer that is their brain (for example by stirring) with the individual being returned to a childlike state. They then start a new life as a member of a lower caste (often a very much lower caste) with a lesser mind. The madness resulting from solitary confinement is often followed by such a mind wipe.
• Execution. This is easier and more certain than a brain reset, but is considered to be less 'humane'.

Some punishments, for minor offences, are handled through the caste of the offender. More major crimes are dealt with by the state.

---

DRESS AND DECORATION

Even though they have evolved on a colder world than the Earth and so are more resistant to the cold than humans, the Wustrtuu still require protection from the more extreme weather conditions of Vvuurrukst. In moderately cold conditions they wear 'vests' over their bodies to help insulate them from the cold, while leaving their limbs free. This helps their brains maintain a constant temperature while their limbs operate at whatever temperature they must. In even colder conditions they will wear a poncho-like garment that covers them from top to bottom, or, where this is required, a form of body stocking that leaves the limbs free. Neither of these are considered ideal, however, as they both restrain their limbs and tentacle branches, and also limit their senses.

With their lack of sight clothing has no colouration beyond its natural hue. However, it can be woven with conductive or resistive threads to give it patterns and other decorations to their electroreceptive sense. Tattooing using conductive or resistive inks is also practised for the same reason.

In addition to this, when necessary they will wear shoes not unlike socks with a sole. However, shoes are not worn by all Wustrtuu by any means.

Because of their sensitive sense of smell the use of perfumes and scents is very widespread among the Wustrtuu.

In most cultures members of different castes wear some sort of unambiguous identifying marks to instantly identify their place in society. These marks can take the form of some sort of uniform, tattooing, clothing items, body paint or jewellery.

---

WUSTRTUU FOOD AND DRINK

Much like that of humans, Wustrtuu cuisine has evolved in response to the foods available in their environment, their chemoreceptive senses and the mores of their societies.

With natural fire being impossible because of the low oxygen levels in the atmosphere of Vvuurrukst, Wustrtuu cuisine is based on chemical treatments of food - pickling, marinades and so on - rather than heat treatments such as those used by humans. The only exceptions to this are those cultures with access to natural heat such as hot springs and so on that can be used for cooking.

Because their senses of taste and smell are on their manipulative tentacles, and so using utensils would rob them of the tasting of their food, when the Wustrtuu eat, they make no use of implements such as knives and forks and instead eat with their 'fingers'. They do, however, use implements of various kinds when cooking and preparing food.

Their very acute sense of taste and smell also means that their food is very bland by human standards. They are not incapacitated by bad smells, but do not like them.

Because of how they reproduce, food and breeding are intimately linked among the Wustrtuu. Gene exchanges among couples are often the climax of a feast or banquet where each member of the breeding pair tempts and excites the other with tasty treats. Even food unrelated to breeding activity can still have that frisson attached to it.

Because of this, cannibalism, ritual or much more rarely literal, is common among them.

For particularly significant meals the reproductive cells of other creatures may be part of the menu. For the particularly rich these may be the reproductive segments of other Wustrtuu [obtained voluntarily or otherwise depending on the society in question], normally sterilised so they cannot become active when eaten. For others the equivalent parts of other animals are eaten; these are normally treated and seasoned to make them taste as much like those of Wustrtuu as possible.

Thus for the Wustrtuu food is even more socially significant than it is for humans. As such it has become surrounded by layers of ritual, manners and so on. Eating in public is considered rude by a minority of groups due to its being linked to breeding. Also sharing food across social and political boundaries is frowned upon - it can be considered not unlike 'sleeping with the enemy', or a transgression of the trespass laws.

On the other hand, because it is something essentially universal to all castes, food and the rituals surround it are a commonly-used way of linking the castes making up a society together, much like music and so on. As such national cuisines have very great significance to them, so that 'fusion' cuisines are very rare.

---

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Wustrtuu have a sense of beauty and aesthetics which, like that of humans, has developed out of their assessment of the genetic fitness of others of their race, good places to live, good foods to eat and so on.

The Wustrtuu have a rich tradition of aural [sound-based] arts, consisting of music, song and the spoken word. Because of their different aesthetics, and also the higher sensitivity and different frequency range of their hearing, these can be both very odd and partly or wholly inaudible from the human perspective.

Their spoken arts have led on to literature and other written works, much as occurred with humans.

