Ekaptios, or Beach World

[madd0ct0r]

‘Epaktios’ - A Knight world in the Year 40,000

Like most knight-worlds, the principle economy is based on the gathering and droving of large herds of beasts. What technology is used is jealously guarded by the Tech-Priests or their dependent Knight households.

Due to unsteady geological conditions, the planet is not favoured for resource extraction by the Ad-Mech. Instead it fulfills it’s obligations by supplying food, especially kelp pulp and protein bales to minor Forge world Seredeputy.

It also provides Knight titan support to the Skittari when a crusade or exploratory fleet demands it. The Knights are not welcome on the forgeworld itself. Their uncouth nature and barbaric resort to duels over matters of honour and prestige have caused unfortunate misunderstandings in the past.

Epaktios:
Believed, like much of the Imperium of Man, to have been terraformed during the Dark Age of Technology, the fauna consists of analogues to terran amphibians and crustaceans. From a logistics point of view there are three main environments on Epaktios. Naturally these vary in tempeture, salinity, degree of saturation and fecundity. Likewise, the animal descriptions following are very broad classes, with millions of actual separate species. Some species can be considered identical in their early stages of development, with one going on to a further new form while the other matures without further change. Certain Magos Paeleo-Biologos have noted the similarity with the Ancient Terran frogs and newts.

The majority of Epaktios at any one time is covered in shallow, warm seas. Large floating mats of algae and kelp support ‘Boilers’ and the enormous Whale Frogs. ‘Boilers’ are so called as the frantic movement of their small bodies makes the water appear as if it were boiling. Individually they are normally about the size of a little finger, soft bodied worms and quite repulsive.
Some of these, after gaining the necessary body weight, mature into vicious ‘Dragon Flies’. These flying predators form packs that can strip a carcass surprisingly quickly. They mostly eat each other and young boilers and are little more then an omnipresent nuisance to larger animals. The role of larger predator is taken by The Devil Boilers. It is believed some instances are caused by a parasite or fluke interrupting the natural life stages of a Boiler while others might be part of that species natural progression. Up to 3m long, these Devil Boilers feed and grow until some storm deposits them on a beach, or they meet a larger relation.

Outside of the seas, we shall turn our attention to the grasslands. Behind rows of dunes, large stable areas of flat windblown sand can form. Watered by the frequent torrential storms, indeed often developing river systems these areas can support great numbers of land adapted creatures in the short time they exist. Sooner or later some natural disaster washes out the protective dunes, and the flatland returns to the sea once more. Entire algae mats have known to be deposited in the grasslands thanks to unusual weather activity. While the largest animals quickly suffocate or die otherwise, infestations of smaller Boilers can last some time.

Three strategies appear to be employed to surive here (one hesitates to say evolved). Either grow and breed fast; (the Russian Grass, some species of Tiddler and the Grass-Crabs); be large and long lived enough to survive disaster (the Hulk Crabs) or simply be very good at swimming (Lung Crabs and Pack Frogs).

The Tiddlers are small, highly sociable two legged herbivores, similar to Terran rabbits or chickens. Some species never develop beyond this point, while others undergo metamorphosis into the much larger predatory Pack Frogs. The social element remains, with entire packs undergoing metamorphosis simultaneously.

The Grass Crabs, while fitting a similar niche to the Tiddlers are not sociable as such. Some species have been observed building communal burrows, but outside of mating season they seem to primarily ignore their fellows.
Lung Crabs are large grazers, but similar to the Grass Crabs in other respects. The main prey of the Pack Frogs, they will employ their claws to ward off any perceived threats. Since most species have poor eyesight and no sense of smell outside of water, they have an unjustified reputation for being ill-tempered.

The largest primarily land base animal on Epaktios are the Hulk Crabs. As their name suggests they are huge and frequently completely unconcerned with their surroundings, moving where they will. This is the principle species slain and airlifted back to the packaging plant, and rival Households will each maintain several herds of the stupendous beasts. Culling them is a difficult process, and is normally the preserve of the most senior active member of the household. A hunter pattern Knight-titan is airlifted to the vicinity of the herd and attempts to disable a senior crab with a well targeted missile. Due to the strength of their exo-skeleton and robustness of frame, under normal circumstances, this missile would be used for disabling tanks.

The corpse(s) are then airlifted to the processing plant, while the Knight waits out his vigil, aiming to survive the few hours until he too can be airlifted out. Successfully holding a vigil without damage is a rite of passage that all of the Household must undergo, whether as a hunter or drover.

The final area of ecological note would be the mangrove forests that spring up along the rivers or deltas of the area. Of note as they represent some of the most stable land available, the swampy forests feed Tree Crabs and the Horny Tree Frog in their upper branches, and the ubiquitous Boilers beneath. It was this location that served as the first sighting point and naming of the repulsive creatures.
Like the sunrise, with Boilers comes Dragon Flies which here eat principally the smaller Tree Crabs. The Stripy Tree Frog is a stealth ambush hunter, using surprise and mild poison to bring down the heavily armored Horny Tree Frog.