Saishines

A beautiful, ethereal, otherworldly race, Saishines are a race of canine look-alikes. But instead of fur, they have blubbery skin similar to a dolphin, and have many small bulbs in their skin that give off a variety of bioluminescence. Their faces are rounded and flat, with long fanged mouths and bulbous eyes. Their limbs can switch between legs that are designed for running or flippers that make them excellent swimmers. Though they are capable of entering a spectral-like state, Saishines much prefer to travel terrestrially, only phasing through objects if they feel the need. They do not prey on animals, but on emotions. Specifically on negative, mortal sensations. They will often cuddle up to individuals going through great mental or physical stress in order to "feed" and begin drawing out what is their psionic food source. Despite the consumptive nature of this practice, they do not treat such people with a predatory instinct, instead acting like they've adopted the ones that they help relieve. A Saishine will bond to an individual if their stress is great enough, happily following them around and helping to process their pain and anguish. Despite this being their food source, Saishines are incredibly protective of their partners, happily employing violence if it means protecting their people from harm. These Mind Hounds are considered miraculous beings, for it is within their power to even heal what normally would be considered permanent brain damage. They have "swallowed up" brain tumors and pre-emptively prevented aneurysms simply by being near the person of their choosing. However, therein lies the tragedy of the Saishines. This consumption relates to their growth cycles. The more they feed, the more they mature. They will eventually reach a point where they are no longer able to successfully process the psionic energy they absorb. One by one, their bulbs will die, their skin will wither, and tears will almost constantly flow from their eyes. Despite this state, they seem unable to stop themselves, and will relieve any pain if they sense it nearby, even at cost to their own wellbeing. Saishines have been known to simply grow and die if they are in dangerous enough circumstances, such as a battlefield full of traumatized survivors. Many people have had to put down an elderly Saishine for their own good, stopping them from entering a state in which the agony they absorb tears them apart. Yet when they die in this miserable state, they leave behind an almost flower-like bulb that will eventually flourish into a new Saishine. This new creature will then invisibility and ethereally drift on the winds like a leaf, absorbing enough energy until it is mature enough to wander the world on its own.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

The species uses an asexual means of production in which it needs to reach the end of its life cycle to reproduce. It will need to achieve the elderly state, in which its body will continually fail to healthily process the psionic emissions of mortals. Once it dies in this state, it will leave behind a bulb that will quickly produce a spectral Saishine that will then take to the wind until it is able to mature enough to manifest physically.

Growth Rate & Stages

A Saishine begins as a drifting pup, spectral in form, absorbing whatever negative psionic emotions it can. When it drains enough energy, it will manifest as the size of a small dog, and began hunting. Either it will bond itself to a single individual, or it will absorb from larger groups out of sight. The latter portion of the species is more common, as maybe one in fifty people are chosen by a Saishine. Once bonded, a Saishine will stay with their host for the rest of their natural life. Even should their partner die, the Saishine will remain beside their corpse until they starve to death. Only if someone close to their chosen partner suffers great enough anguish will the Saishine choose to move on. If their partners live, it will continually absorb negative psionic emissions, either from pain or mental disorders such as depression or anxiety, often resulting in a generally more content individual. Despite this process, the Saishine will seemingly not starve unless it acquires absolutely no negative energy in a year. In fact, the creatures seem happier when their partners become so. Then, towards the end of their lives, the Saishine will begin to break down. The bulbs on its body will either wither or crack, it won't be able to enter its spectral state, and its own body will begin to suffer underneath all the energy that it physically can't prevent itself from absorbing. Either its own physiology will tear itself apart, or its chosen partner will put it down. Then it will leave behind a bulb that will grow into another Saishine pup that takes to the wind, and the cycle begins again.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Saishines are typically solitary creatures, at least when it comes to their own kind. They much prefer to spend time in the company of mortals, and will often ignore each other if they come into contact. Some have been known to form packs with large enough groups, acting friendly with each other and hostile to anyone who would threaten their group. Other than that, the Saishines only possess the social structures that they learn to adapt to.

