Date submitted: December 17th, 2186

Solar System: Eridia

Star Cluster: Cerulean Nebula
Planet: Phyrr
Author: Specialist Nick Davinson

Overview

Phyrr is the fourth planet from the star designated Eridia. Eridia is a small blue star that’s
main notable characteristic is emitting intense solar flares every six months, washing
every planet in the system with intense radiation. While conventional logic states this
should lead to barren worlds of rock, water, and ice, this has led to unique conditions that
have never been seen before upon any planet.

Phyrr’s chemical composition is almost identical to Earth’s, the only interesting

geological feature being large deposits of iridium just beneath the surface in many areas.
Mining of this could be quite profitable due to iridium’s demand for use in matter-
antimatter starship reactors. Phyrr’s gravity is around 92% of one G.

Phyrr’s atmosphere has a slightly different mix of atmospheric elements compared to

earth, with around 30% oxygen and 67% nitrogen, with the remainder being composed of
carbon dioxide and trace elements. The atmosphere is a bit thick, which leads to some
discomfort and dizziness in humans, however after around two weeks of exposure the
body becomes acclimated and frequently invigorated by the high oxygen content.
Interestingly, all life on this planet seems to be carbon-based, which has some interesting
effects on local biology.

Local life is almost exclusively carbon based. It is important to note that many creatures
have bodily structures that synthesize carbon nanotubes from unused carbon in food.
These nanotubes are most common in the bones and shells of creatures, though they
occasionally occur in softer areas as well. This makes the wildlife extremely durable
compared to creatures from Earth. Additionally, most of the creatures have inborn
mechanisms that not only neutralize radiation, but can use it to briefly intensify their
metabolisms or to grow. If the manner in which this is achieved could be discovered, it
would be a great boon to interstellar travelers, to whom radiation is a constant danger.
More so, as the ecology of the planet is carbon-based, then Phyrr could be a world with
great agricultural potential, if the innate hostility of the planet’s organisms could be
overcome.

Plant Life

Phyrr’s plant life is extremely varied, and there is little hope that even the largest
gathering of biologists could discover every species of plant within the depths of the
jungles that cover more than half of all available landmass. Phyrr’s plant life is also
interesting because many of the plants are bioluminescent, which can result in startling
visibility at night. For reasons not fully understood, most of the plants glow in the higher
end of the spectrum, which might have something to do with interstellar radiation. The
plants convert carbon dioxide to oxygen through the same mechanism as planets on earth
do. Included below are the more important and unique floral organisms that have been
discovered.

Skytoucher Tree
The Skytoucher is the largest living organism found on Phyrr, indeed, the largest single
living thing found on any planet in the explored space. Largest of the large, skytouchers
can reach almost four kilometers into the sky. Skytoucher growth is somewhat like the
shell of a snail. As the tree grows older, the trunk grows additional spirals that eventually
lead to the tree becoming large enough to house a whole ecosystem in itself. They are
immensely strong, and due to the fact that each spiral of a tree digs into the ground at
multiple places, they are very well balanced. The only things that can fell Skytouchers are
earthquakes or forest fires. Needless to say such a massive tree falling can destroy dozens
of square kilometers of jungle. In a few rare places, many skytouchers grow together,
eventually intertwining into a labyrinthine mess of roots and spirals. The current theory
as to why skytouchers grow so large is that the periodic doses of radiation from Eridia
cause intense growth spurts, meaning a skytoucher can grow to well over a kilometer in
height in less than a decade. The cones of skytoucher trees can reach almost a meter in
length and weigh as much as eighty kilograms.

Torchlight Vine
The torchlight vine is one of Phyrr’s most visible organisms, due to the fact that the vines
have many outgrowths that glow every color of the rainbow. Despite their colorful
appearance, these vines have a rather insidious nature. Their roots are buried in other
plants, leeching nutrients from their host to feed themselves. The purpose of their lights is
to attract animals to eat their fruit, which is loaded with seeds that are then distributed by
droppings. The vine defends itself from being eaten with long thorns and brilliant flashes
of light that can dazzle its assailant.

