The Pentagraani (also known as the Pentagraani Bloodshards or simply Bloodshards) are a race of sentient crystalline xenos hailing from the Dead World of Pentagraani. Enigmatic and destructive, the Pentagraani are both a species and a plague, the mutated remnants of an alien nanovirus that feeds off of the biochemistry of other species in order to propagate.
History[]
Physiology[]
Pentagraani are somewhat unique in the fact that they are almost entirely silicon-based organisms, resembling large crystalline formations with colorations ranging from light puce to deep scarlet, earning them the nickname "Bloodshards". Their internal structures are veined with a network of highly-conductive ferrous material that allows them to channel energy throughout their bodies, making parts of their structure pulse with inner light. Their physical bodies are in fact a contruct colonies of microscopic nanomachines that are capable of manipulating matter on the atomic level, and thus allowing the Pentagraani to manipulate their own substance at will, typically taking on various geometric shapes when active.
Propagation[]
The Pentagraani reproduce via viral infection, introducing shards of their own nanoplague-infested substance into the flesh of organic creatures. Once they have disseminated throughout the bloodstream, the nanomachines produce an artificial silicate which bonds to the elements of hydrogen and carbon present in the host's atomic makeup, forming crystalline deposits throughout the body. Within hours victims of this "shardplague" will begin to feel extreme dehydration coupled with intense pain as the deposits multiply, and within days their skin will have taken on grayish cast, their eyes turning glassy as spikes of blood-red crystal begin to emerge from their flesh.
At this stage, the infected individual looses any sense of self-autonomy and degenerates into what is known as a Thrall. These tormented creatures are subservient to the Pentagraani, who manipulate them through electrical impulses channeled through their crystalline protuberances. Typically they are used as the primary vector of infection, throwing themselves upon others as a means of furthering the spread of the shardplague.
Thankfully, the Pentragraani nano-infection is hardly an efficient reproductive system, as infected Thralls rarely survive long enough for the nascent shards growing within them to emerge as fully-fledged Monoliths. More often than not the imbeded shards will pierce vital organs or cause internal bleeding that eventually kills the Thrall, their shards growing dull and lifeless as their host dies. Usually, only one out of every thousand Thralls created will give birth to a host of newborn Pentagraani.
Formations[]
Throughout their lives, Pentagraani go through several different stages known as "Formations", as listed below in order of youngest to eldest.
Dermaliths[]
A Dermalith is the weakest Formation of Pentagraani, taking form within the anatomy of infected Thralls where they slowly leech their victims of hydrocarbon compounds. In this stage they are akin to organic fetuses, only barely sentient and in a stage of rapid development. Dermaliths do however serve an important function in controlling their Thrall hosts, channeling electro-signals from elder Pentagraani as a means of directing their Thrall's actions.
Monoliths[]
The most commonly encountered Formation of Pentagraani, Monoliths typically resemble large geometric crystals, varying anywhere from three to six feet in diameter. Floating in mid-air through means of electromagnetic repulsion, Monoliths are fully sentient and tend to be the most belligerent and aggressive of Pentagraani formations, owing to their relative youth by Pentagraani standards. In battle, packs of Monoliths actively engage enemy combatants, bombarding them with pulses of electricity or extruding razor-sharp spines of crystal to stab and slash opponents to ribbons.
Duoliths[]
Whether through incidental absorption or deliberate intent, Pentagraani Monoliths who absorbs enough crystal-mass from their fellows evolve into a more powerful Formation known as a Duolith. Twice the size of a standard Monolith, Duoliths tend to be more reserved than their lesser kindred, hanging back where a Monolith might bludgeon forward. In battle they act as artillery support, lobbing great blasts of plasmatic energies overhead as their fellows advance.
Trioliths[]
An evolution of the Duolith, a Triolith is a goliath of a Formation, nearly as large as a battle-tank and almost as ponderous. Surprisingly, Trioliths rarely wade into conflict but instead seem to prefer to allow their underlings to do the work for them, ordering hosts of afflicted Thralls into the fray through bursts of electrostatics. It has been noted that Trioliths seem to act as the commanders of lesser Formations as well, for when they are slain nearby Pentagraani tend to loose cohesion.
