False Asterions

(Censored) naked False Asterion specimen

**False Asterions**, also known as **Paguroids** or **Katoikos-Asterions**, are a species of carnivorous comet-dwelling, burrowing insectoids. They generally end up on foreign planets by burrowing deep down into their resident comet, which then crashes onto astral bodies in the comet's path.

## Biology

False Asterions are warm-blooded insectoid beings with exoskeletons made of chitinous material. Their internal organs are soft and protected by a segmented chitinous body shell, exposed only by a permanent opening at the front of the body from which their fleshy pink tongue and sensitive feelers spill out. Lower down on the back grow two feathery antennae made of a more sturdy material. Between each body segment sprouts a sharp but unsegmented leg. As they age, Asterions shed their shells like skins and become longer, growing more segments and more pairs of legs, until they reach 24 segments and 48 legs.

False Asterions have two sets of arms, one two-fingered set with opposable thumbs (evolved to help in digging and maintain grip on surfaces), and underneath, a set of sharp and club-like mantis legs. The mouth cleft has an external pair of pincers, with a ring of 5 more teeth directly inside the mouth's circumference, underneath the emergence of the oral feelers. Another row of 4 teeth lie out of view deeper in the throat. The tongue and feelers are retractable but often left exposed to make room for incoming food.

* Paguroid tongue and exposed tooth
* Venous valves inside the tongue cavity
* False Asterion tongue in the process of sucking blood from a human throat
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The tongue is hollow with a sphincter at the tip, which widens and exposes a tooth, used to drain blood from its victims. The tooth is not retractable, instead just resting inside the tongue's cavity, but can be exposed like a cat's claw by applying pressure to two sides of the tongue and sliding an edge down. The tongue cavity has a few inches of smooth muscle before frequent intervals of venous valves to keep the prey's blood flowing against gravity into the Asterion's stomach.

At the tail end of an Asterion is a pair of stingers similar in structure to its teeth/pincers/legs, but hooked and elongated. A gland in the back end of the Asterion produces a long-lasting neurotoxin that ordinarily sedates/paralyzes prey, kills feeble prey, but fosters specific obsession/parenting/general protection instincts in larger-bodied social species like humans. The neurotoxin has a long half-life and is never fully metabolized and excreted by the prey's system and cannot be detected on even late 20th century bloodwork. Repeated stings over a set period of time can multiply the effects due to the building level of neurotoxin in the prey's circulatory and nervous system. The act of stinging is fatal due to the size of the stinger and location of entry, not the toxicity of the venom. Asterion venom is only fatal if too high a dose for the blood content to handle is injected all at once or the size of the prey is too small to handle volume of venom.

Another organ beside the venom gland is a silk gland, which is spun by being forcefully shot out the miniscule end of the stinger. Asterions cannot generate venom and spin silk at the same time, and it takes time to switch between the two.

Formaldehyde is a poison to False Asterions. When consumed, it causes excessive drooling and a complete numbing of their soft parts, along with uncontrolled seizing and twitching of their arms. The lower legs with be forced into a closed position and their antennae curl up. Levels of formaldehyde left in embalmed meat, even a whole human body, cannot kill False Asterions, but can make them seriously ill for up to a week, depending on how much was consumed relative to their size.

### Reproduction

All members of the False Asterion species are capable of both the fertilization and the laying of eggs. The respective roles are decided before and during mating rituals. Though not practiced out of the evolutionary instinct to diversify the genetic pool, a lone False Asterion is able to lay unfertilized eggs that would hatch into genetically identical offspring. False Asterions are completely incapable of reproducing with genetically similar individuals such as siblings, half-siblings, or parents.

## Etymology

* Paguroid: “Hermit crab-like”
* Katoikos-Asterion: “star-dweller”, “star inhabitant”
* *Astroikos lanigula:* “star-housed throat-rippers”
* *Defamis sangrivora:* “shameful blood-drinkers”
* *Diaphoropoda sordeovorus:* “many-legged filth-eaters”

## Habitat

False Asterions live on and inside comets. Though able to withstand the extreme heat, cold, and vacuum of space the surface of a comet experiences, they generally burrow into the comet, forming their own system of tunnels, or hide inside naturally formed caves/cave systems. The largest caverns are nests for sleeping and nests for mating/egg laying.