Hanging Webdropper
The Webdropper is one of Phyrr’s more unique plants. During the day it is merely a
hanging plant with large leaves and a few thin vines dangling over the forest floor. At
night, however, the whole plant glows pink and violet and sends out an intoxicatingly
sweet scent from a brilliant blue flower hanging out of the bottom of the plant. Creatures
lured by the thought of a tasty meal fly or glide into the mess of semi-transparent vines
hanging from the bottom of the plant, and are held there by a powerful adhesive.
Meanwhile a paralytic toxin slowly weakens the creature, until the other vines wrap it up.
It is then slowly digested, after which the vines unfurl and the creature’s bones fall to the
forest floor. The remains of past meals on the forest floor make it easy to detect a grove
of webdroppers. Ground-based Phyrrian creatures also avoid these groves unless they
have no other choice, as creatures seeking to escape one webdropper can easily become
entangled in others.

Whispering Willow
Of all the things that Phyrr’s environment has created, few are as wondrous as the
whispering willows. They are small trees, scarcely more than ten meters high at their
biggest, whose branches are covered in long white vines. These vines fluoresce brilliant
purple in the dark, drawing in creatures from near and far. Perhaps the most stunning
aspect of these trees, however, is the strange phenomena that can only be described as an
‘aura of peace’. From what we know, the tree spends much of it’s energy expelling a
powerful pheromone that not only acts as an almost irresistible attractant, but seems to
naturally calm all creatures in an area, to the degree that no person, predator, or other
organic thing can intentionally harm anything within it’s area. It’s believed that the
pheromone actually ‘turns off’ the anger center of the brain; resulting in a state of
pacifism mimicked only by the most powerful anti-aggression drugs. The fact it can
cause this state after the inhalation of only a few molecules shows just how powerful this
could be, were it not for the fact the pheromone decays within twenty four hours of it’s
creation. These trees are favorite spots for the animals of the forest to mate, rest, or breed,
and due to the pheromones it allows extremely close observation. Regrettably, the trees
are few and far between, with the trees that do exist releasing seeds only every few years,
which then float in the atmosphere for decades before landing and rooting. During the
frequent radiation storms, creatures of the forest often gather in great numbers near these
trees, which seem to be the focal points for some sort of great power. Further study is
clearly required.

Blood Maple
Perhaps the most insidiously lethal living thing on all of Phyrr, the Blood Maple is a
ruthless and brutal killing machine that only the heartless ecosystem of Phyrr could
create. At around twenty meters tall, the Blood Maple’s distinguishing characteristic is
it’s vast canopy that extends from the trunk. The trunk of the tree has many fissures, from
which a thick amber-yellow sap flows. The sap is filled with sugar and excludes an
intense spicy scent that’s extremely attractive to hungry wildlife. As soon as a creature
comes under it’s canopy, the tree springs to life. Strands shoot out from canopy, impale
the creature, and pull it up into the center of the tree. The creature is soon ripped to shreds
and has its soft parts absorbed by the tree. The body, usually nothing more than a dry
husk, is then dropped to the forest floor. Needless to say, the blood maple is the most
dangerous type of flora yet discovered.

Fauna
If Phyrr’s plant life could be considered bizarre, it’s animal life is beyond believing. The
fauna of this world is adapted to survive at all costs, and employs some of the strangest
mechanisms possible to survive. They are also so unlike earth-based organisms it’s hard
to believe they are still carbon based. Nonetheless, the important universal attributes of
Phyrr’s animals will be included below for convenience.

Carbon Nanotubes
All land-based Phyrrian fauna have unique structures inside their bodies that, through
mechanism’s not entirely understood, can generate carbon nanotubules that are then
incorporated into it’s bones, skin, and tendons. The addition of these structures not only
makes the organism extremely durable, they allow it to have far lighter bones than similar
creatures on earth. This means that they are not only harder to kill, but far more agile and
as a result harder to hit as well.

Radiation Absorption
The creatures of Phyrr, due in part to their less-than-stable star, have evolved some
mechanism of not only negating the radiation their star sends their way, but also
converting that radiation into energy for growth or to increase the speed of their
metabolisms.

