Lucicamp Slug Girls

A species of insectoid predator. Is actually not very closely related to Slug Girls, except in appearance, and Lucicamps would be a better, but more awkward name. They don't really mind what their species is called one way or another. They casually refer to others of their species as "Glowers."

Appearance

Lucicamp Slug Girls have the body shape of Slug Girls. They do tend to come in smaller sizes though, never getting as big as the larger Slug Girls, mostly due to their preference for living in caves which have tighter spaces. The lower half of their body, however, has a texture and patterning more common to grubs than slugs. The skin is a translucent blue, with purple and orange sometimes seen through underneath. The back segments of the body glow a bright blue, which is where this species gets the nickname "Glowers." The glowing comes from a natural organ in the Lucicamp that is magically charged.

The lower body actually has no real solid structure, all bones and cartilage being in the upper half. The lower half periodically molts to accomadate for growth.

Habitat

Lucicamps are usually found within caves, prefering the larger chambers within these. They are also found within abadoned temples, or even small shady groves. They like to have lots of space, but also have walls around them for their hunting. Some of the more social types make their homes outside the cave where they hunt, interacting with outside predators. The very adventuress ones abandon caves altogether, learning new hunting styles to adapt. They also like their homes to be more on the damp side.

Hunting

Lucicamps tend to be lazy creatures. Their hunting style reflects this. They take up a position to wait. The best position tends to be on the ceilings of caves, where they are least likely to be noticed. Lucicamps have an amazing ability to manipulate their slime, which they can secret in large amounts. They can make it become harder, which they often do to make a sort of hunting nest to keep them comfortably on the ceiling. They then make a long strang of slime - and simply go fishing.

The slime has chemicals which paralyze the prey and also can drain magic, Lucicamps being lovers of magic. A Lucicamp that has absorbed more magic will tend to glow brighter, or start to glow on other parts of their body and be able to control this glowing.( Many Lucicamps have some sort of magical ability.) The slime thread also gives off a sweet smell to attract prey and the Lucicamp can move it around if she see's a prey near to it. The smell is pleasant to most prey but seems to have increasing effectiveness depending on the level of magic the prey has.

A surprising, and perhaps unfortunate effect of this metheod of hunting is that Lucicamps have become one of the few predators that counts fairies as prey. The fairies are very attracted to the smell of the slime and flying rather than walking through caves have a greater chance of accidently running into the threads, which then drain them of magic. Lucicamps have gotten to the point where they lump fairies in with other prey species, rarely meeting them as predators. This has lead to uncomfortable relations between the two species.

When the prey is snagged, the Lucicamp simply grabs the slime thread and reels in the struggling catch, which is then swallowed. Being reeled in can take quite a while depending on how heavy the prey is. If it's too heavy, the Lucicamp may send down more threads to attach to it. Lucicamps, though smaller, can swallow surprisingly large types of prey, having powerful jaws that can stretch along with the rest of their body. They often move to a more comfortable location for digestion. Like Slug Girls, they digest slowly and noisily. An interesting not is that the noise is distorted by the magic in the skin of the Lucicamp - you could hear one digesting far away when it is really right above you, so this doesn't give much help to prey. The slow digestion process is coupled with the fact that the skin of the Lucicamp is translucent, allowing prey to partially see out and others to partially the prey, to make Lucicamps considered one of the less tactful eaters.

Behavior

Lucicamps are similar to slug girls in most aspects of personality - they tend to be lazy, but very sociable. Lucicamps are quite cheery, often even being friendly with potential prey. However, they rarely let prey go after going through all the effort of reeling it in! If a Lucicamp is hungry, you are almost certainly screwed. The best way to talk to them is to be just as friendly, which is often quite difficult given the situation.