As might be expected, because of their lack of eyes, the Wustrtuu do not have any type of visual arts. However, their highly acute sense of smell has led to the development of a number of different types of scent art, some dynamic and some static.

Their electroreceptive sense has also led to the development of art forms using static and dynamic electric fields generated in space between and around field coils and other structures.

Wustrtuu dance and voice theatre often makes use of more than simply motion and sound, incorporating scents and electrical fields into the performance to add layers of meaning to it, all of which is perceived by the Wustrtuu in the audience. However, dance and so on are not things performed in front of large audiences due to the limited range of their electroreception sense.

Some schools of art - in particular ones using music and electroreceptive arts - are specifically intended to bind a given culture together. They do this using forms and themes that are something that runs in common across most or all castes within that society. These forms and themes tend to be ones that affect the very 'low level' parts of the Wustrtuu brain, so they may feel very 'primitive' to those sensing them. It also means that such arts may be very much 'lowest common denominator' art forms.

---

LANGUAGE

For the Wustrtuu the idea that the varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages make speakers of different languages think and behave differently [that is, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis] is very much the case across and even within castes. For them the reverse, that different experiences shape languages differently is also clearly true.

Because of this languages are another thing that is used to hold cultures and societies together. As such, for many of them the Nnsteetwtzkmdkm also do their best to shape and manipulate language to stabilise and control society, its changes and its evolution.

Words in one of the more common Wustrtuu languages, Oodkssvo, can be generated using this Wustrtuu Word Generator.

In terms of speech itself, the Wustrtuu have two possible modes of speech that they use as the situation demands.

• The first of these is whistle speech that is used for long-range communication or when talking to large numbers of individuals at once is required. This speech is fairly crude and not capable of great nuance or subtlety. However, when it is required to be used these things are not usually required in any case.
• A much more nuanced, but much shorter range, form of communication is 'electro-speech', using the fields they generate with their active electroreception to communicate. This is a much richer and more nuanced form of speech. It has two modes of use:
  • A declamatory mode, in which (relatively) strong electric fields are generated in the space around the body of a Wustrtuu for all in the vicinity to detect.
  • And an intimate mode, in which weak fields are generated at a single point on the Wustrtuu - normally a single tentacle - such that they can only be detected if another Wustrtuu is touching the speaker in the appropriate place. Wustrtuu often walk along 'hand in hand' to conduct conversations in this mode.
  
  Were the electroreception of a Wustrtuu to be translated to audio it would be heard as a highly complex set of sounds over many frequencies, like a combination of multi-layered noise, Theremin music and rhythmic signals. Click the icon for an example of this.

With the intelligence and training to do so it is possible for an individual to use the intimate mode of speech to have different conversations with more than one individual at a time, and sometimes even while also conducting a conversation in whistle speech too. Because of the their nature of their speech-producing mechanisms they can speak constantly without having to pause for breath.

---

NAMES

Because of the very great differences between different Wustrtuu cultures and castes, the forms of names that are used vary a great deal. However, there are some common factors. All names include a caste designation, normally as the first part of a name. After that is some combination of family and individual name.

Depending on whether young Wustrtuu are raised communally or by their genetic parents the family name may be related to community that raised them or the individuals who did so. Depending on the culture and caste of the individual both family and individual names may be anything from simple to very complex and involved.

Even members of the non-sentient castes - whether genetically Wustrtuu or not - are given names, although of course they do not understand them as a sentient Wustrtuu would.

---

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

The oldest - and still the most common - Wustrtuu writing schemes are read by touch alone, using a tactile script, analogous to Braille. So that text can be written and read without the reader losing contact with the page, script often spirals into the centre from a defined (and often marked) corner or other point of the page; these spirals may be circular or elliptical but are more commonly rectangular so as to fill as much of the page as possible.

With advancements in their technology over time writing schemes using electrically conductive or resistive inks, that are 'visible' to their electroreceptive sense have also been invented, and since then also a few schemes that use scent or taste marks on a page to impart meaning.

Given that their senses of touch, electroreception and chemoreception are all located in their manipulative tentacles, Wustrtuu texts sometimes, particularly for cases where the text is considered particularly important or special, have extra 'layers' perceived by one or more of additional senses beyond the sense - normally touch or electroreception - used for the main meaning of the text. This adds extra meaning and depth to the text. With the development of higher technology these extra layers have become more commonly used by most cultures.

