Bloomwrought Wildscape of Tellon

Structure

The Bloomrought Wildscape of Tellon is a mutualistic intelligence, a type of distributed consciousness on a planetary scale. Rather than a single species that developed a collective mind, Tellon is the combined intelligence of every being on all of its worlds, referred to as 'symbionts'. The Wildscape does not have a central commanding intelligence, but instead reflects the thoughts and desires of the entire biosphere that hosts it. Effectively, each individual brain in the Wildscape is a neuron in the collective whole. That being said, the collective specially cultivates 'thinkstems'; nerve-roots that provide significant increases in cognitive processing above the typical collection of symbionts.

Most of the complex work done in the Wildscape is performed by the Zhard-Krellin species, a fungoid possessing intelligence equivalent to most sapient species. However, every symbiont contributes to the collective. Through the collective intelligence, different species can be assigned tasks to carry out in addition to their biological processes. Though this is inefficient, as each individual animal or plant contributes a very small amount to the whole, the sheer weight of biomass at the Wildscape's disposal makes it competitive with other spacefaring civilisations.

In addition to macro-scale flora and fauna, Tellon also encompasses spores and microbes. These are critical for its expansion strategy, which involves depositing mass quantities of these onto alien worlds. These microbes and spores then intertwine with the local flora and fauna, subsuming them into the collective consciousness. This process takes approximately one year. By the end, the planet's biosphere is entirely absorbed into the Wildscape.

The advent of genetic engineering allowed Tellon to manipulate the genetics of its symbionts, rather than relying on natural selection. In the early 24th century CE, the gestalt made a concerted effort to develop advanced genetic modification techniques. This resulted in the genetic modification of nearly every type of symbiont in the collective. More effective microbial and spore canisters were developed, allowing them to infiltrate and subsume sapient species with more powerful immune systems.

History

As Tellon has historically not recorded any history beyond memories, its timeline is difficult to determine. At some point in the last hundred thousand years, the biosphere of the planet Tellon developed a collective consciousness, gradually linking all flora and fauna on the planet together in one mind.

For many thousands of years, Tellon dreamt of reaching the light of its home star and beyond. However, evolution was slow, and the gestalt could only nudge the process so much. Over time, one species - the Zhard-Krellin - became a prime candidate to propel the world into the stars. Resistant to radiation, capable of tool use, and featuring remarkable intelligence, Tellon used this species to lay the groundwork for its industrial and technological base.

Circa 1400 CE, a battle between two unknown xeno groups took place in orbit of Tellon and throughout the Tattla System. While most of the destroyed ships continued their silent orbits, some of the debris rained down onto the planet below. Over the course of several centuries, Tellon used this advanced technology to rapidly advance its technological progress.

However, as Tellon was entering what could be considered an industrial age, the star Tattla erupted in a gigantic superflare. The flare was powerful enough that it scorched an entire continent, turning jungles into deserts and boiling away lakes. The destruction caused immense pain to the collective consciousness, and it redoubled its efforts to find a way to expand into space. Unfortunately, the superflare had also created an elecromagnetic pulse that destroyed most advanced technology Tellon had created.

Rather than rebuild the industrial technology derived from the reverse-engineered alien spacecraft, Tellon instead opted to grow its own new technology. Utilising the sybiotic species on the planet, it discovered a 'path not taken' by other spacefaring civilisations, discovering methods to grow large-scale machinery entirely from organic matter. When the first Zhard-Krellin entered orbit toward the end the 22nd century CE, Tellon was able to reverse-engineer more intact alien debris, including still-functioning hyper drives. Thanks to this, the planet was soon able to spread beyond its home system.   The gestalt became capable of subtly influencing the evolutionary path of its constitutent species, and eventually created a fungoid called the Zhard-Krellin. This species was significantly more intelligent than the rest of the biosphere, possessing manipulators and manual dexterity capable of simple tool use. Despite this, however, Tellon was unable to develop the industrial and technological base to achieve spaceflight.

Military

As a gestalt consciousness, Tellon does not have a military in the traditional sense. Instead, when under threat, the entire ecosystem is coordinated to fend off invasion. The most common form this takes is gigantic hordes of pre-sapient animals rampaging through enemy lines, though these have been known to be scared off by overwhelming firepower, similar to an autonomic reflex when a life form experiences pain. These pre-sapient hordes are directed by more intelligent tamersymbionts, which use pheromone signals to direct and coordinate planetary defence or invasion measures.

Unlike almost every other species in the galaxy, Tellon developed technology through a biological path, rather than an industrial one. Bloomwrought starships are constructed partially from advanced alloys and circuitry, like all others, but primarily from hardened organic matter cultivated for spaceflight. These ships are partially alive, with neural fibres replacing artificial intelligence and computer systems to pilot the ships. Additionally, Bloomwrought ships are excellent fliers in-atmosphere, owing to their evolutionary ancestors. While other warships might stay in orbit to provide safe, long-distance fire support, Bloomwrought warships regularly venture deep inside atmospheres, providing close air support missions with starship-sized weaponry.