The Lichrizar What are they?The Lichrizar are, at first glance, humanoid reptiles. However, given that the planet they originate on is a frozen waste, there are some substantial differences. For one, the Lichrizar are warm blooded and though they appear to be a single species, they are in fact two. A single Lichrizar specimen is made up of two creaatures, the host: a primitive humanoid reptillian, and the symbiote, a sentient fungus. The relationship between host and symbiote differs in the Lichrizar, the symbiote is located along the brain and spinal cord, giving them total control over the host. The fungus benefits in that it may use the host to interact, learn and build, the host benefits in that it is kept in excellent health and out of danger. A symbiotic Lichrizar always fares better than its single organism counterpart. Where did they originate? The Lichrizar originated on a frozen world known as Racon-IV in the Racon star system, for a long time, the host and symbiote species evolved separately. The host developed a primitive tribal system based on strength and ferocity, while the symbiote eventually developed sentience to survive in such a cold environment. The first host and symbiote pairing was a mistake, a host fell through the ice into a cavern in which the last colony of symbiote was living. The first host started to eat the symbiote for sustenance, while most of the symbiote perished due to the onslaught, the host unknowingly breathed in the spores, which in turn spread into his bloodstream. The symbiote, being sentient, spread its mycelium throughout the nervous system of the creature, and nudged it toward finding more of its kind. Where the symbiote would have perished, it found a new avenue of life. It spread amongst the population of one of the tribes and evolved alongside them. The 'pure' Lichrizar regarded those with the symbiote as godlike, they mistook their sudden change in nature for aid from the symbiote, they willingly joined the ranks of the symbiotic. Each generation of the symbiote had greater control and a greater drive to assist its host due to the inherent connection to their survival. This desire to assist others lead to the belief that any Lichrizar without a symbiote would perish, and so the fungus spread throughout the vast majority of the Lichrizar population. The fungus brought sentience to the species, they began to develop into a greater society with a focus on architecture and science, Lichrizar without a symbiote were actively sought out, until an ideal habitat for the symbiotic lifeform was built on the frozen waste. The civilized Lichrizar turned toward the stars, with a strong desire to ensure their hosts could increase in population without restriction. How do they reproduce? The Lichrizar host lays eggs, however the symbiote reproduces using spores. Typically two symbiotes will have their hosts mate in order to produce a pure Lichrizar egg. Immediately after the egg hatches, the symbiotes both release their spores into the offspring. Both spores will ‘take root’ and merge, forming a new symbiote with a mixture of the parents DNA. How do they act? Lichrizar are controlled by the symbiote, thus they express a burning desire to assist others. This is derived from their inherent need to survive, which, due to their existence as a symbiotic entity, is mistaken for a need to help others. They perceive control of a host to be a form of assistance, however, due to their method of reproduction, no symbiote is ever without a host. To abandon a host is inconceivable, and so the death of the host marks the death of the symbiote. This does not stop the Lichrizar from offering their services and knowledge to other races, they do not discriminate, as all races look the same to them. This is in juxtaposition to their host’s initial behaviour which is primal and aggressive. It is inadvisable to mistake their desire to assist as a value for life. If they believe they can be of assistance, they will provide it, even if the individual does not want their help. All Lichrizar are equal to each other, they have no leaders, merely prominent architects and scientists. They blend these two disciplines together in order to construct havens for their hosts and for other races, their hospitality being of note in the Universe. They are very fond of modern structures, with sleek metal surfaces and solid concrete. What do they look like? Again, I can't draw for the life of me, however this race draws inspiration from various reptillian species, here are a few pictures to give you a rough idea. The above would essentially be the pure Lichrizar without a symbiote. The way you can tell the difference is in skin and eye colour. Pure Lichrizar have naturally green skin when in warmer climates, they are however capable of altering their skin colour and so on their home planet their skin is typically light green or even white. The above is a symbiotic Lichrizar, (well not exactly there would be differences in skin colour and body shape). Symbiotic Lichrizar have a range of flesh colours as they like to manipulate their hosts camouflage reflex to display some level of individuality. The colours they usually take on are usually weak, from light blue to light yellow. A Lichrizar who has his Symbiote from birth experiences some substantial changes, their heads grow to be fair more rounded in order to make more space for the sentient mycelium of the fungus and their eyes develop in a way such that the fungus replaces the original nerves, rods and cones and even the fluid within, giving them completely black eyes. The Symbiotic Lichrizar are perceived as superior beings by the remaining tribal Lichrizar, and it is common practice for the Tribals to offer their eggs to the Symbiotic Lichrizar in order to have them receive the gift. In return, the Symbiotic Lichrizar ensure that the tribes survive, and no longer forcefully take their children from them. There are only three remaining tribes of roughly two hundred or so individuals left, the vast majority of Lichrizar live in symbiosis with their sentient fungi.
