Lentesorite

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Species: Lentesorite  [Len-TEA-sore-ITE]
            Young are referred to as kits

Home World: Phukiyah  [pu-YOU-kih- yaH]
A hot and dry planet hovering just at the edge of the Goldilocks’ zone of its home system. With a mainly terrestrial surface dominated by large continents with most of its moisture locked away in the atmosphere. Resulting in most of its ground being covered in dry grasslands pockmarked by small forest groves prone to wildfires.


Other Worlds:
Lentesorites are considered as invasive – a few planets have suffered from becoming perfect breeding grounds with the natives either taking advantage of the Lentesorite abilities or becoming prey to them.
One such planet that has suffered from this is the Odonfee homeworld – who are hunted as prey by the smaller invasive species.


Habitat:
Within their hostile planet, the Lentesorites tend to stick within the sheltered forests – close enough to the edges to flee when the wildfires flare up. However, not all live within these forests – young males and females who want to prove themselves spend their adolescents out in the grasslands.
Lentesorites live in woven nests of grasses suspended within the trees, using their quills to both hold these structures up but also act as a defensive system.


Diet - Prey:
Lentesorites are carnivorous and despite not being the smallest edible inhabitants of Phukiyah they tend to hunt far larger prey then themselves.
This is done with groups, often at least three Lentesorites scattered between the trees and grass ready to shoot while the braver and faster ones distracted and try to lure their prey. It is rather dangerous for them still, but the amount of food it provides them more then pays off in the long run.


Powers / Abilities:
Quills:
The Lentesorites primary ability is being able to fire quills from a special, tube-like organ underneath their tongues. They have enough power to fire these quills from up to thirty yards away and still be able to embed them firmly into materials as tough as treated wood. A few can fire further but the strength is far weaker.
The tips of these quills are covered in a special enzyme that, when injected into the body of the organism with an advanced nervous system will inhibit the electrical signals between them and the brain.
This mainly causes their movements to drastically slow down, alongside their thoughts and organ functions. Making it especially effective on creatures with a high metabolism, such as Kinecelerans and Citrakayah.

They have exceptional eyesight, able to accurately target at these distances and hit a moving target dead on in a matter of seconds.

Lentesorites have strong prehensile tails, strong enough to be the only thing supporting three times their own weight. Useful for rescue.
They also have sharp claws, aiding in climbing vertical surfaces quickly as well as to dig.

Due to the original use of their own quills, Lentesorites also have a high immunity to large amounts of venom which affects how the bodies signals work – such as that from an earth cobra.


Weaknesses:
Quills:
Their quills have no effect on organisms with a basic nervous system; such as Jellyfish, Protosts, or Polymorphs.
Lentesorite quills follow the laws of reflection and they may accidently hit themselves [not a major problem] or allies if they ricochet off their surroundings.
Each Lentesorite has a maximum amount of quills they can fire in a day before they must eat and rest to build them back up in their system – there is no clear range as many do not risk pushing themselves that far.
Another risk of their quills, is the danger of firing too many at a single target, a high enough dosage to a creature could cause the venom to simply cease the function of their organs, even their brain and heart.

Due to their small size and lack of speed when moving, Lentesorites struggle at close combat – especially against larger more able bodied opponents. They are far better suited for an ambush situation.
When given the opportunity, they will instead clasp onto the forearm or shoulders of a more able-bodied ally – functioning like a living turret both firing when they sense is best but also willing to take commands.

A Lentesorite is vulnerable to being grabbed directly behind it’s head [within the light tufted fur] as they are unable to protect themselves with their quills, sending them prone.


Civilisations / Familial units:
Lentesorites tend to live in big communal groups, with nests organised by family. It is common for families to remain within the same group their entire line with their whole lineage being tracked back within the same group. However, it’s also not rare for the young to leave to find a new group to start a new family.
When born the care for the infant Lentesorite is done mainly by the father – with the females recovering from the live birth but also stuffing themselves to maximise the milk they produce for their kit. The reasons the males carry the kits everywhere is because the females will go to extraordinary lengths to get the nutrition they need, including recklessly putting their own lives at risk.
Once the kits have stopped feeding from the milk, care becomes more spread out between the parents as well as other Lentesorites offering their assistant.