## Behavior and Intelligence

Due to their underground habitat, they enjoy staying in dark places without a preference of temperature. If in a strange new location, an Asterion will find a nice dark place to stay and wait for prey to pass by.

False Asterions have little social structure. They acknowledge other members of their species and watch their own young but otherwise individuals fare only for themselves. Unless fighting over a desired mate or prey, Asterions will not be hostile to one another, even to the point of allowing others, especially juveniles, to share their prey if they so choose. If in a strange new location, Asterions will start off by grouping together, then if confident in their understanding of their new setting, branch off and regroup much later to share adequate shelters, food sources, etc. They will also resort to mutual cannibalism of one another's body fluids during periods of poor food income, or hunger without an incoming relief.

False Asterions are averse to loud noises. On an atmosphere-less comet, they cannot hear anything and perceive any vibrations as a tangible sensation, but on planets with atmospheres, they can experience and quickly learn how to interpret sound. Loud, garish noises cannot be used to ward away Asterions, instead they aggressively attempt to maim and eat whatever is making the noise so the noise stops. They also dislike sudden or very strong touches or grabs, with similar results.

An Asterion's soft, fleshy feelers are very sensitive and at risk for being pulled like hair during fights, and aboveground, exposed to unpleasant sensations like extremely bright light or garish noise. Though retractable, the Asterion cannot eat while retracting its feelers into its throat. Thus, Asterions often find flora or pieces of fauna to shield their upper halves, helpfully providing a lid to their perpetually open mouths.

In a native colony on a comet, members have little social skills, but are quite adaptive to an extent when exposed to alien cultures. If exposed to a social species, False Asterions can form an understanding of their dynamics and imitate the appropriate social cues. Asterions can even develop tolerances to certain levels of noise or being touched or held if it part of their new social climate. Exposure to intricate situations and relationships can foster great self-awareness, intelligence, and cleverness in an Asterion. False Asterions are capable of near-human levels of general intelligence, similar to that of a dolphin or octopus, and equally capable of trickery. An Asterion could even be taught math or how to dance or write if given enough guidance for long enough, though its memory cannot retain all details of a foreign concept for too long.

As suggested by their species name of “throat-rippers”, Asterions frequently first bite or sting the neck (or the equivalent to a cluster of important biological structures) of prey, then feast upon the newly dead body. They are amoral and quite immune to suffering, but in certain social settings can not only develop a sense of humor, but even a sadistic one.

### Mating

False Asterions are not monogamous and do not even maintain long term relationships beyond mating and early care of young. As any individual is capable of fertilization and egg laying, the Asterion who is approached will lay the eggs and the one who approaches will fertilize them. A willing mate will entice the egg-layer with showy displays, such as vibrating its feelers and antennae or announcing a song of clicks and hissing. False Asterions are typically very easy to please. If several willing fertilizers approach a willing egg-layer, it will lay back and wait for the first one to reach it as the mates fight. The goal of fighting for a mate is not death, just any level of incapacitation that will prevent a rival from reaching the egg-layer first. However, dismemberment is not off the table.

If the to-be egg-layer does not wish to copulate despite the mate's approach and displays, it will generally run away to lose the suitor. If it cannot escape it, the egg-layer is free to shred up the suitor with its mantis arms and any other means to drive it away.

## Diet

False Asterions are omnivores, preferred carnivores, and scavengers. They can sustain themselves on most anything, even soil and literal garbage. Exposure to higher foods such as raw to cooked meat will cause them to develop a preference, though there is nothing preventing them from reverting to the bare-bones diet of trash. They are very food-driven which is a trait that increases after exposure to tastier and tastier foods. They have discerning tastes and actively form a ranked system of preferences to base their hunting/scavenging upon.