Seems like an interesting idea to be sure. And I'm all for a lizard-like race. Sci-fi just doesn't seem sci-fi without giant lizard aliens.
I've edited the OP to give a rough idea of what they would look like. I've drawn a lot of inspiration from various other reptilian concepts as well as "the Grays" for this one.
There we go - i checked out the fungal race post and disagreed. But you came back and expanded and boom. i feel this is a good idea.
Nice, good job on the lore too. I like this idea. Also, is it "Lichrizar" because, Lich - as in, Lichen, as in, Fungus/moss stuff and "Rizar" - as in, Similar to "Osaur/saur" which is basically lizard? Literally meaning, Fungus Lizard (Just curious as to how the name came about )
Hahah yeah thats exactly it. I used it predominantly because Lichen exist in a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, however in this case the host is a lizard, hence rizar. Glad you picked up on it
Looks like an interesting race concept, though I wonder if the symbiote is capable of infecting other species, such as the other races in Starbound. I personally didn't like the idea of playable races that infect others in a multiracial game such as Starbound, which was why I felt that the Necro wouldn't make for a good playable race due to possibility of (accidental) infection of other sentient beings.
Well technically yeah the Symbiote can infect other races. However due to the nature of its host-symbiote relationship and the way they reproduce, no symbiote is ever born without a host, and so cross species infections never happen unless for some reason another race wanted to mate with a Lichrizar. (Its generally considered rude for a Lichrizar to start spraying their gametes around a room without permission, its equivalent to "rape" for lack of a better term.) Oh and furthermore, Lichrizar have difficulty surviving in a fully matured body. The immune system of the new specimen would pose a difficult barrier to overcome. The only real chance of infection would either be through offspring or individuals with weakened immune systems.
Ah, I see. In that case, this race has my seal of approval. Most races that I've seen in sci-fi, that are either parasitic or spread by infecting other races (such as the Zerg from StarCraft or the Borg from Star Trek) tend to be stigmatized by other races due to their forced assimilation of them, which was why I was skeptical of the idea of a parasitic race in Starbound. If the symbiote has difficulty assimilating a mature specimen, then how did the symbiote manage to assimilate the 1st host while it was chowing down on the symbiotic fungi? Was the symbiote more aggressive at assimilation back then, but became more sluggish over time? Did the host have a weakened immune system for some reason? Did so many spores enter the host's body as it was chowing down on the symbiote, that they overwhelmed the host's immune system? By the way, perhaps you could give us some information about their society, culture, and social hierarchy? Also, what is the motive for playable Lichrizar for wanting to leave their homeworld? I'd be interested in formulating an interspecies relationship between this race and some of my races.
Would you make this race a mod if it doesn't get grabbed as an idea to put in? I see alot of good ideas from various posters on the forum, but i am also hoping these same people will give birth to mods .
