Sky Monsters

[Ellington]

In an attempt to make battles more than just illogical endless streams of pirates, we are strongly considering having some sky monsters. This assignment, for as many people who want to submit stuff, if to make some sky monsters for us to fight.

[Redstorm Breckenridge]

SO like a giant evil Monarch and his/her Armada?!

[Marcus Langley]

I'm going to go straight for the weird stuff. Because flying wildlife is always weird.

Skysquid:
Exactly what it sounds like. These giant, floating/flying cephalopods propel themselves in short bursts, and are usually found in rainy or stormy weather. They attack planes by lashing out with their tentacles, ramming, or perhaps more unusual attacks. Larger specimens are fairly docile, but younger ones often critically damage planes in their attempts to 'play' or investigate.

Writer's Notes: Skysquid are more weird wildlife than actual threat. It's quite likely parts of them might be useful for more unusual plane construction or modification, if you want justification for them dishing out cash.

--

Siren:
A flying machine cobbled together out of junk - some look like they were made recently, others look very very old. Sirens broadcast random gibberish on all frequencies; sometimes music, sometimes snippets of speech, sometimes plain ol' static. They're not much of a threat by themselves, but they interfere with navigation by jamming your radar, and pirates like to hang around near them to pick off any fool that comes to check out the source. Most port authorities and similar institutions will give you a cash reward if you can prove you destroyed a Siren.

Writer's Notes: As noted, Sirens are largely harmless by themselves apart from the jamming gimmick. The real danger is whoever is hanging around with it.

--

Wraith:
An almost invisible serpent that is extremely cold to the touch. They prefer higher altitudes and extremely cold places, and will attack anything that enters their territory. Most of the damage they inflict to planes is by freezing structural components so that they become very brittle. Guns and machinery stop working, and then the plane just drops like a rock. Younger Wraith live together in small packs, but tend to go alone as they grow older. Wraith will occasionally leave their territory to hunt other aerial wildlife.

Writer's Notes: Wraith should be squishy, evasive bastards that like to run away from combat if they get hit; they're not used to prey that fights back.

--

Echo:
Ask any pilot in a bar and they'll tell you that Echoes are the angered or grieving ghosts of pilots who crashed in the sea never to be found again, and only fishing the pilot up for a proper burial can put the Echo to rest for good.

An Echo is a large cloud-like mass of shifting colours, just about dense enough to set off the proximity sensor in most AA shells, and they're named for the strange echoing noises they emit on the lower radio frequencies. Echoes move around unpredictably and lash out at anything near with powerful bolts of electricity, but their fragile form means concentrated fire or explosives can easily rip them apart. Scientists suggest that they're another byproduct of the <Cataclysm>, but nobody has managed to investigate or research them properly yet.

Writer's Notes: Echoes would have low health, but can deal out a lot of damage, and easily resist very weak attacks; either you hit them with lots of smaller shots (eg: shotgun) or a big explosive.

[Thorne]

Well.. before I go an reinvent any wheels, let's just take a look at mythology:

The Blackwind (or Ala, the Evil Cloud!) - This could appear as regular clouds or darkened clouds then when flown through could pelt your plane with hail, causing low lvls of dmg (I'd see this being an addition to combat, rather than a combat in and of itself).

Dragons, in all their forms and glory.

Gigantic sized birds - Giant Eagle, Giant Falcon, the Roc (of legend), etc.

Anthro-bird people - maybe they hate non-fliers flying, maybe they're just jerks.. whatever it is they rabidly attack planes if you fly through their territory.

Gargoyles - essentially rock creatures that fly

Gryphons, Hippogriffs, Perytons and Pegasi herds are classic flying myths that could give us problems in the air.


Thorne
now to reinvent the wheel

[tod]

riffing off Thorne's suggestion...



Bird-folk hold territory past the bounds of current islander exploration. There are rumors that the heart of their territory is a large but ecologically devastated continent, and that the birds blame the mammals for the cataclysm, fueling their trespassing and attacks on the island nations. They have domesticated giant pterosaurs.

[Ellington]

Hidden Flock? Tod, I love you in ways that confuse me and are hard to explain

[Ellington]

Rubicon came up with the possibility that there was some bio-engineering going on before the Cataclysm. If so, and it all got wiped out in the Cata' (and it would have. Dev says so ) then its been running rampant for ~400 years. This could easily explain some of the odder stuff we see. Also, if they were created for resource gathering, it provides a good reason to fight the things that maybe less naturally threatening.

Bioharvesters would naturally still be conducting their operations, and carry payloads they while useless to the creature are there out of hardwired instinct.

Also: Crazy sky whalers, maybe?

