Porg Anatomy & Physiology

From Carpe Chaos

Contents 1 Size, Shape of Body, and Mobility 1.1 Out of Water 1.2 In Water 2 Retractable Arms 2.1 Claw Arms 2.2 Large Tentacles 2.3 Small Tentacles 2.4 Other Arms 3 Range Of Motion 4 Slime 4.1 Coloring 5 The Face 5.1 Eye and Facial Patterns 6 How They Speak and Hear 7 Physical Gender Differences 8 Development & Aging 9 Sleep 10 Internal Systems 10.1 Circulatory System 10.2 Nervous System 10.3 Skeletal & Muscular Systems 10.4 Respiratory System 10.5 Digestive System 10.6 Sex & Reproduction 10.7 Olfactory and Gustatory Systems

Size, Shape of Body, and Mobility

Porgs look drastically different underwater than they do on land. In water, they resemble jellyfish. On land their slime clings to their body, and they look more like slugs.

Out of Water

All Porgs stand between 3'6'' and 5'3'' feet tall. On average, Porgs stand 4'6''. When standing at their full height, they are as long as they are tall, and nearly as wide. When sitting, Porgs lose about a fourth of their height (they do not grow any longer, only slightly wider). xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxx xxxx xxx xxx xxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxx xx xxxx x xxxxx xx xxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx x xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx x xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx x xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx x xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxx xxxx x xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx x xxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxx xx xxxx xxxx xx xxx xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxxx xx xxx xxx xx xx xxxx xx xx xx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxx xxxx xxx xxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xx x xxxx xxxx xx xxx xx xxxxxx xxx xx xxx xxxx xx xxxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xx xxx xxxxx

On land Porgs invisibly move their bodies by using their limbs inside their slime, as well as by expanding and contracting their inner slime directly (see below for details). They move the slime beneath them to slither across a surface. They must stand to move efficiently, and "walk" at speeds of around 3 miles per hour (up to 5 miles per hour when sprinting). They cannot jump in any environment with significant gravity.

In Water

Underwater, Porgs have no solid barrier between their body and the water around them; their slime seamlessly flows into the water around them while maintaining its spherical shape. Including the outermost reaches of a Porg's slime underwater, an average Porg spans more ten feet in diameter. Their limbs are not wholly visible unless extended outward; their inner mass looks like a dark green cloud of slime.

To swim, Porgs use two different methods simultaneously. Firstly, they move water through their slime and body as they breathe, and secondly, they use their many limbs to push water in one direction and their slime in another. They are more comfortable, more agile, faster, and have a higher level of endurance when underwater.

Retractable Arms

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Each arm is a freely bending tentacle, and xxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

Claw Arms

Porgs use their claw arms for everyday tasks. The claws themselves have no sensory ability, and regenerate if lost, similar to a fingernail . The claws are the only extremities that must pierce the outer layer of a dry Porg's slime to be used. The Porg claw hands have four thumb-like fingers each, each of which are opposed to the others at 90° angles, and each of which grows into a hard, unyielding claw above the second joint.

This videos demonstrates a Porg claw breaking through a dry Porg's outer later of slime.

Large Tentacles

Porgs use their large tentacles for everyday tasks, often with their claw arms. As with their other large limbs Porgs can extend their large tentacles from anywhere, but they are most comfortable extending them from the upper portion of their body. They are fully prehensile and the strongest of their limbs xxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. They maintain a slime coating when extended, and this slime coating is the thinnest at the tips. These arms are thickest at their base and grow slightly thinner until tapering off at their ends.

Small Tentacles

A Porg's pair of small tentacles are of a constant diameter from end to end, and they just as prehensile as the large tentacles. They most comfortably protrude from the lower portion of a Porg's body when extended, but like the others these limbs can be extended from nearly anywhere.

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Other Arms

Porgs have many smaller, non-extendable limbs (mostly miniature tentacles) that help circulate slime internally. Many of these arms are controlled subconsciously and they are rarely externally visible. The clearest example of these internal limbs are the tentacles that grow from the back of a Porg's face. While not visible out of water and barely visible underwater, these tentacles work in conjunction with the rest of a Porg's body to ensure the slime around the face and brain is always well-circulated (see the Circulatory System section below).

Range Of Motion

The longest Porg arms can reach up to four feet when extended. All of the limbs are able exit the Porg's slime from nearly any point because, while bound to the spine, no other internal structure holds them in place. They are free to move about the Porg's slime sack when in and out of water, and all of the limbs behave as tentacles near their base.

While a Porg can use its limbs to rotate its body and move its slime around at will, it is not able to significantly twist its spine. Its head is the exception; a Porg is able to look behind itself by twisting its neck, moving the head within the slime and rotating the slime (and face) around its head.

