Entry 1

Sicora

  The Sicora, as they have come to be known, are a reclusive species of semi-sapient trees. Not native to earth, Sicora have exceptionally strange and wonderful biology. At first glance, they appear simple enough. Just an abnormally tall tree with long droopy vines hanging from its canopy. Things get stranger the harder you look, however, and the first thing you might notice is that those vines are prehensile, and are keen to move at the most inconvenient of times.

  It's no wonder how early researchers were startled. Seeing a vine start waving about on its own can be creepy. Doubly so when they notice that said vine glows at the tip, and upon further investigation, reveal that a cluster of tendril-like hairs are the cause. While dim on their own, together they light up the canopy like twinkling stars. Quite a beautiful sight at night, I must say.

  Unfortunately, though, that seems to be a bit of an unpopular opinion.

  It will take a passing observer a considerable amount of time to notice anything else. The reason for this is that when most observe these creatures, they focus solely on the tree itself. What one must look at, however, is its environment. For the tree is, while the most noticeable, only the final stage in a Sicora's life cycle. There exist four distinct life stages, each appearing as if unrelated to the rest. For example, Sicora males appear to be nothing more than the common winged salamander. The only reason they were even identified as the same species, and not just some weird pollinator, was by comparing their DNA.

  We'll get to that later, though. For now, let's just focus on the tree. With an average height of 70 to 120 meters, and 8 to 10 meters in diameter, Sicora are by far the largest tree known to date. Their bark is fibrous, furrowed, and can be up to 1.5 m thick at the base of the trunk. Roots can be as much as 4 meters in diameter, and begin above the surface.

  Due to having such a thick bark, Sicora are extremely fire resistant, and indeed they need occasional wildfires to clear out competition. Even if damaged by wind or wildlife, trees younger than 30 years can regrow from roots alone. Unfortunately, mature trees do not have this ability.

  Because of its immense size, water cannot be pulled from the ground to the top of the tree. It's simply too large of a distance. This problem is solved by having a network of small aerial roots between branches to supplement their water needs. Curiously, these roots tend to gather dust and debris, and will eventually become a form of aerial topsoil that other species can live on. Given enough time, most Sicora will develop isolated ecosystems in their branches.

  These ecosystems usually revolve around the Sicora's fruit. Sure, other plants can and do find their way up there, but they don't usually produce enough food to support an ecosystem of that size.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Young Sicora usually start producing fruit after around 15 years, but have been known to take as much as 20 years when in rough conditions. The fruits in question grow year-round along the bottom-most branches, usually in small clusters around a flower, and are generally quite similar to coconuts. They have a hard outer shell and a soft nutritious meat, then a liquid center where the developing male will grow.

  When aerial topsoil is present, the fruits may have developed a rough and misshapen appearance, similar to that of a potato. It is believed that this functions as a form of camouflage from predators.

  Fruits mature is 14 to 16 months, by which time they have become edible for whatever wildlife find them. After a month or two, though, the fruits detach from the Sicora and either fall to the earth or stay buried in the air. Once detached, a Sicora male will develop inside the fruit for approximately 4 to 6 months. After which, the male will try very hard to hatch from the fruit, or it will die. Then, if still buried, it must dig its way to the air.

  Sicora males have identical genes to the Sicora that bore them, and therefore with any of its brothers too. Because of this, Sicora males show a high degree of Eusociality. Basically, since your brother's kid is virtually the same as if they were your kid, there's an evolutionary pressure on you to protect the kid. It also means there's no need for everyone to have kids, and those that don't can do more productive things. Like killing all intruders.

  Or at least, that would be the case if they weren't also intelligent enough to realize that intruders are rather rare up in the canopy. And while not sapient, they are sentient enough to understand that killing everything in the canopy is a bad idea. Also cause the Sicora usually tell them not to, with those glowy vine things... ya I don't know either. I did say the Sicora were semi-sapient, right? They can think about as well as a monkey or a dolphin can, as best my guess. The males are pretty much cats and dogs, though.

  Guess I didn't mention the vines were some kind of communication thingamabob, though. No idea how, but through exhaustive tests, I've determined that both senses and limited memory transfer are possible through those things. It requires the hair things to be wrapped together though, so its usefulness is rather limited.

  Back to the males though. They are, for all intents and purposes, not that strange. At least in the big picture. Sure, a salamander adapted to living at high altitude and freezing temperatures may seem weird, but it's not that bad. They're basically just alpine newts. They have rough brown skin, short stocky bodies, and a prominent tail.

  Virtually the only strange thing is their wings, which is what they have instead of front limbs. Very bat-like in appearance, the wings of a Sicora male are extremely dextrous and can reach high very speeds, but are as fragile as anything else. Even a glancing blow can be crippling, so agility is a must if they spend any amount of time flying.

  Completely lacking an inner ear cavity, Sicora males are unable to do anything more than detect the presence of sound. Being an airborne arboreal species, this is a big disadvantage. And they don't really have a different way to communicate over distance. Of course, they have a small tuft of that glowey hair stuff they can use to share memories and stuff, but that is literally the opposite of long-range. Such as it is, visual and pheromonal cues are of extreme importance to them.

  Sicora females, on the other hand, are highly irregular. They range from 80 to 120 cm in hight,