Spurred Bats
Spurred Bats are a species of chimera produced by Abominable Creations Laboratories to offset Rutas populations used in terraformation. The use a hexapodal pattern to combine the terrestrial agility of a mustelid with the aerial abilities of Chiroptera.
The Spurred Bat is a creation of Abominable Creations. It uses the same hexapodal Orga-chassis as a Can-do. The frontal legs have been replaced with the wings of a bat, and are specialized for tall vertical climbs and for generating lift. The hind and middle legs are used for terrestrial movement, such as running or swimming.
Because the Spurred Bat is used to fill a niche of predator within a Rutas-populated ecosystem, it has been given several adaptations and instincts to help with hunting Rutas.
Lesser Sentience
- Pack Behavior
- Referential Communication
- Mirror Recognition
Running: 15 Mph
WARNING: It is PROHIBITED by SYNDICATE LAW to tamper with the genetics of the Spurred Bats.
Design
(Use this to set up the stakes. Explain that the bats are made to hunt the bugs. Show some ways in which the labs lowered his requests for stupid reasons that do arguably set up the bats for failure. Not malignant changes, stuff like happened to us in college. Turn the spurred bats cover image into a bit about vespers design notes on them)
Habitat
The bat have arrived, and already our project has its first wrinkle. To hear him tell it, he ordered 300 Spurred Bats from Abominable Creations, with specification that they be raised into a single brood. As soon as we began to thaw them, however, it became clear that their presence was making each other anxious.
It took us a while to figure out what went wrong, but Vesper noticed it first — three different SKUs reared by 3 different labs. They wouldn't be hostile towards each other, but the anxiety they felt in their vulnerable states was paralytic.
"We can keep 200 frozen and do them in batches of one hundred," suggested Manzanita, frustration thick in his tone.
We don't have the kind of power reserves needed to run the freezer for the year or more it would take to do that. It interrupts our entire schedule. Not to mention that the freezer unit is designed to be recycled into our laboratory. No, we will have to do them all at once. Quartermaster: do you think the Mason can do it?
The Quartermaster looked over to the Mason, who was already staring at Vesper with an expression of intense consideration.
Not alone," She said.
You and the technician?" Vesper pushed.
And him," The Mason said, pointing at Rakun. "You have strong arms."
"You confuse big for strong. I left the Pact to escape this kind of bio-essentialism," Rakun protested. She held up one of her massive hands to show smooth palms. "Manzanita has done field work before."
Frowning, the Mason looked at Manzanita, who raised his hands to show weathered, scarred palms. "I used to climb the cliffs of Carthay every week to measure the falcon chicks and feed the mothers. Two of these aren't even my original fingers, want to guess which?"
The Mason stared for a moment, then held up her ring and middle fingers. Startled by the accuracy, Manzanita blinked in surprise. The Mason looked over at the Quartermaster and Vesper with a nod. "Three days."
The site has been chosen for its rich soil, lime deposits, and proximity to volcanic fumaroles. In partnership with [power company] it is to be the future site of geothermal plant. To make the region safe for workers, it first must be decolonized of the rutas deployed during an earlier stage of ecoformation. This project has been approved to fill that role.
With Notetaking provided by a PagePal Chip in the Comms Station.
The scientists arrived today, lead in by the same auditor who gave us our orientation. It was our first time seeing the lead biologist in the flesh — a thin, angular man with narrow eyes and a severe expression. He turned out to be quite a bit more animated than his appearance first suggested, though I could not shake that initial surveying glance he gave the habitat and its surroundings.
"Our valiant facilitators!" The biologist's face broke into a bright smile as he hoisted his bulging pack from the boot of the truck and stepped down onto the grass. "I am Vesper, and these are my colleagues, Manzanita and Rakun. I presume you are Quartermaster Stanhope?"
The Quartermaster inclined her head in greeting before gesturing to myself and the communications officer. You are correct. And this is Officer Wellington, who has set up a robust network with a range of 4 kilometers.
