SCP Sandbox

TEXT-DESCRIBING-THE-PIC

Item #: SCP-XXX

Object Class: Safe/Euclid/Keter (indicate which class)

Special Containment Procedures: [Paragraphs explaining the Procedures]

Description: [Paragraphs explaining the Description]

Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]

The Tweehoo are a race of dome-shaped trilobite like creatures with six supporting DIGITSOMETHING limbs and a pair of soft manipulators. The manipulative limbs are tucked against their undersides for protection. The Tweehoo are native to a desert environment, and often sit through sandstorms or tunnel during rain. They have four eyes spread equidistantly along the upper edge of the front hemisphere of their shell, covered with a transparent layer of keratin. They grow to 3 feet for the oldest and tallest, with a 1:1.3 foot ratio of height to diameter. Tweehoo are sapient, although their culture is at the tribal level.

Their diet appears to consists of lizard and insect analogues and desert flora, and it is unknown what materials and chemicals they require. Disease is uncommon due to the Tweehoo's isolate nature but not unheard of. Their mouth is situated just under the lip of their shell. It has a variety of teeth-like protrusions used for grinding and tearing. Their tongue retracts into their throat while the plates grind, and then ferries the chewed food to be swallowed. Food is softened in a primary stomach before being transferred to the actual digestive stomach. Often the food is ruminated for further softening until it has been reduced to a sludge, whereupon it is digested and sent to the intestines. Undigested objects are vomited. Excretion is performed once a day. It is unknown if the Tweehoo have a sense of smell, or through what organs they would smell through.
Speech occurs through their nasal orifices, which are located on either side of the mouth. Sphincters just inside the openings modulate airflow, creating a whistling sound that is modulated to produce speech. Preliminary attempts at translations have revealed a correlation between higher-pitched chords and affectionate behaviors. Chords seem to be arranged on a pentatonic scale, which can be grating to some species.
The Tweehoo's four eyes are extremely similar to snakes in that the eyes are covered by a transparent scale of sorts, permanently closed. They burrow into sand or otherwise cover their eyes when they attempt to sleep. The bottom of their feet is sensitive to vibration, allowing them to sense nearing animals.
The brain is centered at the top of the dome, where the plating is thickest. Their brain is large and developed. Research has not been done on their psychology, however.

Mating is performed through the use of ovipositors, and the Tweehoo have no discernible sex or gender. The ovipositors are long, flexible tubes kept tucked inside a shell at the back of the Tweehoo's underside. When sex is initiated, the ovipositors extend, revealing testes-like sacs at the base, where the egg/sperm analogues are produced. Dominance is established and the dominant inserts the tip of their ovipositor into the other's, releasing eggs into the flexible tube. Ciliae inside the tubes ferry the eggs towards the fertilization chamber, where they attach and grow. The dominant Tweehoo proceeds to create a shelter, as the pregnant one's shell will often crack under the growth of the fertilization chamber. This exposure is not often lethal, as the carrier will bury their underside in sand. The pregnant Tweehoo will not move from the shelter for several months, and the caregiver must feed and care for it during the pregnancy. After approximately 4 months, the eggs are ejected from the Tweehoo while still small enough to travel through the ovipositor and buried in the sand in the shelter, where they will continue to mature and grow until they hatch. When ejected, the eggs are small, opaque sacs with a flexible covering, approximately 3 centimeters in diameter. When fully matured, they are on average 20 centimeters in diameter. The caregiver will proceed to care for them as they did the pregnant Tweehoo for another 3 months. Then the parents will lead the children to the nearest population shelter, usually a gathering of 20 or so individuals, and stay until the children have matured. Often the couple will split apart afterward. Some choose to stay together from affection and to aid in raising the communal raising of children, but most choose to resume foraging and hunting.
Children start out much smaller than adults and grow extremely quickly, however, maturation appears to take far longer. They will remain in a pre-pubescent state for at least 5 years. Until they mature, their shells are soft and flexible to allow for their explosive growth. Still, many die early from ruptured or cracked plates.

