Alien Archive is chock full of images which...well, defy explanation. Most are clearly images of the creatures themselves, or of the tools they utilize.
However, quite a few are not described in the text and so aren't as clear cut.
This thread is for people to discuss these images and to offer up their own theories.
Front Cover (Skittermanders) - What are they holding? Plasma pistols? Rifles? Laser distance measures?
Page 49 (Ellicoth) - Some sort of ellicoth transport perhaps? Or an ellicoth containment unit?
Page 81 (Necrovite) - A computer made out of a skull? A drinking mug collectible?
Page 83 (Nihili) - A demilich?
Page 87 (Nuar) - Clearly a gun, but also a...sports ball? Spy drone?
Page 117 (Urog) - Is it an urog equivalent of a hand, or a penis? Is it an appendage at all? Perhaps it's a handheld (pseudopod-held?) ranged arc weapon of some sort?
Back Cover (Purple Man, bottom left) - Are those bell bottoms? Leg warmers? Grieves? What?
Are there any other images that you're totally mystified by? Do you have differing interpretations about what some of the above might be?
The skull on 81 is the phylactery thing.
I don't have my book so can't check the rest but will try once I get to a pc.
DOT
Front Cover:
I have no idea, they look to need 2 hands so I would say a laser rifle of some description.
PG 49:
In the fluff they talk about putting fortifications on the top of the Ellicoth's. The fluff reminds me of the mumakils from LoTR. I think that is the fortification that they put on top of the Ellicoth.
"From armored howdahs built onto and around the horns atop the creatures’ broad backs, undead soldiers immune to ellicoths’ aura of radiation rain destruction down on their opponents, guiding the beasts through magic or direct neurotech linkages"
I think the pads are said neurotech linkages.
PG 81:
"Each necrovite must craft her own unique electroencephalon, which is a hybrid item with a level equal to the character’s caster level at the time of creation."
I think the skull thing is said electroencephalon.
pg 83:
"When one of these nihilis is destroyed, its remaining flesh is almost instantly flensed from its body, leaving a skeleton marked with glowing blue runes that are difficult for living creatures to focus on—attempting to do so results in blurred vision and nosebleeds."
The skull with the glowing blue rune is a fluff thing, but it is the remains of a destroyed Nihilis.
fringes of the Vast who have discovered a
small tear in reality that opens up onto
the Negative Energy Plane. Calling it a
“dark star,” these nihilis eject corpses
(usually of victims they have killed) into
the surrounding vacuum as sacrifices;
some of these bodies are animated as
nihilis who immediately attain honored
positions in the cult, as they preach of
sinister whispers from beyond the portal that encourage this
gruesome form of reproduction. When one of these nihilis is
destroyed, its remaining flesh is almost instantly flensed from
its body, leaving a skeleton marked with glowing blue runes
that are difficult for living creatures to focus on—attempting
to do so results in blurred vision and nosebleeds.
PG 87:
I believe that those are either two forms of a singular maze core item, or are two different maze core items.
I think it is more likely to be the first.
You can see the shared core unit. I would guess a pistol/rifle and a round thing.
I honestly couldn't tell you what that round thing is. A spy drone might be the best idea.
PG 117:
Urog's have two forms.
The first image in their entry is theur engagement mode, the slug like one is their traveling mode.
in their everyday or “traveling mode,” they almost
resemble crystalline slugs or snails, their shimmering
shell-scales hanging down almost to the ground and hiding
their limbs as they float along like hovercrafts on a thin
cushion of electromagnetism produced by microscopic cilia.
It’s only when they’re in “engagement mode”—whether that
means mating, fighting, or interacting directly with other
races or their environment—that they rear up and unfold
their multiple sets of articulated limbs.
Back Cover:
I think this might be some kind of golem.
It could also be an outdated attempt by the lizard people to infiltrate our culture.
One concern of mine is for the Haan and the two strikingly different representations of them. One has human like hands, the other has spikes. Whats the explanation for the difference in them?
J4RH34D, I'm not so sure about the Urog. What you describe would make em akin to shapeshifters. I suspect that both their forms look very much like their first image; just that one is "tucked" away under "shell-scales" causing them to resemble giant crystalline snails, and the other form with all of their limbs and other appendages unfurled and reared up and out from underneath their shell.
One concern of mine is for the Haan and the two strikingly different representations of them. One has human like hands, the other has spikes. Whats the explanation for the difference in them?
Not any worse than the ysoki, whose illustrated anatomical differences are all over the place. Even worse than the catfolk of Pathfinder!
|
Not any worse than the ysoki, whose illustrated anatomical differences are all over the place. Even worse than the catfolk of Pathfinder!
*My personal theory*
It's mentioned that Ysoki was originally just what the ratfolk of Akiton called themselves - that they were a distinct race and culture that other creatures that fall under the heading of 'ratfolk' decided to adopt. So it seems possible the term Ysoki now encompasses a very broad spread of humanoids that share rat-like traits. Given that, wildly divergent head sizes could be explained away.
Page 49 (Ellicoth) - Some sort of ellicoth transport perhaps? Or an ellicoth containment unit?
It's a howdah! The circular "paddles" sit where their ears would be if they were elephants. (It's a olliphant, Mr. Frodo!)
Continuing a tradition that stretches back even before the Gap, several bone sages still employ fearsome ellicoth cavalries in their militias. From armored howdahs built onto and around the horns atop the creatures’ broad backs, undead soldiers immune to ellicoths’ aura of radiation rain destruction down on their opponents, guiding the beasts through magic or direct neurotech linkages.