What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
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On planet Dalia, there exists a creature that supplies Dalians with horrific fear. The Tayan. Tayan is similar to the Earth pitcher plant, and employs similar methods to capture prey.
XENOBIOLOGY
The Tayan embeds itself in the soil of planet surface, with only its octopus like tentacles and and teeth showing. Think something similar to a sarlacc pit. The surrounding of its mouth secrets a fluid, and often humans and livestock trip and fall into the Tayan mouth. The teeth are inward facing, making it hard for prey to fall in and crawl out. Tentacles knock and drag victims to be swallowed. Once inside the mouth, itâÂÂs impossible to get out. ItâÂÂs most common prey is young children.
Digestion
The victim slides down the slippery âÂÂThroatâ of the Tayan, into either the main or secondary stomach. The secondary stomach is where food is stored for later consumption, during droughts or hibernation. The main stomach is just the ordinary stomach, where food gets broken down, digested, and excreted. Since acid is involved, the process is seen as excruciating by most, and unimaginably painful, and it takes up to 32 hours for prey in the main stomach to die.
Secondary Stomach
In the secondary stomach, the victim is injected with a neurotoxin that attempts to immobilize prey, like humans, as to stop them from doing anything rash like biting and scratching. The victim is kept alive in the secondary stomach though. This part is very important to my plot.
You remember how I said the neurotoxin attempts to immobilize prey? About 1/3 of the time, the neurotoxin is ineffective at doing its job, and prey can retain the ability to move. It would be much easier to simply put prey to death with a venom, as it would kill 100% of the time. So, my question is, why would the creature prioritize keeping its prey alive?
reality-check creature-design xenobiology
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On planet Dalia, there exists a creature that supplies Dalians with horrific fear. The Tayan. Tayan is similar to the Earth pitcher plant, and employs similar methods to capture prey.
XENOBIOLOGY
The Tayan embeds itself in the soil of planet surface, with only its octopus like tentacles and and teeth showing. Think something similar to a sarlacc pit. The surrounding of its mouth secrets a fluid, and often humans and livestock trip and fall into the Tayan mouth. The teeth are inward facing, making it hard for prey to fall in and crawl out. Tentacles knock and drag victims to be swallowed. Once inside the mouth, itâÂÂs impossible to get out. ItâÂÂs most common prey is young children.
Digestion
The victim slides down the slippery âÂÂThroatâ of the Tayan, into either the main or secondary stomach. The secondary stomach is where food is stored for later consumption, during droughts or hibernation. The main stomach is just the ordinary stomach, where food gets broken down, digested, and excreted. Since acid is involved, the process is seen as excruciating by most, and unimaginably painful, and it takes up to 32 hours for prey in the main stomach to die.
Secondary Stomach
In the secondary stomach, the victim is injected with a neurotoxin that attempts to immobilize prey, like humans, as to stop them from doing anything rash like biting and scratching. The victim is kept alive in the secondary stomach though. This part is very important to my plot.
You remember how I said the neurotoxin attempts to immobilize prey? About 1/3 of the time, the neurotoxin is ineffective at doing its job, and prey can retain the ability to move. It would be much easier to simply put prey to death with a venom, as it would kill 100% of the time. So, my question is, why would the creature prioritize keeping its prey alive?
reality-check creature-design xenobiology
4
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
1
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
1
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20
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up vote
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up vote
8
down vote
favorite
On planet Dalia, there exists a creature that supplies Dalians with horrific fear. The Tayan. Tayan is similar to the Earth pitcher plant, and employs similar methods to capture prey.
XENOBIOLOGY
The Tayan embeds itself in the soil of planet surface, with only its octopus like tentacles and and teeth showing. Think something similar to a sarlacc pit. The surrounding of its mouth secrets a fluid, and often humans and livestock trip and fall into the Tayan mouth. The teeth are inward facing, making it hard for prey to fall in and crawl out. Tentacles knock and drag victims to be swallowed. Once inside the mouth, itâÂÂs impossible to get out. ItâÂÂs most common prey is young children.
Digestion
The victim slides down the slippery âÂÂThroatâ of the Tayan, into either the main or secondary stomach. The secondary stomach is where food is stored for later consumption, during droughts or hibernation. The main stomach is just the ordinary stomach, where food gets broken down, digested, and excreted. Since acid is involved, the process is seen as excruciating by most, and unimaginably painful, and it takes up to 32 hours for prey in the main stomach to die.
Secondary Stomach
In the secondary stomach, the victim is injected with a neurotoxin that attempts to immobilize prey, like humans, as to stop them from doing anything rash like biting and scratching. The victim is kept alive in the secondary stomach though. This part is very important to my plot.
You remember how I said the neurotoxin attempts to immobilize prey? About 1/3 of the time, the neurotoxin is ineffective at doing its job, and prey can retain the ability to move. It would be much easier to simply put prey to death with a venom, as it would kill 100% of the time. So, my question is, why would the creature prioritize keeping its prey alive?
reality-check creature-design xenobiology
On planet Dalia, there exists a creature that supplies Dalians with horrific fear. The Tayan. Tayan is similar to the Earth pitcher plant, and employs similar methods to capture prey.
XENOBIOLOGY
The Tayan embeds itself in the soil of planet surface, with only its octopus like tentacles and and teeth showing. Think something similar to a sarlacc pit. The surrounding of its mouth secrets a fluid, and often humans and livestock trip and fall into the Tayan mouth. The teeth are inward facing, making it hard for prey to fall in and crawl out. Tentacles knock and drag victims to be swallowed. Once inside the mouth, itâÂÂs impossible to get out. ItâÂÂs most common prey is young children.
Digestion
The victim slides down the slippery âÂÂThroatâ of the Tayan, into either the main or secondary stomach. The secondary stomach is where food is stored for later consumption, during droughts or hibernation. The main stomach is just the ordinary stomach, where food gets broken down, digested, and excreted. Since acid is involved, the process is seen as excruciating by most, and unimaginably painful, and it takes up to 32 hours for prey in the main stomach to die.
Secondary Stomach
In the secondary stomach, the victim is injected with a neurotoxin that attempts to immobilize prey, like humans, as to stop them from doing anything rash like biting and scratching. The victim is kept alive in the secondary stomach though. This part is very important to my plot.
You remember how I said the neurotoxin attempts to immobilize prey? About 1/3 of the time, the neurotoxin is ineffective at doing its job, and prey can retain the ability to move. It would be much easier to simply put prey to death with a venom, as it would kill 100% of the time. So, my question is, why would the creature prioritize keeping its prey alive?
reality-check creature-design xenobiology
reality-check creature-design xenobiology
edited Sep 1 at 17:47
asked Aug 15 at 5:10
Robert Paul
1,69761638
1,69761638
4
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
1
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
1
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20
 |Â
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4
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
1
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
1
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20
4
4
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
1
1
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
1
1
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20
 |Â
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15 Answers
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Meat spoils.
The instant a creature dies, it starts decomposing. Bacteria start to win a fight they started the day the creature was born. Within a short while, nothing of value remains.
While a creature is alive, their immune system holds the bacteria at bay. Why waste time coming up with a way to preserve your meat that works for all foodstuffs that happen into your maw when you can let their own immune system do the heavy lifting?
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
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Like an amphiparasite
Perhaps the Tayans metabolism somehow depends on a substance which it cannot produce itself. It is, however, found in excrements, sweat and similar byproducts of its prey. Maybe adrenalin? It is reasonable to believe that a creature trapped alive inside the secondary stomach would produce an excess of adrenalin, while alive.
Actually, live prey inside the secondary stomach might fill the same role as bacteria does in our own digestive system.
("Amphiparasite" is not a real word. It could however descripe a parasite that lives "around" its host as opposed to endoparasites which lives inside and exoparasites which lives outside.)
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
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Try these:
Neural Tapping
The Tayan is capable of tapping into its' victims brains and accessing their knowledge and memories. The catch is, it has to keep them alive to do so. If not what's in their brains, then you can simply have the creature use its prey's brains as additional computing power, so as to speak. Doing this should make your creature a leaner meaner killing and eating machine, capable of reasoning out tactics that would give it a terrifying reputation.
Attack 'Dogs'
For generations the Tayan has been bred by a tribe or civilisation for specific purposes. These people are able to coax the Tayan into regurgitating the contents of its secondary stomach. There are many possible uses for captives taken in such a way, like slavery or Aztec-like ritual sacrifice. If you go the sacrifice route, the creature itself can be part of the ceremony via its primary stomach. If they are able to breed and control large enough numbers of Tayans, they could be used as weapons of war as well.
With further fine control of the Tayan, the beast could also be used as a torture device; I imagine being paralysed and trapped in its secondary stomach for days would be a nightmarish experience.
EDIT: Torture mode details
Since asked I'll throw in some more details about how a Tayan could be used to torture. Not 100% comprehensive though.
The first and most obvious stage has the Tayan swallow the victim into its secondary stomach and do nothing else. Imagine being stuck in solitary confinement, except you're completely paralysed, your prison cell is a wet fleshy sac and it probably stinks like hell. This is already considered inhumane in the real world, the Tayan version more so.
Next there's sleep deprivation. The Tayan could deny the victim any sleep through chemical means or simply by constantly churning the victim around. Physical hunger and thirst too; presumably the victim's metabolism is still running so s/he'll eventually need nourishment. There's also "snotterboarding", which is like waterboarding except with the Tayan's internal body fluids instead of water.
Then there's partial digestion, which is probably why the Tayan has a secondary stomach. The creature begins to alter the victim's body either to break down slower(providing nourishment for a longer period albeit at a drawn out pace), and/or to increase production of bodily byproducts that the Tayan finds useful. For example, if the Tayan supplements its diet of meat with certain compounds found in human sweat it could alter your body into a gelatinous pink blob whose only purpose is to manufacture sweat. This process is likely to be both terrifying and excruciating, and the Tayan has no reason to spare you from pain...
Lastly there's direct nervous access and stimulation, something like the bor gullet from Star Wars. Other than memory manipulation, it could interfere with bodily function or stimulate brain centers to cause pain, fear, sadness, arousal,etc. There is little evolutionary incentive to do so though, so this would suggest engineered development or some handwaving.
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
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Bait.
The trapped creature cannot escape so it calls for help and/or it's calls brings in predators looking for an easy meal.
