Floran: Bio-forging ; what is it and how it works.

Even though this isn't my thread, I felt like we aught to start acknowledging each other.

I agree, though all of those things aren't technically inconceivable. Entirely biotic ships are a no-no, not even so much that they are unrealistic, but what it implies reality is. If something like this exists, then everything we know about plants is shattered, which just does not jive.

I don't think that symbiosis (not technically symbiosis but you know what I'm implying) is out of the question. A weapon that shoots needles can be coated with toxin provided by an ingrown plant. The issue for most designs you're trying to replace technology with plants, which...is actually something I'm alright with. The Florans don't have access to high tier devices, at least not in the same way Humans do. For the tech level they are at, it is feasible to believe their "scientific" progress is based less on cascading technologies and more the progress of selective breeding (breed plants, get better plant, change conditions, get better plant, etc).

I would scale that back, tbh. If single Florans were at least immediately capable of designing fighters (which I assume you mean aircraft), they would lose their primitive flair. Now, if a species made a concerted effort to uplift Florans technologically over the course of like twenty years, then yes I could see that possibility. As it stands, such a feat would require an absolutely ancient tribe that has progressed beyond other Florans.

This depends on how much we want to apply Floran physiology to other devices. For a complete plant ship, this is strictly impossible. Plant nutrition is a little more complicated, with being in the ground often a rather important part. If Florans had fungi involved in their area of expertise (which it really isn't, unfortunately) we could talk about going a lot further (fungi do some pretty amazing things, plants are dumb). We're still deep in theoretical here, maybe a tribe that stayed together for a few hundred years could start to apply this "tech", but that's not entirely relevant.

So I'm going to repeat the issues of plant movement. Florans existing in reality would require a huge reclassification of the Kingdom Plantae, they simply don't follow the rules. The real decision to be made is if we assume Floran's capabilities (movement, thought, speech, MOVEMENT ((seriously, movement takes A LOT of energy, and plants aren't efficient enough to do that. The entire premise of being a plant is not moving, and adapting to handle extreme conditions instead of moving when extreme weather or something hits) are going to be a trait of the RP universe's Plantae. I don't know where I stand on this, I'd like to see a few more people try and run away with the idea before I settle on a side.

If you're talking "I planted a potato, and now it's a landmine" then I agree with your grenade assertion. If you're saying that you could not breed grenade plants, then that's where I disagree. I'm going to continue to poop on your vehicle idea, simply because as a civilisation their tech level isn't there yet (and because of the lack of cohesion or interrelations, their progress is likely to be stunted until they can form a real society. As I see it, Florans are just on the cusp of city building, which was about when you started seeing technology start to really grow in Human development). Plants are actually capable of a little more than "instinct". Or rather, by combining many reactions you start to form the simulation of thought. There is some research that some plants react to specific sounds (and no, this isn't from "The Secret Life of Plants") such as caterpillars munching on leaves, which led to the plant ramping up defensive chemical production.

I agree and differ. Splicing as a concept is fine, but in terms of how we sort of fall short. I'm beginning to lean towards the idea that Florans can indeed communicate on some level with plants. Now, what this communication is isn't like animal to animal, because plants don't have a true or thorough form of memory. A tree cannot tell you what has happened, but if you could "read" the tree, you could tell how long the wet and dry seasons last, and how old it is.

Now this is going to get super "you're going to have to just go with me" for a minute. Florans can lie to plants, which results in them changing the way they grow. When a seed is still germinating, a Floran is able to "convince" it that it needs to grow a certain way instead, effectively "editing" it's genetic code similar to the process of splicing. Splicing allows you to select and amplify traits, or in some cases add new attributes. Floran "plant whispering" would be functionally similar, though with the advantage of being able to be a little more specific. You're still at the mercy of what the plant is capable of, you're not going to go from potato to grenade in one generation. Over the course of a few years and dedicated breeding though, I don't see why not.

Plants are not independent of their environment, and they can kill themselves off by depleting soil of its nutrients. That said, plants usually are only capable of "processing" simple molecules and compounds when it comes to metabolism, because again plants do not use nor produce energy anywhere near the scale of an animal. That said, they are capable of synthesising rather complicated compounds, so saying that it turn Erchius into something else usable is not out of the question. This would require Florans having access to Erchius for a rather long period of time though, which I'm fairly certain is also not going to happen in a timeline relevant to this server.

You're on the right track. Microchips are a pain in the ass, and though "organic computing" is something that has been looked in to, I have yet to see anything that would use plants. Neurons are a much better starting point, one that no plant is close to being capable of (except Florans...but now that I've gotten this far I do think we aught to regard them as an non-reproducible freak of evolution).

You can have specifically plant weapons. Scottish thistle is a plant that grows in Scotland (surprise) that allegedly held off a Viking invasion because the invaders were barefoot. The sounds of the pain of this plant poking into their feet alerted the Scots which drove off the invation (or discouraged the Norseman, depending on where the story is from). This was just a result of chance, given the plant didn't evolve to repel vikings. A Floran with a focused directing I believe could accomplish much more.

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This got really long, but reading all the way through does give a sense of the progression of my thoughts on the idea, so to get the whole picture, buckle down and muscle through it.

 

I can agree with that. Some plants do have ways to show if something has happened to them, though sometimes too subtle for Humans to notice. A Floran would be able to tell a person passed by from "reading" the plant for real signs, the plant can't tell them without special mechanisms (such as plants that retract when touched).

The emphasis in your first sentence being on "if". Even without, it is quicker to fashion an axe with a stone and branch rather than growing an axe. Growing a plant that has sturdy branches for handles, and strong twine from another would be an excellent way to gain an advantage. This can apply to simple firearms as well. It does take time to machine a barrel, and access to tools Florans may not have. Now, (and this points back to my original post) I wouldn't expect a grown barrel to perform much better than your traditional musket. Any gun of pure Floran design shouldn't pass the Revolutionary War, and even that is pushing it. Better is capable of course, but not with the way Floran society is now.