Trelvi Plant Mimics
(Aka ‘Were-Daisies)
Click, CLACK!
Slam
Click!
“Okay, security engaged! We’re locked up until morning.”
“Good night, Mister Chairman!”
‘Good night, Vera!”
(Clomp, clomp, clomp.....)
.............
A few minutes of darkness passed....then, quietly, the larged potted plant at the end of the desk perked up, fidgeted a bit, waved a few leaves, fidgeted again, then stealthily crept on its suddenly motile fronds across the room to the computer console, taking great care to avoid the tracks of the motion-detector lasers. Taking a moment to fish something out of the dirt around its roots, the plant just as quietly booted up the computer, passed the small strip of DNA-impregnated plastic and fingerprint matrice over the security scanner, then procceeded to type in a series of convoluted passcodes into the machine...
<Omega Access required>
Taptaptap
<*Control-C*>
<Do you wish to quit? y/n >
tapatapatapapapapap
<Never say die, never quit, never surrender>
........
<Password accepted...Welcome to mainframe>
<Initiate privacy shielding....implement Security Program Scarlet Pimpernel 11C>
<Shielding enabled>
<Access and review past implemented security installations and protocols for intruder defense...detail on perimeter defenses and automated rover systems....download to Drive D...>
<Done>
<Open Secure Line Ralph...Piggyback to test signal carrier. Address node 5346`2.>
<Line open>
<Send download at Compression level 14>
<Done. Packet dispatched>
<Check for trace flags>
<No trace flags detected>
<Erase phone record>
<Phone record erased>
<Implement power usage mask>
<Mask implemented>
<Wipe Drive D dowload cache>
<Cache wiped>
<Implement Goobledy-Gook mask>
<Goobledy-Gook executed>
<Draft interoffice memo>
<Memo function opened>
<“From: Chairman’s Office
To: Custodial Services
Subject: Housekeeping
My ficcus plant is looking a little droopy lately. I’d like you girls to give it some extra fertilizer and water on your rounds of my office. I’ve heard the new EdenGro plant spikes are appropriate for my office plants.
Oh, and keep up the good work.
Thank You”>
<Cache and send on resumption of activities. Close Session>
<Session closed>
As the plant shut down the computer and slid back to its original place, it almost sighed with relief at a job well done....
It took awhile for the Vermont Free State to even realize that they had another alien population, the Trelvi, among them, owing to the fact that the Trelvi are so damn good at NOT being seen.
Trelvi are a shy and secretive race of motile plants who, among other talents, have learned plant mimickry. In their normal state, Trelvi resemble a largish mutant Yucca plant, with clusters of sharp-edged leaves, with large pod-like growths branching out between them. Their root system is thick and tubular, with a ‘muscular’ look....they use these roots to absorb nourishment, excavate ‘nesting’, and to walk about. However, a Trelvi can move their various branches and roots via hydraulic action and can move surprisingly fast for plants. A few particularly aggressive Trelvi have even mastered a form of martial arts, being able to slap their hard-edged fronds out with amazing speed and force, like a karate chop! Ironically, Trelvi CAN benefit from such exercises as bodybuilding and gymnastics(ever heard of hanging plants?) to build up their control and stamina, so it isn’t uncommon to see a small thicket out for a morning jog(or running like hell from a pack of dogs with weak bladders), in GNE communities.
Telvi favor temperate, damp, climates conducive to plant growth; if caught out in the desert, they must assume a cautus-like form to survive for long durations, and in subarctic conditions, they must be constantly in motion, have some source of heat to keep them unfrozen(an electrical heating coil buried in their roots can do this), or else grow increasingly torpid until warmer temperatures set in. At temperature extremes, however, Trelvi CAN fatally dehydrate or freeze to death, so Trelvi are never found(by choice) in deep desert or in arctic climes.
It surprises many observers to learn that the Trelvi are actually quite sophisticated when it comes to technology. Though they are rarely seen using it in the great outdoors, Trelvi have developed some fairly sophisticated technology to help them survive and communicate. They are very familiar with computers and communications systems, and fairly good vehicle pilots(once the controls have been modified), and have developed a wide range of sensory equipment. They are particularly interested in environmental sciences, for monitoring their surroundings. Most Trelvi devices tend to be small and easily concealed, often possessing a sly camouflage covering of their own, the better to allow the Trelvi to hide in plain sight. A notable exception is the Trelvi HoverPot, a large flowerpot- or spitoon-like personal hover vehicle, equipped with a supply of root nutrients, and other amenities, that allows the Trelvi to move about faster and more freely.
