Pycon Questions

[Ariel]

Hello all, I just had a few quick questions about pycons: 1) The Rak'keli gnosis is said to be able to heal things such as cuts and scrapes, at later levels, mend bones, etc, etc. Ariel, unlike just about every other race, has no organs. She was crafted out of a mixture of clay, and some pretty powerful magic, (Alchemy), and thus, is essentially a walking, talking, pretty darn cool, (even if I do say so myself) clay statue. Would the Rak'keli gnosis have any effect on her? Like any at all? Or does this anatomic difference cause a problem? After all, she can still be injured, (have limbs chopped off, etc etc). 2) It was once said that earth reimancy could not effect a pycon's body. (If someone tried to course their djed through Ariel and make her explode, it wouldn't work even though she's made of clay). My question is, how do the other elements effect her? Would a fire reimancer be able to harden her body and turn her into a boring, unmoving, clay statue? Kind of like what a kiln does? Or would it have no effect? How about water? Would water merely soften her clay, or would it make her melt? If she walked into a pile of water and submerged herself, could she come out alive? (If she still melted and her core remained in tact). How long would you say it would take her to recover from these things, assuming she survived? 3) Kelvics have the ability to bond to just about every Mizaharian race. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. Kelvics cannot bond with other Kelvics for example, and they can't bond with more than one person at a time. Now, Ariel, as I have said before, isn't exactly what you'd call a person. She is essentially a magical experiment made of clay. Would this keep her from being able to bond with a Kelvic? Or not? 4) There has also been some debate on whether they can feel hot and cold. Can someone please give me a more definitive answer? Can they or can't they feel hot or cold? 5) Pycons have no organs, so do they breath or anything like that? Or is it just some sort of illusion an rper can play into, just so they seem a little more human? (If that makes sense). Thank you in advance for your help! =) Ariel, The Pycon

[Jilitse]

Hi Ariel!

I know very little of Pycons, except one that was marked with Cordas who drove a sword through my undead body. Haha, kidding aside, let me give a shot at your questions. Before I start, I think the go-to person would be Tarot, as he is the Creator after all. And my thoughts are just another player's opinion until he gives his nod.

1. I am curious to this as well, but where Nuits don't really heal, I expect that Pycons can't be healed, because they can just eat dirt and be okay again.

If a Pycon loses a part of their body and cannot reattach it, they can reform it by eating large amounts of clay. All Pycon have to feed upon clay regularly, though not as often as people of flesh have to take meals; most Pycon feed once or twice a week, unless they are still growing or need to replace body parts. A crippled Pycon will be fully functional again in a few days if enough clay can be found.

2. Despite being alive, Pycons bear the weakness and strength of earth. I imagine Pycons to flatten if someone tries to crush them with a boulder, and that they will explode if someone tried earth explosion, but they have the ability to still group the pieces together in fashion of Pycon regeneration. Against other elements, it's only obvious that water will kill you. It would soften you, depending on the quantity, it would melt you. Pycons move swiftly, so I think they can evade most attacks. I'm speaking based on how I battled the mentioned Pycon, as when splashed with Ichor he kind of burned (but eventually healed so it might not be so fatal) I don't think Pycons are as invincible as your last sentence here, mainly because there should be a breaking point where you can't "regenerate" anymore and then you'll die.
4. If you were a piece of clay, I think you will still be affected by warmth and cold, but in the manner of how clay pottery is affected - you become cool, you become warm... but you don't really "feel" the cold/warmth. At extremes, you'd freeze to death or dry til burned. *shrug* That's my interpretation anyway.
5. You need to read the wiki with more concentration! http://www.mizahar.com/lore/Pycon

Pycon sleep and breathe like other creatures do; they are, in fact, prone to shapeshifting when they dream, which happens often.

