ENTITY 90 - LEGOMS IGASALEO
HABITAT
PROTECTED
AGGRESSION
NEUTRAL
INTELLECT
INTRICATE PATTERN RECOGNITION AND COMPLEX PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
DANGER
LIFE THREATENING
Description[]
Legoms Igasaleo[1], derogatorily known as "Nine-to-Fives," are abnormally large centipedes, with most of their species currently being held in captivity by the Auriellen government. They have the designation of Entity 90 in the global database.
Legoms Igasaleo, as previously stated, are anomalously large, usually up to 20 feet long and 5 feet tall. They are described as having a red-ish orange head with two large antennae and a dull black body with orange legs. Legoms Igasaleo have a faint glow, which is presumed to be caused by their diet of rocks and Object 15.
Behavior[]
Legoms Igasaleo thrived in caves and underground buildings with these environments being above room temperature. Legoms Igasaleo have also been found to live in levels such as Level 8, or locations near natural deposits of Firesalt. Legoms Igasaleo use their mouths to chew and dig through rocks to form their own tunnels that are large enough for humans to crawl through. They use their antennae to detect Firesalt, and they often made their homes in spots with abundant amounts of Firesalt or near the largest Firesalt deposit they could find. They would then carefully mine out Firesalt with their teeth to ensure they don't violently combust. If they can't find any nearby Firesalt, Legoms Igasaleo can survive off of consuming coal or rocks that have trace amounts of coal, however, Firesalt is essential for them to be healthy. Legoms Igasaleo will often carry Firesalt or coal with their pincers, in their mouths, or with their ultimate legs to save for later or carry more back to their nest. Legom Igasaleo molt once every 3 months and leave their old exoskeleton to decompose, at which they'll avoid interacting with other organisms due to being vulnerable until their new exoskeleton hardens.
Once at a certain age, Male Legoms Igasaleo perform courtship dances to attract females seek out females to reproduce and. Legoms Igasaleo lay eggs in batches of 5 after reproducing, and the eggs are often laid in areas of caves that are much more moist and at a higher temperature compared to what they usually prefer, to facilitate healthy growth of the eggs. The mother guards and watches the eggs closely to protect them from anything that could harm them. While the females protect their young, the males search for more Firesalt or coal to sustain the mother and their young, with the male themselves consuming less to give to their young. After the eggs hatch, the family of Legoms Igasaleo often moves to a new location, at which they stick close together until the Legoms Igasaleo Children[2] fully mature and leave to find a mate.
Legoms Igasaleo are extremely timid and prefer to stay away from humans and most other entities, usually sticking to tunnel networks they create or by their eggs and only leaving these networks when searching for food. When Legoms Igasaleo encounters a docile or friendly entity or human, they will often keep their distance or retreat to the nearest tunnel network. If Legoms Igasaleo encounter a visibly hostile entity or human, they will attempt to retreat into a nearby tunnel network or attack by compressing stored Firesalt in their mouths to act as flamethrowers.
It's possible to tame a Legoms Igasaleo by luring unacquainted Legoms Igasaleos out of their tunnel networks while holding out Firesalt and remaining still so as not to alert them. If they accept the Firesalt, then this often means they'll recognize the general appearance of who or what gave them the Firesalt. Doing this several times over a short period of time will help the Legoms Igasaleo develop trust between the individual feeding them and, in some cases, form friendships.
Habitat[]
As a result of Inisiartus 139 of the Specem Endaru Enacta,[3] the Auriellen government considers Legom Igasaleos, and as such a handful of them have been transported by specialists to specialized care and research facilities. Legoms Igasaleo in the wild tend to live in arid levels with abundance of subterranean areas or caves, Firesalt, and minerals; areas with significant population of them are constantly surveilled by Aurielle.
Areas with large concentrations of the entity are marked by signs, checkpoints, or patrolling military personnel. Breaching or illegally entering those areas will lead to the individual being taken under Auriellen custody and being given a fine or jail time. Repeated offenders obtain increasing levels of infractions, and offenders who are armed or are said to pose a threat to Legom Igasaleos are terminated if de-escalation attempts fail.
Biology[]
Legoms Igasaleo biology and anatomy is much similar to those of non-anomalous centipede species. Legoms Igasaleo have compound eyes that are mainly used to assist seeing in dark places and not for normal sight. Legoms Igasaleo have claw-like mandibles, but unlike normal centipedes, they lack a venom gland. Due to their abnormal size, Legoms Igasaleo don't use their ultimate legs to catch prey or hang from above, they instead use them to carry resources they couldn't carry with their pincers in or in their mouths. Legoms Igasaleo live to be over 12 years old, similar to that of Scolopendra subspinipes. The Cuticle in the scales of Legoms Igasaleo is considerably more durable and denser than those of normal centipedes, and once every 3 months they molt, leaving their old exoskeleton behind, at which it can take between 5 to 13 days for their new exoskeleton to fully harden.
