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 or community, but for some, loneliness can have adverse effects on the psyche of the character, as nothing connects to Sourcians quite like other Sourcians, or a group of other people they happen latch onto.

• 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.
  • Salaxi/Crude - Composed of dense hydrocarbons to form prehensile, gelatine liquid bodies of visco-elastic 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.
• A typical Sourcian's body is composed of an outer skin with an optional carapace created using structol, an inner medium called picora wherein organs and devices are stored, and a pair of Maesus cores which constitute the brain and eyes of the Sourcian.
  • One maesus stays in the 'head', the other in the middle of the being, and both are connected to the nervous system the Sourcian creates.
  • A humanoid Sourcian is killed by having both Maesus destroyed. For this reason, the head maesus is usually hiding in an Acorium skull and face-mask while the body maesus is protected by organs and clothing.
  • A missing head maesus on an Adagio or Salaxi will result in a near-fatally wounded Sourcian.
• Sourcians are always changing on the inside - creating and destroying new organs, as well as absorbing and and regurgitating equipment as needed.
  • Sourcians can carry things within their medium. With the right wiring and configuration, they can interact with them too.
  • It takes a week to a month of focussed effort including dieting, research, acquiring resources, organ reconstruction and conditioning to make major changes to the shape, size, density, or composition of the Sourcian. Time necessary is dependant on how solid the medium of the Sourcian is. Gooey sourcians can change quickly. Solid sourcians require more intense reconfiguration of muscles, organs, and other systems.
  • The standard organs and devices expected on Sourcian characters include:
    • An outer skin woven from structol fabric¹⁾, or visco-elastic PVC in the case of a Salaxi/Crude.
    • A jointed carapace to hold the Sourcian's body in a desired shape, made of Structol.
    • Lungs designed to breathe the local atmosphere, usually oxygen-rich.
    • Optics adapted to seeing in or close to the visible light spectrum.
    • A rudimentary nervous system for processing stimuli throughout the body, and add hearing²⁾.
    • Various mini-Maesii crystals for smaller tasks, knowledge retention and the like.
    • A skeleton composed of crystallised or bone-dense structol.
    • A hardened mobile communicator to be used as a bio-electric computer.
• A Sourcian's dietary requirements are … strange. What constitutes as edible to them can include algaes, hydrocarbons, rocks and minerals.
  • They can adapt to eating conventional foods in polite company.
• Sourcians seek other sourcians out, so as to share evolutionary knowledge, organ configurations and adaptation styles.
• Sourcians are adapted towards humid weather, and warm climates. They are vulnerable to concussive force and shun cold climates.
• Due to its difference to XNA, sugar acts as a narcotic substance towards Sourcians. The more processed, the stronger the effects.
• Absorbs surface-level grit on their outer skin to form pearls, which they consider a waste product. Still valuable.

And that's just scratching the surface. Sourcians are weird! 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.

In conventional oxygen atmospheres, Sourcians find themselves drawn to areas with balmy, tropical weather. They observe seasons in a “wet and dry” cycle. Sourcians shun extreme temperatures normally: fiery heat can evaporate exposed picora while chilling cold can freeze picora, potentially damaging organs and systems in the process. Areas with large amounts of ambient electromagnetic interference (such as power plants, energy pylons, turbines, poorly constructed electronics) can also prove disorienting to Sourcian input processing.