Because of the semi-autonomous nature of their limbs, the Wustrtuu are, with training, able to read more than one text at the same time.

---

NUMBERS

Because of the five-fold radial symmetry of their bodies, the basic unit of counting among the Wustrtuu is base five. However, because this is somewhat impractical when considering large numbers, most Wustrtuu use base 25 [a pentavigesimal system] for all of their everyday needs.

---

TIME

As for humans, time among the Wustrtuu is measured in relation to the natural rhythms of the world around them. As such the three major units of time among them are:

• The year of Vvuurrukst, a period some 394 local days [295 Earth days] long. The Wustrtuu sense this by the changing temperatures over the course of their year.
• The rotation period of Kttvo and Bztvonn, the two suns of Vvuurrukst, about their common centre of mass, a period that, from the perspective of Vvuurrukst, is some 19.7 local days [14.8 Earth days] long. Again, although blind the Wustrtuu can sense the changing light levels and changing temperatures that occur during this cycle. Some more primitive Wustrtuu cultures use half of this period, but more advanced ones are aware that the full cycle is the true one. There are almost exactly 20 of these cycles per year of Vvuurrukst, so they form the Wustrtuu equivalent of months.
• The day of Vvuurrukst, a period some 18 Earth hours long. Although they do not have eyes as such, the Wustrtuu can sense light and dark and so are aware of a day-night cycle.

The Wustrtuu do not use the orbital period of Twttzbshoort, the moon of Vvuurrukst, as a measure of time. This is because Twttzbshoort is small and far from Vvuurrukst, so that it raises very small tides and is invisible to the Wustrtuu, and so, historically, had no influence on their timekeeping.

The Wustrtuu divide each day into six periods:

• Mmzkktaazt [Becoming Light]; the period around sunrise; this includes the period of up to twenty minutes after Kttvo has risen but before Bztvonn has done so, or after Bztvonn has set and before Kttvo has done so.
• Ffrrmmee [Brightening]; the morning.
• Rtnntrm [Fading]; the afternoon.
• Wuztmllvv [Becoming Dark]; the period around sunset, including the period when only one star may be above the horizon.
• Uuhhrr [Darkening]; the evening.
• Aaffzboo [The Darkest]; the early hours of the morning.

Originally these six periods had differing lengths depending on what they were and the seasons of the year, but with the rise and spread of civilisation and clocks they have become standardised to all have the same length. Thus each one is some three hours long.

For historical reasons related to an ancient tradition of symmetry, each of the six day periods is itself subdivided into six equal sub-periods [each of some thirty Earth minutes long]. These are each divided into 125 equal periods [each of some 14 Earth seconds long]. When smaller time periods are required these periods are further subdivided into smaller units by dividing them by 25 [giving periods some 0.6 seconds long], with further divisions by 25 being used for progressively smaller units of time.

Originally the Wustrtuu time measurement system was synchronised with the actual day-night cycle of Vvuurrukst. However, over time small errors in the system relative to the actual day length have led to it becoming de-synchronised from it [as has happened with various calendars and timekeeping systems on Earth]. Because the Wustrtuu are blind they operate as well without light as with it, so there is little motivation to change the system to synchronise it. Because of this the nominal time according to Wustrtuu clocks bears no relation to the time according to the position of the suns in the sky.

For similar reasons, over time the simplicity of doing so has led to all of Vvuurrukst becoming the same time zone, which of course means that local time bears even less relation to the time according to the position of the suns in the sky.

---

WUSTRTUU SETTLEMENTS

Across Vvuurrukst, Wustrtuu settlements of all sizes have a layout that is in general governed by a combination of geography and society [as for humans!]. In particular, the layout is governed by the needs of the castes that live in the place to work together. As such they are divided into quarters [areas] in which most of a given caste live and where - depending on the nature of their employment - they may also work. The quarters of Zkuktnn [Connectives] who facilitate communications between given castes are normally found between the quarters of those castes, and also around areas where castes may mix, such as railway stations, markets and so on. Among the poorer castes, their quarters are normally dotted with spaces for the enclosures of the host creatures that they use for breeding, often mother mounds.

Because of castes often living in the areas where they work, Wustrtuu settlements do not, in general, use zoning to divide up their settlements into areas based on land use.