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The creatures have a unique set of chemicals in their body that not only absorb the
radiation and use that energy to form ATP (The form of bonding that releases energy for
use in animals), but also find cells where radiation has warped the TNA
(trioxyribonucleic acid, the Phyrrian form of DNA with three parts in a strand rather than
two) and destroy these cells. Small-scale experiments on human cancer cells, grown in
the shipboard lab, show that they are also effective against human tumors. While these
Antimutagens could be of great use to humanity, I fear the price might be too high to pay.
Anyone who remembers the Rainforest Incident of 2103 (A case where a rare plant from
the Amazonian Jungle, unable to be grown in captivity, secreted a cancer-weakening
substance, was discovered. South America was nearly torn apart as every militia group
and military raced through the jungles, burning down a great deal of it, to sell the plants
on the black market to those in first-world countries who wouldn’t wait for the
government-produced artificial variant to be distributed. The end result was that well
over 95% of the remaining South American rainforest was destroyed.) Knows that this
might very well happen again. This is a new planet. A whole world, full of life, with
people, god damnit, PEOPLE, on it. I can’t in good conscience condemn a world to death
for what evolution granted it. This segment will not go in the final report.

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The actual mechanism for this radiation use is unknown.

Pheromone Communication
While the fauna on Phyrr is vocal, in fact extremely so, when with members of their own
species most Phyrrian life forms use something that falls into the neighborhood of ‘racial
telepathy’. In essence, most Phyrrian organisms can release pheromones that reveal their
mood, reproductive status, and thoughts (to the degree that they possess higher
intelligence) to others of their species. In effect, this allows a group of Phyrrian creatures
to communicate without vocalization, which makes them extremely sociable, as herd
animals can instantly know when one suspects a predator, while in pack hunters it allows
unparalleled coordination. It is yet another thing worthy of further study.

Reproduction
Of all the things about Phyrrian wildlife, perhaps the most bizarre is their method of
reproduction. In order to mate, the two organisms interested in mating first find a safe
place to do so (Often near Whispering Willows, see above). Then, they release specific
pheromones for several hours. After this time, when their neural systems are sufficiently
in-sync, both release mating spores, not at all dissimilar to the way corals reproduce.
These spores join in midair, and then gently drift to the ground. If the location is suitable,
they will take root. Within 24 hours 95% of the hundreds of spores will be dead. After
that the remaining spores slowly grow into tough fungal ‘eggs’. They take nutrients from
the ground and use it to nourish the embryo. The parents will protect it, usually with one
out hunting or foraging while the other defends the eggs. Defense of these eggs are one of
the few violent acts that can override the powerful pacification of Whispering Willow
pheromones. After a few months, the eggs hatch into miniature versions of the adult
creature, whereupon the parents leave the nesting site. Phyrrian creatures, due perhaps to
their large brains, are extremely good parents, comparable to the animals of the order
Carnivora. They care for their young until they reach adulthood. Phyrrian creatures mate
for life.

Phyrrian Creatures:

Note: Due to the fact that most Phyrrian creatures don’t easily fit into the standardized
classification system, a new kingdom of animals known as Eridetians has been created to
fill that space until a permanent kingdom can be established. All animals described here
are clan totems. Additionally, only the most important members of the more unique
genuses are described due to space constraints.
[
Setup:
Native name:
‘English Translation’:
Latin Name:
Description: ]

Natymri
‘The People’
Silva liberi
The Natymri (Nah-tim-ree) are the so-called ‘People’ of Phyrr. While not technologically
advanced, they have a unique and tribal culture that is almost unknown among humans
these days.

To start, due to Phyrr’s lower gravity, Natymri are slightly taller than humans, with men
averaging seven feet and women just above six. They have short tails to help them
balance. They are bipedal, and look much like humans, aside from their height and
coloration. When they are born, Natymri are camouflaged with colors similar to the
environment they were born in, so as to keep them safe. However, the Natymri are
organized into various clans, each with their own animal ‘totem’.

Far from being simple animal worship, the Natymri have a set of rituals that allow a
youth to find the clan that best suits them. When they come of age (roughly 20 complete
orbits around Eridia, or 14 earth-years) each youth, male or female, is sent out to ‘find
their spirit’. According to the tale, the spirits of the forest will guide the youth to one of
the nesting grounds of the totem animal they will become bonded with. Once there, they
search for the one creature that will become their companion for the rest of their lives.
From what I could learn, they then enter a mindlink, similar to the one that occurs
between mating animals, and enter a permanent bond with that creature. Any one animal
will bond with only one Natymri in its life. If a Natymri’s bonded creature dies, he or she
must wait until the next solar flare, whereupon they can return to the site of their original
bonding and can choose a new companion.

