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WORLD INFO
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GENOTYPES
    • Genotypes Main
    • About GOTHE
    • Genealogy
    • Size Chart
    • GOTHE Lineage
    • Who Are You?

    • Daemon
    • Goth
    • Human
    • Morph
    • Psycho
    • Rager
    • Savant
    • Shifter
    • Spectre
    • Vampire



© 1996-2008
æthereal FORGE ™



The MUD Slide


(Homo sapiens mutare)
The ultimate meshing of the body and technology.

Avg. Height: M - 5'10" F - 5'7"
Avg. Weight: M - 175# F - 145#

Hair Color: Gray, white, silver
Eye Color: Gray, black, blue, pink

Blood Pressure: 120/80
Life Expectancy: 50 years

Dist. Marks: Gray, silvery or bluish skin, featureless face

Morphs are on the bleeding edge of natural selection, capable of physical mutations and technological integration far beyond other genotypes.

The children of a Beta GOTH mother and a human father, morphs are able to actively control their own nervous system, and to use special nanites within to alter the very shape of their bodies. While they certainly can't turn into a puddle of goo, they can shift bone and muscle and manipulate skin to do everything from changing their appearance, to creating weapons out of their limbs, to easily slipping through bars and other relatively inaccessible areas. Morphs can also incorporate bits of appropriate technology into themselves with relative ease; while humans need surgery to install most implants, the silvery-skinned morphs can do it merely by thinking about it for a short while.

Because they are rejected by society en masse, and because many of them wind up orphans at a young age, the 2 to 3,000 morphs alive today tend to be loners, and can be quite cruel, amoral and heartless. Even other goths, shifters and vampires tend to shy away from them, meaning that morphs cannot even turn to their close cousins for employment or support. But although society tends to shun them, morphs are far from the lonely, helpless cripples many make them out to be--there are some things that only morphs are capable of.

Like other Goth genotypes, all morphs possess a significantly enhanced central nervous system (CNS), including wider nerve fibers (carrying muscular and touch-related sensations up to 5 times faster than ordinary human nerves), an enhanced spinal column and a secondary "brain stem" at the base of their spine. Little more than an extension of their nervous system, this "booster" is incapable of anything but reflexive reactions, but those reflexes are still far superior to those of a normal human being. In short, while a morph's mental capacity is not significantly enhanced, neural activity devoted to nervous reactions, reflex arcs and muscular activity happens at a greatly accelerated rate.

Morphs also possess significantly altered muscular, skeletal and immune systems, which work in concert with their CNS to offer amazing capabilities: muscles and organs can be shifted around as needed; skin can be stretched, thickened or split; and bones can be reshaped and slid around. In all cases, it is fairly easy for even younger morphs to make minor changes in facial structure or stature, or rather broad and crude changes to limbs, but most morphs lack good control over things requiring fine detail. While molding an arm into a gleaming blade is no challenge for even an untrained morph, only after much practice and patience could any morph perform such seemingly simple tasks such as growing hair or changing skin color.

One thing all morphs are capable of doing, even without much focus, is accelerated regeneration of damaged tissue. Acting much like breathing, in that it can be done consciously or unconsciously, a morph's system is constantly at work repairing damage, much of it caused by the morph's own manipulation of flesh and bone. After all, when you break your arm in half, fold it back on itself, and pull the soft tissues back to reveal a bony shard, it takes more than platelets to fix the damage. In times of extreme need, a morph can consciously boost this healing process, doing in minutes what would normally take hours, and in days what would normally take months to heal.

In part, it is this accelerated healing capability which makes morphs highly capable of accepting augmentation from outside sources, be they symbiotes or artificial implants. Whereas other genotypes need massive surgical procedures and a lot of practice to fully recognize their adaptations, a morph can often attach the new implant without surgery, allowing the augment to actually become a living part of their body. Those procedures that involve implantation deep within the body core or removal of a limb can often be done with minimal loss of blood on an outpatient basis, and minor cybernetic implants can be a simple matter of inserting tab A into slot B. However, while morphs can make cybernetics more a part of them than any other genotype, they don't always interface with it naturally; whereas daemons can mentally interface with computers, a morph cannot. To draw a more simple comparison: daemons do software, and morphs do hardware.