Macroliths[]
Macroliths are Formations the size of battlecruisers that drift through the empty void, spreading their dreaded nanovirus far and wide by seeding the upper atmospheres of planets with microscopic crystalline shards. Through the use of spire-like extrusions of their own mass, Macroliths harvest the stellar energy of nearby stars and focus it through their crystalline bulk to create fission-pulse drives that propel them through space. This process of solar harvesting also allows them to go toe-to-toe with enemy starcraft, layering themselves in potent electromagnetic shields and blasting encroaching vessels with star-hot beams of light.
Necroliths[]
Though they are technically ageless thanks to their silicon-based molecular structures, even Pentagraani feel the rigors of time. Trioliths or Macroliths who have survived an innumerable amount of years are doomed to eventually become Necroliths, Formations whose very being is unstable due to the malfunctions their internal nanomachines. Necroliths are easily identified: their crystalline forms are cracked and degrading, unstable energies crackling throughout their bodies in coruscating skeins of electricity. Their behaviors often match their deteriorating appearance, as Necroliths are so erratic and hostile that even other Pentagraani give them a wide berth. In battle they throw themselves forward with berserker abandon, releasing unrestrained waves of pent-up energy that scatter enemies before them.
Behaviors[]
Pentagraani for the most part are more a sentient disease than a race, driven only by an insatiable desire to infect others and thereby spread their species further throughout the stars. However, cursory examinations of their behavior reveal that their is a method to their madness, albeit a primal and almost childlike one.
Younger Pentagraani Formations tend to congregate around older, more powerful Formations, like a pack of predators falling in behind their Alpha. Likewise, elder Formations seem to bully their youthful kindred into submission, actively urging them into the fray and even in some instances destroying them outright if they refuse to comply. In addition, Pentagraani often prey upon each other as much as they do other species. Singular Monoliths converge upon wounded Formations like jackals, hoping to absorb parts of their structure in order to evolve into more powerful Formations. Other times lesser Pentagraani will simply be swallowed up by their elders without the slightest provocation.
Efforts to explain this self-destructive behavior have led to more questions that answers, though most xenon-learned individuals simply chalk it up to the malfunctioning whims of the nanomachines that suffuse the Pentagraani' bodies. Some even consider it fortunate considering that it is this discord, coupled with their inefficient reproduction process, that keeps these crystalline aliens from organizing into a threat similar in magnitude to the war-crazed Orks or the ravenous Tyranids.
Language[]
The Pentagraani communicate not through verbal or oral communication but rather through a complex system of electrostatic pulses transmitted from one Formation to the next. When two Formations communicate their inner nano-structures pulse and flare with and almost maniac intensity, accompanied by a low humming noise that varies in pitch and frequency depending on the size, age, and disposition of the Pentagraani. They also use this form of communication to command their Thralls, focusing electrical impulses directly into the grey meat of their brains through the Thrall's imbedded Dermaliths in order to goad them into action.
This form of communication is incomprehensible to most non-Pentagraani, although due to its similarity to wireless vox-transmission, it is somewhat possible to decipher the basic meaning through specially-customized equipment.
Abilities and Traits[]
All Pentagraani are extremely durable, mainly due to the fact that their crystalline bodies consist mostly of carbon, giving them an overall density comparable to that of a diamond or similar gemstone. However, their greatest strength comes from their ability to absorb and redirect energy (typically either stellar or electrical-based in nature) by channeling it through their ferrous endoskeletons. This renders them largely immune to most form of handheld las-weaponry, though it should be noted that younger Pentagraani Formations can be "overcharged" to the point where they detonate in spectacular fashion. This process of channeling energy also causes Pentagraani to emit low levels of electrostatic energy that interfere with wireless networks when present large concentrations. As a result, widespread vox-blackouts often herald their arrival.
Offensive Capabilities[]
Vectors of Infection[]
The Pentagraani do not invade planets, they infect them. Citizens of an ususpecting world might wake one morning to find a massive Macrolith hovering menacingly in the sky, shedding tiny fragments of their nano-crystal mass in order to seed the atmosphere with their plague. Within days local wether patterns will have spread the microscopic shards far and wide, imbedding themselves in the flesh of the unsuspecting. Anything organic can serve as a means of propagation, local flora wilting under the strain of crystalline protrusions and livestock running rampant as the Dermaliths within them grow ever larger. Eventually these Dermaliths will mature into fully-formed Monoliths, and they in turn will conjoin to form elder Formations, before banding together alongside their Thralls and laying siege to the already beleaguered world.