It is not unheard of for there to be queer Lentesorite couples, normally taking in orphans or helping the larger families. Poly groups are most common as it maximises survival especially if a wildfire happens.


Species Characteristics:
Lentesorites originally evolved their quills as a form of sexual display / proof of their abilities – with those capable with both taking the most quills but also shooting the most being the most desirable.
Over time, with these stronger quill shooting genes spread – they turned it towards a weapon for hunting the large arthropods on their homeworld. Both to protect themselves from them but also to create a preserve and stockpile of food to last weeks due to their small size and appetite.

Small enough to be used as a weapon by other creatures and humanoids – they are about the same size as an earth cat – ring-tailed lemur – there is a scale of sizes throughout the species.


Etymology:
The species name is derived from ‘lente’ and ‘souris’ the French words for ‘slow’ & ‘mouse’ respectively.
The species’ home world is taken from the fukiya a kind of Japanese blowgun.
Slowgun’s name is a play on words blowgun and slow, referring to the appearance and purpose of his snout & the nerve-inhibiting enzymes in the quills.


Off world:
The main populus of Lentesorite have remained on their home planet of Phukiyah with a few other civilisations spread onto other planets- some have decided to travel the stars. They do not have the technology for space travel themselves, so have hitchhiked or made deals to travel.
While off world they hire themselves out as living weapons, normally to the eccentric and wealthy but occasionally just hands that need a weapon that doesn’t require full attention. Preferably they work in markets that want the quarry alive – though this is not a strict rule for the species.
Work:
These ideals have lead to many finding themselves employed in the intergalactic wildlife trade as well as the bounty hunter community – their morals don’t align with many other species & they accept a wide range of trades & payment. A few have even gone on to joining the Plumbers which is where they agreed to add their DNA to the Omnitrix.


Omnitrix Transformation:
Ben first turned into a Lentesorite by accident when it was added into the dna data bank.
Naming the transformation Slowgun due to the way it’s abilities work.
The general Lentesorite community who have discovered this transformation dislike this name he’s chosen as they feel that it is downplaying their abilities and that it doesn’t come off as a positive name. They would also prefer that they took a Lentesorite co-worker then just ‘making’ his own.

Slowgun is not used often, due to Ben not liking it’s lack of speed and flexibility when it comes to fighting up close – he does not enjoy that he works better as a weapon being used by another member of his team, especially not to take orders from them with when to fire.


Lentesorite Variance:
All Lentesorite follow a similar set of main traits – the biggest difference between individuals being exact colours and occasional pattern variance.

General body shape, scale, tail length & thickness and whiskers remain the same across all Lentesorites.
            Tails can appear in any skintone, though tend to stay on the pinker end, and the whisker tips can vary slightly in shape size and colour.

Fur tuft – all Lentesorite have a ‘collar’ of light fur around their neck and tufting up onto their back.
            In most this appears white / pale grey in colour though may appear in any bright pale colour as long as it’s lighter then their main body.

Markings are something that appear on all Lentesorites. They all have the darker brown back stripe, the same shade as their claws and it should be darker then their main body colour.
            Some Lentesorites also have other markings, normally seen on their legs or stomach, these can be both lighter or darker then their main body colour.

Colours. All Lentesorites are earthy ‘natural’ colours, rarely there will be very light-coloured ones but they struggle to survive being better spotted by predators and just not thriving.
            The main body colour must be the middle tone, with the bottom jaw being slightly lighter & the same shade as the whisker tips. As stated, the neck fur is always the lightest / closest to white colour on an individual & the back stripe and claws should be the darkest. They are not pure black or visibly black unless if the main body colour is very dark.
            Patterns are also natural – like designs seen on other living creatures.