Because of the blindness of the Wustrtuu there are no colours in their settlements other than the natural colours of the materials of which they are constructed. Likewise their settlements have a very utilitarian look to them. On the other hand they are often aesthetically pleasing to the Wustrtuu themselves [as human settlements, regardless of how aesthetically pleasing to a human, might be very much not so to a Wustrtuu].

To help their sightless citizens find their way about, Wustrtuu settlements are signposted in a number of ways. The most common of these are scent marks, renewed from time to time by civil workers, and often read by an individual slapping their tentacles onto walls and other structures. Wind-powered whistles and clackers of various notes and chords, and in more advanced settlements the use of artificial electric field patterns are also used to mark locations. In particular they are used for guidance and warnings in roads and on pavements [analogous to the use of white lines and the like on human roads]. In some places signage using lights exists; although the Wustrtuu cannot see as such, they can detect light and changes in intensity, so that coded signals not unlike those of lighthouses work reasonably well for them.

By human standards, Wustrtuu cities are very quiet and clean. There are very few vehicles that do not run on some sort of guideway, so that what vehicles there are vehicles such as trams, underground trains, guided buses and cable cars. There are no cars and lorries as such apart from a small number that use video-to-electroreception sensor systems or some other means for a Wustrtuu to drive them. As such most of the Wustrtuu in settlements are pedestrians.

Wustrtuu buildings are windowless and unlit inside, though they do have ventilation. Obviously their cities and vehicles - underground trains and so on - also have no lights or other visual signage. The nature of the Wustrtuu themselves means that their cities are active all the time, with no drop of activity at night. Where buildings are temperature controlled, they are maintained at a temperature above freezing, but considerably lower than a human would find comfortable.

The Wustrtuu use stairs in their buildings, but because of the nature of their limbs these have risers more than half as much again taller than those used by humans on Earth, and with much narrower treads than human stairs. They also have handrails to assist the climber.

The Wustrtuu have long made considerable use of canals and other forms of irrigation to expand the amount of fertile land available to them. They also make extensive use of dams and other irrigation schemes. In the past they have made use of deep underground aquifers, but in most cases over-use depleted these long ago. On the other hand shallower aquifers accessed via qanat-type technologies to supply water to settlements from far away sources are still widely used. Although some forms of irrigation have increased the soil salinity where they are used, this is not such a problem for Vvuurrukstian life and plants in particular due to its greater salt tolerance.

In terms of furniture, there are two main types of seating used by the Wustrtuu:

• A seat like a tall, padded egg cup with a hole in the middle so that their mouths and genitals are not covered or sat on. The individual Wustrtuu lowers themselves into it to sit.
• A seat like a tall stand, with two protruding prongs on which the body of the Wustrtuu rests and a backrest to lean against. The two prongs again ensure that their mouths and genitals are not covered or sat on.

Wustrtuu beds are essentially padded nest where one or more Wustrtuu can curl up and sleep. Blankets and other forms of bedding are normally used; these are basically the same as the human equivalents.

Tables are basically the same as those use by humans, but at as with stairs at least half as much again taller than them.

---

RELIGION

Because of the semi-autonomous nature of their limbs, so that full control of them in many tasks requires training and mental discipline, some Wustrtuu see the universe as rings of parts of themselves over which they have increasingly little control, radiating out from themselves to their limbs, then other individuals, then the world around them, then the universe at large [the inverse of pantheism]. This is very similar to their view of politics. The main difference with many religious views is that rather than being in the centre of these rings, religions often see individual Wustrtuu as being within the rings of control and influence of one or more deities.

Some consider that the universe becoming more and more awake by their coming to control more and more of it is the best way forward for themselves and the universe. Others consider that the universe - all of the universe - is a part of themselves and nothing is beyond them. Because of this Solipsism [the idea that one's own mind is all that exists and so that knowledge of anything outside the mind is unjustified] is common in their philosophy, as are messiah complexes. As part of this throughout their history many Wustrtuu have disbelieved in a larger universe as part of a kind of global solipsism.

Another common view arises from the fact that full control of their own limbs - imposing their will on that of the limbs - is a function of mental discipline and will. From this has grown a form of animism in which everything has a spirit, a will of its own, that must be influenced or controlled. From this Wustrtuu have, over time, evolved 'techniques' to influence the larger world outside their bodies using what is effectively 'magic' or superstition. Regardless of the details a belief in magic and spirits, but not necessarily gods, is common among the Wustrtuu.