Ahaha, I thought so~ But yeah, I think if the devs did a little stretching of the lores they could make this race fit in easily. "The first host started to eat the symbiote for sustenance, while most of the symbiote perished due to the onslaught, the host unknowingly breathed in the spores, which in turn spread into his bloodstream. The symbiote, being sentient, spread its mycelium throughout the nervous system of the creature, and nudged it toward finding more of its kind." I suppose that pretty much explains it, As it got into the actual bloodstream and quickly reproduced itself too fast for the immune system to fight back, I'm guessing.
the symbiotic one reminds me of E.T LOL but seriously thats an awesome job you've done ive been waiting for someone to make some kind of reptilian race for a while now so i'm glad you made this suggestion and i hope something comes from it
The ancestors of the symbiote were purely parasitic. They inhabited the immediate area around the spine and within the skull and were so efficient at growth and taking up nutrients that they would often kill off a population of their animal hosts faster than they could replenish through breeding. The only symbiote groups to survive long enough to breed were those that would hold back on the consumption of fluids of their host. This adaptation eventually led to a rudimentary intelligence, and ability to "mind control" their hosts to some degree, however they were still killing off animals too fast and the harsh conditions of the planet also culled the general population of the lesser animals. Over time they developed sentience, however they still had a reproductive phase in which they would leave reproductive structures outside of a body. A mass extinction saw the deaths of many animal species, along with the parasitic ancestor, however one of these reproductive phases was preserved beneath the ice in a cavern. A host then ate them and was overcome by the far more aggressive ancestor of the symbiote which specialized in overcoming the immune system. It took some control over the host and nudged it toward other members of its species, this was the first time the symbiote found an animal to inhabit that was on its way to civilization. In evolving alongside them, the symbiote lost their separate reproductive phase in favour of production of spores to infect a hatchling upon birth and the hosts evolved with immune systems that recognized the fungus as an extension of its own being. Thus leading to how they are today. Absolutely! It'll be some time before I add on to the information but I'll get around to it. As for why the playable Lichrizar leaves its society, I've been pondering two reasons: 1. They are a variant of the symbiote which has some misgivings about inhabiting a host body, and so they want to find some technology to allow them to build their own bodies. There is no research by Lichrizar scientists into finding a new state of being so the playable Lichrizar would have to turn to the stars to find a method. or 2. They are a variant of the symbiote which doesn't have the instinct to avoid reckless behaviour. As such, they are much more willing to put their host in danger through adventure and exploration amongst the stars than other members of their own species.
I'd imagine seeing them as kooky activists, not unlike PETA. Perhaps they would fit in better as dungeon material than playable characters? This seems more accommodating of most role-players' desires, since they'd have a greater drive for exploration and adventure. Have you heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs? I'd imagine seeing several Lichrizar eventually develop an interest in exploration once they've reached the highest point of Maslow's pyramid, where, having fulfilled their needs for survival, security, love, and esteem, they'll begin to pursue ideals and missions that go beyond the average Lichrizar's needs, such as pushing for the improval of Lichrizar standards of living for example.
Well the idea is that the symbiote is constantly looking for ways to improve the standard of living for their hosts. I briefly mention that their culture has an emphasis on science and architecture, this is mainly because they're trying to create as perfect and safe a habitat as possible for their hosts. The downside of this of course is that exploration and learning about the world around them is all secondary. Lichrizar science is advanced only in fields that benefit the Lichrizar. This is because, as fungi, they are very much driven by their instincts, and seeing as their survival hinges on the survival of the host, their instincts tell them to do whatever they can to ensure the Host wont die of traumatic causes. I'm thinking that the playable Lichrizar will be what occurs when the symbiote and the host reach the stage in their evolution where they begin to become a single entity. Similar to how mitochondria (which were initially a separate prokaryotic organism) were taken up by other eukaryotic organisms and eventually became a part of a larger multicellular organism. Perhaps the playable Lichrizar are the result of the sex cells of the host and the sex cells of the symbiote having merged and hence resulted in an infected egg (normally Lichrizar infect a host just after it hatches). Seeing as the Host is a very primal race, and the symbiote is a very careful one, the resultant organism would be what is essentially the "perfect blend" of two species and the next stage in Lichrizar evolution. One that places value on more than just comfort for its host body, and hence widens the horizons of the race as a whole.