The secret to the morph's capabilities is actually a severe mutation in the nanites they inherit from their mothers, thanks to the genetic inadequacies of their fathers. These nanites are initially identical to the biological nanites in a goth's bloodstream, but as the morph fetus gestates the nanites become deformed and mutated. In a desperate effort to rebuild themselves, the nanites begin to draw on elements within the growing morph's body to augment their own structures. Iron, magnesium, zinc and other metals, in particular, are literally sucked out of the body and into the nanites. Since the growing fetus cannot sustain a steady supply of these minerals, the nanites eventually begin to draw these materials from the mother's body through the umbilical cord. This tends to leave the mother drained and weak, causing most to require mega-doses of vitamin supplements to help their bodies remain healthy through pregnancy. Once the morph is born, of course, the mother eventually recovers, but these supplements must then be taken by the morph for the rest of his or her life in order to maintain good health.

Because the morph's nanites draw so heavily on iron and other trace metals, their structure tends to become highly metallic and partly inorganic, which brings about not only a morph's unique capabilities but also their unique appearance. The iron-rich nanites in the morph's skin, for example, give morphs a gray or grayish-blue sheen, even tending towards silvery in some cases. The strange skin coloring is not limited to skin either, but also includes the whites of the eyes (a side effect being the fact that many suffer from both nearsightedness and color-blindness), tongue, lips, fingernails, gums and even hair, which may appear striated or striped as the hair grows out with various levels of nanites present in different layers. The tint of these areas changes based on the morph's diet and activity level, and particularly active morphs will find that their skin becomes much lighter, turning nearly white as nanites are purged from their systems and their pigmentless skin shows through. During periods of extreme activity, the normal process of skin flaking can even become hyper-accelerated, with some morphs suffering from conditions that resemble everything from mere wrinkles to psoriasis to leprosy.

As mentioned earlier, these nanites are present throughout the morph's entire system, adhering to just about every structure in the body and altering these structures as they eat away at the material and reprocess it. During this process, some of the matter is inevitably converted into energy to fuel the nanites, including materials like fibroblasts, collagen, elastin and fibronectin. As morphs begin to suffer more extreme loss of these materials, normally beneficial conditions like skin hyperelasticity and joint hypermobility tend to worsen. Skin may become soft and vulnerable to easy bruising or tearing, with wounds taking weeks or months to fully close, and the skin may become partially translucent, revealing the veins and organs beneath. Joints become even more loose and unstable, with accidental dislocations a particular problem in the shoulders, knees, hips, and jaw. Frequent dislocation can cause extreme pain and the onset of arthritis. Internally, morphs may even suffer from blood clotting, collapsed lungs, tendon and muscle tears, and arterial rupture, one of the major reasons for the shortened life expectancy of morphs. Morphs also have to deal with the inevitable onset of Porphyria, a genetic condition that plagues all the Goth genotypes. In many cases, the morph's own regenerative capabilities tend to keep most of the serious effects of this away most of the time, and the most common ailments, like skin sensitivity and hyperpigmentation, are often masked by the morph's own natural appearance.

To cover up what some perceive as physical deformities, many morphs take to dying their skin and hair, or dressing in ways that conceal their skin tone. In some cases, their propensity for such methods of disguise adds to their value in career fields where such talents can be put to good use, including everything from spying and infiltration to acting and performance art. In other cases, particularly among older or more "experienced" morphs, years of constant use and abuse leave them with little choice but to shave their heads and cloak themselves in swathes of heavy clothing. Many come out only at night, when the darkness can help hide their appearances, and the rare appearance by day will almost certainly be covered up with long sleeves, loose pants and hats. After all, it's far easier to wear disguises and skulk around with your fellow morphs than to deal with stares and beatings.

Their lonesome professions and the tendency of society to push them aside often leads many morphs to sink into bouts of depression, leading to alcohol and drug abuse. This self-destructive behavior can trigger or worsen the problems that all morphs possess at some level, leading to more severe complications and even death. Of course, for a morph living in a world that loathes them, death is too often a welcome end, despite the fact that most morphs maintain an agnostic or atheistic outlook on life, believing that nothing waits for them beyond but absence and nothingness. Such a nihilistic view makes morphs dangerous and deadly foes; when pain and death are a part of everyday life, what does one have left to fear? For this reason, some morphs readily turn to crime and rank among the most-skilled and respected assassins, spies and saboteurs, while others choose more legitimate occupations and become skilled acrobats and stunt actors.

INSPIRATIONAL IDEAS

Music: Type O Negative, Rage Against the Machine

Stories: "T2," "Nightbreed"

Quote: "One completely overcomes only what one assimilates." --Andre Gide

Stats:
* Higher than average Physical Mutation.
* Below average Physical Endurance & Strength.

Pros:
* Easy incorporation of most technology into their bodies.
* Morphs can alter their appearance with a thought.

Cons:
* Morphs experience many physical problems after numerous alterations.

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