Suddenly it's time for second breakfast.......
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
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The Tayan needs to keep its prey alive when two or more large animals fall into a trap. It digests food too slowly and can do it one at a time. Killing all at once means the animal decays before being consumed. This would attract scavengers with sharp claws, often tearing off the pitcher trap. They may be too strong to fight. (Another side issue: how can it detect the size of its prey? Does it possess eyes?)
One other reason to paralyze the pray is the example of this wasp: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammophila_sabulosa
It needs to lay its egg on the prey. When the egg hatches, the prey is still fresh and is eaten alive. Tayans have little mobility and keep the prey with the egg (or seed?) Inside them for safeguarding. The offspring hatches, starts eating its prey and grows. It is a worm-like larva which crawls out to "set root" at some distance from the mother "plant".
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
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Reproduction
In 1953, Philip Jose Farmer wrote a Sci Fi short novel: "Mother". In that story, there was a big alien who trapped living prey inside its body, and the movements of the prey trying to escape stimulated the self-reproduction of the alien entity (some sort of polonization). That alien appears years later in "Barloweôs Guide to Extraterrestrials". Here is the picture:
So, the reason why the Tayan keeps (for a while) its prey alive, could be the need for an internal physical stimulation for a biological process (for example: reproduction, as in the case of "Mother").
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
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Answer: It isn't intentional.
Imagine you're a giant, slow moving creature that mostly eats lizards and the like, but occasionally eats large animals like a camel. Now unless your desert happens to have a large predator, like a saber tooth lion or something, nothing will be able to hurt you once you've eaten it; especially large animals, which often break bones and stuff when they land. However, some of those small lizards and stuff are pretty good at surviving the fall, and may even try to escape before you can finish digesting your camel. Now it isn't the worst thing that can happen, but its still annoying, so you decide you'll shoot up the bugers with a neurotoxin to stop them, since you don't have a brain and it wont have adverse effects on you. Anyways, you test it out and it gets that stupid lizard and all is well, except that took a lot of energy since you already make like six other fluids, so you say that it's good enough and stop developing it. Except the toxin is not potent enough to stop anything larger than a lizard, like children, or dogs, so they just keep living in your second stomach even if you inject them. That's okay though, cause it's not like they can escape.
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The victim provides something that the creature needs.
Keeping the victim alive, and out of trouble is a burden on the creature. The neurotoxin requires resources to make. The victim has the chance to damage the creature during capture and containment. Additionally the creature must provide food,water, and oxygen to the victim during the containment.
So the creature must get something valuable from the victim during this captivity in order for the equation to balance in favor of the creature.
Some tangible outputs that Humans/large mammals produce are:
carbon-dioxide, urine, feces, tears, blood, hair, sweat, adrenaline, bile, stomach acid,
Some intangable outputs: brain-waves, fear, vocal output (neurological control of victim's speach?), song (A dreamlike trance song perhaps).
Depending on what your story needs for plot, or what your creature may need to supplement it's biology would dictate what output it needs, and how it would go about using that output.
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
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Some animals keep food for the winter, and don't eat it until they need it. Maybe this creature keeps its food in the stomach until a certain time has come.
For example, it may store young children until a long holiday season during which the monster rarely, if ever, encounters a human being.
Or maybe, the creature lives in a place that's inaccessible half of the time, for example the inside of a cave that floods with high-water. So it needs a reliable amount of food for when it's certain that it won't get any prey, save for bugs and maybe fish.
Or maybe it's just waiting until night to dine.
Adjust the times to your story's needs, but don't forget to make it believable: for example, it only insta-swallows little prey and keeps the bigger ones for later. It still needs to eat right now.
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
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You could replace the neurotoxin the Tayan makes with a sleeping agent.
Instead of taking the risk of paralyzing the pray and accidentally killing it (thereby risking its own infection), the Tayan might use a sleeping agent to put its prey to sleep. That way the pray won't die, and the Tayan will not have to risk getting injured by the confused and angry animal it has just brought within claw/tooth/hoof range of itself.
Here is how some creatures escape:
The Tayan makes the sleeping agent in small doses. Small doses can keep small prey asleep as long as needed, and the Tayan has to use energy to make the agent. Larger doses are cost-prohibitive. Larger prey like people will fall asleep for a while, and then wake up. About 1/3 of the time, they wake up before the Tayan decides to digest them because the small but constant dose of sleeping agent. People who wake up are still being exposed to the sleeping agent, and so have trouble thinking straight. Even if the pray manage to wake up, they will be too disoriented to try to escape or fight back. Only a very small percentage of Tayan victims wake up and then are able to kill the Tayan.
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First, an answer to a question you did not ask--if it's not mobile, how has it survived? After all, the creatures it will need to eat can just go elsewhere, AVOID the area where it is.
The answer--make the area as attractive as possible for what you eat. That is, produce fruit and other things that are highly valued for a number of creatures.
This answer, that the creature much produce things that are valuable to living creatures, can lead to one answer why
What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
The answer is, that in order to keep producing something to attract animals (rather than just some hole to slip down like a saarlac) they've got to store the animals they eat--it's a bit like why humans keep livestock alive through the winter. They just keep better and there's more caloric value when you finally do eat them.
There might be a whole ecosystem within the creature itself even!
You can start to think of it as less a creature and more a closed system. If it's really huge it might even have creatures within it that police it. Think less stomach and more prison with executions...Maybe it's even extradimensional...
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
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If the prey is in the second stomach and dies, that would lead to decomposition that perhaps would kill the Tayan? That would explain why the prey was alive to begin with, to avoid a type of sepsis. And evolution of the species could have developed a second stomach in response to a scarce food source, as a way to save food for lean times. But depending on the prey, I'd imagine that there would be variable lengths of time that they would die from starvation unless the neurotoxin slows that process or contains proteins that nourish in some way.
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A defensive mechanism crafted by evolution
I'm assuming this creature is not picky about it's diet, so I will take the liberty to say that it eats anything that moves. I'm also assuming that your world has a vast and wired fauna/flora, since it allowed such a clever and treacherous kind of creature to evolve.
To answer your question, I'm gonna rewind a few thousand years and look back at the Tayan's evolution proccess.
Maybe the Tayan was an ordinary man-eating... thing... that roamed your planet freely. But the whole process of hunting down preys wasn't effective for it - since it should be quite a large animal to be able to store up to two other animals within it's two stomachs. After hundreds and hundreds of years it realized that it was easier to just sit down and wait for the fools to "accidentally" fall into it's mouth.
But evolution goes both ways - so the victims of this monster also evolved. Even though it's feared and might be some sort of king of the jungle, it's feasible that this hasn't been the case millenia ago. At some point, there might have been another animal that served as the Tayan's predator. And the beauty of it is that this predator wasn't necessarily an even more treacherous thing - it could've just been some animal like the Alien series Xenomorph, a being whose blood is acid.
This creature would obviously die after being eaten by the Tayan, but it would kill or seriously harm him in the process.
For a period, the Tayan population might have been reduced for eating too much black aliens, but it eventually evolved and adapted to this new reality. Your explanation could be that this neurotoxin is a response to the acid bloood of the other creature.
When the Tayan eats this creature, the toxin slowly reduces de acid properties of this creature's blood to a point where, when it's finally transfered to the main stomach, no harm will come to the Tayan when digestion begins. As a bonus, this toxin also acts as a paralizing agent that works in various other lifeforms that could get agressive and try to tear it from within.
To sum it up, the reason it keeps the victims alive is evolution - it developed a second stomach and the toxin generations ago for some specific reason (mentioned above).
The same thing happened with the appendix in humans. Maybe it had a function in the past but to modern humans, its purpose is simply giving people appendicitis.
The olny difference is that the products of the Tayan's evolution are still useful to him today.
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Intelligence gathering:
The plant is actually quite specialized in its diet, lets say apes. It taps the memories of its victims, because that way it can keep up with the knowledge about its own characteristics (making it easier to hide) and with the desires du jour (making it easier to present an effective bait) - the plant can create a wide range of sounds, forms, colors and smells to camouflage itself and present bait.
It evolved with the apes, from small furry animals up to humanity. As the apes got more intelligent, the escape attempts became more damaging and successful, so it evolved a secondary stomach much like the first, but giving the victims much more time to think about escape - so when the plant finally dissolves the victim and takes his memories, it will have a host of escape ideas to preemptively counter. The neurotoxin keeps the number of actual, successful escapes low.
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Because Tayans can only digest premature baby Dalians
What's a scarier thought than being eaten alive?
Being drugged and turned into a sex slave and then having your unwanted children born prematurely and then eaten alive.
There's something about adult Dalians that make their morphology radically different from baby Dalians. Aside from that, baby Dalians that are born healthy already has an immune system that a Tayan cannot easily overwhelm. The diet of a Tayan is therefore limited to prematurely-born baby Dalians
Think of premature baby Dalians as fat caterpillars, fully-gestated Dalians as cocoons, and adult Dalians as butterflies. Not necessarily as such, but that their internal cellular compositions and metabolic byproducts are radically different that their biochemistry will appear as that of differing species if not observed for their DNA.
The poison that the Tayan infuses to the adult Dalian makes the Dalian docile, more attractive, and with a messed-up reproduction system. Tayan poison is basically a cross between an aphrodisiac-inducer, a sleeping pill, and a contraception pill.
And so, the Dalian in the Tayan's stomach is not exactly dead, but transformed into a zombified prostitute only to produce tastier, more nutritious Dalian babies that purposely did not came out right.
In light of this, The second stomach of a Tayan is basically a large sex den for drugged Dalians, while its primary stomach is tailor-made to squeeze premature baby Dalians of all its Dalian juices.
Goodnight Dalians...
~Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Tayan
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
add a comment |Â
15 Answers
15
active
oldest
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15 Answers
15
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
28
down vote
Meat spoils.
The instant a creature dies, it starts decomposing. Bacteria start to win a fight they started the day the creature was born. Within a short while, nothing of value remains.
While a creature is alive, their immune system holds the bacteria at bay. Why waste time coming up with a way to preserve your meat that works for all foodstuffs that happen into your maw when you can let their own immune system do the heavy lifting?
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
28
down vote
Meat spoils.
The instant a creature dies, it starts decomposing. Bacteria start to win a fight they started the day the creature was born. Within a short while, nothing of value remains.
