Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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OOPs now has a Russian translation which updates shortly after the English pages are posted!
Now also in French:
And Ukranian:
OOPs now has a Russian translation which updates shortly after the English pages are posted!
Now also in French:
And Ukranian:
I do not know what is going on. But it is fascinating. I am now more intrigued by the baxxid than ever.
*zhinks zhat zhis is a links-place to ze Lands of ze Remembered*
Looks like the ants who are parasitized by fungi. But if it was that. Why keep what would be infectious bodies near Val Salia? My guess as this being a old folks home for Baxxid was close (pats self on back) but the metamorphosis aspect was unexpected. It is the second of such in the comic’s history, so nice twist!
Could be something like the Piggies (Pequeninos) in Speaker for the Dead who turn into sapient trees when they die.
That was my thought, too. Actual flowers sprouting from the “deceased.”
The mushrooms are growing out of the ground, not out of their bodies; I believe they’re there for light and decoration. I think this is a simple graveyard, but since the Baxxid have hard, calcified exoskeletons, they remain mostly whole long after they die, which looks super creepy.
We will have to see if that is clarified in the next comic, but sure looks to be growing from them to me. The more important question is why. Why are the baxxid here? Why are creatures who are shown to be consummate diggers not burying their dead? Or do they consider this to be life, evolved? Lots of questions about our mysterious, armored, yet gentile Baxxid.
Yep, seem to be growing out of the back of their heads. Plus it has an open roof, so they wouldn’t be needed for light.
OK I says it…
Oh my. Iz zhey fulls of stars?
*blink blinks*
If the baxid ARE the sentient fungi, and the baxid body just a host…
That thought crossed my mind as well since otherwise, such a place would be incredibly dangerous if the fungus functioned like cordyceps.
If the Baxxid are indeed the sentient fungus, and use the bodies of the Creatures we see as Baxxid, one should find non-infested and non-intellegent ones in the wild. There would be a way to find out, you know. Use “Zhat Zhing” on one of the mushrooms. If you get a hyper intelligent Yinglet from it, Theory cobfirmed. If you get a Yinglet with the intellegence of a Mushroom, well, they will fit in nicely.
Fairly sure this is just like planting a tree on a grave. The fact it can grow out of their bodies does not automatically mean it can infect and destroy living bodies.
Seems pretty dangerous. I wonder if they know that it’s a transmissible infection… probably not good to leave it up there.
Oh, wow… I’m sure there’s a cultural reason, respect for the dead and such, but that looks like a room full of infection that might best be set to fire. I’m certainly really curious to find out what’s actually going on, might not be what it looks like.
The fungi’s (?) design is really interesting, terrifying but rather pretty.
Maybe the “mushrooms” aren’t actually infectious but are implanted on purpose as part of their burial ritual. Seeing as how most of them maintain the exact same posture, I’d say they were carefully placed and fixed to their spot. Maybe it’s some kind of mummification process. Or maybe the opposite; the mushroom is needed to actually decompose Baxxid skeletons.
It could also be that the organism already lives inside Baxxids and only sprouts once they die.
Whatever it may be, it’s obvious that it is part of their customs now. And not a deadly infectious disease.
I disagree, cordyceps change the behavior of the host such as making ants climb to ideal places for spreading spores and then grabbing a leaf or something. This looks like the same thing
Mushrooms clean up dead things. There’s no reason to assume this is anything like cordyceps. Much more likely it was planted in the dead bodies as a way to return them to the circle of life.
You know, it could be both. The fungus could be implanted as a way to dull pain for someone you love who has a incurable, fatal, and painful malady. In a era where there are no reliable painkillers, and in a species where they have no hands to advance such, it might be seen as a gentle way to ease the suffering of someone you care for as they pass. It depends on the progression of the infection and symptoms of this lifeform’s presence. It could be seen as symbiotic, as the two species use each other for mutual benefit also.
Circular reasoning.