An evolutionary path with no relation to conventional genetic life, Sourcia are instead composed of a subtype of XNA or xeno-nucleic acids - a variant with zero sugars and instead, bio-polymers. They are able to dynamically edit their own genetics and body to adapt to new conditions or reconfigure themselves for a given role, changing shape, size, and form.

Sourcians as a species revolve around central meta-intelligences composed of enormous structures (also made of Sourcians) which serve as the sum of knowledge and learning, and a place to live, work through problems, rest, and entertain themselves. Sourcians can also act alone from a colony, but staying away from one for a prolonged period can have negative effects on the psyche, as nothing connects to Sourcians quite like other Sourcians.

• There are many identified types and forms of Sourcian, and many of them are not strictly humanoid, or serve as intelligent objects or structures. The two best suited to being player characters are as follows:
  • Adagio - Generally humanoid in shape, and intended by Sourcians as a whole as the 'peacetime' form, which generally moves independently from the central intelligence and socialises with other people.
  • Uraxi/Crude - Composed of dense hydrocarbons to form prehensile, gelatine liquid bodies of Viscoelastic polymers, this offshoot of Sourcians is much more fluid than their peers. They are not considered 'true' Sourcians, but are considered as such by others - particularly Greasehearts.
• Composed of an outer skin with an optional carapace, an inner medium (or jelly) wherein organs and devices are stored, and a pair of Maesus cores, which constitute the 'brain' of the Sourcian - one usually stays in the 'head', the other in the middle of the being.
  • To this end, they are always changing on the inside - creating and destroying new organs as needed.
  • The standard organs expected on Sourcian characters include:
    • Oxygen breathing lungs.
    • Optics adapted to seeing in or close to the visible light spectrum.
    • A rudimentary nervous system for processing stimuli.
• A Sourcian's dietary requirements are … strange. What constitutes as edible to them can include algaes, hydrocarbons and minerals.
  • They can adapt to eating conventional foods in polite company.
• Sourcians seek other sourcians, so as to share evolutionary knowledge, organ configurations and adaptation styles.
• Absorbs surface-level grit on their outer skin to form pearls, which they consider a waste product.

And that's just scratching the surface. To dive deeper, read more on the Sourcian species page.

Sourcians in a large organisation or colony derive their names from hexadecimal strings. '45.6C.65.6E.61' which translates into 'Elena', for example. Names are case sensitive, but not strictly so in speech.

A tool to assist you in turning plain text into hexadecimal strings and vice versa can be found here.

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Written by Luca via adapting osakanone's writings on Sourcians.