While a creature is alive, their immune system holds the bacteria at bay. Why waste time coming up with a way to preserve your meat that works for all foodstuffs that happen into your maw when you can let their own immune system do the heavy lifting?
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
28
down vote
up vote
28
down vote
Meat spoils.
The instant a creature dies, it starts decomposing. Bacteria start to win a fight they started the day the creature was born. Within a short while, nothing of value remains.
While a creature is alive, their immune system holds the bacteria at bay. Why waste time coming up with a way to preserve your meat that works for all foodstuffs that happen into your maw when you can let their own immune system do the heavy lifting?
Meat spoils.
The instant a creature dies, it starts decomposing. Bacteria start to win a fight they started the day the creature was born. Within a short while, nothing of value remains.
While a creature is alive, their immune system holds the bacteria at bay. Why waste time coming up with a way to preserve your meat that works for all foodstuffs that happen into your maw when you can let their own immune system do the heavy lifting?
answered Aug 15 at 5:20
Cort Ammon
99.6k15177354
99.6k15177354
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
 |Â
show 1 more comment
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
7
7
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
Plants store sugars and starches and animals store fats. Why would it want to store it alive verses as in it's own energy reserves?
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:26
3
3
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
@Thorne the digesting stomach hasn't had time to do it's work, but the Tayan -- being an ambush hunter, and prey doesn't skip by every day -- doesn't want any prey it does catch to get away.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 5:54
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
It's digesting stomach hasn't done it's work cause the creature isn't in it. Still can't see why it needs to store it alive verses as fat/starch reserves like every other living animal.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:10
1
1
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
Leaving aside the difficulty of keeping the criature alive (breathing, contention, etc.), while the creature is alive it is consuming its energy reserves, making the feeding process less efficient.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:14
1
1
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
I should have made clear that there's already prey in the primary stomach.
â RonJohn
Aug 15 at 22:01
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
9
down vote
Like an amphiparasite
Perhaps the Tayans metabolism somehow depends on a substance which it cannot produce itself. It is, however, found in excrements, sweat and similar byproducts of its prey. Maybe adrenalin? It is reasonable to believe that a creature trapped alive inside the secondary stomach would produce an excess of adrenalin, while alive.
Actually, live prey inside the secondary stomach might fill the same role as bacteria does in our own digestive system.
("Amphiparasite" is not a real word. It could however descripe a parasite that lives "around" its host as opposed to endoparasites which lives inside and exoparasites which lives outside.)
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
add a comment |Â
up vote
9
down vote
Like an amphiparasite
Perhaps the Tayans metabolism somehow depends on a substance which it cannot produce itself. It is, however, found in excrements, sweat and similar byproducts of its prey. Maybe adrenalin? It is reasonable to believe that a creature trapped alive inside the secondary stomach would produce an excess of adrenalin, while alive.
Actually, live prey inside the secondary stomach might fill the same role as bacteria does in our own digestive system.
("Amphiparasite" is not a real word. It could however descripe a parasite that lives "around" its host as opposed to endoparasites which lives inside and exoparasites which lives outside.)
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
add a comment |Â
up vote
9
down vote
up vote
9
down vote
Like an amphiparasite
Perhaps the Tayans metabolism somehow depends on a substance which it cannot produce itself. It is, however, found in excrements, sweat and similar byproducts of its prey. Maybe adrenalin? It is reasonable to believe that a creature trapped alive inside the secondary stomach would produce an excess of adrenalin, while alive.
Actually, live prey inside the secondary stomach might fill the same role as bacteria does in our own digestive system.
("Amphiparasite" is not a real word. It could however descripe a parasite that lives "around" its host as opposed to endoparasites which lives inside and exoparasites which lives outside.)
Like an amphiparasite
Perhaps the Tayans metabolism somehow depends on a substance which it cannot produce itself. It is, however, found in excrements, sweat and similar byproducts of its prey. Maybe adrenalin? It is reasonable to believe that a creature trapped alive inside the secondary stomach would produce an excess of adrenalin, while alive.
Actually, live prey inside the secondary stomach might fill the same role as bacteria does in our own digestive system.
("Amphiparasite" is not a real word. It could however descripe a parasite that lives "around" its host as opposed to endoparasites which lives inside and exoparasites which lives outside.)
edited Aug 15 at 10:27
answered Aug 15 at 6:32
Guran
2,8841124
2,8841124
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
add a comment |Â
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
I think that the term you are looking for is "symbiont" rather than parasite
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:15
2
2
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
Nah, symboisis implies some mutual benefit. Here the pleasure is completely on the Tayans side. However, I'll edit the title slightly.
â Guran
Aug 15 at 10:22
2
2
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
So the Tayan aquires food that it cannot eat, to feed to the trapped victim, so that it can eat various excretions? It's basically a biological battery-farm!
â Chronocidal
Aug 15 at 10:29
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
An example existing in nature would be bacteria inside the cows's stomach . So maybe Dalians digest some very complex sugar type for the Talian?
â Mefitico
Aug 24 at 1:05
add a comment |Â
up vote
8
down vote
Try these:
Neural Tapping
The Tayan is capable of tapping into its' victims brains and accessing their knowledge and memories. The catch is, it has to keep them alive to do so. If not what's in their brains, then you can simply have the creature use its prey's brains as additional computing power, so as to speak. Doing this should make your creature a leaner meaner killing and eating machine, capable of reasoning out tactics that would give it a terrifying reputation.
Attack 'Dogs'
For generations the Tayan has been bred by a tribe or civilisation for specific purposes. These people are able to coax the Tayan into regurgitating the contents of its secondary stomach. There are many possible uses for captives taken in such a way, like slavery or Aztec-like ritual sacrifice. If you go the sacrifice route, the creature itself can be part of the ceremony via its primary stomach. If they are able to breed and control large enough numbers of Tayans, they could be used as weapons of war as well.
With further fine control of the Tayan, the beast could also be used as a torture device; I imagine being paralysed and trapped in its secondary stomach for days would be a nightmarish experience.
EDIT: Torture mode details
Since asked I'll throw in some more details about how a Tayan could be used to torture. Not 100% comprehensive though.
The first and most obvious stage has the Tayan swallow the victim into its secondary stomach and do nothing else. Imagine being stuck in solitary confinement, except you're completely paralysed, your prison cell is a wet fleshy sac and it probably stinks like hell. This is already considered inhumane in the real world, the Tayan version more so.
Next there's sleep deprivation. The Tayan could deny the victim any sleep through chemical means or simply by constantly churning the victim around. Physical hunger and thirst too; presumably the victim's metabolism is still running so s/he'll eventually need nourishment. There's also "snotterboarding", which is like waterboarding except with the Tayan's internal body fluids instead of water.
Then there's partial digestion, which is probably why the Tayan has a secondary stomach. The creature begins to alter the victim's body either to break down slower(providing nourishment for a longer period albeit at a drawn out pace), and/or to increase production of bodily byproducts that the Tayan finds useful. For example, if the Tayan supplements its diet of meat with certain compounds found in human sweat it could alter your body into a gelatinous pink blob whose only purpose is to manufacture sweat. This process is likely to be both terrifying and excruciating, and the Tayan has no reason to spare you from pain...
Lastly there's direct nervous access and stimulation, something like the bor gullet from Star Wars. Other than memory manipulation, it could interfere with bodily function or stimulate brain centers to cause pain, fear, sadness, arousal,etc. There is little evolutionary incentive to do so though, so this would suggest engineered development or some handwaving.
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
8
down vote
Try these:
Neural Tapping
The Tayan is capable of tapping into its' victims brains and accessing their knowledge and memories. The catch is, it has to keep them alive to do so. If not what's in their brains, then you can simply have the creature use its prey's brains as additional computing power, so as to speak. Doing this should make your creature a leaner meaner killing and eating machine, capable of reasoning out tactics that would give it a terrifying reputation.
Attack 'Dogs'
For generations the Tayan has been bred by a tribe or civilisation for specific purposes. These people are able to coax the Tayan into regurgitating the contents of its secondary stomach. There are many possible uses for captives taken in such a way, like slavery or Aztec-like ritual sacrifice. If you go the sacrifice route, the creature itself can be part of the ceremony via its primary stomach. If they are able to breed and control large enough numbers of Tayans, they could be used as weapons of war as well.
With further fine control of the Tayan, the beast could also be used as a torture device; I imagine being paralysed and trapped in its secondary stomach for days would be a nightmarish experience.
EDIT: Torture mode details
Since asked I'll throw in some more details about how a Tayan could be used to torture. Not 100% comprehensive though.
The first and most obvious stage has the Tayan swallow the victim into its secondary stomach and do nothing else. Imagine being stuck in solitary confinement, except you're completely paralysed, your prison cell is a wet fleshy sac and it probably stinks like hell. This is already considered inhumane in the real world, the Tayan version more so.
Next there's sleep deprivation. The Tayan could deny the victim any sleep through chemical means or simply by constantly churning the victim around. Physical hunger and thirst too; presumably the victim's metabolism is still running so s/he'll eventually need nourishment. There's also "snotterboarding", which is like waterboarding except with the Tayan's internal body fluids instead of water.
Then there's partial digestion, which is probably why the Tayan has a secondary stomach. The creature begins to alter the victim's body either to break down slower(providing nourishment for a longer period albeit at a drawn out pace), and/or to increase production of bodily byproducts that the Tayan finds useful. For example, if the Tayan supplements its diet of meat with certain compounds found in human sweat it could alter your body into a gelatinous pink blob whose only purpose is to manufacture sweat. This process is likely to be both terrifying and excruciating, and the Tayan has no reason to spare you from pain...
Lastly there's direct nervous access and stimulation, something like the bor gullet from Star Wars. Other than memory manipulation, it could interfere with bodily function or stimulate brain centers to cause pain, fear, sadness, arousal,etc. There is little evolutionary incentive to do so though, so this would suggest engineered development or some handwaving.
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
8
down vote
up vote
8
down vote
Try these:
Neural Tapping
The Tayan is capable of tapping into its' victims brains and accessing their knowledge and memories. The catch is, it has to keep them alive to do so. If not what's in their brains, then you can simply have the creature use its prey's brains as additional computing power, so as to speak. Doing this should make your creature a leaner meaner killing and eating machine, capable of reasoning out tactics that would give it a terrifying reputation.