Because of this a majority of Wustrtuu believe that all events that take place happen because something or someone caused them, or influenced events to do so. Thus nothing happens by random chance. And other Wustrtuu, the spirits (and perhaps gods) must be persuaded, placated or controlled to gain a desired end.

The evolution of magics among the Wustrtuu is what eventually led to the development of science by them [not unlike the case for humanity].

How the spirits are considered and treated depends very much on the ideology of the individual involved. In the competitive ideology that dominates the Wustrtuu, everything else is in competition with the individual and so 'magic' is tied up with dominance and control, of other Wustrtuu or of animals, hosts, nature and so on. Everything has spirits which are trying to make their way in the world and it is these spirits trying to control the world in what it considers to be its best interests - like those of the individual Wustrtuu itself controlling its limbs and the world beyond - that makes them compete with everything else for power, position and so on.

This leads to a bottom-up spiritual hierarchy rather than a top-down one. Of course, not everyone can control things beyond their own limbs well. In fact in many cultures only priestly types, or those with physical, intellectual or oratorical power are considered able to control things beyond the bounds of their own body. In parallel with this, some noetic groups include religion as part of their society while others reject it.

This spiritual competition includes both the spirits of things and places, and also the beliefs of other Wustrtuu. Because of this the destruction of the sacred and religious sites of others has long been part of war and this more general social and spiritual competition.

Wustrtuu religions include:

• The most ancient surviving group of Wustrtuu religions holds that there are two deities, the Earth, the ground, the host and nurturer, and the Water, a trickster enemy. Animals are divided among those of the Earth and those of the Water, depending on their relationship with the Wustrtuu. Tectonic activity is considered to be the Land and the Water fighting, while weather is caused by the Water.
  • A creation myth related to this is that the Wustrtuu and the other large animals of Vvuurrukst arose from hives of social creatures merging or being merged into larger group entities. It is considered that Water did this, squashing hives together in some great storm. The examples of social creatures on Vvuurrukst, as well as of the large visible cells of all animal life lends some support to this belief.
• One of the most common groups of Wustrtuu religions holds that as limbs and the larger world form circles of control out from an individual, so individuals are part of the circles of control of (one or more) higher entities that may themselves form part of yet higher circles and so on. Some consider there to be five such levels because of their five-fold symmetry. Some hold that four-limbed animals are inferior because they 'obviously' have less 'levels'. The higher circles may be considered to be the 'spirit' of a city, nation, other group, the world, life as a whole, the universe as a whole and so on.
• Another group of religions sees each noetic group as the embodiment of part of a separate spirit, one of a whole family of such spirits. A caste society is seen as the embodiment of a number of closely related spirits. The reactions of spirits to other groups vary with the exact religion, but some justify the seeing of others as enemies and so on. Some see new noetic groups as the offspring of old ones; others see them as splitting off from old groups; others again as a transformation of the old spirit, which makes the Wustrtuu of the old group very much unwanted by the new. One such group believes that there is only one spirit, reborn and transforming from the dawn of time to the present day, and that is embodied only in themselves so that all other noetic groups are false and the enemy. All of these beliefs imply that to all such the spirit an individual has is determined after birth. And that therefore young Wustrtuu are considered to be soulless until a certain point in their development is reached. [Sentient aliens would probably not fit terribly well into this sort of belief system...]
• Some Wustrtuu religions posit the idea that each individual is part of a universal whole and so should know and accept their place within that whole. In the present time this is generally unpopular as it goes against their current competitive cultures. However, it is found among some of the more dictatorial Wustrtuu societies.

Many Wustrtuu cultures share a common belief in something not unlike 'demons of the dark' - things that lurk beyond the reach of what they can sense, and which are threatening to them. It is speculated that this belief stems from the primitive times when the sightless Wustrtuu were vulnerable to sighted predators and other such animals.

---

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The science and technology of the Wustrtuu have been driven by the environment of their world, and also by the limitations of their bodies and senses [not unlike the case for humans].

It appears that in the low oxygen levels of the atmosphere of Vvvuurrukst things will, in general, not burn at all. Air on Earth is composed of about 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and 1% of other gases. That of Vvvuurrukst is some 12% oxygen. According to this site wood stops burning when the oxygen content falls to 17% and plastic cables between 16 to 17%, while matches, candles and lighters basically do not work. For more see this post in the thread Fire in different oxygen content on the Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum.

