Iorx

A iorx (pronounced /jɔrks/, plural iorges, /ˈjɔrʤiz/) is a species of noetic one-eyed, tentacled organism common in the cities of Eidecia. Just over half human height, these creatures are not physically powerful, but what they lack in size and strength they make up in agility and cleverness. Iorges are thought of as sneaky and deceptive, and are widely mistrusted, although naturally in reality not all iorges fit this stereotype. On the other hand, this same stereotype often helps iorges get work as thieves for hire and in other positions where stealth and subterfuge could be useful.

Description

Iorges average about one meter tall, with moist lime green skin with a slightly grainy texture. They have roughly cylindrical bodies, tapering slightly toward the top, ending in ten tentacles at the base which serve them as legs and, when necessary, as arms. The tentacles are not all the same length; every other tentacle is slightly longer than the ones between. At the top of the body is a spherical head with a single large eye in the front and a row of five tentacles at the bottom, which it can also use as arms when necessary.

A iorx moves along in a jerky motion using its basal tentacles, first pulling itself forward with the tentacles in front while pushing with the tentacles in back, and then stopping to extend its front tentacles and contract its back tentacles for another cycle. Because the iorx's body has five-way symmetry, it can move readily in any direction. Its head, however, breaks the symmetry and faces in a fixed direction; the iorx is capable of turning its head, but by only about ninety degrees, and keeping its head in the rotated position is mildly uncomfortable. For this reason, the iorx generally moves forward—in the direction its head is facing", turning its whole body when it wants to change direction so as to keep its head facing in the direction of travel. However, when it needs to maneuver quickly, the iorx is quite capable of moving backward or sideways at any angle just as rapidly, albeit with the disadvantage of not being able to easily see where it's going. A iorx can also get around without moving its tentacles, by means of the multiple tiny tube feet on the tentacles' undersides, but this is much slower and is generally only used when the iorx desires extra stealth.

The iorx has no hard skeleton, and maintains its form by hydraulic pressure and by a special protein in its skin that it can harden and soften at will. Even at their firmest, iorges will seem to have something of the consistency of an inflated balloon; when they relax their dermal structure, they become more or less shapeless, enabling them to pass through very small apertures if they wish to. Even the iorx's eye can be slackened and collapsed to fit through small areas, though non-iorges often find the sight of this rather nauseating.

Diet and anatomy

The iorx has no mouth on its head, or any other orifice there. Its mouth is, in fact, on its ventral surface in the middle of its lower tentacles, where it is unseen unless the iorx is lying down. The iorx has no tongue or teeth, and when it feeds either moves right over its food so it can swallow it directly or stuffs food into its mouth with its tentacles; food too large to swallow must be torn apart with its tentacles or otherwise reduced into smaller pieces before ingestion. The iorx's digestive tract makes a loop through its body, with the stomach at its center, before ending at the anus. The iorx's small anus is next to its mouth, the only external asymmetry in the iorx's body below the "neck".

Iorges do not use muscles directly for movement; they move by means of a hydraulic system of fluid-filled canals, which also double as a system for respiration and transportation of nutrients and waste products. Iorges can breathe water as easily as air, and are surprisingly graceful, albeit slow, swimmers.

Iorges have remarkable powers of regeneration. No matter how badly its body is damaged, as long as it has enough of its digestive system left to process food (and a sufficient supply of food to process), the rest of a iorx's body will eventually grow back. The iorx has no centralized brain, but a neural network distributed throughout its body, so any part of the body shares some part of the memories of the whole, allowing the iorx to regenerate with its memories, if not entirely intact, at least not wholly lost. In some cases, depending on exactly how the iorx was damaged, the parts may even grow into two separate iorges. This regenerative ability is completely non-magical; it is merely an aspect of the iorx's unusual physiology.

Senses

Iorges have no auditory organs, and are naturally completely deaf. However, it's fairly common for them to get enchantments that allow them to hear. To an adult iorx, this is initially very disorienting, and takes considerable time to grow accustomed to; iorx parents, however, if they have the money for it, often enchant their offspring at a very early age, when they are still young enough to adapt more readily to suddenly having an extra sense. Even deaf iorges tend to develop a good ability to read lips, and can manage a form of speech, albeit poorly enunciated and somewhat difficult to understand.

Among themselves, iorges communicate visually by motions of their tentacles. The fact that the tentacles have no fingers or other digits prevents them from straightforwardly using human sign languages, but the fact that they have multiple tentacles does much to make up for this. Aside from their complex tentacle-waving gesticular language, iorges also communicate through pheromones that they secrete and sense; they have at least sixteen such pheromones, and iorges can vary their relative concentrations according to intricate patterns to produce quite a complex hormonal language that is, for the most part, imperceptible to other species.

Reproduction

Iorges require water to reproduce, and some iorx homes or public buildings may have special pools for that purpose. Though these are often popularly called "spawning pools", this is widely considered an offensive term; the preferred term is "pariabulum". In any case, the male and female iorx discharge their sperm and eggs, respectively, into the water; the sperm fertilize the eggs externally, and grow first into planktonic embryos that later form into tadpole-like larvae.

Society

Iorges have a reputation for dishonesty and disreputability, and are often associated with the criminal underworld. This has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy; because iorges are distrusted, they are often not offered reputable jobs; because they are known for their guile and amorality, they are frequently employed for tasks for which such skulduggery is required. Nevertheless, not all iorges, of course, fit this description; there are many upright and entirely trustworthy individuals. Unfortunately, such honest and reliable iorges still often end up suffering because of the reputation of their race.