Soliath Devin Talith
Family Man
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To sub an interesting species for Thral that was first RP'd years ago.
- Image Credit: chris-illustrator
- Canon: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Name: Vir
- Designation: Semi-Sentient
- Homeworld: Thral
- Language: N/A
- Average Lifespan: 2-3 Months Without Host, Lifespan of Host
- Estimated Population: Planetary
- Description:
As organisms on their own they appear to be little more than tiny little worms. In their infant form they dwell within the stagnant waters of Thral, hiding within swamps, ponds, and blocked off streams. These little Parasites on their own grow to only be about an inch or so long, jet black and easily missed unless in the direct sunlight. They appear little more than tiny little specks most of the time, and thus are easy enough to miss.
Once within a host however it becomes an entirely different story.
The Vir attach themselves to a victims spinal column, utilizing tiny hook like appendages to attach themselves to bone and 'locking' themselves in place. They then use their tendril like mouths to hook into their hosts nervous systems. From their they perform their function and initiate their symbiotic relationship. Once this process begins the Vir grows exponentially, becoming larger and larger upon the victims spine as well as growing it's tendrils throughout the body.
At it's largest point The Vir will quite literally spread through every inch of it's victims body, taking over it's nervous system and co-mingling to such a degree that removing the creature becomes completely and entirely impossible.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
- Breathes: Type IV(Water, inside of a body)
- Average height of adults: N/A
- Average length of adults: N/A
- Skin color: N/A
- Hair color: N/A
- Distinctions:
Outside of a host the Vir are practically docile. They do not do much of anything except for float within the water and wait for any living being to cling or catch onto. This is their only purpose in their lives, and if they find no life to cling to they will eventually die after two or three months. Luckily for the Vir, there are plenty of creature on Thral who do not have the sense to avoid stagnant water.
Once inside of a host the Vir moves itself through the bloodstream, eventually catching onto the hosts spinal column. There it begins it's work, growing into a large worm like creature that digs into the bone and 'slices' into the hosts spinal column. From there it encourages and grows through the use of the force, spreading throughout the body and allowing the host to draw on more and more power until eventually the parasite is able to gorge itself almost continuously upon the force.
At this point the parasite becomes a mass of writhing tentacles, having spread throughout the hosts nervous system and bloodstream making it impossible remove even by the most skilled surgeons in the galaxy.
- Races: N/A
- Strengths:
[+]Symbiosis: At it's core the Vir requires a host to survive. Due to this the creature will sometimes 'lend its strength' to it's host. Though the parasite does not have the same effect as bacta or anti-toxins, the creature does have the ability to aid in healing somewhat. With the Vir aiding them one is able to heal slightly faster, survive certain toxins more easily, and generally have more stamina than normal.
- Weaknesses:
[-]Dependency: Once inside of a host the Vir acts as a 'conduit' for the force. It essentially allows the host to utilize the Vir as a way to access the force rather than usual methods of concentration or emotion. This act of being a 'conduit' feeds the Vir, and of course wishing to create a dependency the Vir itself will allow the user more power as well as eliciting dopamine and serotonin reactions. In effect, the Vir will drug it's host, encouraging them to draw upon the force through it and it alone. This allows the Vir to feast and grow, spreading throughout it's host's body.
[-]Mood Swings: Due to the intertwining of the Vir and a host's nervous system, the Parasite tends to cause extreme mood swings within it's victims. These mood swings can range from terrible anger to extreme depression. This effect is not an intentional one on the part of the parasite, and is in fact more of a reaction of the creature being unable to understand or comprehend emotion. These Mood swings often occur more frequently and more harshly the longer the Host goes without using the force through The Vir.
[-]Control: Even though the Vir enhances ones force use on a base level, there are difficulties in it's utilizations as a 'conduit' of power. Because the Vir feeds off of the force that is utilized, the effects of ones abilities are sometimes different than they intend. This means that if someone utilized the Vir to attempt a force push, said force push might at times be far weaker, or far more powerful than they want it to be. The same goes for every other force power utilized through the Vir. This can become extremely perplexing and even dangerous when in combat, and can lead to the force user harming himself and or others around him.
[-]Electricity: The Vir does not enjoy electricity. When inside of a victim, and at a point where it becomes truly intertwined, the Vir will react violently and harshly to even the most dialed down electric shocks. A small static Shock to the finger would be enough to send the Vir into a violent rage, triggering one of the above mentioned mood swings. Anything more would cause the host of the Vir to feel extreme pain far beyond the usual reaction. This damages the Vir to the extent where it can cause extreme paralysis and even death, mostly due to the adverse reaction of the Vir itself.
[-]Blue Shadow Virus: Though thought impossible to remove once spread throughout the entire body, there is one method to killing The Vir even when it is fit to burst from it's host. A direct application of the Blue Shadow Virus into the creature will kill it. This procedure needs to be done extremely carefully and consists of cutting into the host's spine and injecting the creature directly with the Virus. If this is done the Parasite will die, and over the course of several days slowly 'retract' from the host until it can eventually be cut from the spine. Obviously the host is still left with extreme damage throughout their body, their muscles, nerves, veins, and arteries would likely suffer permanent damage unless substantially healed and surgically repaired.