Underwater, a Porg enjoys a much-expanded range of motion. Any limb can move in any direction and its head can turn to face further away from its front as there is no need for a Porg's internal structure to support its body; the slime holds itself together regardless of the position of the more solid portions of a Porg's body.

Slime

A Porg's internal organs (inside its slime) cannot be deformed, but their surrounding slime can easily be redistributed (to fit through a hole, to balance on an irregular surface, and so on) via their limbs. A Porg's slime completely envelops it, and out of water a Porg has nearly a foot of slime around its internal organs in most areas; even its limbs are generously coated in slime when extended.

The slime is translucent. Out of water, one can make out the outline of a Porg's body and extended limbs, but not any internal detail or retracted limbs. The slime is soft, clammy, oily, a little sticky, and it deforms when touched by an external object. When surrounded by air the slime has a thin (about 1 to 1.5 inches thick), solid outer layer that holds the Porg together. This outer layer of slime doesn't leave a slime trail like a snail or slug might, but as Porgs travel over land their outer slime layer can momentarily tear or smear, leaving small spots of nearly transparent residue. The outer slime layer serves to protect the rest of the slime (and the body) by only absorbing oxygen gas and food (and filtering out rocks, other Porgs' slime, many poisonous gases, and so on). This outer layer does not exist underwater, and forms automatically when a Porg pulls itself onto land (the process takes about 10 seconds).

In water the slime has no barrier, and the division between water and slime isn't clearly discernible. When submerged, a Porg's slime absorbs much of the surrounding water and expands to more than double the Porg's above-water body size in all directions. The slime decreases in concentration and increases in water content as it moves further away from the Porg body, and at its outermost edges one cannot tell precisely where the water becomes completely separate from the slime. While translucent above water the slime is much more transparent underwater, revealing more of the Porg's internal structure and the outlines of many limbs.

Underwater, if two Porgs brush up against one another, they exchange slime. The slime itself is living, genetically unique, and has the same basic consistency for all Porgs (though it can be manipulated, see below). It is important to understand that the Porg's slime is not merely a useful inanimate layer of mucus but most of a Porg's body, responsible for keeping that Porg alive. Many vital Porg organs are most simply described as loose clusters of specialized slime molecules.

This videos demonstrates Porg slime behavior out of water:

• A video describing how a Porg is structured and moves out of water
  

Coloring

A Porg's outer layer of slime looks yellow-green, and is translucent. Beneath that, the rest of the slime is more yellow with less of a green tinge (and more transparent), though any inner slime exposed to the air will become outer slime and therefore the outer slime color. Beneath all of the slime Porg organs are generally pale yellow-white, while the cartilage structuring their skull, spine, and arms is more of a white-yellow (i.e. very, very pale yellow). Porg claws are solid black. A Porg's pupils are also solid black, and the eyes behind them are bright yellow with a slightly darker, yellow-green patterning. The spots on a Porg's face can vary in color from dark yellow-green to brown to black to red to orange (see The Face below).

The Face

Each Porg face has a unique underlying structure and unique superficial markings that are used for facial recognition and identification. The structure of the face is like that of a cartilage mask: soft, but firm enough to hold its shape (even underwater). The markings appear as a Porg ages and continue to intensify until the Porg dies. The eyes themselves also have markings that differ from Porg to Porg, but these are not unique (they are analogous to eye color, but more varied).

Porgs have two eyes. Porg pupils are black and shaped like three overlapping spheres (like a 3-leaf clover with no stem, or a 3-circle Venn diagram), and the eyes themselves are a shade of bright yellow. Porgs have two light-green eyelids for each eye: one upper lid and one lower lid. When the eyes are open, both eyelids are completely hidden; these eyelids are simply sheets of slime that close when hidden muscles tense to pull them over the eyes, and open when those same muscles relax. A dark green bag above each eye secretes moistening liquids, and a larger bag under each eye collects them; these bags sag more and more as a Porg ages.

While standing out of water, the head is shaped like a thick cylinder. Sitting, it becomes more flat, leans back, and the back of the head disappears into the rest of the body. The mouth serves no purpose other than to speak and express emotion, and is situated directly below the eyes. The mouth is mostly slime, and thus is very flexible and can greatly change its shape. The mouth acts as an on-the-surface vocal cord; the voice box (larynx) is in the back of the mouth. The Porg head is not specifically used for ingestion; Porgs can and do absorb and digest edible materials anywhere on their body (though above water they must first create an opening in their outer slime through which the food items can enter).