The most major influences on their development have been their lack of sight and perhaps more importantly the low oxygen levels in the atmosphere of Vvuurrukst.

The former very much limited their ability to expand across Vvuurrukst, and also the development of sciences such as astronomy.

The latter means that fire cannot be created on Vvuurrukst without technological assistance. As such the development of combustion, metalwork, ceramics and so on were all delayed relative to humanity. As far as metalwork goes only those that exist in native forms could be used. Without ceramics wood and stone vessels - with all the limitations they imply - were used instead.

On the other hand, necessity and investigation drove the development of chemistry, within the limits imposed by the lack of fire, at least as fast as was the case on Earth. This combined the Wustrtuu electroreceptive sense also led to the development of (albeit primitive) electrical technology at a relatively early stage of their development.

Although with the development of fire at the beginning of the Vozkvow Mmmuuaa [Time of Fire] technology did develop more quickly, it was still limited by the need for oxidiser chemicals to make fire possible. This means that, although external and internal combustion engines, as well as jet engines and so on do exist among the Wustrtuu, their need for oxidisers such as nitric acid and peroxides make them more clumsy and cumbersome than is the case on Earth. Cars and so on do not just need to carry fuel, they need to carry fuel and oxidiser, with consequent reductions in the loads they can carry. Because of this electrical engine technology is used much more widely than on Earth and their technology went from wind, water and animal power to electrical power with combustion-powered engines only coming much later, or not at all.

Also, fire is treated as a potentially dangerous industrial process, not in the semi-casual way it is by humans. Perhaps the most analogous thing on Earth is the way piped gas is treated - as useful, but also as something to be careful of.

Another side effect of the low oxygen levels there is that once created, iron and so on corrode less rapidly on Vvvuurrukst than on Earth. This has an effect on how metal structures are protected from the elements. Likewise the dustier and dryer environment of Vvvuurrukst has affected how their technology is designed and protected.

Because of their lack of sight, the Wustrtuu did not develop any science of optics until they were quite technologically advanced in other fields, and had developed instruments - cameras - that could detect light. As such astronomy was also a science that developed much later for them than was the case for humans, which meant that the realisation that their world was not the centre of the universe, and also that their world is but a tiny mote in relation to the universe as a whole came to them much later in their technological development than it has done to humans. Because of the relative lateness of this, there remain some Wustrtuu who deny these facts, despite their being demonstrably true [much as there are still humans who deny the reality of evolution and natural selection, despite it too being demonstrably true].

On the other hand, their sensitive ears and electroreceptive sense led to their having advanced sciences of acoustics, electrostatics and electrodynamics much earlier than was the case for humans. As a side effect of the latter they developed electrical technology significantly earlier than humanity.

Electronic circuit design for the Wustrtuu is a much more intuitive process, and much more of an art for them than for humans, because they can sense the electricity in the circuit. Because of this many of their designs are more subtle and use effects such as parasitic capacitance in them than is the case with human circuitry.

---

OTHER RACES

The low atmospheric pressure on Vvuurrukst may cause medical problems for un-adapted humans, such as High altitude pulmonary oedema or High altitude cerebral oedema. It may also cause problems with fertility and low birth weights in non-adapted populations [as mentioned here].

Similarly, Vvvuurrukstian animals - including the Wustrtuu - may suffer problems on Earth, the equivalent of oxygen toxicity in humans. The thicker atmosphere of the Earth would also mean that sounds there would be transmitted some four times further than on Vvuurrukst, which might make Earth environments uncomfortably loud for them.

In addition to this they may have technological problems on worlds with higher oxygen levels than Vvuurrukst. This is because they are unfamiliar with fire and their technology and materials are optimised for environments there things do not (indeed, cannot) burn. Likewise, as there is no natural fire on Vvvuurrukst, animals there have no experience of it and so no fear of it. At least initially.

Although the two stars of Vvuurrukst are dimmer than the Sun the thinner atmosphere of Vvuurrukst means that the life forms of Vvuurrukst are at least as resistant to the effects of ultraviolet radiation as those of the Earth.

Because of their neurophysiology, the animals of Vvvuurrukst are much more adaptable - in terms of behaviour, due to their noetic plasticity - then those of Earth. Because of this they would most likely win out in any situation where they were competing directly with Earth life, and in particular in dry and high altitude areas not unlike the environment of Vvvuurrukst.

