#peryton (celestial community)

[parakaryote]

Perytons and pyotabs are both polyextremophiles, but in very different ways.

Perytons:

Alkaliphilic, since ammonia (their solvent) has a pH of 11.

Anaerobic (obligate)

Piezophilic — optimum pressure is 60 atm

Metallophilic — not -tolerant, -philic. They incorporate large amounts of multiple metals as part of their body composition.

Pyotabs:

Acidophilic — optimum pH is 3, like vinegar.

Thermophilic — optimum temperature is 40-50 C

Radioresistant (haven’t worked out the limits for this one yet)

[parakaryote]

I haven't been doing much with the perytons because I'm very unsatisfied with their design, but here's something for you: the inhabitants of Within-the-Loop, the ancient megastructure they live on, have siblings!

There have been a few other planets discovered within the Milky Way Galaxy which host life-forms with markedly unusual biochemistry that all arose at around the same time (~5 billion years ago). Each uses a different solvent, and some are boron- or metal oxide-based instead of carbon-based. (No silicon-based life-forms, though.)

All of the planets hosting them orbit K-type stars, and upon closer inspection all have some sort of self-maintaining artificial structures, invariably including a supercomputer which periodically manufactures and sends out semi-autonomous bots to survey the biosphere. It seems the creators simply wanted to see how much was possible regarding synthetic life.

Perytons are the only sophonts among this collection, though. Indeed, the life of Within-the-Loop is by far the most complex — the life on most of the other planets never got past the prokaryote stage, and the second most complex biosphere after Within-the-Loop is comparable to the early Paleozoic.

[parakaryote]

Peryton doodle.

They’re supposed to be chewing on something. Perytons are omnivorous and have similar-ish tooth types to mammals.

[Image description: A pencil sketch of a peryton, a deer-dragon-looking alien with ears on the shoulders, backwards-facing “antlers”, long slits for nostrils, and black sclera. They are shown facing right from the shoulders up, sitting and chewing on something. End ID.]

[parakaryote]

Peryton drawing.

Their “antlers” are actually flexible, movable appendages that fold back against the head / neck during flight. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times before, but the atmosphere of their home is very dense, so they can get by with small wings.

Pasted alt text:

[Image description: A digital drawing of a peryton, an alien resembling a winged deer, rearing up on their hind legs. They are facing left on a light greenish-grey background. They have green “fur” (actually feather-like filaments), a blue underbelly, a pair of arms in front of the front legs (one with its hand in a fist, the other bent back), small wings with yellowish-green flight feathers, and translucent antler-like growths on their head. Their eyes have black sclera and small purple irises, their ears are at the base of their neck, and their nostrils (one visible) extend into a long flap / slit. They appear to be smiling. End ID.]

[parakaryote]

tappity tap