Arigan

Arigan is the setting for the currently on-going Arigan Evolution Game. The planet started with three basic species of animals and two species of plant. From there, /tg/ got shit done and ended up creating a highly diverse ecosystem. There have been two major events since the game's inception, a longterm monsoon and a meteor impact.

The Beginning

There were three species of fauna and two species of flora in the beginning. The skrelp, the felg, the burz, the fern and the thungus lay the foundation for all future species to come. This era spans from their emergence to the beginning of the Monsoon.

The Impact

It seemed that things would go on as they had for generations, with the insectile species native to Arigan adapting, eating and changing in the low-lying swamps all over the planet’s surface. From the heavens came a great object of destruction, smashing into the surface of Arigan and throwing the planet’s ecosystem into a state of complete upheaval. The beasts whom once stood on top of the food chain, such as the mighty behemoths of Arigan’s fresh water oceans, became extinct as the dropping temperatures made their food increasingly scarce. Only their smaller cousins survived, facing an uncertain future as ice slowly crept over their lakes and solidified the muddy shores which they used as their hunting grounds.

For a time, death and decay was the order of things for Arigan. Scavengers such as the Sand Scralls found themselves perfectly at home among the large quantities of carrion washing up on the shores. Returning to their old behaviours, the Sand Scralls did very well out of the refuse and putrid slurries forming on the top of the fresh water lakes.

Even algae, the most basic foundation of Arigan’s ecosystem, was impacted by the chilling cold enveloping the planet. With not nearly as much sunlight to promote algae growth, aquatic herbivore species such as the Aqlurz had their number drastically reduced. In time, omnivorous species of Aqlurz became the favoured members of their species, as they continued to develop teeth just as suited for catching prey as it was for grinding up plant matter.

The Durrd, the strange and lanky insects of Arigan, were forced to move further and further away from their watery origins, instead hunting and gathering food on dry land. As ice and snow became increasingly prominent, the Durrd which had better grip on the new developed slippery surfaces of the land survived, while those who could not traverse the changing landscape were left behind to die.

The loss of food sources did not merely impact those on top of the food chain, however. The Barge Thungus, a provider of sustenance to many species, slowly died out when they were unfortunate enough to not have a family of paddlers adopt them. The only remaining species were the ones who were most suited as paddler homes.

Most species developed means of absorbing as much heat as possible with means such as fur or wide tails to catch as absorb as much heat as possible, though there has yet to be a species of warm blooded animal to rise from the evolutionary crucible of Arigan. What new species may emerge in the increasingly cold climate of this fledgling planet? Only time will tell what will happen.