Mutant Future- The Ecology of a Skyscraper
This is the first of a series that looks at the creatures that live within and near a skyscraper in a Mutant Future setting. This post covers the basics and initial populations and subsequent posts will examine changes monthly. I will use general terms in some areas and specific ones in others- this is to make it easier for Mutant Lords to adapt this location to their setting.
There are 6 areas of concern- the basement levels, first few floors, mid level floors, high level floors, exterior of the building and surrounding land. In this case, the skyscraper is the last standing building, the rest have fallen and crumbled, though a few have been reinforced since then to provide housing within the city. The reason the building still stands is it was its last generation construction. It was built to withstand small nukes and could actually repair itself without computer control (the duracrete regrows when damaged).
The basement levels were full of fungi, insects, rodents and small mutant humans. There is plenty of water as the pipes that led to the dam were broken by an underground river (one that refilled after people stopped pumping it to prevent basements from flooding). The humans occasionally traded clean water and some fungi for artifacts and tools. They were in hiding, using toxic fungi to keep the pigmen out.
The ground level and the few stories above it were controlled by a large contingent of pigmen (from the MF corebook). They were hunting squeelers in the city and were suddenly overwhelmed when a giant beetle ran over half their force. Then the 40 or so survivors were licking their wounds and hunting food in the surrounding buildings- even humans and other people. Well armed, the pigmen took the last inhabitant's artifacts and other loot. The shapeshifting moss fought the good fight but was slain after the pigmen used their heat beam mutation to cook it alive (and start a fire that almost got out of control). The pigmen leaders kept to the interior and had several roving bands hunting for food and digging for artifacts in a 2 block radius. They didn't go farther because of a lack of communication artifacts.
There are a few rooms they refuse to, or can not, enter. There is a heat proof vault (holds finantial datachips), a room with a pool of liquid duracrete made by a mutant octopus, a room that can not be lit not matter how powerful the light source and a room with reverse gravity (long dead nanites reconfigured the electronics in the ceiling). With the last room, the one above it has triple strength gravity and the pigmen rarely enter that one.
The midlevel floors were, and are, home to plants, some with the Light to Mass mutation. Those plants create water during the day and keep all the greenfolk alive. The entrances have been sealed off, making this an almost water tight greenhouse. There are a few broken windows and the excess water escapes onto the exterior of the building, making it look wet even in the driest conditions. If someone was to break a seal, the water rushing down would probably drag the people down a level or three (or into the basement if they were very unlucky in saves). The lowest level is full of water and aquatic plants (some of which make the goo for the seals, which is partially why the windows haven't been fixed- the plants can't reach them). The higher ones are like a sauna and this makes the plants very happy, especially in the winter. The pigmen learned their lession very quickly when they tried to invade.
One of the plants is a dome of slime algae named Leo (its spores came off a lion's pelt) that communicates with light. It has a not-quite friend from another floor that calls it Gerold. Together they act as the plants' diplomats to the avians in the high level floors. Leo produces bubbles that glow random colors that visitors may think are mutant plants and the locals find this very amusing. Those who take the joke in good nature find that interacting with the plants will be much easier.
The high level floor were home to flying creatures. Beetle people dominated but there were birds, bats, fish, clams, plants and human parts (flying heads, hands, lungs, etc.). All are intelligent and most were telepathic. Anything that tries to settle that isn't sapient was be driven away. Between the beetles and fish, this part of the building was one of the cleanest and safest places on the planet.
The exterior of the building has its own populations. Above the water line, it is covered with lichens and some tiny creatures living in them. Some are coral like in that they build a skeleton, though in this case it is made of carbon. It is slowly expanding the mass of the building and putting a lot of stress on the duracrete. Below the water line, there are many tiny aquatic mutants that crawl around. Crabs and other crustaceans dominate but just about any marine or freshwater creature can be found here (the marine are adapted to fresh in this case). As the largest is about 1/2" tall, they generally don't interact with human sized creatures very often. There is a line where this microecosystem vanishes near the ground usually- massive grazing goats use to keep them from reaching the ground. Since the pigmen either ate or drove off the goats, the aquatic critters have expanded down to the ground.
Around the building there are a few populations that have survived the predations of the pigmen. The oddest were the shadow keepers. These termites consumed rock dust and could not survive underground or direct sunlight. They kept in the building's shadow day after day. They tasted horrible even to the pigmen, which is not a good thing as their predators have been exterpated for the moment. The termites were slowly breaking down the roads and the damage has massively increased since the pigmen arrived. Stone worms, small animals that make webbing from concrete instead of silk, was another common species in the ruins around the skyscraper. They ate small flying creatures by covering their webs in luring odors. People liked them as they kept most flying vermin at bay and some were even kept as pets. The pigmen found the odors disgusting and avoided the webs if possible.
