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aliaspseudonymTHE GARDENERS
The people of the blue planet programmed the miracle pods with specific instructions. They were designed to produce ecosystems dominated by a single sentient species of individuals, derived from the colonists. Most of the races are the produce of this program running under various circumstances.
One miracle pod was damaged during landing in such a way that caused it to revert to its default programming. The result was the creatures called the carcosans, which developed far, far faster than the other races and were crawling between the stars by uncertain means long before the others finished the Change.
The carcosans are not a race of individuals. They are a complete and mostly symbiotic biosphere under the supervising control of a sentience called a gardener. Each known carcosan garden-planet has one gardener, however these gardeners apparently either fled or were banished from their home planet of Carcosa long ago, and on that planet they say there are many gardens and many gardeners living side-by-side.
The physical characteristics of the carcosans are extremely maleable and depend on the will and personality of their gardener, however in general they have much higher life-spans and better regenerative capabilities than other species. The gardeners themselves are, as a sentient entity, immortal short of catastrophic decimation of their garden and can be reincarnated from the garden’s communal memory if their physical forms are destroyed. Some gardeners choose to exist in multiple forms simultaneously, occasionally bringing their various bodies together to sync their memories and personalities.
Carcosans are the only group besides the Sylphids who meet the criteria of a post-singularity race, and the gardeners have much more experience at modifying themselves than the Shining Ones. There is, however, so much variation among the known gardeners it makes more sense to talk about them individually.
The people of the blue planet programmed the miracle pods with specific instructions. They were designed to produce ecosystems dominated by a single sentient species of individuals, derived from the colonists. Most of the races are the produce of this program running under various circumstances.
One miracle pod was damaged during landing in such a way that caused it to revert to its default programming. The result was the creatures called the carcosans, which developed far, far faster than the other races and were crawling between the stars by uncertain means long before the others finished the Change.
The carcosans are not a race of individuals. They are a complete and mostly symbiotic biosphere under the supervising control of a sentience called a gardener. Each known carcosan garden-planet has one gardener, however these gardeners apparently either fled or were banished from their home planet of Carcosa long ago, and on that planet they say there are many gardens and many gardeners living side-by-side.
The physical characteristics of the carcosans are extremely maleable and depend on the will and personality of their gardener, however in general they have much higher life-spans and better regenerative capabilities than other species. The gardeners themselves are, as a sentient entity, immortal short of catastrophic decimation of their garden and can be reincarnated from the garden’s communal memory if their physical forms are destroyed. Some gardeners choose to exist in multiple forms simultaneously, occasionally bringing their various bodies together to sync their memories and personalities.
Carcosans are the only group besides the Sylphids who meet the criteria of a post-singularity race, and the gardeners have much more experience at modifying themselves than the Shining Ones. There is, however, so much variation among the known gardeners it makes more sense to talk about them individually.