Attack 'Dogs'
For generations the Tayan has been bred by a tribe or civilisation for specific purposes. These people are able to coax the Tayan into regurgitating the contents of its secondary stomach. There are many possible uses for captives taken in such a way, like slavery or Aztec-like ritual sacrifice. If you go the sacrifice route, the creature itself can be part of the ceremony via its primary stomach. If they are able to breed and control large enough numbers of Tayans, they could be used as weapons of war as well.
With further fine control of the Tayan, the beast could also be used as a torture device; I imagine being paralysed and trapped in its secondary stomach for days would be a nightmarish experience.
EDIT: Torture mode details
Since asked I'll throw in some more details about how a Tayan could be used to torture. Not 100% comprehensive though.
The first and most obvious stage has the Tayan swallow the victim into its secondary stomach and do nothing else. Imagine being stuck in solitary confinement, except you're completely paralysed, your prison cell is a wet fleshy sac and it probably stinks like hell. This is already considered inhumane in the real world, the Tayan version more so.
Next there's sleep deprivation. The Tayan could deny the victim any sleep through chemical means or simply by constantly churning the victim around. Physical hunger and thirst too; presumably the victim's metabolism is still running so s/he'll eventually need nourishment. There's also "snotterboarding", which is like waterboarding except with the Tayan's internal body fluids instead of water.
Then there's partial digestion, which is probably why the Tayan has a secondary stomach. The creature begins to alter the victim's body either to break down slower(providing nourishment for a longer period albeit at a drawn out pace), and/or to increase production of bodily byproducts that the Tayan finds useful. For example, if the Tayan supplements its diet of meat with certain compounds found in human sweat it could alter your body into a gelatinous pink blob whose only purpose is to manufacture sweat. This process is likely to be both terrifying and excruciating, and the Tayan has no reason to spare you from pain...
Lastly there's direct nervous access and stimulation, something like the bor gullet from Star Wars. Other than memory manipulation, it could interfere with bodily function or stimulate brain centers to cause pain, fear, sadness, arousal,etc. There is little evolutionary incentive to do so though, so this would suggest engineered development or some handwaving.
Try these:
Neural Tapping
The Tayan is capable of tapping into its' victims brains and accessing their knowledge and memories. The catch is, it has to keep them alive to do so. If not what's in their brains, then you can simply have the creature use its prey's brains as additional computing power, so as to speak. Doing this should make your creature a leaner meaner killing and eating machine, capable of reasoning out tactics that would give it a terrifying reputation.
Attack 'Dogs'
For generations the Tayan has been bred by a tribe or civilisation for specific purposes. These people are able to coax the Tayan into regurgitating the contents of its secondary stomach. There are many possible uses for captives taken in such a way, like slavery or Aztec-like ritual sacrifice. If you go the sacrifice route, the creature itself can be part of the ceremony via its primary stomach. If they are able to breed and control large enough numbers of Tayans, they could be used as weapons of war as well.
With further fine control of the Tayan, the beast could also be used as a torture device; I imagine being paralysed and trapped in its secondary stomach for days would be a nightmarish experience.
EDIT: Torture mode details
Since asked I'll throw in some more details about how a Tayan could be used to torture. Not 100% comprehensive though.
The first and most obvious stage has the Tayan swallow the victim into its secondary stomach and do nothing else. Imagine being stuck in solitary confinement, except you're completely paralysed, your prison cell is a wet fleshy sac and it probably stinks like hell. This is already considered inhumane in the real world, the Tayan version more so.
Next there's sleep deprivation. The Tayan could deny the victim any sleep through chemical means or simply by constantly churning the victim around. Physical hunger and thirst too; presumably the victim's metabolism is still running so s/he'll eventually need nourishment. There's also "snotterboarding", which is like waterboarding except with the Tayan's internal body fluids instead of water.
Then there's partial digestion, which is probably why the Tayan has a secondary stomach. The creature begins to alter the victim's body either to break down slower(providing nourishment for a longer period albeit at a drawn out pace), and/or to increase production of bodily byproducts that the Tayan finds useful. For example, if the Tayan supplements its diet of meat with certain compounds found in human sweat it could alter your body into a gelatinous pink blob whose only purpose is to manufacture sweat. This process is likely to be both terrifying and excruciating, and the Tayan has no reason to spare you from pain...
Lastly there's direct nervous access and stimulation, something like the bor gullet from Star Wars. Other than memory manipulation, it could interfere with bodily function or stimulate brain centers to cause pain, fear, sadness, arousal,etc. There is little evolutionary incentive to do so though, so this would suggest engineered development or some handwaving.
edited Aug 24 at 2:17
answered Aug 15 at 6:39
nullpointer
2,605623
2,605623
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
 |Â
show 5 more comments
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
Worse than days. I forgot to add this, but after your digested in the main stomach, the Tayan preserves your consciousness, for the rest of its extremely lengthy life.
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 6:58
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
@RobertPaul That's important information you should state in your question. It does skew my first option towards 'extra organic CPU' though
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:30
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
Not really, it doesnâÂÂt change anything
â Robert Paul
Aug 15 at 7:31
2
2
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
@RobertPaul It does actually. If the Tayan preserves your consciousness for the rest of its life, that would suggest that it's already capable of drawing on your memories or otherwise benefiting from keeping your 'spirit' around.
â nullpointer
Aug 15 at 7:47
1
1
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
+1 for snotterboarding! That made me laugh.
â John Locke
Aug 23 at 22:00
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
6
down vote
Bait.
The trapped creature cannot escape so it calls for help and/or it's calls brings in predators looking for an easy meal.
Suddenly it's time for second breakfast.......
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
 |Â
show 13 more comments
up vote
6
down vote
Bait.
The trapped creature cannot escape so it calls for help and/or it's calls brings in predators looking for an easy meal.
Suddenly it's time for second breakfast.......
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
 |Â
show 13 more comments
up vote
6
down vote
up vote
6
down vote
Bait.
The trapped creature cannot escape so it calls for help and/or it's calls brings in predators looking for an easy meal.
Suddenly it's time for second breakfast.......
Bait.
The trapped creature cannot escape so it calls for help and/or it's calls brings in predators looking for an easy meal.
Suddenly it's time for second breakfast.......
answered Aug 15 at 5:14
Thorne
11.9k31734
11.9k31734
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
 |Â
show 13 more comments
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
2
2
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
A Sarlacc like species isn't going to evolve eating sentient species. Any intelligent humanoid is just as likely to chuck a bunch of burning logs down it until it dies. It would have evolved eating wild animals.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:21
1
1
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
It's prey would be wild animals. Children would be luck (or unlucky as the case may be). Humans would just as likely kill them when they find them because they pose a risk to children and the unwary.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:27
1
1
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
Lions didn't evolve eating humans but that doesn't mean it would pass up a meal should one wander along.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:29
1
1
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
Since when has that stopped humans? Any plant monster that tried to eat my kids would shuffle off the mortal coil very quick and the laws be damned.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 5:42
2
2
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
It can't move therefor I can stay out of range and kill it from a distance. I could tip 20 litres of Roundup on a sheep and chase it into range. There are thousands of ways a human could kill a plant no matter how big it was.
â Thorne
Aug 15 at 6:08
 |Â
show 13 more comments
up vote
4
down vote
The Tayan needs to keep its prey alive when two or more large animals fall into a trap. It digests food too slowly and can do it one at a time. Killing all at once means the animal decays before being consumed. This would attract scavengers with sharp claws, often tearing off the pitcher trap. They may be too strong to fight. (Another side issue: how can it detect the size of its prey? Does it possess eyes?)
One other reason to paralyze the pray is the example of this wasp: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammophila_sabulosa
It needs to lay its egg on the prey. When the egg hatches, the prey is still fresh and is eaten alive. Tayans have little mobility and keep the prey with the egg (or seed?) Inside them for safeguarding. The offspring hatches, starts eating its prey and grows. It is a worm-like larva which crawls out to "set root" at some distance from the mother "plant".
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
The Tayan needs to keep its prey alive when two or more large animals fall into a trap. It digests food too slowly and can do it one at a time. Killing all at once means the animal decays before being consumed. This would attract scavengers with sharp claws, often tearing off the pitcher trap. They may be too strong to fight. (Another side issue: how can it detect the size of its prey? Does it possess eyes?)
One other reason to paralyze the pray is the example of this wasp: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammophila_sabulosa
It needs to lay its egg on the prey. When the egg hatches, the prey is still fresh and is eaten alive. Tayans have little mobility and keep the prey with the egg (or seed?) Inside them for safeguarding. The offspring hatches, starts eating its prey and grows. It is a worm-like larva which crawls out to "set root" at some distance from the mother "plant".
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
The Tayan needs to keep its prey alive when two or more large animals fall into a trap. It digests food too slowly and can do it one at a time. Killing all at once means the animal decays before being consumed. This would attract scavengers with sharp claws, often tearing off the pitcher trap. They may be too strong to fight. (Another side issue: how can it detect the size of its prey? Does it possess eyes?)
One other reason to paralyze the pray is the example of this wasp: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammophila_sabulosa
It needs to lay its egg on the prey. When the egg hatches, the prey is still fresh and is eaten alive. Tayans have little mobility and keep the prey with the egg (or seed?) Inside them for safeguarding. The offspring hatches, starts eating its prey and grows. It is a worm-like larva which crawls out to "set root" at some distance from the mother "plant".
The Tayan needs to keep its prey alive when two or more large animals fall into a trap. It digests food too slowly and can do it one at a time. Killing all at once means the animal decays before being consumed. This would attract scavengers with sharp claws, often tearing off the pitcher trap. They may be too strong to fight. (Another side issue: how can it detect the size of its prey? Does it possess eyes?)
