| From: | Wolfchild nathan.olsen@*******.msus.edu |
|---|---|
| Subject: | the Revenge of Poison Ivy (Re: Astral Defences) |
| Date: | Tue, 14 Sep 1999 13:57:12 -0500 (CDT) |
> deadly all the time to be a little boring, actually. The scariest
> situations happen when a normally harmless plant, animal, or mineral
> (?) are suddenly deadly because of a change in circumstances, I.E.
This is somewhat off the topic of awakened plants but I remember watching
a nature show a few years back that was investigating an area of Africa
that had a nasty little natural deathtrap. Essentially what happens is
that volcanic vents in the area spew out CO2 gas which tends to flow and
pool in low lying areas. Some of these indentations in the ground (no more
than a meter or two deep) completely filled with CO2. The effect was that
the vegetation thrived on all the CO2, thus attracting various herbivores
from the surrounding area. As they fed on the plants, they'd breathe in
almost pure CO2 and would be too weak to crawl out of the area even though
the edges didn't exceed a 45 degree incline. Eventually they'd suffocate
and die. The dead herbivores (and dead insects as well) would attract
scavengers to the pit which would often suffer the same fate. Most
predetors didn't seem to fall victim to the pit (for a reason I can't
recall), with the exception of snakes and other creatures that move close
to the ground.
This would be a nasty trick to pull on the PCs. Sure some simple spells,
gear, or cyber could prevent disaster but it just isn't something many
runners would be prepared for. Note that air filters wouldn't help because
the O2 in the air is almost completely replaced by CO2.
Wolfchild - "Life ain't easy for a troll named Sue."
--
"Quin tu istanc orationem hinc veterem atque|"Let us spend one day as
antiquam amoves?" -Plautus, Miles Gloriosus|deliberately as Nature. . .
--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--|and not be thrown off the
"There are nights when the wolves are silent|track by every nutshell and
and only the moon howls." -George Carlin |mosquito's wing that falls on
Wolfchild <nathan.olsen@*******.msus.edu> |the rails." -H.D.Thoreau