Related to this, the need for and extensive use of Zkuktnn [Connectives] and Stuurrssaa [Diplomats] who are able to think in more than one way at the same time means that the Wustrtuu are actually quite well prepared and well-adapted for alien contact and communication.

It may take the Wustrtuu some time to realise that life forms such as humans lack their high level of neuroplasticity. This may make for an unpleasant time for any humans they attempt to warp into one of their own...

It is entirely possible that the Wustrtuu might distrust sighted sentient species as they are considered to have a (perhaps unfair) advantage over them. [This is analogous to the way that humans might distrust aliens with some additional and highly advantageous ability that humans do not possess.]

Assuming a level playing field in terms of technology and force levels, it is anyone's guess as to who might win a confrontation between the Wustrtuu and humanity. The blindness of the Wustrtuu is compensated for by their technology and their other senses. They might be susceptible to some form of noetic subversion, but they themselves have far more experience in - and so resistance to - such things then any outsider is likely to have. In fact, they may be able to use such techniques against an opponent more effectively than they could be used against them.

An additional advantage that the Wustrtuu have over [for example] humanity is that they are (in their current noetic incarnations) more sociable than humans. They form larger groups and can maintain larger social networks than humans, work better together in large numbers, and are more socially cohesive (at least within castes) than humans are. They can also live with less privacy and higher population densities than humans. All of this helps to compensate for the lesser efficiency of their society due to the need for Zkuktnn [Connectives] to mediate communications between castes.

Whether the Wustrtuu are sufficiently biologically compatible to Earth life to be able to infect humans with their offspring is something that is probably best decided by anyone wanting to make use of them in a story or suchlike.

---

NOTES

The Wustrtuu were designed as an alien race that, at the very least, had a significant 'ick' factor in terms of their means of reproduction and who in addition have significant ethnocidal tendencies that it is possible may impact other races they encounter. The ritual and literal cannibalism that the Wustrtuu practise is also intended to (plausibly) add to their general 'ick' factor. In addition they are (unavoidably) a caste-based society with all of the totalitarian and anti-democratic possibilities that such a system implies. Their short-termist, highly competitive, hyper-capitalist political and economic systems also drive them to expand, which obviously has potential for conflict of many kinds. At worst they could be a race of nightmare invaders using humans as wage slaves, prey and unwilling hosts for their offspring.

Their body form was inspired by the seed heads of the 'love in the mist' plants growing in my garden. The image of a Wustrtuu is a picture of one of these seed heads against a white background, edited to remove the stem then rotated to put the body uppermost and the tentacles down, stretched vertically, then solarized, turned into a negative and the brightness and contrast adjusted to give a suitably visible image. The erode effect was then used to enhance the edges of the image.

The map of Vvvuurrukst was generated using the Fractal Worldmap Generator site. MATLAB was used to transform it into a globe and generate a movie of flying around it. The MATLAB code to do so can be found here; this is a MATLAB m-file, which is basically a plain text file.

The cladogram of Vvvuurrukstian life was generated using a set of MATLAB m-files of my own creation, and is a generic data file driven tool to do so. A zip file of the MATLAB files and the input text files used to generate the cladogram can be found here.

The Wustrtuu symbol was also generated using a set of MATLAB m-files of my own creation. A zip file of the MATLAB files and the input text files used to generate the raw image can be found here.

The Wustrtuu Word Generator is derived from the Traveller alien word generator software found at the Welcome to The Patinir Belt site.

The audio translation of Wustrtuu electroreception pulses is a combination of the electroreception clicks of the elephant nose fish, Theremin music from ThereminVox.com and adjusted human speech from AmericanRhetoric.com, all changed, added to and mixed together using the Audacity audio editor program.

The background used on these pages is a modified version of one from Iridia's Backgrounds. It is used here without permission, but for personal use only and not for profit or other financial gain.

The font used in the banner of this page is called Antherton Cloister. It comes from the DaFont.com site.

The audio icon used on this page comes from the Wikimedia Commons.It is used here without permission, but for personal use only and not for profit or other financial gain.

---

Send any comments to me at tony {dot} website {at} clockworksky {dot} net.

---

Back to the Top.

My Roleplaying Page | My Science Fiction Page | My Traveller Page

Back to My Home Page.

Home   Up1   Up2   Up3   Site Map

---

Copyright © Tony Jones, 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.