One other reason to paralyze the pray is the example of this wasp: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammophila_sabulosa
It needs to lay its egg on the prey. When the egg hatches, the prey is still fresh and is eaten alive. Tayans have little mobility and keep the prey with the egg (or seed?) Inside them for safeguarding. The offspring hatches, starts eating its prey and grows. It is a worm-like larva which crawls out to "set root" at some distance from the mother "plant".
answered Aug 15 at 19:44
Christmas Snow
1,40829
1,40829
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
add a comment |Â
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
It senses the vibrations they prey makes when it walks. Most of the time, big prey, normal stomach, small prey, second stomach
â Robert Paul
Aug 23 at 2:45
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Reproduction
In 1953, Philip Jose Farmer wrote a Sci Fi short novel: "Mother". In that story, there was a big alien who trapped living prey inside its body, and the movements of the prey trying to escape stimulated the self-reproduction of the alien entity (some sort of polonization). That alien appears years later in "Barloweôs Guide to Extraterrestrials". Here is the picture:
So, the reason why the Tayan keeps (for a while) its prey alive, could be the need for an internal physical stimulation for a biological process (for example: reproduction, as in the case of "Mother").
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Reproduction
In 1953, Philip Jose Farmer wrote a Sci Fi short novel: "Mother". In that story, there was a big alien who trapped living prey inside its body, and the movements of the prey trying to escape stimulated the self-reproduction of the alien entity (some sort of polonization). That alien appears years later in "Barloweôs Guide to Extraterrestrials". Here is the picture:
So, the reason why the Tayan keeps (for a while) its prey alive, could be the need for an internal physical stimulation for a biological process (for example: reproduction, as in the case of "Mother").
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
Reproduction
In 1953, Philip Jose Farmer wrote a Sci Fi short novel: "Mother". In that story, there was a big alien who trapped living prey inside its body, and the movements of the prey trying to escape stimulated the self-reproduction of the alien entity (some sort of polonization). That alien appears years later in "Barloweôs Guide to Extraterrestrials". Here is the picture:
So, the reason why the Tayan keeps (for a while) its prey alive, could be the need for an internal physical stimulation for a biological process (for example: reproduction, as in the case of "Mother").
Reproduction
In 1953, Philip Jose Farmer wrote a Sci Fi short novel: "Mother". In that story, there was a big alien who trapped living prey inside its body, and the movements of the prey trying to escape stimulated the self-reproduction of the alien entity (some sort of polonization). That alien appears years later in "Barloweôs Guide to Extraterrestrials". Here is the picture:
So, the reason why the Tayan keeps (for a while) its prey alive, could be the need for an internal physical stimulation for a biological process (for example: reproduction, as in the case of "Mother").
answered Aug 21 at 20:16
Carlos Zamora
1,262216
1,262216
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
add a comment |Â
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
1
1
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
That reminds me that many flowers, including members of the genus Ceropegia, hold their pollinating insects for quite a while inside without killing them. The idea is to force the insect to come in contact with the pollen in order to allow its release. The insect is trapped once again in another flower of the same species. The insect struggles and wanders inside until it hits the pistil (the female part which receives the pollen). When pollination occurs, the petals wilt and allow the insect to break free.
â Christmas Snow
Aug 23 at 11:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Answer: It isn't intentional.
Imagine you're a giant, slow moving creature that mostly eats lizards and the like, but occasionally eats large animals like a camel. Now unless your desert happens to have a large predator, like a saber tooth lion or something, nothing will be able to hurt you once you've eaten it; especially large animals, which often break bones and stuff when they land. However, some of those small lizards and stuff are pretty good at surviving the fall, and may even try to escape before you can finish digesting your camel. Now it isn't the worst thing that can happen, but its still annoying, so you decide you'll shoot up the bugers with a neurotoxin to stop them, since you don't have a brain and it wont have adverse effects on you. Anyways, you test it out and it gets that stupid lizard and all is well, except that took a lot of energy since you already make like six other fluids, so you say that it's good enough and stop developing it. Except the toxin is not potent enough to stop anything larger than a lizard, like children, or dogs, so they just keep living in your second stomach even if you inject them. That's okay though, cause it's not like they can escape.
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Answer: It isn't intentional.
Imagine you're a giant, slow moving creature that mostly eats lizards and the like, but occasionally eats large animals like a camel. Now unless your desert happens to have a large predator, like a saber tooth lion or something, nothing will be able to hurt you once you've eaten it; especially large animals, which often break bones and stuff when they land. However, some of those small lizards and stuff are pretty good at surviving the fall, and may even try to escape before you can finish digesting your camel. Now it isn't the worst thing that can happen, but its still annoying, so you decide you'll shoot up the bugers with a neurotoxin to stop them, since you don't have a brain and it wont have adverse effects on you. Anyways, you test it out and it gets that stupid lizard and all is well, except that took a lot of energy since you already make like six other fluids, so you say that it's good enough and stop developing it. Except the toxin is not potent enough to stop anything larger than a lizard, like children, or dogs, so they just keep living in your second stomach even if you inject them. That's okay though, cause it's not like they can escape.
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
Answer: It isn't intentional.
Imagine you're a giant, slow moving creature that mostly eats lizards and the like, but occasionally eats large animals like a camel. Now unless your desert happens to have a large predator, like a saber tooth lion or something, nothing will be able to hurt you once you've eaten it; especially large animals, which often break bones and stuff when they land. However, some of those small lizards and stuff are pretty good at surviving the fall, and may even try to escape before you can finish digesting your camel. Now it isn't the worst thing that can happen, but its still annoying, so you decide you'll shoot up the bugers with a neurotoxin to stop them, since you don't have a brain and it wont have adverse effects on you. Anyways, you test it out and it gets that stupid lizard and all is well, except that took a lot of energy since you already make like six other fluids, so you say that it's good enough and stop developing it. Except the toxin is not potent enough to stop anything larger than a lizard, like children, or dogs, so they just keep living in your second stomach even if you inject them. That's okay though, cause it's not like they can escape.
Answer: It isn't intentional.
Imagine you're a giant, slow moving creature that mostly eats lizards and the like, but occasionally eats large animals like a camel. Now unless your desert happens to have a large predator, like a saber tooth lion or something, nothing will be able to hurt you once you've eaten it; especially large animals, which often break bones and stuff when they land. However, some of those small lizards and stuff are pretty good at surviving the fall, and may even try to escape before you can finish digesting your camel. Now it isn't the worst thing that can happen, but its still annoying, so you decide you'll shoot up the bugers with a neurotoxin to stop them, since you don't have a brain and it wont have adverse effects on you. Anyways, you test it out and it gets that stupid lizard and all is well, except that took a lot of energy since you already make like six other fluids, so you say that it's good enough and stop developing it. Except the toxin is not potent enough to stop anything larger than a lizard, like children, or dogs, so they just keep living in your second stomach even if you inject them. That's okay though, cause it's not like they can escape.
answered Aug 22 at 22:58
Clay Deitas
3,638823
3,638823
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The victim provides something that the creature needs.
Keeping the victim alive, and out of trouble is a burden on the creature. The neurotoxin requires resources to make. The victim has the chance to damage the creature during capture and containment. Additionally the creature must provide food,water, and oxygen to the victim during the containment.
So the creature must get something valuable from the victim during this captivity in order for the equation to balance in favor of the creature.
Some tangible outputs that Humans/large mammals produce are:
carbon-dioxide, urine, feces, tears, blood, hair, sweat, adrenaline, bile, stomach acid,
Some intangable outputs: brain-waves, fear, vocal output (neurological control of victim's speach?), song (A dreamlike trance song perhaps).
Depending on what your story needs for plot, or what your creature may need to supplement it's biology would dictate what output it needs, and how it would go about using that output.
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The victim provides something that the creature needs.
Keeping the victim alive, and out of trouble is a burden on the creature. The neurotoxin requires resources to make. The victim has the chance to damage the creature during capture and containment. Additionally the creature must provide food,water, and oxygen to the victim during the containment.
So the creature must get something valuable from the victim during this captivity in order for the equation to balance in favor of the creature.
Some tangible outputs that Humans/large mammals produce are:
carbon-dioxide, urine, feces, tears, blood, hair, sweat, adrenaline, bile, stomach acid,
Some intangable outputs: brain-waves, fear, vocal output (neurological control of victim's speach?), song (A dreamlike trance song perhaps).
Depending on what your story needs for plot, or what your creature may need to supplement it's biology would dictate what output it needs, and how it would go about using that output.
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
The victim provides something that the creature needs.
Keeping the victim alive, and out of trouble is a burden on the creature. The neurotoxin requires resources to make. The victim has the chance to damage the creature during capture and containment. Additionally the creature must provide food,water, and oxygen to the victim during the containment.
So the creature must get something valuable from the victim during this captivity in order for the equation to balance in favor of the creature.
Some tangible outputs that Humans/large mammals produce are:
carbon-dioxide, urine, feces, tears, blood, hair, sweat, adrenaline, bile, stomach acid,
Some intangable outputs: brain-waves, fear, vocal output (neurological control of victim's speach?), song (A dreamlike trance song perhaps).
Depending on what your story needs for plot, or what your creature may need to supplement it's biology would dictate what output it needs, and how it would go about using that output.
The victim provides something that the creature needs.
Keeping the victim alive, and out of trouble is a burden on the creature. The neurotoxin requires resources to make. The victim has the chance to damage the creature during capture and containment. Additionally the creature must provide food,water, and oxygen to the victim during the containment.
So the creature must get something valuable from the victim during this captivity in order for the equation to balance in favor of the creature.
Some tangible outputs that Humans/large mammals produce are:
carbon-dioxide, urine, feces, tears, blood, hair, sweat, adrenaline, bile, stomach acid,
Some intangable outputs: brain-waves, fear, vocal output (neurological control of victim's speach?), song (A dreamlike trance song perhaps).
Depending on what your story needs for plot, or what your creature may need to supplement it's biology would dictate what output it needs, and how it would go about using that output.
answered Aug 15 at 21:57
Nate White
2,230718
2,230718
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
add a comment |Â
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
This was my idea. I also had a thought that perhaps the reason that the Tayan is not self-reliant is because originally humans were not its original intended source of prey, but now that they are, it's missing something. There are also many, many creatures IRL that use the victims as a food source and living nutrients for its offspring.
â rlb.usa
Aug 27 at 23:32
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Some animals keep food for the winter, and don't eat it until they need it. Maybe this creature keeps its food in the stomach until a certain time has come.
For example, it may store young children until a long holiday season during which the monster rarely, if ever, encounters a human being.
Or maybe, the creature lives in a place that's inaccessible half of the time, for example the inside of a cave that floods with high-water. So it needs a reliable amount of food for when it's certain that it won't get any prey, save for bugs and maybe fish.