False Asterions, first and foremost, love fresh (either still living, or freshly dead) human and animal meat. These organisms are bitten apart, or devours by bites down to their bones but due to the Asterion's lack of jaws, can be swallowed whole. A properly sized False Asterion can swallow a human whole without dismemberment or ordinary bites but would have to cease eating for several weeks in order to make more room. They will even teethe on bones and suck out the marrow. If an Asterion's stomach is full on meat but has another available human/animal prey, it will use its toothed tongue to suck it dry of blood. Once that prey is dry, Asterions will generally not eat its meat once it is hungry again, usually due to the meat being dry. Asterions have a similar love for smaller animals, though they can eat several of those rather than eating one, becoming full, and drinking another individual organism.

The consumption of dried bodies is often left to hatchlings and juveniles. Eggs are often laid besides or cocooned along with bloodless victims as readily available food. Dry bodies are often alone as juveniles eventually pick them apart by themselves.

A step down the ladder are bodies of animals and humans that have been dead for a while (starting when they are no longer warm). They will be eaten regardless like a fresh body, but dead meat is preferred over drinking dead blood.

Asterions get excited for raw meat similar to how a dog would for the same thing. However, they are confused by the taste and sensations of cooked meat.

If not able to have meat, Asterions will accept leather as a substitute but will have trouble biting it, endlessly chewing and fidgeting like a dog trying to eat peanut butter.

They will happily eat garbage as it is plentiful, and often consisting of other foodstuffs. The varying textures are interesting and an Asterion can thrive just living inside a dumpster.

Asterions however, simply do not care for vegetables or plants. These with garbage or leftover meals in the trash is acceptable, but Asterions will generally ignore vegetation. The only exception is grass, which they occasionally eat as an idle snack.

In periods of hunger without an obvious alternative or a lack of food income, Asterions will willingly cannibalize one another, and allow themselves to be cannibalized in order to pull through. Using their tongues, they will bore a hole into another Asterion's underbelly and drink a nonfatal amount of its body fluids. If famine is lengthy, Asterions will fight to decide who will be eaten. Killed in combat or otherwise dead Asterions will be opened and have its soft parts eaten and shared. Though described as prone to cannibalism, they will try and find anything else to eat before resorting to it.

While Asterions passively avoid cannibalism and necrophagy, once exposed to meat tainted with formaldehyde, they will aggressively cower from it.

## Human Interaction

False Asterions do not have the means to establish long distance communications, and being such a widespread but isolated species found on comets that circle in galaxy-wide ellipses around giant stars means the chances of earthlings and False Asterions crossing paths are very minimal.

The very first instance of humans-False Asterion contact occurred in 1995, when an inhabited comet was struck by space debris and a blown-off piece containing an Asterion nest landed in a forest behind an American hospital, killing the eggs and adult occupants but leaving a juvenile alive to escape the crater and find shelter inside the hospital dumpster. The juvenile fed off the hospital's leavings for several months until killing and eating a nurse, and several days later, stinging another. Being fed human food by the successfully brainwashed nurse, it was eventually fed an adult man and drained an adult woman of her blood. It was later moved into the hospital morgue and accidentally fed an embalmed human liver. Soon after, the nurse was so heavily intoxicated with Asterion venom that she killed and fed several kitchen staff members to the Asterion, and the pair massacred the rest of the hospital staff and patients with the purpose of feeding it.

Half a year after first contact, the nurse became a low-cognition butcher for the False Asterion, who began nesting and cocooning bloodless corpses on the third floor.

## Gallery

* Supplementary
* In-Game

## Trivia

* They are called **False** Asterions because the root meaning of *asterion* is star, and they do not live on real stars, only shooting stars.
* An unmasked False Asterion has never been shown uncensored, to keep its hidden upper half a mystery.
* The organisms combined to create the False Asterion are: beetles, earwigs, moths, spiders, Hermit crabs, centipedes, scorpions, praying mantises, sea anemones, emerald cockroach wasps, leeches, jellyfish, and octopods.
* The False Asterion's neurotoxic venom is inspired by the emerald cockroach wasp but the effect on social species is based upon *Dinocampus coccinellae's* parasitic reproduction process.
* Despite high intelligence, False Asterions will always be incapable of human speech due to lacking soft mouth parts. They do, however, purr like cats.
	+ Their purring is actually a controlled clicking/growling.