Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

How do wraiths control their bodies?

+0
−0

In my fantasy world, wraiths are a species of shell-less, regressed crustaceans. They lay their eggs inside animal skulls, using them as shells. The wraiths' bodies are incredibly weak and they cannot move on their own. To be able to find food and defend themselves, they develop a vast number single-celled organisms. These cells are covered in a crystalline shell, with eight feather-like wings sprouting out of various holes. When simply flying around, they form a dense blue cloud around the wraith. However, when they join their wings together, they can form a solid body, expanding and contracting like a muscle. To receive nutrients, the cells are rhythmically vented through a special pouch in the wraith's body, which secretes sugars, fats, and proteins, filtered from the wraith's diet.

My question is, how can the wraith's main body control a swarm of completely disconnected cells? Since they are separate from the body, the wraith can't control them with nerve impulses. It needs a different method.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/163733. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

0 answers

Sign up to answer this question »