Or maybe it's just waiting until night to dine.
Adjust the times to your story's needs, but don't forget to make it believable: for example, it only insta-swallows little prey and keeps the bigger ones for later. It still needs to eat right now.
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Some animals keep food for the winter, and don't eat it until they need it. Maybe this creature keeps its food in the stomach until a certain time has come.
For example, it may store young children until a long holiday season during which the monster rarely, if ever, encounters a human being.
Or maybe, the creature lives in a place that's inaccessible half of the time, for example the inside of a cave that floods with high-water. So it needs a reliable amount of food for when it's certain that it won't get any prey, save for bugs and maybe fish.
Or maybe it's just waiting until night to dine.
Adjust the times to your story's needs, but don't forget to make it believable: for example, it only insta-swallows little prey and keeps the bigger ones for later. It still needs to eat right now.
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Some animals keep food for the winter, and don't eat it until they need it. Maybe this creature keeps its food in the stomach until a certain time has come.
For example, it may store young children until a long holiday season during which the monster rarely, if ever, encounters a human being.
Or maybe, the creature lives in a place that's inaccessible half of the time, for example the inside of a cave that floods with high-water. So it needs a reliable amount of food for when it's certain that it won't get any prey, save for bugs and maybe fish.
Or maybe it's just waiting until night to dine.
Adjust the times to your story's needs, but don't forget to make it believable: for example, it only insta-swallows little prey and keeps the bigger ones for later. It still needs to eat right now.
Some animals keep food for the winter, and don't eat it until they need it. Maybe this creature keeps its food in the stomach until a certain time has come.
For example, it may store young children until a long holiday season during which the monster rarely, if ever, encounters a human being.
Or maybe, the creature lives in a place that's inaccessible half of the time, for example the inside of a cave that floods with high-water. So it needs a reliable amount of food for when it's certain that it won't get any prey, save for bugs and maybe fish.
Or maybe it's just waiting until night to dine.
Adjust the times to your story's needs, but don't forget to make it believable: for example, it only insta-swallows little prey and keeps the bigger ones for later. It still needs to eat right now.
answered Aug 15 at 6:21
Virdex_
1007
1007
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
add a comment |Â
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
OP isn't asking why the tayan stores the prey for later, rather why the tayan stores the prey alive.
â EveryBitHelps
Aug 15 at 11:11
1
1
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
Ooh, my bad. Well, I guess it would need to keep the prey alive to store it, else it would decompose. Well this also means the creature would need to feed the prey...
â Virdex_
Aug 16 at 12:06
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
The Tayan relies on creatures tumbling into its maw. How would it get food if it flooded
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 20:23
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
Well, I guess only part of the cave would flood, but what I was thinking when writing that was that the cave would be accessible when it isn't flooded. Anyways the actual flooding was just an example: there can be other things to make its 'territory' inaccessible part of the time.
â Virdex_
Aug 26 at 6:04
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
You could replace the neurotoxin the Tayan makes with a sleeping agent.
Instead of taking the risk of paralyzing the pray and accidentally killing it (thereby risking its own infection), the Tayan might use a sleeping agent to put its prey to sleep. That way the pray won't die, and the Tayan will not have to risk getting injured by the confused and angry animal it has just brought within claw/tooth/hoof range of itself.
Here is how some creatures escape:
The Tayan makes the sleeping agent in small doses. Small doses can keep small prey asleep as long as needed, and the Tayan has to use energy to make the agent. Larger doses are cost-prohibitive. Larger prey like people will fall asleep for a while, and then wake up. About 1/3 of the time, they wake up before the Tayan decides to digest them because the small but constant dose of sleeping agent. People who wake up are still being exposed to the sleeping agent, and so have trouble thinking straight. Even if the pray manage to wake up, they will be too disoriented to try to escape or fight back. Only a very small percentage of Tayan victims wake up and then are able to kill the Tayan.
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
You could replace the neurotoxin the Tayan makes with a sleeping agent.
Instead of taking the risk of paralyzing the pray and accidentally killing it (thereby risking its own infection), the Tayan might use a sleeping agent to put its prey to sleep. That way the pray won't die, and the Tayan will not have to risk getting injured by the confused and angry animal it has just brought within claw/tooth/hoof range of itself.
Here is how some creatures escape:
The Tayan makes the sleeping agent in small doses. Small doses can keep small prey asleep as long as needed, and the Tayan has to use energy to make the agent. Larger doses are cost-prohibitive. Larger prey like people will fall asleep for a while, and then wake up. About 1/3 of the time, they wake up before the Tayan decides to digest them because the small but constant dose of sleeping agent. People who wake up are still being exposed to the sleeping agent, and so have trouble thinking straight. Even if the pray manage to wake up, they will be too disoriented to try to escape or fight back. Only a very small percentage of Tayan victims wake up and then are able to kill the Tayan.
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
You could replace the neurotoxin the Tayan makes with a sleeping agent.
Instead of taking the risk of paralyzing the pray and accidentally killing it (thereby risking its own infection), the Tayan might use a sleeping agent to put its prey to sleep. That way the pray won't die, and the Tayan will not have to risk getting injured by the confused and angry animal it has just brought within claw/tooth/hoof range of itself.
Here is how some creatures escape:
The Tayan makes the sleeping agent in small doses. Small doses can keep small prey asleep as long as needed, and the Tayan has to use energy to make the agent. Larger doses are cost-prohibitive. Larger prey like people will fall asleep for a while, and then wake up. About 1/3 of the time, they wake up before the Tayan decides to digest them because the small but constant dose of sleeping agent. People who wake up are still being exposed to the sleeping agent, and so have trouble thinking straight. Even if the pray manage to wake up, they will be too disoriented to try to escape or fight back. Only a very small percentage of Tayan victims wake up and then are able to kill the Tayan.
You could replace the neurotoxin the Tayan makes with a sleeping agent.
Instead of taking the risk of paralyzing the pray and accidentally killing it (thereby risking its own infection), the Tayan might use a sleeping agent to put its prey to sleep. That way the pray won't die, and the Tayan will not have to risk getting injured by the confused and angry animal it has just brought within claw/tooth/hoof range of itself.
Here is how some creatures escape:
The Tayan makes the sleeping agent in small doses. Small doses can keep small prey asleep as long as needed, and the Tayan has to use energy to make the agent. Larger doses are cost-prohibitive. Larger prey like people will fall asleep for a while, and then wake up. About 1/3 of the time, they wake up before the Tayan decides to digest them because the small but constant dose of sleeping agent. People who wake up are still being exposed to the sleeping agent, and so have trouble thinking straight. Even if the pray manage to wake up, they will be too disoriented to try to escape or fight back. Only a very small percentage of Tayan victims wake up and then are able to kill the Tayan.
answered Aug 23 at 22:26
John Locke
1,131117
1,131117
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
First, an answer to a question you did not ask--if it's not mobile, how has it survived? After all, the creatures it will need to eat can just go elsewhere, AVOID the area where it is.
The answer--make the area as attractive as possible for what you eat. That is, produce fruit and other things that are highly valued for a number of creatures.
This answer, that the creature much produce things that are valuable to living creatures, can lead to one answer why
What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
The answer is, that in order to keep producing something to attract animals (rather than just some hole to slip down like a saarlac) they've got to store the animals they eat--it's a bit like why humans keep livestock alive through the winter. They just keep better and there's more caloric value when you finally do eat them.
There might be a whole ecosystem within the creature itself even!
You can start to think of it as less a creature and more a closed system. If it's really huge it might even have creatures within it that police it. Think less stomach and more prison with executions...Maybe it's even extradimensional...
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
First, an answer to a question you did not ask--if it's not mobile, how has it survived? After all, the creatures it will need to eat can just go elsewhere, AVOID the area where it is.
The answer--make the area as attractive as possible for what you eat. That is, produce fruit and other things that are highly valued for a number of creatures.
This answer, that the creature much produce things that are valuable to living creatures, can lead to one answer why
What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
The answer is, that in order to keep producing something to attract animals (rather than just some hole to slip down like a saarlac) they've got to store the animals they eat--it's a bit like why humans keep livestock alive through the winter. They just keep better and there's more caloric value when you finally do eat them.
There might be a whole ecosystem within the creature itself even!
You can start to think of it as less a creature and more a closed system. If it's really huge it might even have creatures within it that police it. Think less stomach and more prison with executions...Maybe it's even extradimensional...
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
First, an answer to a question you did not ask--if it's not mobile, how has it survived? After all, the creatures it will need to eat can just go elsewhere, AVOID the area where it is.
The answer--make the area as attractive as possible for what you eat. That is, produce fruit and other things that are highly valued for a number of creatures.
This answer, that the creature much produce things that are valuable to living creatures, can lead to one answer why
What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
The answer is, that in order to keep producing something to attract animals (rather than just some hole to slip down like a saarlac) they've got to store the animals they eat--it's a bit like why humans keep livestock alive through the winter. They just keep better and there's more caloric value when you finally do eat them.
There might be a whole ecosystem within the creature itself even!
You can start to think of it as less a creature and more a closed system. If it's really huge it might even have creatures within it that police it. Think less stomach and more prison with executions...Maybe it's even extradimensional...
First, an answer to a question you did not ask--if it's not mobile, how has it survived? After all, the creatures it will need to eat can just go elsewhere, AVOID the area where it is.
The answer--make the area as attractive as possible for what you eat. That is, produce fruit and other things that are highly valued for a number of creatures.
This answer, that the creature much produce things that are valuable to living creatures, can lead to one answer why
What is a plausible reason why the creature keeps its victims alive in this stomach?
The answer is, that in order to keep producing something to attract animals (rather than just some hole to slip down like a saarlac) they've got to store the animals they eat--it's a bit like why humans keep livestock alive through the winter. They just keep better and there's more caloric value when you finally do eat them.
There might be a whole ecosystem within the creature itself even!
You can start to think of it as less a creature and more a closed system. If it's really huge it might even have creatures within it that police it. Think less stomach and more prison with executions...Maybe it's even extradimensional...
answered Aug 26 at 18:11
Erin Thursby
25k242118
25k242118
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
add a comment |Â
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
Good answer but one thing is bugging me. What does extra dimensional mean? I heard that word in Call of Cthulhu once, I think.