Discovery, and History[]
Legoms Igasaleos were first discovered by the large Auriellen mining company, Recdat Company, in 1987 during mining operations in an area in Level 117 called "Puncti Minesorum Strateque Protera Nulmis Unu A7U."[4] During procedural mining tasks, two miners discovered a small nest of Legom Igasaleos and reported it to their manager. Further operations were put on hold, and the federal government was subsequently called.
Rama Saoman Security Department and Auriellen Territorial Guard and Defense Force personnel quickly set up a security cordon, while Rama Saoman personnel were sent to research the species. The entity was surveyed by Rama Saoman personnel, during which its movement patterns, eating habits, and other facets were noticed. Domestication efforts were tried in 1988 and succeeded in 1989. Further studies were ceased due to the AAC Incident and, later on, the Lustruger Crescen War.
Under MEG-occupied Aurielle, research on the species continued, where their potential weaponization would be discovered. The Steppe's Insurgency in Aurielle saw the first usage of Legom Igasaleos in war, which cemented it as a symbol of Aurielle's struggle for freedom and extensive usage as a means of logistics or combat in various other conflicts such as the Parental Insurgency, Crisis in Sineicos, and others. Legom Igasaleos were also utilized by the Auriellen Ground Forces during the Korthie Casiagen War and are still used to this day.
The Specem Endaru Enacta was passed by Congress in 2020, which provided protection and special requirements for several useful or peaceful entities in danger; the act included the Legom Igasaleo.
Usage by Aurielle[]
Commercial[]
Businesses in the Republic of Aurielle have historically (and still) used Legom Igasaleos for commercial purposes, being most popular among the industrial and mining sectors. They are primarily used by enterprises to make tunnels, locate Firesalt, and transport resources, mainly when it comes to claustrophobic locations. Recdat Company, a large mining corporation within Aurielle, popularized Legom Igasaleo as icons of mining and labor.
Since the ratification of the Specem Endaru Enacta, which protects Legom Igasaleos and other entities, companies are by law forced to abide by a set of regulations that ensure the safety of the entity and thus must obtain a permit for their use. Some companies chose to smuggle the entity over buying the permit, leading to the Olivieri Enterprises Controversy. The implementation of better security measures in areas they inhabit has led to a decline in the practice.
Military[]
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The Auriellen Armed Forces employs Military Legom Igasaleos, also known as Military Working Legom Igasaleos (MWLIs), which are specially trained instances of the species to be used for specific purposes within the military, primarily non-combat roles such as transporting supplies, detecting Firesalt-based explosives,[5] and entrenching locations. Certain Legom Igasaleos, however, have participated in combat roles, especially in close-quarters combat, for their ability to use their mouths as flamethrowers.
Doctrinally, brigades field MWLIs in their Brigade Support Battalion through the Logistical Lifeform Platoon (LLP) in their Logistics Company. When acting as a combat element, they turn into a Combat Lifeform Platoon (CLP) under one of the brigade's battalions.
Units within a LLP or CLP are co-assigned to the ceremonial "Scudeo Hermes" Battalion. The Scudeo Hermes features an anthropomorphic version of the Legom Igasaleo, named "Ignevos" as its mascot. High ranking officials within the "Scudeo Hermes" Battalion wear unique officer caps that are made to resemble Legom Igasaleo scales.[6]
Origin, and Theories[]
The leading theory for why and how Legoms Igasaleo came into existence is that around 300 million years ago, during the Frontroom's late Paleozoic era, giant centipedes roamed the earth, and it's presumed that some of these centipedes fell into the Backrooms before they would go extinct in the Frontrooms.
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The ancient centipedes would adapt to the anomalous environment and slowly become the species we know of today. It's presumed a majority of the species would die out from starvation due to them not being able to adapt fast enough, while the others adapted to a diet that primarily relies on rocks, gems, crystals, and eventually, Firesalt.
It's presumed that Legoms Igasaleo once thrived in Level 8, but due to a rise in a venomous moth species, all known Legoms Igasaleo in the level had been killed, although it may still be possible that they're hiding in the depths of the cave system.
Footnotes
- ↑ Legoms Igasaleo is Aurielleno for "Firesalt legs". They were given this name due their unique diet of primarily Firesalt
- ↑ Infant Legoms Igasaleo have much more muted colors, being closer to grey and yellow-ish orange, and lacking their faint orange glow. Infants are usually half of the size of fully matured Legoms Igasaleo and are translucent.
- ↑ Initiative 139; Endangered Species Act.
- ↑ Auriellen Priority One Strategic Mining Point A7U
- ↑ and some other sort of explosives that have coal or other material that Legom Igasaleos naturally detect.
- ↑ Ignevos was conceptualized and illustrated by a Cascadan.