the alternia challenge is named after the homeworld of homestucks trolls, and themed after its culture.
rules:
you must start out with two nichelings, named the mother grub and father grub. the father grub is made up so this challenge will be playable, but yeah.
nichelings may only breed with the mother and father grubs, and prefrably do so as close to the end of their lifespan as possible. children with rogue males are counted as mutants and will be banished and killed or sacrificed to birds. exceptions to this can be made for storytelling purposes.
double immunity nichelings, blind nichelings, infertile nichelings, and nichelings who cant gather food in any way are to be banished and killed or sacrificed to birds. exceptions to this may be made for storytelling purposes.
when the mother and/or father grub die, the first wanderer that is capable of doing so must be invited into the clan to take their place.
all names must be cut to six letters. when a nicheling grows to adulthood/3 gems, their name will be replaced by a title relating to their behavior or apperance.
horns and grey fur arent required, but are suggested
all dice rolled and coins flipped over the course of the challenge may be digital dice/coins
extending lifespans beyond default is reccomended, but not required
your clan is bound by a strict caste system in this challenge. upon a nicheling being invited to the clan or being born of a mating between the mother and father grub, roll a d9. the new nichelings blood caste will be decided by the number rolled: 1=rust, 2=burgundy, 3=gold, 4=olive, 5=jade, 6=teal, 7=cobalt, 8=indigo and 9=purple. if the nicheling has water breathing ability, they are violetblood. there may only be two fuschiabloods (which must also have water breathing) at once, the current ruler and their descendant. however, exceptions may be made for storytelling purposes. if neither fuschia currently exists, flip a coin upon a water breathing nicheling being born/invited. if heads, theyre a fuschia. if tails, a violetblood. any nicheling with purrsnout is automatically a limeblood, but banishing and killing them is optional.
nichelings born of an adult nicheling and the mother/father grub are automatically the same blood color as their ancestor/parent, except for if their ancestor was a seadweller or a limeblood and the child lacks the requisite parts, in which case you roll the d9 again.
all castes up to and including olivebloods are subject to random culling. the first time you select any given nicheling of rust, bronze, gold, lime, or olive blood in a given day, roll a d100. for a burgundy, if they roll a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, they will be banished and killed. bronzes will be culled if they roll a 1, 2, 3, or 4, and so on until olives, which will only be killed if they roll a 1.
the strict caste system also restricts nichelings to a specific role.
burgundies do odd jobs, like cracking open icebergs or anything else that doesnt fit with what the other castes do. or do what other castes do if there arent currently any members of that caste
bronzes pick berries
golds eat insects and crack nuts
limes heal and pick parasites
olives kill predators
jades stay in the brooding camp (explained below), only leaving to search for a new mother or father grub when the old one died. they may pick berries or crack nuts as long as the bush/tree is within the confines of the brooding camp, or clear grass to expand the brooding camp if needed. they also repair the mother grub's nest
teals kill rogue males. optionally, if youre doing a story, they also decide what other nichelings assign as their mutations.
cobalts hunt
indigos clear grass and destroy berry bushes
purples kill nichelings that, by the specifications of the challenge, need to die.
violets feed from the bottom/crack open clams/fish
fushias sit on trees/tree stumps and do the voice reach thing all day to represent leading.
there must be three camps on your island: the brooding camp, where the mother + father grubs, babies, and jadebloods are, the teen camp, where teens are, and the adult camp, where the adults are. the day a baby becomes a teen or a teen becomes an adult, they must move to the respective camp unless theyre a jadeblood.
caste is displayed via the color of gems
All red = rustblood
Red yellow red = bronzeblood
All yellow = goldblood
Purrsnout = limeblood
Green red green = oliveblood
All green = jadeblood
Blue green blue = tealblood
All blue = cobalt blood
Blue pink blue = indigoblood
Blue red blue = purpleblood
Pink blue pink = violetblood
All pink = fushiablood
optional: maintain a class of albino 'lusi'. lusi are free of the breeding restrictions of other nichelings in the challenge. when a lusus nicheling reaches adulthood, they choose a charge in the form of a teen nicheling and follow them everywhere until their charge grows up and goes to the adult camp.