[homophonic] catchall for shu

[dendroculi]

SHU

code

Comments

[dendroculi]

...why the disparity between religious people and scientists?

[???

local god of wisdom cannot comprehend why followers of a god would deny science.]

I see... that's such a shame. They look like majestic creatures.

[roseoftexas]

Dunno. I'm not religious. [ he's not exactly scientific either, but y'know. ]

There's a book they base their religion on, and that dates back around 2,000 years I think? Might have something to do with it. Science just by existing proves some of their beliefs wrong, so they don't want to acknowledge it.

[ ... ]

I think if we'd lived at the same time, we'd be the ones who went extinct.

[dendroculi]

Really?

[huh...]

How come? Was there some kind of natural disaster...?

[one might say....... a cataclysm?]

[roseoftexas]

[ a rejoining, ffxiv style. ]

An asteroid, I think?

[dendroculi]

[what the fuck did you do, morax.]

Oh... that would have caused a lot of widespread destruction, depending on its size.

[roseoftexas]

[ he wanted order. (the rex incognito beat drop hits) ]

Yup. Sure did. It must’ve been a big one, given it wiped all but a few out.

[dendroculi]

How terrible... I guess it's lucky that human life didn't develop in your world until later.

[roseoftexas]

I think so.

[ ... ]

But you guys live in the same place as these Geo Vishap things? And you said dragons a moment ago.

[dendroculi]

[she nods]

There are all sorts of amazing creatures all througout Teyvat. Although, from talking with many of the others here, it seems almost like they're something out of stories in otehr worlds...

[roseoftexas]

... A little. Your vishaps sound like the kind of thing you'd see in a fairy tale or a fantasy series. I'm not sure what else you have though, so I can't make too much of a comparison.

[dendroculi]

Hehe. Well, maybe if we look around, we can find some exhibits featuring things that look like they're from Sumeru!

[roseoftexas]

[ he makes a little sweeping motion with his hand: ]

Lead the way.

[dendroculi]

[off they go and... oh! it's a room set up with a few models of various creatures.]

They have a Shroomboar... and a Sumpter Beast. I didn't expect that.

[roseoftexas]

[ looks




at this. ]

Your boars have mushrooms?

[dendroculi]

Hehe. They developed a type of symbiosis with mushrooms in the forests to provide them with camoflauge from predators.

...um, animal predators, anyway. Humans who go hunting like Shroomboars a lot because you get both meat for a steak and mushrooms for a side dish at once when you catch one...

[roseoftexas]

…

So they made themselves safer from some predators, and a prime target for others. Clever.

[dendroculi]

It worked pretty well until people started hunting.

[alas, poor shroomboars...]

[roseoftexas]

Adapt again, or become dinner.

[dendroculi]

That's the way of the jungle...

[roseoftexas]

Not just the jungle, sometimes.

Still, kinda sad for them really. You go through all that evolution just to end up down the food chain anyway. [ says i, the most prolific of shroomboar killers ]

[dendroculi]

Maybe they're already working on their next evolution to prevent it.

Like... becoming symbiotic with mushrooms that aren't safe for people to eat, so they'll leave them alone.

[roseoftexas]

...

That would be pretty clever actually. And a little sinister, people wouldn't realise for a while.

[dendroculi]

[...she's thinking about it now...]

I wonder how long it would take people to realize that was the cause if it happened...

[roseoftexas]

…

The more people die after eating them, I think.

[dendroculi]

It might take a while to isolate the cause, though... especially if it's a gradual sort of change. Not every Shroomboar would have the bad kind of mushroom on it, so if there were some that were fine to eat, and others that weren't, people might assume they died of other causes...

[a beat.]

This thought exercise is getting a little macabre.