The Scrib - Lack of Information and more.

[NoddingOff]

I originally posted this topic over at [url=http://www.fliggerty.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=4721&p=81642#p81642]Great House Fliggerty[/url] and it was later suggested over the site's irc, that I ask here as well.
So, on the Scrib, the lack of information on it and the possibility of expanding on the subject.
I'll quote the original post before moving further.

It's no secret. While some love Guars, I personally, have a love for Scrib. Sadly, there isn't much information on the creatures. The Imperial Library - Scrib lists all the Library has on them, or at least all that come up with "Scrib" in the search.
Now, in my absence, I have had the pleasure to help work on the creation of two Play-by-post RPG's, and this alone has ignited a passion for what I call, "Lore Imitates Life" ... Simply, that Fantasy, or even Science Fiction creations, should imitate real life in some way. While Sci-fi gadgets have real life counterparts (usually in reverse. "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," comes to mind - The Submarine before there were Submarines.) or that Fantasy creatures have real life counterparts. i.e., Don't Cliff Racers resemble a popular flying dinosaur? That said, with the lack of information on Scrib, why don't we create some?


To me, Scrib look like a terrestrial crustacean. An Isopod. They seem to me, to be an invasive species like Carp. Also like carp, they are edible (Scrib Jelly). This brings me to an interesting conclusion. If all of the above is true, there would be different varieties that some enterprising Dunmer could breed to create new, decorative species. Now, if you're thinking "Koi!", you're on the right track. Koi are in fact a domesticated, decorative variation of the common carp.
If this is the case, then there is a lot of "fluff" information that can be thrown in. General flavor, like the description of the Scrib as an Isopod with a "modified" cephalic shield covering the head and segmented body, as opposed to a dorsal carapace ... along with information on how decorative Scrib may possibly be bread.

Thoughts? Japes? Cabbage?

Originally this had started with the intent to create a personal mod. A Scrib companion and is quickly evolving into something more. So I am applying my own philosophy of "Lore imitates life."

That brings me to something that has never made sense ... at least not to me. Another member at the GHF forums pointed it out.

It seems odd to me that Scribs are the larval stage of kwama. How does a scrib metamorphosis into either a hulking, boar-sized insect with no neck, or a leech?

Now, without duplicating my own reply, I would agree and it seems to far more likely to me, that Scrib would be in a symbiotic relationship with Kwama, rather than a larval stage of the kwama life-cycle.

Discuss?

[Nalin]

it seems to far more likely to me, that Scrib would be in a symbiotic relationship with Kwama, rather than a larval stage of the kwama life-cycle.

With you on that.

I love the idea of scrib variation. I had a "magic modified scrib" and "what a scrib grows up to be without the kwama" ideas floating around at one point due to my desire to figure out where they fit in with the whole kwama thing.

looked like this;

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Revenant/misc/indoril_carriage_beast.jpg

[cabal]

It seems odd to me that Scribs are the larval stage of kwama. How does a scrib metamorphosis into either a hulking, boar-sized insect with no neck, or a leech?

Drastic changes like that aren't exactly uncommon with stuff that has a larval stage.

[NoddingOff]

Three more comments were made on the GHF forums.

Are you all sure that the Kwama and the Kwama forager actually are not related at all. Scribs, if they are the larva form of the Kwama, possibly only evolve into Kwama workers. However, only when the parasite called the "Kwama" forager invades the head of the worker, can the Kwama evolve, via a symbiotic relationship, into the Kwama Queen and the Kwama warriors. Thus, because of their many and apparent differences I would classify the Kwama forager as a misnomer, and instead think of it as a different, but related, species of the true kwama.

I completely agree with No One here. It seems most likely to me that the foragers are the parasitic entities living in symbiosis with the kwama colonies. And the development progresses as No One said.

And my own inquiry,

No One has a good point. In either case, the question is ... Why? What do we have that supports this? What can we extrapolate from the environments we see the Kwama and Scrib in?

Secondly, how are they related? Is it a simple matter of a common ancestor? Or is it more a matter of selective breeding, like one would see in ... say a bee hive. Workers, warriors, drones, queens, etc. being decided at birth. If that is the case, assuming they are related-but-different, what possible function would the Scrib have? To seek out and find new, suitable homes for a new colony?

Nalin - I love variations in all things, and will probably begin work on a mod for it. Granted, It is leaning toward being very much like Koi, in that the primary variations will be in size, coloration and patterns. Probably some difference in abilities. Some having a freezing, paralyzing bite, others carrying a chance of infection (poison) etc. That would be as easy as setting up spells for the Scrib in the CS. They however, would need a story.

Cabal - Can you go a little more in depth into that? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

[TheUnending]

it seems to far more likely to me, that Scrib would be in a symbiotic relationship with Kwama, rather than a larval stage of the kwama life-cycle.

With you on that.

I'm with both of you on that. How the heck does a Kwama egg or Kwama Forager turn into a Scrib and how does a scrib turn into something like the Kwama Warrior which more resembles the Kwama Forager(I'm talking about the head, not the body)?

[cabal]

Cabal - Can you go a little more in depth into that? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Well, I believe we can agree that kwama are one of the numerous large insect species native to Morrowind. In that case, we can assume that they most likely have a larval form of some sort. They also seem to be based on ants, so the larva would likely mature into one of several forms rather than all of the forms being part of a single life cycle.

The larva would most likely be much smaller than the adult forms and doesn't necessarily have to look anything like any of the adult forms, like how a tadpole bears only a vague resemblance to a frog, or a maggot is small, white, squishy, and legless while a fly is larger, black, hard shelled, and equipped with six legs and two wings.

To me, whether or not the scrib makes sense as a larval form of the kwama isn't nearly so important as whether the kwama forager could also be the larval form. Basically, I think that either the scrib or the forager could be the larva. If foragers are the larva, then I think that scribs are likely in some sort of symbiotic relationship with kwama. If scribs are the larva, then foragers could be one of the adult forms or possibly an in-between stage of development in lieu of a pupal form or even a late life stage.

If kwama do not mature from a larval stage to one of several adult stages, then it is possible that the casts would be a linear progression according to age. The worker could be the youngest, then the worker may mature into a warrior, which could either become a queen or forager, depending on the circumstances.

I'm not sure that any of the three ideas I posted work completely. I'm pretty sure somebody in the game specifically refers to the scrib as the larva, but then the forager doesn't make much sense with the other kwama and pupae are never seen in egg mines. But if the forager is the larva, then why exactly do scribs hang out with kwama? Lastly, the linear progression thing doesn't exactly have much precedent in reality; the most common forms of that are two stage, such as larva to adult or a gender flip with age.

What ideas do you guys have?

EDIT: Found the [url=http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Kwama]lore page for kwama[/url] on UESP.

[Cocytus]

looked like this;

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Revenant/misc/indoril_carriage_beast.jpg

...isn't that a Bebilith from DnD?

[Nalin]

With a Scribs head, I used it as a base for the body and then worked from that. I was hoping to make it more of a placid carriage pulling creature for indoril areas, specifically within an expanded almalexia, as a kind of taxi service.

I'll try an find the modified versions that hide the inspiration/plagiarism

[Nalin]

I can't find the modified versions of it that I did a while back - I only have this one that ended up being something altogether different

[url=http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3144/almamount.jpg][img]http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3144/almamount.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[TheUnending]

that looks AWESOME!!

I wish that would be put in the actual TR project haha...