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:33
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
@RobertPaul Basically in a reality outside our own. It can mean so, so many things--that the rules of this universe don't apply, The TARDIS is a bit extra dimensional (which is why it's bigger on the inside) with its own rules and such.
â Erin Thursby
Aug 26 at 18:39
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
Oh, I get it. Although my Tayan already has a back story. It was created thousands of years ago by an hyper-advanced alien race to function as a biological torture machine. One other question. The Tayan often has worm like creatures in its stomachbto aid in digestion, does that count as an ecosystem?
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 18:43
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
âÂÂSaarlacâ is spelled wrong. ItâÂÂs Sarlacc, Sorry, just a nitpick
â Robert Paul
Sep 1 at 16:56
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
If the prey is in the second stomach and dies, that would lead to decomposition that perhaps would kill the Tayan? That would explain why the prey was alive to begin with, to avoid a type of sepsis. And evolution of the species could have developed a second stomach in response to a scarce food source, as a way to save food for lean times. But depending on the prey, I'd imagine that there would be variable lengths of time that they would die from starvation unless the neurotoxin slows that process or contains proteins that nourish in some way.
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
If the prey is in the second stomach and dies, that would lead to decomposition that perhaps would kill the Tayan? That would explain why the prey was alive to begin with, to avoid a type of sepsis. And evolution of the species could have developed a second stomach in response to a scarce food source, as a way to save food for lean times. But depending on the prey, I'd imagine that there would be variable lengths of time that they would die from starvation unless the neurotoxin slows that process or contains proteins that nourish in some way.
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
If the prey is in the second stomach and dies, that would lead to decomposition that perhaps would kill the Tayan? That would explain why the prey was alive to begin with, to avoid a type of sepsis. And evolution of the species could have developed a second stomach in response to a scarce food source, as a way to save food for lean times. But depending on the prey, I'd imagine that there would be variable lengths of time that they would die from starvation unless the neurotoxin slows that process or contains proteins that nourish in some way.
If the prey is in the second stomach and dies, that would lead to decomposition that perhaps would kill the Tayan? That would explain why the prey was alive to begin with, to avoid a type of sepsis. And evolution of the species could have developed a second stomach in response to a scarce food source, as a way to save food for lean times. But depending on the prey, I'd imagine that there would be variable lengths of time that they would die from starvation unless the neurotoxin slows that process or contains proteins that nourish in some way.
answered Aug 15 at 21:33
SEK1977
16318
16318
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
A defensive mechanism crafted by evolution
I'm assuming this creature is not picky about it's diet, so I will take the liberty to say that it eats anything that moves. I'm also assuming that your world has a vast and wired fauna/flora, since it allowed such a clever and treacherous kind of creature to evolve.
To answer your question, I'm gonna rewind a few thousand years and look back at the Tayan's evolution proccess.
Maybe the Tayan was an ordinary man-eating... thing... that roamed your planet freely. But the whole process of hunting down preys wasn't effective for it - since it should be quite a large animal to be able to store up to two other animals within it's two stomachs. After hundreds and hundreds of years it realized that it was easier to just sit down and wait for the fools to "accidentally" fall into it's mouth.
But evolution goes both ways - so the victims of this monster also evolved. Even though it's feared and might be some sort of king of the jungle, it's feasible that this hasn't been the case millenia ago. At some point, there might have been another animal that served as the Tayan's predator. And the beauty of it is that this predator wasn't necessarily an even more treacherous thing - it could've just been some animal like the Alien series Xenomorph, a being whose blood is acid.
This creature would obviously die after being eaten by the Tayan, but it would kill or seriously harm him in the process.
For a period, the Tayan population might have been reduced for eating too much black aliens, but it eventually evolved and adapted to this new reality. Your explanation could be that this neurotoxin is a response to the acid bloood of the other creature.
When the Tayan eats this creature, the toxin slowly reduces de acid properties of this creature's blood to a point where, when it's finally transfered to the main stomach, no harm will come to the Tayan when digestion begins. As a bonus, this toxin also acts as a paralizing agent that works in various other lifeforms that could get agressive and try to tear it from within.
To sum it up, the reason it keeps the victims alive is evolution - it developed a second stomach and the toxin generations ago for some specific reason (mentioned above).
The same thing happened with the appendix in humans. Maybe it had a function in the past but to modern humans, its purpose is simply giving people appendicitis.
The olny difference is that the products of the Tayan's evolution are still useful to him today.
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
A defensive mechanism crafted by evolution
I'm assuming this creature is not picky about it's diet, so I will take the liberty to say that it eats anything that moves. I'm also assuming that your world has a vast and wired fauna/flora, since it allowed such a clever and treacherous kind of creature to evolve.
To answer your question, I'm gonna rewind a few thousand years and look back at the Tayan's evolution proccess.
Maybe the Tayan was an ordinary man-eating... thing... that roamed your planet freely. But the whole process of hunting down preys wasn't effective for it - since it should be quite a large animal to be able to store up to two other animals within it's two stomachs. After hundreds and hundreds of years it realized that it was easier to just sit down and wait for the fools to "accidentally" fall into it's mouth.
But evolution goes both ways - so the victims of this monster also evolved. Even though it's feared and might be some sort of king of the jungle, it's feasible that this hasn't been the case millenia ago. At some point, there might have been another animal that served as the Tayan's predator. And the beauty of it is that this predator wasn't necessarily an even more treacherous thing - it could've just been some animal like the Alien series Xenomorph, a being whose blood is acid.
This creature would obviously die after being eaten by the Tayan, but it would kill or seriously harm him in the process.
For a period, the Tayan population might have been reduced for eating too much black aliens, but it eventually evolved and adapted to this new reality. Your explanation could be that this neurotoxin is a response to the acid bloood of the other creature.
When the Tayan eats this creature, the toxin slowly reduces de acid properties of this creature's blood to a point where, when it's finally transfered to the main stomach, no harm will come to the Tayan when digestion begins. As a bonus, this toxin also acts as a paralizing agent that works in various other lifeforms that could get agressive and try to tear it from within.
To sum it up, the reason it keeps the victims alive is evolution - it developed a second stomach and the toxin generations ago for some specific reason (mentioned above).
The same thing happened with the appendix in humans. Maybe it had a function in the past but to modern humans, its purpose is simply giving people appendicitis.
The olny difference is that the products of the Tayan's evolution are still useful to him today.
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
A defensive mechanism crafted by evolution
I'm assuming this creature is not picky about it's diet, so I will take the liberty to say that it eats anything that moves. I'm also assuming that your world has a vast and wired fauna/flora, since it allowed such a clever and treacherous kind of creature to evolve.
To answer your question, I'm gonna rewind a few thousand years and look back at the Tayan's evolution proccess.
Maybe the Tayan was an ordinary man-eating... thing... that roamed your planet freely. But the whole process of hunting down preys wasn't effective for it - since it should be quite a large animal to be able to store up to two other animals within it's two stomachs. After hundreds and hundreds of years it realized that it was easier to just sit down and wait for the fools to "accidentally" fall into it's mouth.
But evolution goes both ways - so the victims of this monster also evolved. Even though it's feared and might be some sort of king of the jungle, it's feasible that this hasn't been the case millenia ago. At some point, there might have been another animal that served as the Tayan's predator. And the beauty of it is that this predator wasn't necessarily an even more treacherous thing - it could've just been some animal like the Alien series Xenomorph, a being whose blood is acid.
This creature would obviously die after being eaten by the Tayan, but it would kill or seriously harm him in the process.
For a period, the Tayan population might have been reduced for eating too much black aliens, but it eventually evolved and adapted to this new reality. Your explanation could be that this neurotoxin is a response to the acid bloood of the other creature.
When the Tayan eats this creature, the toxin slowly reduces de acid properties of this creature's blood to a point where, when it's finally transfered to the main stomach, no harm will come to the Tayan when digestion begins. As a bonus, this toxin also acts as a paralizing agent that works in various other lifeforms that could get agressive and try to tear it from within.
To sum it up, the reason it keeps the victims alive is evolution - it developed a second stomach and the toxin generations ago for some specific reason (mentioned above).
The same thing happened with the appendix in humans. Maybe it had a function in the past but to modern humans, its purpose is simply giving people appendicitis.
The olny difference is that the products of the Tayan's evolution are still useful to him today.
A defensive mechanism crafted by evolution
I'm assuming this creature is not picky about it's diet, so I will take the liberty to say that it eats anything that moves. I'm also assuming that your world has a vast and wired fauna/flora, since it allowed such a clever and treacherous kind of creature to evolve.
To answer your question, I'm gonna rewind a few thousand years and look back at the Tayan's evolution proccess.
Maybe the Tayan was an ordinary man-eating... thing... that roamed your planet freely. But the whole process of hunting down preys wasn't effective for it - since it should be quite a large animal to be able to store up to two other animals within it's two stomachs. After hundreds and hundreds of years it realized that it was easier to just sit down and wait for the fools to "accidentally" fall into it's mouth.
But evolution goes both ways - so the victims of this monster also evolved. Even though it's feared and might be some sort of king of the jungle, it's feasible that this hasn't been the case millenia ago. At some point, there might have been another animal that served as the Tayan's predator. And the beauty of it is that this predator wasn't necessarily an even more treacherous thing - it could've just been some animal like the Alien series Xenomorph, a being whose blood is acid.
This creature would obviously die after being eaten by the Tayan, but it would kill or seriously harm him in the process.
For a period, the Tayan population might have been reduced for eating too much black aliens, but it eventually evolved and adapted to this new reality. Your explanation could be that this neurotoxin is a response to the acid bloood of the other creature.
When the Tayan eats this creature, the toxin slowly reduces de acid properties of this creature's blood to a point where, when it's finally transfered to the main stomach, no harm will come to the Tayan when digestion begins. As a bonus, this toxin also acts as a paralizing agent that works in various other lifeforms that could get agressive and try to tear it from within.
To sum it up, the reason it keeps the victims alive is evolution - it developed a second stomach and the toxin generations ago for some specific reason (mentioned above).
The same thing happened with the appendix in humans. Maybe it had a function in the past but to modern humans, its purpose is simply giving people appendicitis.