Underwater, the underlying structure of a Porg's face is the most clearly visible and distinguishable feature of their anatomy, especially since their slime becomes so much more transparent underwater. The face is major focus underwater (just as above water) because all vocalizations originate in the mouth.

Eye and Facial Patterns

Porg facial structure varies from one Porg to another, but each Porg has a more readily recognizable identifying feature: their facial spot patterns. These patterns first appear when a Porg separates from its mother (see Development & Aging), and they continue to develop as Porgs grow older. These patterns can look like any combination of dots, spots, lines, streaks, and scratches, and each of these features can be black, brown, orange, red, dark green, or a mixture of any of these colors. See Porg History for more information on how Porgs developed their facial markings.

Porg facial markings are slime discolorations and not bound to the cartilage "skull" that forms the Porg face. This is evident when a Porg is underwater; as the slime around their face expands, the markings (as a part of that slime) expand too. They also appear less flat because they become thicker, appear partially transparent, and expand outward at different distances when in water. A Porg's underwater movement can be inferred by the position of its facial markings; facial markings directly in front of a Porg indicate the Porg is immobile, while markings to the sides, above, and below its face signal movement in the opposite direction.

Porg eyes also vary in pattern, but the patterns are much less varied and more clearly hereditary. The pupils never vary in size or shape, the eyeballs themselves are always a strong yellow, the markings are always a darker yellow-green, and the markings are always lines. The lines on a Porg's eye can swirl one way or another, vary in thickness, and undulate as they travel across the eye. The patterns usually center around a Porg's pupil, but the lines of these patterns don't always converge. Porgs may also have pure yellow eyes with no markings at all, though this is rare. A Porg's two eyes always match.

How They Speak and Hear

Underwater, Porgs are able to speak by manipulating the water and slime within their oral cavities, creating underwater sound vibrations. Much of the sound is high-pitched, like a dolphin's squeal. Other nearby Porgs can hear these sounds by sensing the vibrations in their slime (Porgs have no center of hearing). The sound easily carries to other Porgs over 100 feet away. Porgs can yell and be heard from miles away if water conditions are right, and they can whisper just as easily.

Above water, they are able to manipulate gas in their mouths in a similar manner, but they are completely deaf. The Porgs rely on technology to hear one another on land. The sound travels about as far as human speech, but the tone is lower and sound is more bubbly. Their above-water speech patterns are less refined and more difficult for other species to understand.

Physical Gender Differences

The Porgs are hermaphrodites. There are no gender differences between Porgs.

Development & Aging

Porgs have the ability to spontaneously grow larvae in their slime, though the process takes a few weeks. These larvae are thin, flat, between one and two feet long, and have a very yellow slime coating with white innards. The mouth serves no purpose and is considered vestigial, though it bears a similarity to the Gleae mouth. They cannot normally survive outside their parent Porg, and are genetically incomplete. They are sentient enough to respond to stimuli though while they are capable of learning complex tasks, they are not truly conscious. Left alone, a larva will remain a larva for its entire natural lifespan of about three years. Once a larva enters the body of another Porg with a different genetic makeup however(see Sex & Reproduction below), it immediately begins assimilating with the new "mother" Porg and fertilizing itself.

After a larva has been fertilized, the parent Porg will carry the developing Porg larva in its slime until it has developed enough to leave the protection of the parent Porg's body. At this stage, the baby Porg looks as it does in the aging line above—small, bright yellow, and with no facial markings. A baby Porg is under two feet tall. As the baby Porg continues to develop, it will still live in its parent's slime and only occasionally venture out on its own (it will leave the parent's slime more and more until it becomes fully independent). As it grows, its outer layer of slime will become thicker, darker, and greener, and its face will begin to develop its unique markings. A baby Porg matures enough to become fully independent of its parent after about eight years. An adolescent Porg, about 25 years old, is shown above.

Adult Porgs are fully developed with complete facial patterns. A Porg's facial markings continue to increase in number, size, and intensity throughout its life. As a Porg gets older, its slime begins to sag and its slime darkens further. A very old Porg will look dark green or green-brown. The bags under its eyes intensify. Its body slime is held lower to the ground, and the slime on its extended limbs hangs more loosely. An elder Porg has a very detailed, dense facial spot pattern, but no other markings appear anywhere else on its slime. Old Porgs are dryer and usually move more slowly than younger Porgs. The natural lifespan of an average Porg is about 100 years, but modern medicine has extended it to about 250.

Sleep

Porgs need 9 hours of sleep every 24 hours although they can make do with less and occasionally take more. For the Porgs, excess sleep can be a sign of depression.

