Okay so everything that seemed clever in my head yesterday already feels like I forgot half of it
but
I have read about orcs being basically fungus
(Warhammer)
but I was thinking
what if basically lichen?
... aaand I just found a warhammer wiki and they're ahead of me, unsurprisingly, what with probably being in the back of my mind since I was reading White Dwarf in the 90s.
Warhammer orkoids are a biological symbiosis of fungus and animal, and they grow from spores, so once they're in an area they keep growing again.
That's neat, but also mean.
But I was thunking lichens as a model fo cooperation with thaumosynthesising life forms.
Like the simplest way to splics magic on to existing biological systems is to make it glow, and use photosynthesis. Orcs as big fungus systems containing algae would make orcs green, and if those algae are teamed up with dimly glowing light spells, well... that would be kind of cool. But if the orcness of orcs is a while symbiotic system then that could explain how they make half orcs with anything. ... as it does in Warhammer. ... I realise ideas don't stop being cool when they stop being original, but I thought I was doing more of the thinking and I'm frustrated now.
The photosynthesising step isn't the only way to incorporate magic though. Magic can recharge your fatigue directly, thus provoding cellular energy that usually requires food, and there are food spells that make you not need to eat, as well as ones that make food from raw magic. Light is the simplest spell in a lot of chains, but food spells exist. So simple thaumobiology would exploit simple spells, but complex beings could just, like, make bodies. Which is really expensive when ghosts do it but also those bodies wear off so they seem more like ullusion/creation spells than food/healing spells. To make stable long lasting biological matter there'd be processes rather like food or healing spells, only small and ongoing.
... like monsters that regenerate.
And some systems would be magical from the get go, but others would be partnered with thaumobiology despite starting out as organic chemistry.
So like lichens they'd provide a safe structure for some other micro organism that provides it with necessary energy or energy producing compounds.
If such an organism could be created by infection you'd get something kin to werewolves or vampires, though both those have specialisations not necessary to the theory. Infectious zombies would also make sense. And of course higher undead, the more intentional, fewer side effects kind. Like wraiths, or liches.
... yes I made all this up to make a pun on lichen lich...
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