• From A Space Colony - Your Sourcian spawned within a Kolossallium hive orbiting a planet or a star. Becoming curious of the terrestrial world and all the stories you read and watch of it, you've decided to fashion yourself into an Adagio shape solid enough to 'get by', and have gone out to discover the new world. New sensations, new trials and tribulations await.
• From Sargasso - Your Sourcian spawned somewhere in the tropics of Sargasso. Civilised and urbanised Adagio Sourcians used to moving among people are likely to hail from the suburbs of Redfield or Bay Grove in Central View. Salaxi/Crudes are drawn to the industrial districts, such as Vulcanshore on Ogonori Island, Helion Overlook in North Shore, and Drill Plains in Southern Palms. Aquatic Sourcians are in the shallows of the urban islands and coast, and the Aquahub in the centre of the bay. The primary sourcian food source is Sargasso Slime.
• From Noir - Your Sourcian spawned within the sprawling city limits of Noir. House-trained and personable Adagio Sourcians are likely to have come from the wards of Chelton or Gala Walk. Industrially inclined Salaxi/Crudes are be attracted towards the Hothouse. In addition, there is a honeycomb of caverns and pools beneath the city of Noir where wild sourcians are known to spawn as a convenient³⁾ food source.

Fashion isn't just a matter of appearance for Sourcians. It's a matter of shape, adaptation and physical presence. Sourcians who take the shape of humanoids generally stand six to eight feet tall. Picora in Adagio type Sourcians is near-alabaster in colour or off-white, so skin tones range from pale to flush, depending on the arrangement of organs and density of flesh. Salaxi/Crudes are effectively made from hydrocarbons and can fabricate exteriors in a smattering of acrylic and plastic tones, sheens, glosses, and finishes.

In both main varieties of Sourcian, it isn't uncommon for lights to be visible underneath the skin as devices and organs process input and deliver output throughout the body.

• Inner Composition - How dense is the Sourcian's Picora/flesh?
  • Liquid - Picora is in a completely liquid state. Often unsuitable for integrating or supporting organs.
  • Soft Jelly - Suitable for aquatic Sourcians, who spread out and manage large amounts of organs or devices, and act as thinking machine or colony. An example Sourcian who uses this setup is 4d-75-6c-6c-65-72 Muller, Calculator for Gruppen Tanhauss. He is spread out among a catchment of 375,000 litres in the pools underneath the city of Noir.
  • Hard Jelly - A happy middle-ground for many Sourcian beings on land or in the water. While the internal makeup of the sourcian is soft and pliant, its outer skin is thick enough to contain and hold the shape and structure of the sourcian and its attachments. An example sourcian who uses this setup is Yttrium Blue, whose exact size changes regularly as she imbibes and burns through hydrocarbons. She makes use of limbs salvaged from a Powered Armour for gripping and locomotion.
  • Flesh - Picora is arranged as an analogue to flesh and muscle. While individual muscle arrangements can vary, the underlying structure is modelled off mammalian flesh. While the most approachable of ways to wear oneself, it is the hardest to remodel once created.
• Outer Skin - Skin can have the following qualities. Unless otherwise noted, most skin is created from woven structol.
  • Membrane - Lighter than skin, analogous to a giant amoeba. Sourcians composed entirely of membrane are extremely fast to grab and integrate or regurgitate new things, and capable of swimming through water with ease, but lacks basic defences against many forms of attack and leaves the maesii exposed to attack.
  • Skin - An analogue to skin, without a single pore or flaw⁴⁾. Adagio skin is generally white/pale in colour, and Salaxi/Crude can take on any number of plastic colours and finishes.
  • Chitin/Shell - Structol can be woven into harder shells over or beneath the skin to compliment a solid shape a Sourcian can take. A humanoid sourcian making use of chitin and shells over their skin resembles a ball-jointed doll.
  • Hair - Fibres can be woven together from structol strands to create a formation analogous to a haircut, down to the look and feel. Adagio hair is normally worn white, or they can choose to bind all a manner of dyes within the form.
• Outerwear and Apparel - Sourcians who move around people and other aliens generally put on body-suits, to keep dust, wind, and other particles off their outer skin. Atop this suit, additional gear may be worn and carried, and some suits come with pockets that reach inside the Sourcian, for easy access. Sourcians also accessorise decoratively with with soft fabrics, structol protrusions and outcroppings, valuable jewellery and precious metal.

(tbd)

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