"Pleased to meet you," Wellington said, tipping his cap at them.
"And this is Special Technician Melika, she's a very skilled second pair of hands that I suspect everyone will be getting to know quite well."
Vesper nodded, expression twisting into recollection and curiosity. "I was briefed that there would be four here. Where's our caster.
"Out surveying. They are making sure there aren't any surprise floods waiting in the topography of this place."
Dens
Spurred Bats live in large warrens burrowed into cliffsides and reinforced with foliage and mud clay. If they do not yet have a mate or offspring, they will den with their packmates. If they do not currently have any packmates, they will either sleep in a communal heap with the other loners, or find a small nook to sleep in.
The Technician helps the Mason as she works around the clock for multiple days to coordinate the construction of the new Warren.
Day 1: Site Preparation and Base Construction
She uses her magic minimally to extract and sift clay from nearby sources (difficulty 2–3 per volume, assuming manageable 5x5 sections).
Her technician aids by manually turning the mud and handling impurities, conserving her mana for fine-tuning the base structure.
She builds the foundational section of the overhang—maybe 4–6 volumes (~500–750 cubic feet). At this point, the structure is functional but unfinished.
Day 2: Expansion and Reinforcement
Using both her mana and physical effort, she layers more sections above and around the base, adding ledges or inner chambers for the bats.
Physical labor plays a larger role here as she manually spreads and supports areas where her magic can’t stretch efficiently.
Day 3: Detailing and Drying
She applies finer shaping to the cliff, adding grooves, perch points, and drying the material into a solid form.
At this stage, she’s completely drained—her mana reserves are spent, her body exhausted from days of labor, and her technician likely picks up more physical work.
Development
Vesper's Notes
Natal
Egg
Embroyonic
Fetus: As a fetus, the voices of the bat's parents are imprinted by proximity and frequency. In controlled dens, an ultrasonic signal (Command Calibration Signal) repeats an altered recording of the maternal vocalizations of bats. (Footnote) A calibrated den will respond to a Command Signal for the rest of their lives.
Pup
Pups are born hairless, but will soon rememble a fuzzy potato with a dark russet pattern. Over the next few days, their eyes will open and their arms will gain the strength to cling onto their parents. Their wings have yet to fully mature, and more closely resemble a flipper at this stage.
As they grow, the cartilage in their wings and ears develops and becomes more unwieldy. Rather than withstand the constant buffet of young ears and wings in their face, parents will often roost together in higher parts of the warren or take turns resting and hunting during the night while Wardens keep their offspring safe.
Left to their own devices in the den's trough, the pups hunt the smaller beetles and vermin. These newfound behaviors and capabilities become the connections by which they bond with other pups in the den. Their group activities include: hunting and exploring the den together, doing pushups, playfighting, piling together, and climbing.
Once the pup matures to the point that they can feed themselves without parental supervision, they are considered fully a juvenile.
Someone's notes.
Juvenile
Play Behavior Juveniles gain their first muscles through play, chasing each other around the warrens at such speed that they may even cross over the dome of its ceiling. They will also group together and do push ups to show off their strength.
Gliding Flight Juveniles are willing to adventure as far from the Warren as they can return to within a couple minutes. With the ability to travel far, climb a tree, and glide most of the way back, gliding juveniles explore a perimeter up to two kilometers, depending on the topography.
First Flight: Once a juvenile's wings have fully developed and they have the confidence to follow the other adults out for a swarm hunt, the bat is considered an adult.
Someone's notes
Adult
Adults are at the apex of their abilities. They are fast on their feat, able to gain flight with a leap, and hunt in coordinated packs.
- Courting
- Mating
- Last Flight: Once the bat has grown past their ability to fly, they become terrestrial-bound again, and enter the Warden stage of their lifecycle.
Someone's Notes
Elder
- Warden: As the bat reaches the age where they can no longer fly, they take on the role of caretakers. They keep the warrens in good condition, they help to raise the young.