Domestication

Domesticating the species is incredibly easy, as they typically follow along with the intentions of those they bond with. Some extremely rare communities have managed to find a way to contain the bulb spores the Saishines leave behind, ensuring they grow up in controlled environments and giving them a monopoly on the creatures. They will travel the land with their partners, demanding wealth in order to cure brain disorders of certain patients. A minority of this group have splintered off with the breeding secret and go around offering free aid, though they are rather small in number.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The Saishines are either brought by their partners or herded towards places of work in order to help relieve labourers of their mental ills. They are also used to help treat individuals with any form of mind-based sickness, saving people from such maladies as Alzheimer, cancers, or dementia. However, some groups have sought to harness their power, and will attempt hunt them down and carve them up in an effort to study their psionic abilities. Some experimenters have even imprisoned individuals that Saishines have bonded to, and inflicted horrendous treatments on them to see how much a Saishine will absorb before it dies. Thankfully, such efforts are frowned upon, and any individual with a Saishine that goes missing will often attract attention.

Facial characteristics

They have long tongues that act almost like a gecko's, allowing them to seize objects and cleanse their bodies and eyes whenever they feel the need. This tongue is extremely swift and accurate, comparable to a toad's and capable of inflicting harm. However, Saishines typically use this tongue to grab objects and interact with their partners.

Average Intelligence

The Saishine are unusually cunning for creatures that behave like animals. They can seemingly understand any form of language, interpret intent, and grasp basic tools. This intelligence only seems to grow the older a Saishine gets, becoming more cunning. There are even a few reports where a Saishine speaks, though only in its elder state. The Saishine are in great pain during this stage, and seemingly only ever speak phrases such as "Love you!", "Help me!", "Must protect!", or "I'll miss you!".

It is unknown how the Saishines came into being. Some believe they were a creation of some sort of psionic entity, who wanted to help work with mental disorders. Others think that they are natural entities from realms such as the Plane of Dreams, and are born of concepts such as loyalty and wellbeing. Yet many point out how strange it is that a creature that acts like an animal exhibits so few traits common with material beasts. They don't feed on anything physical, don't form packs or herds with their own kind, don't stick to any geographical location that doesn't have a large population in it, and have no territories beyond the proximity of their chosen partners. At least, this is the case for the Saishines that choose mortal partners, as spotting ones that choose to feed from a distance is an incredibly rare sight.

Saishines have cut a tragic figure throughout the recent history that they have appeared in. Many stories tell of these faithful Mind Hounds, who will appear and bring good fortune to their chosen partners before dying in their typically brutal way. One famous story is of a little girl who was dying from an unknown sickness within her brain. As her parents were entering the room to say goodbye, they found their child in perfectly good health, laughing as she played with the Saishine playfully cuddled up to her. In time this child grew to adulthood, accompanied beside her faithful friend she named "Saviour". In time she married and had a child of her own, but her son was afflicted by a terrible brain malady. Acting immediately, Saviour cuddled up to the child and erased the condition, but was pushed into his elder stage. The woman had to watch as Saviour's body slowly rotted and twisted away, all the while he was still protectively clinging to her son, attempting to cleanse whatever illness remained. Eventually, she was forced to drive the knife into Saviour's throat herself, weeping even while the creature nuzzled at the hand that killed it. Some versions of this story say that the Saishine spoke to her, saying "Goodbye Friend!" in a cheerfully happy tone, before fading away into a new bulb. Other storytellers like to say that the child born of Saviour found its way back to the woman's son, though there is no proof of this. More tragic versions say that the woman killed herself, unable to reconcile with the idea that her family's pain killed the creature that had saved her own life. Whatever the case, Saviour is a beloved figure in certain folktales, and many long for the prospect of a Saishine partner almost as much as they dread it.

Scientific Name

Phasus Canine

Origin/Ancestry

Unknown

Conservation Status

Saishines are under no immediate danger of extinction, as they enjoy a healthy supply of food as long as they are near a population center. If threatened, they will either fight or become spectral and flee. Almost no common predator is capable of catching a creature that can phase through objects, not that they would want to. Saishine meat is unusually toxic to most natural predators. Additionally, even if most known Saishine are rounded up and slaughtered, there could be countless pups drifting on the winds.

Average Physique

Saishines are typically smaller than the average hound, built more for swift travel than for physical prowess. Though their teeth are considerable weapons, they are rather fragile and exist in part to help the creature interact with the world.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Saishines are extremely diverse in terms of colouring. Their bulbs will shine all sorts of different colours, either depending on its mood, the weather, or whatever whimsy has befallen the creature. Additionally, the bulbs will appear in random places across their torso and on their tail, seemingly at random with incredible variance between creatures. Their eyes will also light up in a random variety of colours with no discernable pattern of why they do so.