Naturally occurring 'balloons' of toxic, lighter than air goo

A blob, shaped sorta like classic Bolo: in the center it's a gooey or tentacular monsters, that's surrounded in shards of silicon and precious materials it's harvested, with an outside shell of ice formed into an aerodynamic shape.  It's looking for a place to "dock" and unload its collected stock, though given that the original docking stations are long lost and gone, it unsuccessfully tries to 'dock' with anything if finds, effectively shooting and smashing the hell out fo anything it zooms close to.

There's also the obvious giant insects that act as hives for their smaller, still huge plane sized relatives.

Another monster would be a monster wearing a plane as 'clothing' or a disguise.  Icky bits of... something sticking out in places.

Thanks Rubicon!

[Marcus Cunningham]

I actually like the concept of just sky monsters. Not people, or such, just horrible monsters.

[Redstorm Breckenridge]

ok I understand what you mean now.. I love the above ideas although Thorne's idea will have me barring the windows at the Tavern.

[Marcus Langley]

Classic mythology is probably an okay start for inspiration but the moment classical monsters start showing up as enemies is the moment you know we've run out of any shred of imagination and creativity of our own.

--

Geist:
"A large amorphous creature, the Geist is one of the greatest mysteries we have ever faced. Are they natural, or did someone make them? If they are natural, how did such a bizarre creature evolve? If not, who made them, and why? Why do the Geists seek out sunken aircraft to take as shells? How do they make them fly again? And most of all, why do they do all of this, only to deposit the aircraft and their contents around the edges of civilization in the night, before slipping back into the sea?

Whatever they are, and whatever their purpose, all we truly know is that they cannot be communicated with and that they are seemingly indestructible. Despite all our attempts we have not been able to capture one, not even part of one, and in their evasion of us they show a form of intelligence that is unlike anything we have ever encountered before.

Perhaps we would be better off if we never determine their origin. But no, something tells me that someone will unravel their secrets, that someone will find out what they are, and that someone will tell the world why these things exist. What, then, would we discover? I do not think we will like what we find... I fear that we look into a mirror, and that we will find something we hid from ourselves for a reason."
— Dr. A. Zakharov, University of Freedom's Reach

[Thorne]

Stormsquid - These are giant squid that only inhabit storm clouds. Occasionally herds of them can be seen migrating from a dying storm front to a newly formed one. Scientists believe that the squid feed off of smaller insects that are attracted to the moisture and electricity. The storm squid themselves seem immune to the electrical effects, indeed some theorize they may absorb and utilize this energy. From the few specimens recovered, scientists discovered that storm squid have seperated pockets within the levels of their skin which they can inflate with a lighter than air gas, produced chemically by their bodies. Their body color ranges from translucent green to blue and into purple.

Storm squid are not so much hostile as extremely curious, however there will be no difference from the pilot's perspective. Storm squid usually have 8, 10, or 12 tentacles which they use to try and grapple any approaching aircraft. If they are wounded at all they will become aggressive and they will try to smack their attacker directly. If struck, a small electrical jolt goes through the plane, pushing one towards blackout (in addition to G forces). Its fleshy body seems to absorb regular ammunition with only minor effects, so attacking one is not for the inexperienced. Scientists postulate that fire or acid may have a more lethal effect. When storm squid are migrating, they will usually not engage unless attacked.

(inspired by Marcus' skysquid and Tommy's Storm Engine)

Thorne

[talon]

Tod's painting reminds me a lot of Dinotopia, actually.

[Mason Chaine]

Two words.

Sky Hillbillies.

[Thorne]

Thorne
so wish I could draw

[Marcus Cunningham]

Pulse Bloaters: A fragile but dangerous creature that resembles a jellyfish, but aerial. They are filled with a volatile assortment of electrified gasses that are explosive when mixed. These massive creatures are generally peaceful, roaming the skies on currents of air, though their migratory patterns often cross major skylanes, and as such, they must be cleared out before the larger ships barrel through them, or the faster ships crash into them.

When shot, the gasses within their bodies begins to mix. A few seconds after the initial mix, the gasses begin to expand leading up to detonation, with a destructive radius three to five times the size of the creature itself. Explosions like this will also trigger the mixing, and subsequent detonation, of nearby Pulse Bloaters, so extreme caution is advised when clearing out a skylane , as detonating one can cause a chain reaction that can have far more disastrous results then intended.

Pulse Bloaters have few natural predators, though a few species of aerial life has found them delicious, and have found ways to drain the gas prior to detonation. The presence of a Skysquid or two in a field of Pulse Bloaters is not uncommon.

(System: Pulse Bloaters appear in swarms, offer small individual rewards, and have low hit points. When shot, they start a silent countdown, then explode for massive damage in a radius. Other Pulse Bloaters in this explosion are damaged, and thus their countdown begins. If a Pulse Bloater is killed before the countdown is complete, it explodes immediately. Sky Monsters are immune to the explosive damage of Pulse Bloaters. )