By and large, Trelvi have a laid-back, live-and-let-live attitude that promotes pacifism and nonaggression over confrontation. The majority of them are also avid people-watchers, intensely curious about the doings of other species. Trelvi really have no concept of a military...the closest word they have for ‘soldier’ translates roughly as ‘those closest to the path of danger’ or ‘those who spray repellent’....a reference to the border guards of larger Trevli ‘plantations’ who traditionally kept grazing animals and insects away, and contained any fires that threatened the community.
It is not certain how the Trelvi got to Earth, but it is most likely that they hitched a ride with another group of travellers, as they have done elsewhere in the Megaverse, disguising themselves as ordinary plants, then sneaking away when they have the opportunity.
For years, the Trelvi dwelt unseen among the other races of the Vermont Free State, often disguised as a normal plants, and moving about only at night, until the combination of a growing meta-talent community, and increasingly aggressive sweeps for enemy infiltrators began turning up Trelvi mimics. Suddenly aware of the consternation and potentially lethal paranoid backlash that the 5ST authorities and populace might unleash on them, the Trelvi wisely quickly gave themselves up and fessed up as to their numbers(several thousand), abilities, and motives. After some initial distrust and verification, the Vermont Free State authorities permitted the Trelvi to continue living in the GNE, but the sentient plants were now expected to register residence, get formal jobs, and pay taxes...the latter of which greatly upset many Trelvi who’d been regularly fed by municipal groundskeepers at public expense! Despite these grumblings, however, the majority of Trelvi have settled in quite well in various jobs as agronomists, librarians, secretaries, and other largely sessile professions. Occasionally, however, Trelvi have been known to skip out of work or avoid cronfrontations with their non-Trelvi superiors by swapping places with a regular plant or by imitating a innocuous, non-sentient, plant when people come looking for them...the so-called ‘Trelvi Dodge’. Non-’domestic’ Trelvi are also not above ‘borrowing’ garden tools and other small items, or tapping public water facets and outside power lines, especially during winter, to make themselves more comfortable while they remain hidden in plain sight disguised as a hedge or shrub.
One of the rumors going around the Vermont Free State military community is that of a Trelvi special intelligence operative named ‘Floyd’. This individual(or individuals) have reportedly accomplished such espionage coups as infiltrating various Coalition facilities. Whether there is any truth to these tales remains unknown, but soon after stories of ‘Floyd’ began circulating in the CS, Emperor Prosek reportedly issued a directive forbidding all houseplants in Coalition military facilities.
All in all, the peoples of the North East have adapted well to the revelations of vegetable intelligence among them, and the Trelvi have fit in quite well, all things considered, but it should be noted that ONLY the Trelvi in the GNE have been identified and have stepped forward....There is no word on how many more Trelvi are at large in the world and where they might be.....Something to consider when walking through the forest...
Alignments: Any, but most are Scrupulous and Principled
Lifespan: 140 years
Size: roughly 4-6 feet tall, weighing 80 lbs
Gender: Hermaphrodites who share pollen every two years, yielding 2-4 fertile ‘seeds’, that are raised in fertile soil around a parent. The youngsters are sessile until they reach 3 years old, when they begin to move around. After 6 years, the young Trevli will begin wandering off to seek their own way in the world.
Physical Description/Appearance:
A largish mutant Yucca plant, with clusters of sharp-edged leaves, with large pod-like growths branching out between them, and thick muscular roots.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Akin to humans, but far more reticent, restrained, and controlled. Trelvi tend to be far more casual and laid back about things, and don’t take matters in a hurry, unless it’s related to immediate survival. Also tend to be far more unobstrusive than humans, trying not to draw attention to themselves, and downplaying their own accomplishments.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 4d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 2d4
PP: 3d6
PB: 3d6(especially when imitating flowers)
PE: 4d6
SPD: 1d6
(ISP) 2d4x10
(PPE): 2d4
Hit Points: 5d6 + 2d4 per level of experience
SDC: 2d4x10 SDC
MDC: None
Horror Factor: None
Natural Abilities:
*Plant Mimic---The Trelvi can instinctively mimic the appearance of any plant they see and can study for 1d4 minutes. The more time the Telvi has to study, the better and more thorough the micmickry.
