Melanoplus

2021-08-15T17:51:06Z

Prompted by Friday's birding walk in McFarland Park, in which we spotted and identified our first grasshopper sparrow:

The sparrow grasshopper's name derives from its mottled brown-tan coloration and prodigious size - typically 14-18cm long at full growth. Genetic analysis reveals it to be an Awakened subspecies of the differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis). It is believed to reach this size through consumption of Awakened plant life, which is its preferred (but not exclusive) diet. Its size makes it a target for predators that do not normally eat grasshoppers, including domestic cats and dogs, several species of raptor, and hoop snakes.

The sparrow grasshopper is generally harmless to humans. However, when startled, it takes flight briefly, and swarms along highways have been responsible for several major traffic accidents as they have obscured drivers' vision and confused vehicular sensors. As a dual-natured creature, the sparrow grasshopper has an astral presence, and swarms are vivid on the astral plane.

(Previous: ghost plum, spider peacock, floating ghost carrot.)

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Daucus

2017-08-06T13:57:02Z

Occasionally, E and I go off on worldbuilding tangents that result in new fictitious species. This has previously resulted in the ghost plum and the spider peacock. Last week, someone's Reddit handle inspired discussion of the floating ghost carrot.

Well, it's not really a carrot. Nor does it float. It's actually a subspecies of ginseng that can temporarily activate latent telekinetic powers.

The problem is that while a lot of people would like to have latent telekinetic powers, very few actually do. Because some of the interested-but-without are wealthy, powerful, and unscrupulous (but I repeat myself), this has resulted in a significant off-the-books genetic research project to identify the source of latent telekinesis. The results have been... questionable science, at best. And some of those results point to specific organs as the source of said latent telekinesis. Which has, in turn, resulted in a growing black market trade in organs stolen from latent telekinetic persons for transplant.

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Melanoplus

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