[-]Connection: Once removed from the Body besides extensive physical damage, a victim once infected with the Vir will find difficulty within using the force. This is mostly due to the fact that the Vir was once a 'conduit' to the Force, and once the parasite is removed that conduit is as well. Many Force Users must relearn to utilize the force after the Vir is gone, a troubling prospect for those whom had frequently relied upon the creature in the past.
CULTURE
- Diet: The Force
- Communication: N/A
- Technology level: N/A
- Religion/Beliefs: N/A
- General behavior:
Their one and only goal is to infect a being that is capable of utilizing the force. Of course since every living being save very few are connected to the force itself, this means that the Vir strikes it lucky with generally anything alive.
Once inside of a host the Vir acts as a conduit for the use of the force, essentially becoming a new method of accessing the hidden powers of the universe. Each time a victim utilizes the force through the Vir the creatures grows. Utilizing the force itself the creature becomes stronger, spreading through the host and taking deeper root within it's victim. This trend continues over and over again, with the Vir effecting the users body and emotions as much as it can.
This is the Vir's behavior, 'gracing' a victim with more power in the force while utilizing said power to grow and eventually root itself in the hosts body.
Once the Vir has sufficiently grown, the creature begins it's reproductive cycle. Parts of it's system become dedicated to morphing itself hermaphroditic, producing thousands upon thousands larvae inside of itself. Once this process is complete, the Vir utilizes it's hosts nervous system to trigger a massive emotional burst in the hope of forcing it's victim to reach out and use the force.
This act is intended to kill the victim via literally bursting. The Vir will gorge itself on this mass outlet of the force, growing until the Host quite literally 'pops'. Once this occurs the larvae that had been growing within the Vir's body will be spread, and from there go on to hopefully infect other victims.
All in all this process can of course take months depending on several factors including the Host's relative strength in the force, how often the host utilizes the Vir, and conditions around the Vir when has taken root fully in ones body.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Though the Vir were only recently 'discovered' by the Moross Crusade, they actually have quite a long history within the outer rim worlds that surround Thral.
These creatures are something deeply rooted in myth and legend, both that of the Moross Crusade and the histories of the people of Wild Space. It appears that the Vir have for some thousands of years been utilized as weapons by various tribes and warring civilizations within the reaches of Wild Space.
Though Jedi and Sith are of course the greatest of force using traditions within the galaxy, they are hardly the end all be all of force users. Many thousands of civilizations have known of the force and those in wild space are no exception. Through research, the Moross Crusade discovered that several civilizations within Wild Space not only knew of the force, but of the Vir and what they could do with it.
Admittedly it is unlikely that these people knew exactly what they were doing, but it is known that some, at least, were aware of the forces capabilities.
To these civilizations the Vir were not something to be feared, but rather a weapon to be utilized.
Ships were sent to Thral early on to 'harvest' the Parasities. Warriors and innocents alike were infected with the Vir, then utilized and combatants in interplanetary and continental wars. Those who used the Vir were pushed to fight and use the force as much as they could, their increased power being seen as nothing less than tools of war. These traditions apparently continued for centuries until eventually the dangers of the Vir were finally too much for the various tribes to bare any longer.
Thousands of years after the tribes of Wild Space ceased utilizing the Vir, Moross Crusade researchers stumbled upon the tiny parasites.
The Crusade was the first truly studied the effects of the creatures, logging their development and coming to understand what the creatures were capable of.
Soliael Devin Talith, then the Moross God known as Neth experimented upon the creatures. Utilizing his vast knowledge Soliael infected the creatures with a variant of the Technovirus, eventually installing one of the Parasites into himself and utilizing it to gain further control of the force. For years the creature remained in his body, growing and feasting even as it succumbed to the TechnoVirus.
It was only by the grace of his new found love [member="Kira Talith"], that Soliael managed to free himself of the creature.
After this experience with the Vir, and the knowledge of what they could become if truly allowed to revel inside oneself Soliael declared the creatures a plague. The Moross Crusade destroyed all of it's samples of the Parasites, though the knowledge gained was kept and recorded(now held by Soliael himself as well as a few others). It was shortly after this that the Crusade collapsed, and all memory of the Vir once again forgotten.
*Obviously this has an upper limit in RP, utilizing the Vir inside oneself doesn't automatically make them a force god, rather their 'potential strength' is simply upped. Padawans become only slightly stronger in raw potential, and the growth tops out at a certain point for even masters. NFU's are not made equal to Force Masters or even Knights, rather they can at most become equivalent to acolytes or untrained padawans. I would leave this to the discretion of the RP'er, and as always if someone seriously pushes the limits it can and should be reported.