After having chosen their companion animal, the Natymri will acquire subtle changes in
their appearance similar to their totem (Skin color changes, facial structure may change,
small cosmetic details like horns, scales, or spines might manifest.) They will then seek
out the clan of their totem, and are accepted as a new tribe member. This not only keeps
the clans from war, as they wouldn’t want to kill someone who could be a child of theirs,
it also mixes up the gene pool so as to prevent inbreeding.

Once in their new clan, Natymri learn all the skills they would need as full-fledged
adults. In general, males specialize in leadership and crafting, usually to create the bows,
knives, and spears used by their clan mates. Natymri craftsmanship places much
emphasis on the suitability of the item to its wielder, which often becomes a snapshot of
its owner’s life. Much can be told from the feathers, claws, and other tidbits that come to
adorn a Natymri’s bow. Females tend to learn about tracking, additionally are the
storytellers and recorders of the clan.

Unlike early human cultures, the Natymri take a very enlightened view as to the role of
women. Both genders learn how to hunt equally, and while a male usually has the
position of chieftain and a female is usually loremaster, either gender can express interest
in the position of leadership and potentially claim it. Women have the same rights as
men, and mating is always by mutual consent. Due perhaps to the harsh environment,
clans need every member they can get, and this resulted in unprecedented equality.

Natymri do not have significantly greater brain mass than humans, meaning they are
quite smart. They are very fast learners, which due to Phyrr’s nature is likely the only
way their young survive the first few years. The Natymri language is similar in
grammatical structure to English, meaning that native speakers of English can learn
Natymri extremely quickly, and the reverse is true as well. Over the course of our
exploration expedition’s initial contact with them, we were able to teach a few of the
tribal leaders to speak English, and within three months almost every clan member had a
rudimentary understanding of it, which greatly eased communication between our groups.

Despite all the work that has gone into this, and while there is still plenty more to include
on the natives, it is the opinion of this author that more details can be added at a later
date, so as that the rest of this report might be finished within the next twenty years.

Syrc’Thiir
‘Shadow Hunter’
Umbrus venator
The Syrc’Thiir is one of Phyrr’s apex predators. Standing around seven feet tall at the
shoulder, though usually creeping along far lower than that, the Syrc’Thiir is Phyrr’s
equivalent of the big cats of earth. With long, powerful jaws, vicious claws, and a
neurotoxic poison, there is little doubt that this is the most powerful creature on the
planet. Its upper body is heavily muscled, and the creature is strong enough to push over
light tanks and tear through steel. It’s skin and bones are heavily reinforced with carbon
structures, making it difficult to kill with all but the most powerful handheld firearms. Its
neurotoxin, which is channeled through hollow points in its claws, can kill within 10
minutes, meaning even a minor scratch can cause paralysis or death.

Fortunately, Syrc’Thiir’s are extremely rare, only mating every decade or so, and their
young fight to the death upon birth. In general, any major losses in the Syrc’Thiir
population can take decades to replace. However, the species is extremely adaptable, with
minor variants living exclusively in niche habitats like the canopy, mountains, or lakes.
Syrc’Thiir’s are primarily black, with stripes of color on their sides that vary based on the
creature’s environment and mood. Additionally, Syrc’Thiir’s have bioluminescent spots
along their sides, which are quite dim unless the animal is excited or scared, whereupon
they glow brightly.

In the native mythology, the Syrc’Thiir was the first creature to be born. It supposedly
protected all the other animals against unnamed ‘night-spirits’ in primordial times.
Syrc’Rayni (Children of the Syrc’) is one of the more powerful Natymri clans, due no
doubt to their relationship with the lords of the jungle.

Ralar’Vin
‘Laughing Sneak’
Umbrus raptor
The Ralar’Vin is far from being the largest creature to live in Phyrr’s forests, but it is
quite easily the most insidious. Known for flinching everything from rations to spare
bullets, the Ralar’Vin is little more than an annoyance until cornered. At three feet tall,
the little creature is hardly intimidating, but it’s needle-like fangs and irritating quills can
give a man a nasty bite.

