Name: Don'Jin

  Don'Jin are composite inorganic-aetheric lifeforms, capable of generation and manipulation of aetheric structures at micro and macro scales.

  Don'Jin have no set body plan, but are nonetheless easily recognizable, as no matter their specific form, their core-adjacent manufacturing components resemble a crystalline distillery filled with various gases, liquids, and powders.

  Only the general shape of the central-adjacent sections allow for recognition of individuals, as the crystalline structure is otherwise highly motile and may be rearranged at will. The central core itself is observable only after the total destruction of the Don'Jin, and as such is a rare event.

  Oral history regarding the appearance of Don'Jin crystalline brains describe a variety of appearances, including glowing crystal gems, amorphous rock threaded with fine wire, or even resembling advanced circuitry contained within a glass-like orb. This variety in appearance has been suggested to indicate that even the observed sections are themselves simply a more focused extrusion and that there is an as-yet unknown common organism.

  Mobile Don'Jin, those migrating or awaiting construction assignments are known to take on mobility forms which may mimic other species. Younger, and thus smaller individuals may use bipedal forms, whereas older entities with larger central cores tend to use quadrupedal or even hexapedal forms. The larger transport carrier bodies appear to be chosen based on increased armor, mobility, or even retention of minor manufacturing capabilities even while not fully emplaced.

  Don'Jin are comprised of three distinct bodies — the central core, the primary manufacturing body, and the secondary sessile body.

  The central core itself is a high-density computational substrate, of varying composition — see other sections for details.

  The primary manufacturing body — also referred to as the mobility body — is a secondary set of glass-like condensing coils, metalloid boilers, extrusion nozzles, and numerous other basic tools. These integrated functions are used to bootstrap initial manufacturing of the secondary body, as well as provide limited access to advanced construction methods, though slowly and at small scales. These pieces may be re-arranged semi-freely, but must remain within proximity to the core. Disconnected components may be re-attached, but have no mechanism to permit remote operation if the control wires are severed.

  The secondary body is neither mobile nor motile — it is effectively a construction facility. Debates about whether the secondary body is truly part of the organism, however the dramatic integration with the rest of the Don'Jin, providing sensory and control, has rendered most discussions moot. Don'Jin refer to these constructions as their bodies, and their control of them leaves little doubt.

  Interestingly, the secondary bodies cannot be easily controlled by a new Don'Jin, in the case of the death or departure of the constructing one. They are highly individual, and only the most basic functions may easily be taken over by a replacement.

  A sessile Don'Jin, one which has decided to emplace itself centrally within a secondary body and begin large-scale operations, is better described as a building, or facility. These secondary constructions are heavily influenced by the materials used to construct them, and the intended purpose. If one is acting as an aetheric refinery, it will appear very different from the body used to act as a metallic part manufacturing facility.

  Size is difficult to measure accurately, as the central component of the Don'Jin — akin to a brain — are tightly integrated into their secondary bodies.

  The core personality structure starts out at perhaps a few centimeters in diameter, but most observed individuals are no more than twenty centimeters. For particularly long-lived, or perhaps those who have remained emplaced and well-resourced in a single location, two or three meter diameters have been reported. These reports should be considered provisional, as no direct observational evidence supports this claim at this time. Upper limits have not been ascertained.

  The secondary portion of a Don'Jin, however, the body — may grow as large as necessary. The upper bound appears to be limited by complexity, communication speed, and available resources. Thus, a simplistic entity might be larger than a complex one.

  Environmental analysis regarding Don'Jin invariably end up reiterating a singular theme — given time Don'Jin become the environment.

  Other than an environment so hostile that their crystalline matrix liquifies or is crushed by immense pressure, Don'Jin can and will effectively utilize almost any material in the formation of their secondary bodies. Initial constructions are simplistic, but will rapidly progress as tooling phases are completed, at which point the secondary body will then be retrofitted and progress to the next tier of tooling begins.

  Don'Jin may be found anywhere, as they are effectively the seeds of large-scale manufacturing capabilities, however they have one critical requirement which limits their overall population — aetheric resource.

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  As most of their capabilities are directly aetheric, Don'Jin must therefore be solitary in nature due to intense competition for ambient theronic energy.

  Don'Jin interactions are varied in the extreme — often little or no regard is given to entities, organizations, or even states that are present in the areas they exercise dominion over, unless those entities goals conflict with or directly benefit the purpose of the Don'Jin.

  Even the most aggressive and isolationist Don'Jin will usually attempt to maintain positive relations with species which synergize with their long term goals.