To create a more elaborate disguise, the Trelvi can also mimick any fruits or medicinal/chemical propertoies a particular plant possesses, provided the Trelvi can study/ingest a sample of the plant inquestion. The Trelvi alien then falls into a trance lasting for 1d6 hours, slowly changing their biochemical makeup, and tripling their intake of water and nutrients. Fruiting bodies are more difficult, but the alien can produce mature growths in a third of the time it would normally take, though producing edible growths or narcotic effects is extremely taxing for the being, and the resulting fruits and nuts will have only half the effective nutient value, and taste slightly off or bland. This also allows the alien to convincingly mimic plants such as tobacco, aloe, and poison ivy. Tubers and root crops CANNOT be mimicked, however. Also, extremely alien plants, or those possessing magical qualities, CANNOT be duplicated.
Other abilities common to Plant Lifeforms:
*Resistance to Pain---About half as sensitive to pain
*Healing Factor----Heals twice as fast as a human would, and can regrow entire limbs and body parts within 2d4x10 days. Only by splitting apart the main trunk can the creature be killed
*Invisible to Sensors----Infrared and thermographic sensors just see a plant
*Breathe---Can breath through every inch of their skins; as long as a single frond remains above water, or uncovered, they can breath. Also, being plants, gases and toxins effective against animal life forms(like tear gas or sleeping gas) have NO effect on Trelvi.
*Enhanced Sense of Smell
*Ultrasonic Hearing---2000 ft
*Sense Direction---80%+1% per level of experience
*Sence Approaching Weather----50%+ 2% per level of experience, 2 mile range
*Sense Wind Direction----68%+2% per level of experience
*Sense Location of Underground water----40%+2% per level of experience
*Sense Vibrations-----Running/walking beings----1,000 ft
Flying objects---500 ft
Herds, hordes, explosions, earthquakes, giant vehicles---
6 miles
Disadvantages:
*Takes DOUBLE damage from fire and weedkiller(herbicides)
*Poor Eyesight---100 ft, unless the Trelvi grows an obvious eye(stalk), in which case, eyesight is human normal.
Psionics: Trelvi are natural psychics and possess the following abilities:
Danger Sense
Automatic Mind Block
Mask I.S.P. and Psionics
Empathy
Trelvi may also select 1d4 abilities from the categories of Sensitive and Physical
*Trelvi save as Master Psychics
Magic: By OCC
Available OCCs:
Trelvi can be any of the following: Operator, Rogue Scholar, Body Fixer, Rogue Scientist, Vagabond Scout, Spy, Smuggler, Wilderness Scout, Mystic, Biomancer(though few Trelvi have discovered this natural magic, and none in North America).
Psychic OCC Trelvi are also possible; the most common being Mindmelter and Psi-Ghost (add Soaker if you have Rifter #19). Zappers and Psi-Assassins are uncommon, and Bursters are virtually unknown(0.05% chance of occuring)
RCC Skills:
ALL Trelvi have the skills of:
Identify Plants and Fruits(+25%)
Wilderness Survival(+20%)
Prowl(+15%)
Cybernetics/Bionics: None. Trevli CANNOT get cybernetics or bionics.
Culture: Nonaggressive, loosely-associated pacifists with a strong reclusive attitude, and voyeuristic tendancies.
Trelvi Hoverpot
This is a small fuel-cell powered hovervehicle resembling an elaborate spitoon. It allows the normally slow Trelvi to fly about much faster than crawling.
The following stats are for a fairly typical, off-the-shelf, Hoverpot.
MDC/SDC:
Main Body 30 MDC
Some Hoverpots will have a raised rim that allows the alien to duck down and get under some limited cover; A.R. 15...while some actually have a clear plastic ‘salad bowl’ cover that makes the Hoverpot a full suit of EBA!
Size: 2-4 ft tall, 1-3 ft in diameter
Weight: 40-100 lbs
Speed: Hover stationary to 50 MPH; average altitude of 200 ft
Powerplant: Renewable fuel cell with an average life of 1 year. Some Trelvi like to add a solar recharger system as well.
Special Features:
*Collision Warning System---500 ft
*Irrigator----Small water and plant food supply; good for two weeks
Weapons Systems: None standard, but many Trelvi like to add a built-in light pulse laser or stunner
Market Cost: A standard model Hoverpot, without weaponry and basic MDC costs about 2,000 credits, but deluxe models with more extensive features and luxury detailing can run up to 100,000 credits
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