Duff Dinner: Difference between revisions

Line 21:

At night pseudopods formed from The colony exert their way up through the soil to reach the surface. When these come in contact with organic matter they will spread tendrils of cells across in order to secure the food from other decomposers and break it down into transportable fragments or organic slush. The tendrils will form small beads of cells along themselves in which the activity of breaking down the organic matter is focused. This can look like a bubbling foaming ooze at times. This partially digested material is transported back down through the pseudopods to the main body of the colony, where they're stored in clumps and digested at the leisure of the Duff Dinner. The tunnels formed by this nightly activity aerates and may even gradually churn the soil above the colony as it punches holes through the forest floor. Although tunnels may be used repeatedly, more often a tunnel is simply abandoned shortly after use and allowed to gradually collapse back in on itself as new tunnels push the soil around.

The main means of spreading for the duff dinner is similar to its ancestor. The creation of clusters of spore packets on the end of a tall stalk. After a prolonged wet period, regardless of time of year so long it's not frozen, the cells of the colony undergo conjugation and the creation of new cells with recombined genomes. Long pseudopods will then extend upward through the soil at night in a similar fashion to the forms used for feeding. However unlike the more typical feeding pseudopods these push well above the leaf litter, capable of reaching heights of over 4 cm. Large numbers of cells are shuttled to the tops of these stalks where they cluster and form spore bodies. By morning the tall thin stocks will have desiccated, the cells inside dying and the movement of cells inside ceasing. The outermost layer of the spore body is made of cells that sacrifice themselves to create a protective sheet over the others. They dry out, and in response to this fill with proteins that are meant to prevent excessive water loss under more typical circumstances. Though they themselves die their remains will act as a barrier between the outside world and the hundreds of other cells inside the spore body. These individual cells develop protective coatings over themselves, taking the time granted to them to prepare themselves for a journey through the air. They dry in a more controlled fashion and go dormant, forming spores ready to venture off by midday.

The main means of spreading for the duff dinner is similar to its ancestor. The creation of clusters of spore packets on the end of a tall stalk. After a prolonged wet period, regardless of time of year so long it's not frozen, the cells of the colony undergo conjugation and the creation of new cells with recombined genomes. Long pseudopods will then extend upward through the soil at night in a similar fashion to the forms used for feeding. However unlike the more typical feeding pseudopods these push well above the leaf litter, capable of reaching heights of over 4 cm. Large numbers of cells are shuttled to the tops of these stalks where they cluster and form spore bodies. By morning the tall thin stocks will have desiccated, the cells inside dying and the movement of cells inside ceasing. The outermost layer of the spore body is made of cells that sacrifice themselves to create a protective sheet over the others. They dry out, and in response to this fill with proteins that are meant to prevent excessive water loss under more typical circumstances. Though they themselves die their remains will act as a barrier between the outside world and the hundreds of other cells inside the spore body. These individual cells develop protective coatings over themselves, taking the time granted to them to prepare themselves for a journey through the air. They dry in a more controlled fashion and go dormant, forming spores ready to venture off by midday.

As the spore body eventually bursts open the individual spores are cast out to drift through the forest air and eventually land in a different section of leaf litter. Each individual spore reactivates into a single cell. This method of travel can carry the spores very far on the wind, even so far as to off coast islands. Once having landed these cells scramble about through the soil feeding on organic matter, replicating themselves, and seeking one another. The stimulus to seek one another simply increases the more often a cell meets another, in a form of positive feedback loop. In time the density of cells in a given section of forest floor meets a threshold and the cells do not leave one another once meeting. The mass of cells concentrates toward a central point and, if not already beneath the surface of the leaf litter, will work their way further down to a place of safety against drying out.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 At night pseudopods formed from The colony exert their way up through the soil to reach the surface. When these come in contact with organic matter they will spread tendrils of cells across in order to secure the food from other decomposers and break it down into transportable fragments or organic slush. The tendrils will form small beads of cells along themselves in which the activity of breaking down the organic matter is focused. This can look like a bubbling foaming ooze at times. This partially digested material is transported back down through the pseudopods to the main body of the colony, where they're stored in clumps and digested at the leisure of the Duff Dinner. The tunnels formed by this nightly activity aerates and may even gradually churn the soil above the colony as it punches holes through the forest floor. Although tunnels may be used repeatedly, more often a tunnel is simply abandoned shortly after use and allowed to gradually collapse back in on itself as new tunnels push the soil around.
-The main means of spreading for the duff dinner is similar to its ancestor. The creation of clusters of spore packets on the end of a tall stalk. After a prolonged wet period, regardless of time of year so long it's not frozen, the cells of the colony undergo conjugation and the creation of new cells with recombined genomes. Long pseudopods will then extend upward through the soil at night in a similar fashion to the forms used for feeding. However unlike the more typical feeding pseudopods these push well above the leaf litter, capable of reaching heights of over 4 cm. Large numbers of cells are shuttled to the tops of these stalks where they cluster and form spore bodies. By morning the tall thin stocks will have desiccated, the cells inside dying and the movement of cells inside ceasing. The outermost layer of the spore body is made of cells that sacrifice themselves to create a protective sheet over the others. They dry out, and in response to this fill with proteins that are meant to prevent excessive water loss under more typical circumstances. Though they themselves die their remains will act as a barrier between the outside world and the hundreds of other cells inside the spore body. These individual cells develop protective coatings over themselves, taking the time granted to them to prepare themselves for a journey through the air. They dry in a more controlled fashion and go dormant, forming spores ready to venture off by midday.
+The main means of spreading for the duff dinner is similar to its ancestor. The creation of clusters of spore packets on the end of a tall stalk. After a prolonged wet period, regardless of time of year so long it's not frozen, the cells of the colony undergo conjugation and the creation of new cells with recombined genomes. Long pseudopods will then extend upward through the soil at night in a similar fashion to the forms used for feeding. However unlike the more typical feeding pseudopods these push well above the leaf litter, capable of reaching heights of over 4&nbsp;cm. Large numbers of cells are shuttled to the tops of these stalks where they cluster and form spore bodies. By morning the tall thin stocks will have desiccated, the cells inside dying and the movement of cells inside ceasing. The outermost layer of the spore body is made of cells that sacrifice themselves to create a protective sheet over the others. They dry out, and in response to this fill with proteins that are meant to prevent excessive water loss under more typical circumstances. Though they themselves die their remains will act as a barrier between the outside world and the hundreds of other cells inside the spore body. These individual cells develop protective coatings over themselves, taking the time granted to them to prepare themselves for a journey through the air. They dry in a more controlled fashion and go dormant, forming spores ready to venture off by midday.
 As the spore body eventually bursts open the individual spores are cast out to drift through the forest air and eventually land in a different section of leaf litter. Each individual spore reactivates into a single cell. This method of travel can carry the spores very far on the wind, even so far as to off coast islands. Once having landed these cells scramble about through the soil feeding on organic matter, replicating themselves, and seeking one another. The stimulus to seek one another simply increases the more often a cell meets another, in a form of positive feedback loop. In time the density of cells in a given section of forest floor meets a threshold and the cells do not leave one another once meeting. The mass of cells concentrates toward a central point and, if not already beneath the surface of the leaf litter, will work their way further down to a place of safety against drying out.

Duff Dinner: Difference between revisions

Navigation menu

Search