Let's hope I helped more than confuse you :-*

[Ariel]

Thanks Jilly for your interpretation. I have pretty much the same impression as you about the healing gnosis. (I have injured Ariel a few times and know about the whole clay thing). But I figured it'd be cool if she could seek out a healer and speed up the process if you know what I mean. As for the reimancy stuff. I keep getting different things. Some people say this discussion has been had, and that earth reimancy can't be used to make a pycon explode. So... =/ to that. As for the water and fire, I could see how a surplus would effect her body in the long term. (Say if Ariel submerged herself in water for several hours, she'd melt, much like if she walked through a fire and hung out for several hours she'd turn to stone). I mean, that kind of goes without saying, doesn't it? But as for other things- like if Ariel was caught in a rainstorm or something, I wish I knew how that would effect her. I mean, she'd probably melt a little bit but be ok if her core was ok... Erm... good thing Endrykas doesn't get much rain I suppose. Thanks for reminding me about the shifting in dreams. I actually forgot. I've had her "shift" if you will, over time. (She was a clay horse back in the day), but it is a good point to remember nonetheless. So perhaps a better question may be, where does the pycon draw the line between being human and clay? Yes they sleep, their eyes don't blink, they are effected by the elements to an extent- hot, cold, fire, water, earth, wind, even though they may not FEEL hot an cold like a human. But, what is the thing that really separates the two? (Other than the no organs and not made of clay thing). Is there anything else that separates the two? Ariel breathes, but does she have a heartbeat? How can she breathe if she has no organs? Is that merely a function of her core? Sorry I am asking a million and one questions, and your lovely answers are sprouting more questions, but, erm, I am kind of confused. Thanks for your help though Jilly, once again. The pycon appreciates it. *Huggles* Ariel, The Pycon P.S. Perhaps I should nudge Tarot and have him look this over...

[Jilitse]

No problem Ariel, I just want to tell you that your questions right there could be incorporated into Ariel's self-searching... I remember asking many silly questions about Nuits back in the day (Will I freeze to death if I go to Avanthal, Tarot?), and this just means you're interested in keeping in line and developing your PC further.

Don't worry and go ahead ask Tarot, I'm sure he'll reply. Sorry I can't be of more help at this point

[Tarot]

Hey Ariel,

Pycons are made of a special substance that Rupert Pycon created out of clay and flesh. Basically, he used Alchemy to take clay and borrow properties from flesh and organs. I haven't exactly written out the specific process, but the way I'm picturing it is, he took a large number of animals and started making them more and more clay-like with Alchemy. Most of them died early on in cruel and gruesome ways, of course, but out of thousands and thousands of specimens, he got perhaps some fish or frogs whose flesh was starting to take on the properties of clay. At the same time, he was making clay more and more lifelike with the inverse process. Eventually, he sliced open his clay fish and implanted the eggs into this new special clay, giving birth to the first primordial Pycons as the two extremes "met in the middle". From there, more mass experiments and mass casualties (involving people) to steer their evolution towards sentience.

Pycons most likely don't know that these days. And if they knew, they would want to forget. But that is neither here nor there, just giving you some background for my answers. They are as much clay as they are flesh.

1) I think Healing might work on Pycons. The healer would probably have to try a little harder to get it right the first few times, but I can't see why the power of Rak'keli, which heals all life, wouldn't be able to work on them.

2) Pycons don't melt in water. They take damage from fire much like anyone else. Instead of burning, they'd probably start shedding their hardened clay, which is pretty much as serious as a burn for any other race.

3) They can bond with Kelvics at leisure. Whether a Kelvic would choose them is another matter entirely, of course.

4) It's stated that their senses are on par with a man's, that includes touch sensitivity and hence cold and hot.

5) They breathe and sleep, as Jil noted. They can drown if submerged. Basically, when in doubt, it's often safe to assume they have similar mechanisms to the other races; if not identical in the way they work, at least comparable in their effects.

[Ariel]

Thank you Tarot, that certainly does clear a lot of things up! Perhaps now I can go off and experiment with some of these things. Sure to be exciting.