The olny difference is that the products of the Tayan's evolution are still useful to him today.
edited Aug 22 at 18:45
answered Aug 22 at 11:41
Magus
742517
742517
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
add a comment |Â
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
No, the neurotoxin isnâÂÂt a sedative, for say. It paralyzes victims in the secondary stomach so that they canâÂÂt move, so similar concept
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 12:03
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Intelligence gathering:
The plant is actually quite specialized in its diet, lets say apes. It taps the memories of its victims, because that way it can keep up with the knowledge about its own characteristics (making it easier to hide) and with the desires du jour (making it easier to present an effective bait) - the plant can create a wide range of sounds, forms, colors and smells to camouflage itself and present bait.
It evolved with the apes, from small furry animals up to humanity. As the apes got more intelligent, the escape attempts became more damaging and successful, so it evolved a secondary stomach much like the first, but giving the victims much more time to think about escape - so when the plant finally dissolves the victim and takes his memories, it will have a host of escape ideas to preemptively counter. The neurotoxin keeps the number of actual, successful escapes low.
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Intelligence gathering:
The plant is actually quite specialized in its diet, lets say apes. It taps the memories of its victims, because that way it can keep up with the knowledge about its own characteristics (making it easier to hide) and with the desires du jour (making it easier to present an effective bait) - the plant can create a wide range of sounds, forms, colors and smells to camouflage itself and present bait.
It evolved with the apes, from small furry animals up to humanity. As the apes got more intelligent, the escape attempts became more damaging and successful, so it evolved a secondary stomach much like the first, but giving the victims much more time to think about escape - so when the plant finally dissolves the victim and takes his memories, it will have a host of escape ideas to preemptively counter. The neurotoxin keeps the number of actual, successful escapes low.
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Intelligence gathering:
The plant is actually quite specialized in its diet, lets say apes. It taps the memories of its victims, because that way it can keep up with the knowledge about its own characteristics (making it easier to hide) and with the desires du jour (making it easier to present an effective bait) - the plant can create a wide range of sounds, forms, colors and smells to camouflage itself and present bait.
It evolved with the apes, from small furry animals up to humanity. As the apes got more intelligent, the escape attempts became more damaging and successful, so it evolved a secondary stomach much like the first, but giving the victims much more time to think about escape - so when the plant finally dissolves the victim and takes his memories, it will have a host of escape ideas to preemptively counter. The neurotoxin keeps the number of actual, successful escapes low.
Intelligence gathering:
The plant is actually quite specialized in its diet, lets say apes. It taps the memories of its victims, because that way it can keep up with the knowledge about its own characteristics (making it easier to hide) and with the desires du jour (making it easier to present an effective bait) - the plant can create a wide range of sounds, forms, colors and smells to camouflage itself and present bait.
It evolved with the apes, from small furry animals up to humanity. As the apes got more intelligent, the escape attempts became more damaging and successful, so it evolved a secondary stomach much like the first, but giving the victims much more time to think about escape - so when the plant finally dissolves the victim and takes his memories, it will have a host of escape ideas to preemptively counter. The neurotoxin keeps the number of actual, successful escapes low.
answered Aug 24 at 5:40
bukwyrm
2,900616
2,900616
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
add a comment |Â
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
Apes, as in intelligent apes. The type that walk on two legs and have no fur?
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 5:47
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
As in hominoidea, including humans and their furry relatives.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 6:24
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
Also good idea. But what if a human falls in, and just didnâÂÂt think about an escape plan
â Robert Paul
Aug 24 at 6:48
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
@RobertPaul - thats exactly what the neurotoxin is for. Most prey gets killed too fast to have really thought about escape, but some are shunted to the secondary chamber, immobilzed with the toxin, and left to dream about escape until they die from natural causes, at which point the plant harvests a few days worth of escape planning.
â bukwyrm
Aug 24 at 12:00
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Because Tayans can only digest premature baby Dalians
What's a scarier thought than being eaten alive?
Being drugged and turned into a sex slave and then having your unwanted children born prematurely and then eaten alive.
There's something about adult Dalians that make their morphology radically different from baby Dalians. Aside from that, baby Dalians that are born healthy already has an immune system that a Tayan cannot easily overwhelm. The diet of a Tayan is therefore limited to prematurely-born baby Dalians
Think of premature baby Dalians as fat caterpillars, fully-gestated Dalians as cocoons, and adult Dalians as butterflies. Not necessarily as such, but that their internal cellular compositions and metabolic byproducts are radically different that their biochemistry will appear as that of differing species if not observed for their DNA.
The poison that the Tayan infuses to the adult Dalian makes the Dalian docile, more attractive, and with a messed-up reproduction system. Tayan poison is basically a cross between an aphrodisiac-inducer, a sleeping pill, and a contraception pill.
And so, the Dalian in the Tayan's stomach is not exactly dead, but transformed into a zombified prostitute only to produce tastier, more nutritious Dalian babies that purposely did not came out right.
In light of this, The second stomach of a Tayan is basically a large sex den for drugged Dalians, while its primary stomach is tailor-made to squeeze premature baby Dalians of all its Dalian juices.
Goodnight Dalians...
~Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Tayan
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Because Tayans can only digest premature baby Dalians
What's a scarier thought than being eaten alive?
Being drugged and turned into a sex slave and then having your unwanted children born prematurely and then eaten alive.
There's something about adult Dalians that make their morphology radically different from baby Dalians. Aside from that, baby Dalians that are born healthy already has an immune system that a Tayan cannot easily overwhelm. The diet of a Tayan is therefore limited to prematurely-born baby Dalians
Think of premature baby Dalians as fat caterpillars, fully-gestated Dalians as cocoons, and adult Dalians as butterflies. Not necessarily as such, but that their internal cellular compositions and metabolic byproducts are radically different that their biochemistry will appear as that of differing species if not observed for their DNA.
The poison that the Tayan infuses to the adult Dalian makes the Dalian docile, more attractive, and with a messed-up reproduction system. Tayan poison is basically a cross between an aphrodisiac-inducer, a sleeping pill, and a contraception pill.
And so, the Dalian in the Tayan's stomach is not exactly dead, but transformed into a zombified prostitute only to produce tastier, more nutritious Dalian babies that purposely did not came out right.
In light of this, The second stomach of a Tayan is basically a large sex den for drugged Dalians, while its primary stomach is tailor-made to squeeze premature baby Dalians of all its Dalian juices.
Goodnight Dalians...
~Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Tayan
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Because Tayans can only digest premature baby Dalians
What's a scarier thought than being eaten alive?
Being drugged and turned into a sex slave and then having your unwanted children born prematurely and then eaten alive.
There's something about adult Dalians that make their morphology radically different from baby Dalians. Aside from that, baby Dalians that are born healthy already has an immune system that a Tayan cannot easily overwhelm. The diet of a Tayan is therefore limited to prematurely-born baby Dalians
Think of premature baby Dalians as fat caterpillars, fully-gestated Dalians as cocoons, and adult Dalians as butterflies. Not necessarily as such, but that their internal cellular compositions and metabolic byproducts are radically different that their biochemistry will appear as that of differing species if not observed for their DNA.
The poison that the Tayan infuses to the adult Dalian makes the Dalian docile, more attractive, and with a messed-up reproduction system. Tayan poison is basically a cross between an aphrodisiac-inducer, a sleeping pill, and a contraception pill.
And so, the Dalian in the Tayan's stomach is not exactly dead, but transformed into a zombified prostitute only to produce tastier, more nutritious Dalian babies that purposely did not came out right.
In light of this, The second stomach of a Tayan is basically a large sex den for drugged Dalians, while its primary stomach is tailor-made to squeeze premature baby Dalians of all its Dalian juices.
Goodnight Dalians...
~Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Tayan
Because Tayans can only digest premature baby Dalians
What's a scarier thought than being eaten alive?
Being drugged and turned into a sex slave and then having your unwanted children born prematurely and then eaten alive.
There's something about adult Dalians that make their morphology radically different from baby Dalians. Aside from that, baby Dalians that are born healthy already has an immune system that a Tayan cannot easily overwhelm. The diet of a Tayan is therefore limited to prematurely-born baby Dalians
Think of premature baby Dalians as fat caterpillars, fully-gestated Dalians as cocoons, and adult Dalians as butterflies. Not necessarily as such, but that their internal cellular compositions and metabolic byproducts are radically different that their biochemistry will appear as that of differing species if not observed for their DNA.
The poison that the Tayan infuses to the adult Dalian makes the Dalian docile, more attractive, and with a messed-up reproduction system. Tayan poison is basically a cross between an aphrodisiac-inducer, a sleeping pill, and a contraception pill.
And so, the Dalian in the Tayan's stomach is not exactly dead, but transformed into a zombified prostitute only to produce tastier, more nutritious Dalian babies that purposely did not came out right.
In light of this, The second stomach of a Tayan is basically a large sex den for drugged Dalians, while its primary stomach is tailor-made to squeeze premature baby Dalians of all its Dalian juices.
Goodnight Dalians...
~Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Tayan
edited Aug 26 at 18:34
answered Aug 26 at 16:53
Kyle Zabala
332212
332212
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
add a comment |Â
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
ThatâÂÂs horrific
â Robert Paul
Aug 26 at 19:48
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
That's motherfreaking nature.
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 1:52
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
any kindergarten teacher told me nature was happy and fun. She lied?
â Robert Paul
Aug 27 at 11:41
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
She didn't tell you the whole truth...
â Kyle Zabala
Aug 27 at 12:52
add a comment |Â
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4
You should read the backstory of the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. Very similar premise.
â Starpilot
Aug 15 at 5:37
In addition to the issues of the inefficiencies of keeping preys alive inside itself, another problem with this system is that disolving a prey without breaking it before is very inefficient. Earth animals that do this (snakes) enter into an almost-coma because of how taxing this process is to their metabolism. Breaking the prey into small sizes (with teeth, for example) greatly improves the process.
â SJuan76
Aug 15 at 10:20
1
You need some way to provide oxygen (fresh air from the outside) to the secondary stomach. The prey will still need to breathe to be alive. If not, the prey will die (with or without neurotoxin) within minutes.
â Carlos Zamora
Aug 15 at 21:34
Is your universe purely sci-fi or are there magic elements in it? (to justify the plant "also feeding on fear", for example)
â Magus
Aug 22 at 11:11
1
@Magus: Sci-fi, although a few âÂÂscientifically unexplainableâ aspects are fine, wink wink
â Robert Paul
Aug 22 at 11:20