Internal Systems

Including their slime and retracted limbs, Porgs possess a basic circulatory system, nervous system, skeletal system, muscular system, respiratory system, digestive system, and reproductive system (they also have other generic internal systems not listed here).

Circulatory System

A Porg's internal organs and body do not have a conventional circulatory system. All of the oxygen molecules and nutrients needed by the Porg body are carried in the slime that envelop each limb and organ. The slime shuffles, moves, and flows of its own accord, controlled subconsciously by the nervous system. Porgs (partially consciously) aid this process with many smaller, miniature limbs whose sole purpose is to ensure good slime circulation, as well as the larger limbs described above. The brain has an especially large number of these hair-like limbs nearby to ensure adequate slime (and therefore oxygen) flow.

Nervous System

The Porg nervous system is centralized. They have a brain behind their eyes in their head, and they have a spinal column that carries nerve impulses to the rest of their body.

Skeletal & Muscular Systems

Each Porg has a spine that runs down its back from head to tail, protects the spinal column portion of the centralized nervous system, and anchors the body and all of the limbs. Their brains have a cartilage case, not a skull.

Porgs have muscles bound to their limited cartilage skeleton (which consists of their spine, arms, and head). In addition to these, compact but powerful muscles they can also manipulate the denser regions of their innermost slime, forcing it to expand or contract with electrical impulses originating at the spine and traveling outward. In this way, their internal slime can act as one or several large muscles.

Respiratory System

The Porgs breathe oxygen (O₂) and are able to use their slime to distill oxygen from either the surrounding air or water. In water the process is always occurring, but above water Porgs must overtly draw gaseous oxygen into their slime because their outer layer of slime cannot perform respiration.

Whether under or above water, gaseous byproducts of their respiration include carbon dioxide (CO₂), which can be poisonous to other species of alien (see Racial Breathing Requirements for breathing comparisons and analyses). Many gases and liquids are poisonous to Porgs as well as any environment (liquid or gas) without enough O₂. This also means that while breathing underwater, Porgs intermittently release gas bubbles of CO₂ and other trace gases; whether on land or in water, these bubbles are clearly visible before they are released from the slime.

Digestive System

Porgs are omnivores, and they indiscriminately consume edible aquatic plants, land plants, fish, birds, and many land animals. They don't eat with their mouths; their slime just absorbs the food they pull inward with their limbs. Specialized groups of slime cells closer to a Porg's center do the work of digestion before distributing the nutrients around the rest of the body. Other slime groups absorb the waste products of digestion and move them to reinforce the outer slime layer when a Porg is out of water.

While the Porgs do not use their mouths to eat, there is one exception. When a Porg wishes to slowly absorb a fluid, they can hold it in the bottom of their mouths as it slowly soaks into their slime. This is useful for edible stimulants (similar to caffeine or nicotine), relaxants, and medicine. In either case, the goal is to absorb the chemical slowly, allowing its effects to be felt gradually over time, instead of all at once.

Sex & Reproduction

Porgs often keep a larva floating in their slime, though they rarely produce more than one at a time). When they find a mate, they give that mate a larva. If the other Porg accepts it and brings it into its slime, the larva is fertilized, it develops inside that other Porg's slime, and it assimilates its genetic material. The larva develops into a baby and rides inside its mother until it develops enough to leave the protection of its mother's slime. A pair of Porgs can easily exchange larvae and become "pregnant" together.

A Porg carrying a fertilized larva fully provides for the developing Porg, and the larva is unable to exit the outer slime layer of the parent Porg when they are above water. They share sensory information insofar as they share the same slime, and the parent Porg can look inside its own slime to watch the baby Porg if it "swims" near the parent Porg's face. The parent Porg can also internally manipulate the larva with its limbs. Once a baby Porg is able to exit the parent's slime (after about two years of development), it cannot re-enter without the parent's help; the parent must create an opening in its outer layer of slime for the young Porg to enter. After about eight years, a Porg's immune system will become completely separate from that of its parent, and it will no longer be able to enter its parent's slime without being digested.

Olfactory and Gustatory Systems

A Porg's slime picks up air particles and relays that information to their internal olfactory gland. They taste in the same way, and the only difference between the two senses is whether the foreign scent they detect is in the air (or water) around them or emanating from a foreign object they've absorbed into their slime.

To savor food when out of water, Porgs may hold it in their mouths where their hardened outer barrier of slime is thinner. This lets the flavors slowly spread around their body; this is especially common with spicy food that would be too hot to bring inside their slime all at once. Porgs also drink by pouring liquids into their mouths to be slowly absorbed but this too is for savoring flavors; drinks can just as easily by poured (or injected) into their slime from almost any spot on their bodies.