BASICS
Horned Arthropods - or Hornthropods - are Mammal/Arthropod hybrids.
Every Hornthropod carries a Spiritual Gem floating between their horns, each Gem has a mild spiritual power which was granted to each Hornthropod when they are born, the Gem is the source of their powers and it glows while such powers are active, it's very resistant, but even so they still protect their Gems with their lives.
SUBSPECIES
They are separated in three subspecies: Horned Insect, Horned Arachnid and Horned Crustacean.
Insects are a common subspecies.
They can keep much more energy into their bodies because their wings work as an extra vessel for their powers, resulting in wings and Gem matching colors. They are more agile than arachnids or crustaceans, so they usually are specialized into mid to long distance fights.
Arachnids are an uncommon Hornthropod subspecies.
Arachnids are the strongest Hornthropod subspecies, so they usually are specialized into close to mid distance fights.
Crustaceans are a rare Hornthropod subspecies.
Crustaceans are the most resistant Hornthropod subspecies, so they are usually specialized into close distance fights, or long distance fights to cure their friends.
POSSIBLE SIZES
Hornthropods have some possible body height variations: Small-sized ones, called Faethropods; Regular-sized ones; and Huge-sized ones, called Megathropods.
Skeleton
Here’s a representation of an average Hornthropod skeleton in adulthood:
Hornthropods don't have exoskeletons like most regular arthropods do since they are mammals with arthropod features.
Abilities
PHYSICAL DEFENSES
All Hornthropods have some physical defenses independently of their subspecies, such as:
Horns: They used to have more use for their horn in the past when they weren't such a spiritual species (more about it in “History” category). During that time it was their main source of power and the reason they were called Horned Arthropods by other Deep Lock dwellers.
Tail drop: When a Hornthropod seems to have no way out of a hunt, they can drop their tail behind such as some reptiles do. It helps them to escape while the hunters chase down their poor tail that was left behind.
In some rare cases Hornthropods can drop their tail by accident if they suffer too much pressure.
MAGICAL DEFENSES
The species has spiritually evolved to the point they started to be born with a floating Gem between their horns, Their Gem carries their spiritual power, which can be described usually as mild magical powers, melee powers or healing powers.
Examples of Magical Powers:
Elemental: Controlling or creating fire, water, air, electricity, poison, earth, shadow, light (can't heal), ice, smoke etc;
Non-Elemental: Camouflage, very high jump, telekinesis, hypnosis, illusions, controlling plants, making someone feel bad emotions, creating specific smells, overall summoning, etc;
Examples of Melee Powers (Exclusive to Arachnids with Raw Gems):
Strong kick, strong punch, strong stomp, strong body (to defend), strength (to lift heavy objects), extra cutting/piercing effect, mastering a big weapon, controlling/levitating small melee weapons, summoning a melee weapon, extra speed, buffing someone else to be stronger, etc;
Examples of Healing Powers (Exclusive to Crustaceans with Hollow Gems):
Healing wounds of someone else, healing yourself, healing plants, regenerating members, bringing small dead animals back to life, making plants grow, making others sleep, making others have good dreams, making others chill, making others feel a good emotion, etc;
There’s also a very rare cases where Hornthropods can have Over Powers (Exclusive to Druse Gems, will hurt the Horned who uses it):
some examples are: bringing someone dead back to life for one day, summoning more than one creature/weapon at once, turning your whole body into an element, transformations, unlimited cloning for a period of time, buffing a lot of Horneds at once, etc.
See more about Spiritual Gems here.
Diet
Hornthropods are omnivores, which means they can eat anything from plants to meat, they usually enjoy regular insects, vegetables, fruits, grains and others, also creating recipes from it.
POSSIBLE GENDERS
They can be born with the following sex: Male, female, Intersex or Sexless.
Males usually have a longer torso and short to medium muzzle.
They have only male reproduction organs and are compatibles with females and intersex Hornthropods.
Females usually have a thinner thorax, breasts, larger hips and short muzzle.
They have only female reproduction organs and are compatibles with males and intersex Hornthropods.
Intersex ones can have any of the above features or something in between it.
They have both male and female reproduction organs, they are compatibles with any other Hornthropod sex but sexless.
Sexless ones can have any of the above features or something in between it.
They don't have either male nor female reproduction organs, only a cloaca where they eliminate their physical needs, they are only compatibles with other none sex Hornthropods.
Regardless of their sex of birth, Hornthropods can identify themselves as any gender, romantic or sexual identities.
COMPATIBILITY
All subspecies are genetically and biologically compatible with each other, yet their offspring will always be categorized in only one subspecies since hybrids can't be born. Example: If a Horned Insect and a Horned Crustacean lay eggs, the cubs can be born as Horned Insects and/or Horned Crustaceans, but no hybrids.
This way we can oftentimes see siblings of different regular arthropod species.
They are only compatible with each other and it is not possible to reproduce with other species, yet it's very common for them to adopt children, so even tho this biological limitation exists it's easy to see any kind of Hornthropod families with all kinds of subspecies and other species as well.
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Credits: Ideas by LightGem and Gosetsuki. Written by LightGem. Sketches by LightGem and Gosetsuki, final touches by LightGem. Special thanks to Proc-Prime for revising it and to our Discord members for sending some questions to inspire us!