  For organizations and nations hoping to establish treaties or trade with Don'Jin, appeals to self-interest are considered some of the most reliable methods to establish rapport.

  Diet is only semi-applicable, in that the core of the entity relies on aetheric energy and requires very small amounts of core-compatible material in order to grow.

  All other materials of use are integrated into the secondary body — either as structural components, technological infrastructure, or used for manufacturing.

  Don'Jin origins are speculative at best. Not only are their origins unclear, but there seems to have been active effort to seed numerous stories of their genesis throughout the Ber population.

  Whether this is a historical artifact, or something still ongoing is unknown, however the implication is that knowledge of their origin is somehow valuable, or dangerous.

  Notably, most claims seem to imply that their origins are entirely synthetic — having been crafted by a progenitor, or client race acting on their behalf.

  Don'Jin, when asked, claim ignorance — though most admit their solitary nature renders species-level informational transfer difficult, so if their specific manufacturer did not see fit to include the information, no further descendants could inherit it.

  Don'Jin grow primarily through the accumulation of aetheric material — aethonic mass, primarily, which then permits the capture and retention of theronic energy. Through means not clearly understood, this energy is funneled toward the core, where it is refined, applied by means unknown, and directly contributes to the growth of the central core — with no ingestion or application of aethonic mass being necessary.

  The end result is a slow accretion of the core, which grows in size, gaining the capacity for greater connectivity, process management and observed intelligence.

  Don'Jin are constructed, not born — they are, effectively, an advanced manufacturing product of an established Don'Jin with a large scale secondary body with sufficient tooling to create the advanced materials necessary.

  Don'Jin are only constrained by memory — larger scale units suffer from discontinuity and incoherence as they reach complexity limitations, though this is not inherently terminal in and of itself.

  Instead, decohering Don'Jin are typically removed by mercenary teams or, in some cases, sieging armies specially trained in their destruction.

  Smaller Don'Jin may simply have bounty hunting parties dispatched with the intent of retrieving and selling the central core or secondary manufacturing products.

  Behaviors vary, as most Don'Jin are hyper-focused on achievement of defined goals. Whether this is a species trait, or an induced artifact is a matter of debate.

  However, the common refrain of most analysis is that the current or future utility of a creature, species, organization or other entity is the ultimate deciding factor in Don'Jin reactions and treatment. A creature which was disregarded or actively attacked mere moments ago, who is shown to be an ambassador for a trading partner may result in a nigh-instantaneous switch in treatment — with defensive measures deactivating mid-stroke.

  This by itself would not be notable, but in these cases, no remnant hostility or grudge can be discerned — the behavior of the core is almost always determined by potential value in goal achievement. Racial bias and other expected behaviors are also similarly missing, though this can be hard to discern, as there is clear recognition of utility for species well-known or obviously capable of particular services. For instance, Scrav and other dedicated terrain-shapers are often actively recruited with promises of safety and sustenance, in order to ensure available of large-scale excavation capabilities; Something that Don'Jin can perform only with great inefficiency via aetheric means.

  The above is not a hard-and-fast rule, however, as some Don'Jin have been observed to simply desire positive interactions with locals. Speculation whether this is due to integration with the population being a goal is a common point of discussion. The end result, however is that these pro-social Don'Jin are friendly and engaging by default with most entities, often seeking or encouraging co-habitation which may include residence within their own structures. Others are more opportunistic, willing to negotiate or trade for specialized resources with the local populace.

  Similarly, other species which are normally sessile but willing to take on long-term protection contracts, or unintelligent Ber who behave suitably, are befriended or tolerated by default even by more aggressive Don'Jin.

  Don'Jin intelligence is similar to synthetics of similar scale and complexity, including large-scale gestalt intelligences. Their ability to track, analyze, manipulate, and predict thousands of simultaneous interactions across their secondary bodies is unrivaled by any other Ber'Duun species, including swarm intelligences. Their comparative limitations become obvious only when presented with significant distances, as unlike hive or swarm units, they do not make use of secondary processors with any significant intelligence.

  Multiple Don'Jin do not and will not typically share a secondary body, regardless of size, leading to an effective limitation of growth potential and project complexity. They are simply capable of so much, that this limitation rarely comes into play

  Mobile Don'Jin are generally not significant threats, but the danger posed by a sessile Don'Jin with a conflicting goal cannot be understated. They can, left unchecked, be city-killers, by sheer quantity of manufactured or coerced entities bent upon achievement of their goals, if nothing else.

  Do NOT attempt or instruct others to attempt negotiation with a Don'Jin without suitable legal and ambassadorial resources available.