Feelusian Brainworms

Feelusian Brainworms (or alternatively, Feelucian Brainworms) are the dominant inhabitant of the planet Feelus -3. They are, upon average, three feet long, and consist of a large cranium connected to a thinner abdominal tube. They have three eyes, and can be identified by their conical exo-skull.

Many Feelusians are now assisted by mechanical bodies manufactured and monopolized by Blakkerbot Mechanics.

Biological History
Until ca. 560 years ago, Feelusian brainworms were a small, well-regulated species which had their own place in the middle of the foodchain, directly above the black Feeli slimeslug, and directly below the blue Feeli buffalo.

Found mainly among the fossilized remains of giant, prehistoric chicken bones in smooth, breezy areas of Feelus -3, the Feelusian brainworms were a mostly tribal species, developing separate languages and cultures within each tribe.

Due to the abnormally large and strangely shaped craniums their race had evolved, and due otherwise to their lack of arms, the Feelusian brainworms, as a species, were fairly immobile. The male Feelusian brainworm would move an average of five inches within it’s forty year lifetime, while, interestingly, the female Feelusian brainworm would move an average of eight inches within it’s own forty year lifetime, because of certain childbearing rituals.

The survival of the Feelusian species from the beginning of their race until their conversion was very delicate. Luckily, their planet was never invaded, for any change to the foodchain or ecosystem would have set into motion massive effects towards the extinction of the entire Feelusian race.

The Feelusian race sustained and subsisted itself via the consumption of the black Feeli slimeslug, a small nocturnal slug which would purposefully creep into caves or crevices at dawn in order to keep their wet skin from drying in the heat of the Feeli sun. These slugs would often mistake the open mouths of Feelusian Brainworms for such caverns, and the Feelusian brainworms developed a practice of sleeping with their mouths open.

Before the Conversion, the Feelusian Brainworm did not take precidence over the foodchain, and instead resided just beneath the blue Feeli buffalo.

The blue Feeli buffalo was a wooly race similar to the buffalo of Earth. Because of their abundance of wool, blue Feeli buffalo thrived in a cool climate, and were nomadically migratory, traversing in large herds in the early spring toward areas instinctively recognized as winter roaming grounds.

These buffalo found easy food in the immobile tribes of Feelusian brainworms, and kept the brainworm population somewhat controlled. Evidence from situations where certain herds did not survive the migration shows that without these seasonal predators, the brainworms would often over-populate, causing a shortage of slimeslugs, and subsequent starvation amongst the weak and young of the tribe, or in more severe situations, the death of the entire tribe altogether.

Tribal Culture and Diversity
Dialects were very much tribally unique, because tribes almost never had any form of contact with each other previous to the Conversion. These dialects were mostly developed to teach young the basics of Feelusian life, or to tell stories of the light orb and the night orb, respectively the Feeli sun and Feeli moon. These “mystical orbs” were often seen as the creators, the rulers, and especially the tormentors of the Feelusian species, as the arrival of the herds of Feeli buffalo were correctly attributed to the astral position and heat of their sun Altair.

Religion was limited to the spiritual stories of individual tribes, but lacked complex critical depth, partially because the oral nature of these stories, without good memory, did not give way to lasting depth, and partially because the tribes lacked any potent stimulation of the imagination.

Physical differences between tribes were few and limited solely to cosmetic differences which came about from either gene pool variants or ecological diversity. Equatorial brainworm tribes, found scattered about the midsection of Feelus -3, evolved a darker and rougher brown skin due to longer, year-round exposure to Altair, while Northernmost and Southernmost brainworm tribes, nearer to the poles and sparse in number due to larger buffalo populations, adapted a moderately pale brown skin.

The Conversion
Approximately five hundred and sixty years ago, the Feelusian tribe which spoke the precursor of the language known as Modern Feelusian was visited by two foreigners.

As the tale goes, the two visitors were cyborgic representatives of Blakkerbot Mechanics Inc. who had happened to stumble upon the tribe after a delightful picnic lunch.

Somehow overcoming the strong language barrier, the Feelusian tribe and the cyborg reps managed to work out a deal: Blakkerbot Mechanics would manufacture prosthetic limbs for the Feelusian Tribe, and the Feelusians would pay back their debt.

Traditionally, it is common for Feelusians to claim that the visitors were none other than Mr. Blakkerbot and his secretary, although historians do not agree. While Mr. Blakkerbot himself has neither denied nor confirmed his involvement, a common defense by many historians is the fact that Blakkerbot does not eat lunch, or eat anything at all, because he is a cyborg.

Nonetheless, within those next 560 years, the Feelusians had built and sustained a successful civilization, which lacked the civil war and strife that other civilizations struggled with, as the Feelusians had been unified by their owed debt.

Conquest
In 1823, the Feelusians began to exhibit a certain amount of boredom of their own world. Simultaneously struggling with Blakkerbot debt, the Feelusian High Council decided to solve both problems in one go, and a motion was put forward to begin construction of a fleet of star-ships. These would be used toward befriending otherworldly civilizations, gathering their resources (by way of either threats or an offer of cheap labor), and using those resources to pay off the Feelusian species' continual debt.

1836 saw the completion of their first fleet, comprised of two large battle freighters and nearly a thousand starfighters.