Race The Non-Mortuus

Name​

Non-mortuus, in their scientific tongue. The Un-Dead is what they are normally called by outsiders.​

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History:​

After human colonization of other planets began, an awakening occurred in the fields of science, resulting in many magnificent discoveries. The power of science was truly unleashed in these years, giving rise to far more superior robotics, computing, vaccines, weaponry, bio-mechanics, and other technologies. Once such breakthrough was made by a microbiologist by the name of Dr. Aevum who discovered a cure for death, the Anima bacterium. When exposed to a human or other organism, death was no longer an object of concern. The bacteria would live dormant in the host, and at point of death, slowly rebuild the brain and take control. The reactivation of the brain would occur slowly, and over the course of a week, the brain would begin to function. The bacteria would spread to other organs and slowly repair the body in this time as well, restoring life to the being. This rebirth of sapience to infected humans came at a price, the bacterium worked very slowly on skin and muscle. The heart would be weak and the creature frail for months until full recovery was achieved. Dr. Aevum was hated for his findings and taboo experiments on the reanimation of humans caused him to be an outcast. This animosity grew to the point were he, with scientists who shared his respect for the breakthrough, left the planet and settled another. This new planet freed them of the cultural taboo they experienced on their home planet, allowing their creation to develop and they engineered a stronger form of the Anima bacteria.​

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Years later, those who colonized the planet in search of scientific freedom discovered many drawbacks of the bacteria to a living host. Dr. Aevum, in his search for eternal life, infected himself with Anima in hopes to extend his natural lifespan. The other scientists noticed him grow senile in the following weeks. Dr. Aevum, in his insanity brought about with the bacteria taking over his thoughts, killed himself and the other scientists by introducing a poison to the only water supply on the colony. The bacteria spread from corpus to corpus, giving rise to the Non-mortuus.​

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These walking, sapient, long dead bodies are shadows of their former selves. In the process of death, the reanimated host loses much of its memory. They cannot remember themselves, but resemble the mind of an amnesia patient, recalling few details of their former lives. They are vastly intelligent, building machines that help support their weakened bodies and finding ways to restore their knowledge and technology. They require little food and water to survive and the regenerating properties of the bacteria allow their shriveled skin and muscle to grow back after damage, even regenerating limbs over long periods of time. They have advanced technology, generally wearing almost full mechanical exoskeletons to increase their strength and protect their frail bodies. They have hostility to the humans that rejected their kind long ago and are very distrusting to outsiders, but will interact if it need be. They have expanded to other planets to harvest the natural resources for their technological research and advancements, usually building advanced weaponry and ships with what they find.​

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Appearance:​

They have pale, grey skin due to the lack of melatonin their weak skin. Their features are very shallow, having very tight, wrinkled skin stretched over their skeletal frame and muscles. Most of the fatty cells in their body are absorbed by the bacteria, for their nourishment, leaving the host very skinny. They are often adorned with a number of bio-mechanical enhancements such as re-breathers, neuron enhancers, optical and auditory enhancers, and exoskeletal armors for protection. Most of the original Non-mortuus are weak, but their research has given them the technology to clone stronger humans effected with Anima at birth. Many of these become soldiers, but some also do research to better themselves and the other Un-Dead. ​

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Applications in game​

I was thinking that they could serve as a group of aggressive people, but cooperative with the player, allowing trade with and maybe allowing the player to ally with if they see fit. They could appear sparely on other space stations in the galaxy, usually shunned by others, but helpful to the player. Their home planets would also be able to be visited, where trading for advanced protection and weaponry is possible. Dr. Aevum could also be in game, giving missions to the player on behalf of the Non-Mortuus.​

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Possibly, the race could be playable. They would have a mad scientist vibe to their culture. Knowledge and strength drive the upper factions of this race, but a different driving force could exist with the player. They would generally be described as Chaotic Neutral, if the morality of the beings was generalized.​

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Thoughts and concerns? And sorry for the wall of text, I can understand it would be boring to read.

 

Seems fun enough. I was actually itching to make a suggestion about some undead race but I'm very happy to see one posted.

Everything seems fun enough. I like the aspect of utilizing machinery and devices to cope with their frail and decaying bodies.

Since you put it out there, I understand that maybe the Non-mortuus themselves may not get hungry or thirst but -- what about the bacteria that apparently sustain them. They can't be pulling nourishment out of thin air -- or can they?

I find it baffling and silly that the Non-mortuus only get mad about the initial rejection from the humans -- I would assume the immediate expressions of disgust, hate, and fear would be something. I wonder more about the potential for the psychological state of these zombies. The Non-mortuus have a lot of side quest potential for exploring their pasts or coping with identity crises -- with their appearance or something like that. The desire to look more human -- Non-mortuus that opt for thin film "skins" to put on in lieu of these heavy and bulky suits that make them feel disgusting/ugly/etc. [Although I think the latter part of the statement could work for insecure robots or humanoids in contact with humans in general]


Otherwise, I like the sound of it. An idea like this can't really be "bad" per say. Though I'd love for you to add or further develop what's possible with the Non-mortuus, just as much as you see fit of course. Finding someone to make sprites or giving a go at them yourself so we can see what you'd like them to look specifically. [Since most people can imagine their own ideas of it, of course.]

And that's my piggy bank full of 2 cent coins.

 

I appreciate your thought! And yeah, my story line for them is very rough, I just kinda kept typing and such. It could easily be expanded upon to be more realistic and reasonable. I was just trying to the get the idea out there, you know?

And yeah, the Non-mortuus' psychological state is odd in my story. It would make much more sense to have them be mad about lots of other things as well, such as their appearance and forced reliance on machinery and technology.

And I assume the bacteria would feed on the host such as bacteria do anyways. The bacteria may regenerate the host to only feed of it's energy and nourishment? Bacteria can't be that hard to keep alive, can it? Lol.

I like your ideas though! Thanks for the two cents!

 

Bacteria is bacteria [Trillions of bacterial cells are a part of the human body -- inside and outside -- and these guys are being kept alive entirely by these bacteria and the new ones that apparently replace their dying ones]. They can't exactly grow a Non-mortuus for nourishment like a human would continually grow and harvest crops for nourishment. [Bacteria aren't always like parasites either. Most good bacteria offer a plethora of benefits while most bad bacteria cause terrible things to happen in the body. IE; intestinal bacteria digest fibers the body cannot digest -- we get the broken down fibers, the bacteria get the residual material they were after. E. Coli would cause a gastrointestinal infection that would make very very very unhappy and sick and very very very dehydrated (because vomiting and all the other stuff = not fun)]

But it really isn't a big deal. I only made that comment because "you put it out there" [/Arnold Schwarzenegger accent].

I still think it'd be interesting to see and interact with a race like this or actually play as the race.

 

Thanks for the information hah. I'm certainly no biologist, so I'm sure my idea of such a bacterium is very flawed.

I have watched very interesting videos from scientists that shows ways bacteria colonies communicate, almost acting as a super-organism in some cases (I can't remember the video, but it was in the TED conference). Maybe this is a very funky, advanced, parasitic, and synthetic bacteria of sorts. I dunno.