There are no male Lucicamps. The females all hold the material for insemination within them. Thus, to produce young, they need a female prey, which is trapped in a special pouch and impregnated, being kept alive and nourished and then giving birth to the baby Lucicamp for the mother. The baby grows at first using nutrients from it's Lucicamp mother - when it is ready to leave the stomach, it swallows it's prey mother as it's first meal and is ready to face the outside world. Apparently, Lucicamps can have slight differences depending on what species of prey their unwilling mother was, taking on slight characteristics. For example, Lucicamps who had fairy prey mothers tend to be the best at magic.

Lucicamps tend to be more lively, creative and motivated if they have absorbed magic. It is sort of like caffiene or sugar to them. There are actually rumours that a Lucicamp that absorbs enough magic will get to a point where they overload their bodies. Rather than killing the Lucicamp, this causes them to form a coccoon - what happens next is a mystery as very few Lucicamps get old and experienced enough to get that much magic.

this a great design ! ^_^
Lot of really inteesting abilities here and I loved the part on the cocoon in the end. It addded a nice sense of mystery

I'm wondering...
Did you base these girls on Arachnocampa?
If so... I don't think I'd want to see what comes out of those cocoons...

I love it great idea

Whiteagle wrote:

I'm wondering...
Did you base these girls on Arachnocampa?
If so... I don't think I'd want to see what comes out of those cocoons...

Haha, yeah, you got it. I thought they were so bizarre but cool that they deserved some sort of form on Felarya.

Glowing larva that act like spiders?
Of course they're going to get turned into a Girl-taur.
I don't really look to nature for my ideas though...

Interesting means of reproduction... They seem like an original species all round.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

There are no male Lucicamps. The females all hold the material for insemination within them. Thus, to produce young, they need a female prey, which is trapped in a special pouch and impregnated, being kept alive and nourished and then giving birth to the baby Lucicamp for the mother. The baby grows at first using nutrients from it's Lucicamp mother - when it is ready to leave the stomach, it swallows it's prey mother as it's first meal and is ready to face the outside world. Apparently, Lucicamps can have slight differences depending on what species of prey their unwilling mother was, taking on slight characteristics. For example, Lucicamps who had fairy prey mothers tend to be the best at magic.

I have a problem with this...
Not necessarily with Parasitic Reproduction, or the fact Lucicamps need females of another species in order to reproduce...
It's just... these both don't work well together...
If you are going to infect a Host to give birth to your young (who will then EAT their host mother), you should do it so you can take advantage of your Host Mothers mobility.
Most likely, it is a Species that lives in a similar habitat to yours.
Your Host Mother would need to be impregnated in such a way that she will either not notice the life inside of her or considers it one of her own.
This is for when your young goes an pull a Chestburster, their Host Mother will have been the one taking care of herself and in a location your young can proper in.
Since Lucicamps have a very specific habitat that few other species dwell in, this method of spreading your seed just doesn't work...
And going through all the trouble of eating not only for oneself, but for an additional body that's going through pregnancy?!?!?
Yeah, not worth the effort if all you are going to do with your "Guest" is have them be a first meal for your little girl...

Since I was the one who created the current stir over Slug Girl reproduction, you can contact me to either complain or to ask about something that I thought up.

Hmmm. I simply thought that it might be unrealistic to expect a baby slug girl to swallow their entire mother just after being born. Plus, I do picture them as more social creatures, ones who would like to see and raise their young. I used this metheod of reproduction to give another way round the whole hermaphrodite thing with the slug girls.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Hmmm. I simply thought that it might be unrealistic to expect a baby slug girl to swallow their entire mother just after being born. Plus, I do picture them as more social creatures, ones who would like to see and raise their young. I used this metheod of reproduction to give another way round the whole hermaphrodite thing with the slug girls.

Well I'm not saying you should throw it out...
Just that I might have something you could use...

Well, this idea was put down before the current stir. And remember, Lucicamps aren't technically sluggirls. A little related, but still a different species. And as well, the mother would want to keep her baby on site so it's safer in the prefered environment. Your ideas are good, but I do sort of like the niche I've driven this species into.