- Hospice: They will often continue to mate as well, growing the population in even greater numbers.
Behavioral shifts emerge as larger, more intelligent bats appear, raising ethical concerns.
Vesper secretly enhances his personal subjects, leading to bats capable of working together to lift a person.
Relationship with Sophont
The only way to domesticate a Spurred Bat is to procure a pregnant mother and raise the pups. The instincts they otherwise would gain in the wild are incompatible with captivity without causing severe and often fatal zoochosis. If one does raise the bat from birth, they will still have to contend with the bat's need to fly and their instincts to nest and hunt.
Behaviors
If an inactive, conscious bat begins to do pushups, it is doing so in order to stretch the muscles of its shoulders or increase circulation to its wings in preparation for flight, this is healthy behavior. If an active. If it frequently wakes up from sleep to do this, it likely has sleep anxiety from some disaster which befell the den.
It is healthy behavior for pack members to playfight without causing injury to each other.
Traits and Variations
Auditor Jer'reman arrives and exposes Vesper’s experiments. The readings back to the department are clear — someone has been tampering with portions of the population to evolve them. It’s no mystery who. Manzanita immediately turns hostile from the betrayal, they get into a shouting match while Manzanita holds Vesper pinned to the wall. “Not an ounce of this is natural, it’s not tampering, it’s creation!” Vesper yells back. Rakun and Malika try to get in the way but Melika gets shoved down. Mulla claps Vesper across the face. He leaves. Jer’re calls it in and is notified that he’s to represent the department and continue Vesper’s work. Jer’re didn’t expect this, and is totally out of his depth. He ends up following the Tech around. Without Vesper at the helm, coordination breaks down. Vesper was a motivating factor for everyone, even if he didn’t have the same intentions as them. The Technician feels the friction building.
Filament Spiders encase the habitat in bioplastic during a rainstorm, threatening the crew’s safety.
The comms specialist’s deception is uncovered, and the protagonist reaches out to Vesper for help.
Vesper returns to assist as the crew decides to confront the spider hive directly.
Protag gives an impassioned speech to Vesper to stop him from taking the Queen’s Larvae to make a new type of Filament Spider.
Default Traits
These are the traits that all Spurred Bats share. Perhaps you can attain them as well, if you have an Orga Worksop and a high enough Biology Score.
UV Chromacy: Like many creatures of Jhoutai, the bat has IR Tetrachromacy. This allows it to spot Rutas through the canopy, and allows keepers to guide their behavior with certain IR patterns.
Pack Instinct: Rather than hunting in swarms, Spurred Bats hunt in coordinated packs, swarming their prey to knock them over or even to pick them up as a group and drop them from a height.
Spurs: For which the bats are named, these spurs specialize in hooking under a rutas heavier chitin and sometimes piercing through the lighter. They're especially useful for the drag and drop behavior.
Echolocation:
Variant Traits
Sonic Disorientation: The addition of chambers to their jaw structure makes them capable of producing disorientating beams of direct sound to scare off rutas.
Spore Eaters: With long tongues and fluffy heads, these bats can fly through spore storms to feed directly from the source of the spores, thus limiting spore production.
Toy Bat: A popular option with the wealthy, this miniature variant has a smaller body, nonexistant flying abilities, and a smaller footprint.
Jailbroken: These bats are oversized with the physiology to make up for it. Their bones are lighter and certain organs are smaller, but they are now as large as a tall dog, and 4 working in tandem can lift a person.
Vesper managed to communicate with his uplifted bat and from its responses wrote this poem to describe their lifecycle from their perspective.
Fly fly, track the way in beats
35 beats north, to the rush of the river, follow it to where it roars and let the wind carry you over the other side of the hill,
There you'll hear the mother
Make a bat.
Point spend or dice to choose some features of the bat or design their own. Club, diamond, spade, heart tail shapes.
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