The Tweehoo do have a language, but attempts to translate have been poor. It is unknown if they have art of any sort, however, they are remarkably welcoming of strangers, so long as the visitors are capable of caring for themselves. Many villages have begun primitive horticulture, using excrement and indigestible food as fertilizer. Shelters are considered sacrosanct as long as a person has laid claim to one; excess shelters are often used as storage until otherwise needed. It is not uncommon to find a couple living in a completely empty village. Tweehoo usually attempt to be self-sufficient wanderers, but despite the majority being nomadic, there are a few population centers scattered across the continent they live on. During the day, the villages are almost empty but for children and caregivers, with the rest of the population foraging and hunting.
Hunting is done mostly by the Tweehoo camouflaging themselves as a rock, then jumping out and throttling whatever they leap on, usually small lizard-like creatures. Traps are common however, used mostly at oases and other places where animals converge. The foragers feed themselves throughout the day and then bring food back to the village for the children. Feeding the children is a communal ritual, the village gathering in a circle and preparing the food for the smaller, weaker children that cannot chew many of the hard substances that they eat. This is when the majority of the communication takes place. It is unknown what they are communicating about, however, it is suspected that they are sharing information about their surroundings. Occasionally, one will rise onto their back set of legs and speak at length to the crowd.
Many villages have not discovered fire yet, however the technology appears to be spreading. It is mostly used to cook and soften food for children, and also to help produce tools. Socialization takes place early in the development cycle. Children who are caught fighting are scolded and separated. Despite the numbers of children, they are coddled until they reach maturation. Once a child is completely matured and can consume food by themselves, a ritual is enacted, and they are allowed to choose a shelter of their own. Young adults usually stay with the village for a year before moving on.
Tools are often made using the sharp shards of wood from the spike-tree, pounded and shaved using rocks. These are carried tucked up against the softer bottom of the adult, held in one of the grasping limbs. Bags to gather food are woven from thin strips of leaves and hung under the Tweehoo, the straps wrapped around the joint of the first leg. The tribes closer to the oceans are farther along in development of culture, and a few have discovered fire. Coastal tribes are culturally separate from inland tribes, as they are less nomadic. Couples tend to stay together for an average of 6 months longer after their brood matures, and instead of traveling randomly, they appear to merely travel from population center to population center.
Hunting techniques in the coastal tribes are a variation of the leaping used in the desert, and fish is a large part of their diet. They do not eat birds and react strongly when a child attempts to do so, or an observer attempts to harm one. The inland ones do not shed their shells for growth, as they are often polished smooth by the wind. Coastal tribes often bathe in the shallows to dislodge excess keratin, and bathing is often an activity engaged in by couples. When one dies, which happens often as they have a high mortality rate, the inland ones will crack their shell and surround the body with stones, chasing away all scavengers except for birds. Coastal variations on this is to weave a raft from seaweed and send the body out to sea.
Before the sun rises each day, those in population centers will gather, leaving the children to sleep. They will face the direction the sun rises in and the oldest of the group will 'stand' and seem to give a speech. Then the group will wait until the sun rises before separating to start their daily tasks.Some villages have 'mascots'; birds that have discovered that if they live with them, they will be very well taken care of.These mascots are treated as they treat their children, save that the birds do not enter into the maturation rituals.When a young adult chooses to leave the village for the first time, the bird is often released into the air, and the adult will choose the direction the bird first flies in to explore. If the bird flies to sea, then the village will build a raft. Adults who journey to sea do not often survive.
One village has been established on a continent other than the main one, due to rafts flowing into one current during the spring season of that continent. The young inhabitants of that village tend to stay close to the village and are currently attempting to procreate as much as possible. Unfortunately, trade is not an option as they have not designed boats yet that can take them back to the main continent.