Metagame Warning!
The knowledge in this page may not be accessible to the average character, as it may not be common knowledge.
Please consider if your character would know this knowledge first before using it in roleplay.
Author Note: Pistaros can be found in some tropical worlds with an ECF higher than 2.
Pistaros | |
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A pistaros, in the process of tracking. | |
Classification | |
Family: | Avisi |
Genus: | Venatum |
Type Species | |
Venatum caeruleum | |
Found In | |
Tropical worlds with an ECF greater than 2. | |
Tamability | |
Can be enthralled by a psion or domesticated through normal means. | |
Products | |
Meat | |
Rarity | |
Common |
A pistaro is is a blue, bird-like creature that stands on two legs. They are typically no larger than 2 feet tall. At first glance they seem boring, being good solitary carnivores with tracking skills; however, evokers have studied them and discovered that they possess innate and potent ESP abilities that allow them to track flux traces left by psions and psionic animals.
Pistaros are small, no larger than two feet tall, thus making them around the size of a small dog. They are flightless birds with brown, silver, and blue feathers. They have a large beak suitable for eating vermin, and their legs allow them to run quickly while their sharp talons are suitable for climbing trees and other porous surfaces.
Pistaros primarily hunt small prey; but in their home, the tropical anchor world of Acetui III, such small prey is extraordinarily difficult to find, burrowing deep in the moist soil or hiding in the thick vegetation. Many of the animals in Acetui III are anomalous in nature, and the pistaro has evolved to take advantage of this fact; by tracking the flux traces their prey leaves behind, pistaros can locate and capture their prey with ease.
Pistaros are solitary hunters.
The pistaro life cycle follows that of some other avian species; they will become solitary hunters until finding a suitable mate, in which case they will create a well-hidden nest in some vegetation. The mother will lay eggs that she will protect while the father hunts for food. After the eggs hatch, the pistaro chicks will remain in the nest until they are ready to hunt on their own, in which case the leave. Pistaros live about ten years, but in domestication they can live long lives up to fifty years.
The pistaro's psychic abilities are believed to be also related to their biology, as they seem to possess the unique ability to smell cuil flux in order to track an anomalous organism, despite cuil flux not normally having a perceivable smell.
Enthrall Ability
A psion that enthralls a pistaros will receive this ability while the enthrallment lasts. Remember to list this ability on your psion app until the enthrallment stops.Ability Name: That Smell
Subjects Used: Neuroinvasion
Description: An enthralled pistaro provides a useful utility to an evoker: the ability to track flux traces to a limited extent. When pistaros are exposed to a source of cuil flux such as from a flux trace, they can learn its identity and begin to track them, moving towards the nearest other flux trace of the same identity within a five mile radius.
Abilities:
- When given a flux trace to smell, the pistaro can be commanded to track it. The pistaro will hone in on the flux trace and attempt to find a nearby trace of the same identity. If there is another source of flux with the same identity within a 5 mile radius, the pistaro will begin to move towards it.
- The pistaro has a keen sense of smell for flux and can detect even weak flux traces, such as that of torn clothing, hair, and if very recent- even footprints.
- Multiple enthralled pistaros can work together to track a trace; each additional enthralled pistaro tracking a trace will incease their detection radius by 10 miles.
- The pistaro can also be commanded to attack, though it only has a sharp beak.
Weaknesses:
- Each enthralled pistaro reduces the psion's maximum flux by [-5%/-7%/-9%/-12%/-15% (neuroinvasion)] depending on their neuroinvasion aptitude.
How It Works: The pistaro has an astonishing ability to sense flux traces, and by utilizing the Law of Contagion it can subconsciously know the location of nearby similar traces.