About the size of a large dog, the Ralar’Vin is a thin little creature, with lean muscles and
thin bones. It is best known for it’s mocking cry, which sounds a little like laughter. The
skin of a Ralar’Vin is green with darker stripes. It’s back is covered in quills like those of
a porcupine, with the longest quills at the end of its tail. A swat with the tail can leave up
to a dozen of the spines imbedded in the flesh, and they are extremely irritating to pull
out, not helped by a toxin that inflames the flesh around the wound. While far from
lethal, if improperly treated the wound can easily become infected. The Ralar’Vin’s
preferred habitat is the upper forest, frequently filching the eggs of flying creatures and
dining on the fruits of the canopy. They are extremely agile and well balanced, for a
single fall can mean severe injury or death. In Natymri myths, the Ralar’Vin was the
creature that stole food from demons during a famine to feed the rest of the animals.
Thenar’Loki
‘Serpent Knife’
Lanx ensis
The Thenar’Loki is a serpent-worm from Phyrr’s underground. Not often seen on the
surface, Thanar’Lokii are powerful hunters, with striking black and white chitin, standing
upright on a snake-like tail. They have two pairs of arms, a longer pair with scythe-like
blades of bone, and a smaller pair with powerful, clawed hands. They usually live in
caverns below the surface, but in some areas (especially in the deep jungle) they are
known to live almost exclusively aboveground. They are blind, and perceive the world
through echolocation. The bladed arms are mainly used for tunneling, but they can also
be used as weapons in combat. Despite their method of movement, they can move
extremely fast in short bursts, usually to ambush prey.

The Thenar’Loki, under ordinary circumstances, would be extremely vulnerable on the

surface, were it not that nature had gifted them with a terrifying ability. The Thenar’Loki
can release brutal shrieks that not only deafen and stun, but also can actually rend flesh
and bone with their power. These shrieks are used to soften up prey before a charge, and
can sometimes kill things outright. The creature’s only weakness is its blindness. If
deafened, it is all but helpless, but it’s ears have bony flaps that can save it from all but
the most sudden of sonic attacks. Their favored prey is subterranean insect-like creatures,
but can subsist on almost anything, organic or not.

Krawa’Huloe
‘Shell-Grazer’
Loricatus gladius
One of the toughest creatures on Phyrr, the Krawa’Huloe stands almost eight feet tall and
measures thirty feet long. Mounted on six sturdy legs, and encased in a heavy shell, it is
easily one of the best-defended creatures on the planet. A ground-based herbivore, it
spends most of its time grazing on plants on the forest floor. It has six eyes, and it eats
through a powerful bunch of mouthparts that quickly dice any plant matter to shreds. Its
foremost pair of legs has evolved into something along the lines of weapons, with
powerful pincers it uses to fend off enemies. Its armored tail can send men fly almost
fifty feet.

Krawa’Huloe are most common in the swampy southern reaches of the jungle, where the
silty water makes for dense foliage. They are amphibious, capable of breathing both
water and air, and can survive in either indefinitely. They are sometimes called ‘garbage
lobsters’ due to their similarity in appearance to earth-based crustaceans and the fact that
their shells are prime rooting ground for mosses, ferns, and even small trees. When
severely threatened, they will curl up into an impenetrable ball of shell that only the most
determined predator can get through.

Ival’Pyrt
‘Blade-wings’
Ventus nexai
The Ival’Pryt is Phyrr’s largest flying creature, measuring around twenty feet in length. It
has two pairs of wings, a small pair along its neck and a larger pair at its midsection.
While it cannot fly very fast, it’s winglets along the neck act as stabilizers and allows it
extreme maneuverability. Its legs are two-digited with long claw, which when combined
with the claws on the leading edges of it’s large wings allow it to walk about much like a
bat. Its teeth secrete a powerful hemotoxin that prevents blood from clotting; ensuring
anything it bites a swift death from blood loss. Under most circumstances, Ival’Pyrtii
spend their time aloft, but when mating or guarding young they usually roost in
Skytoucher trees or on the tops of cliffs.

They are extremely dangerous, for they are not only aggressive but also very big, and
easily strong enough to pluck a man from a helicopter or knock over an armored vehicle.
Their only flaw is their relative fragility compared to most other life on the planet. Where
other creatures could take a tank round or an RPG, Ival’Pyrtii can only take a few bursts
from a heavy machine gun before being killed. Regrettably, this is rarely of consolation
to people who see them rip a man out of a vehicle and disappear before anyone can fire a
shot.

Conclusion
Primarily due to time constraints, this guide cannot be finished before the first load of
colonists and soldiers arrive. This guide will be expanded, however, as new creatures and
plants are discovered.

-Property of United Solar Exploration, Defense, and Colonization