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Description:

The Salavrand:

The Salavrand is a unique creature, surviving mostly because of it's ability to bond together temporarily with others of it's kind to become bigger. They are basically slugs with multiple connection nodes on their bodies, which can connect to another Salavrand's nodes to share thoughts. These 'nodes' allow them to communicate effortlessly amongst one another when connected, though in larger bondings there is often one Salavrand elected to control the others. The nodes also can carry a gas(that is the equivalent of oxygen for Salavrands) and food along, thereby relieving the need for worms deep inside the structure to breathe and eat. The worms can survive on their own, as they each have their own set of organs. A worm that has had it's nodes removed has it's ability to bond reduced drastically, and is considered an outcast to others of it's kind. Each worm is roughly 1/4 of a widely accepted Metre. It's eyes are very small and as such it's sight is very limited. Hairs on the body, however, can sense disruptions in the air, including where the disruption originated from and it's size. Using this, the Worm or Bondling can determine whether it has met whatever-it-is before. It can also sense disturbances in the air bouncing off other objects, such as walls or the ground or the ceiling. As such it can navigate with relative ease.

Reproduction:

A singular worm is asexual and may or may not carry eggs in it at any particular time. If a worm has eggs in it, and it is not hibernating as part of a Bondling, It will go to a nearby corpse of relatively large size(unless it is of a Salavrand worm) and lay it's eggs in it. The eggs will hatch and the resulting newly-born worms devour the corpse, and in extreme cases, each other, to gain energy. The growth process takes, roughly, one widely-accepted fortnight.

History (to explain some stuff):

At one point in history, the Salavrand realized the need to create a larger, uniform.....form, to be able to make advances in the field of, well, anything useful really.

Like many other races, they reached the pinnacle of technology that was space exploration. They launched multiple ships, making their space-suit the priority for improvement, since they needed adaptability. Eventually, they made a space suit that houses a bipedal bonding similar to a human, with multiple slots on the side for suits that can be equipped by individual Salavrand so that exploration is made much more streamlined by the ability to launch several worms at once. The gas required of individual worms is quite high compared to larger, bonded forms, considering the lower metabolism in a larger bonding because of the very large amount of worms that are not doing anything exceptionally useful, except being there to maintain integrity of the whole. These worms slip into a state akin to hibernation. To counter the fact that individual worms could not carry large gas tanks, they simply made along, flexible but durable hollow coil that connects the worm suit to the suit of the whole.

Diet:

While carnivorous, a fruit tree exists on that planet that allows for limited reproduction; A worm will lay a single egg inside, and the hatched worm will eat the fruit, including a seed. When the worm next excretes, the seed shall come out as well, allowing for the spread of the fruit tree. Also an option for daily consumption. Otherwise, the worm or bondling will just find some meat and eat that.

Terminology:

- Bondling - A bonded entity composed of Salaravrand worms.
- Worm - A singular worm.
- Host - A corpse in which a worm has laid it's eggs.
- Bonder - The 'nodes' that connect to other worms to create a Bondling.
- Hibernation - The state a worm enters when it is only part of a Bondling to provide structural intergrity. Not actual hibernation.

Name: Averus Salamoth (Name of a worm residing in the middle of the body)

Description:

A Bondling fitted out in the standard space suit for it's race. Stands at almost 2.5 Standard Metres. A tall bipedal being made of many Salavrand Worms, coiled upon each after layer after layer, making the innermost worms very hard to damage. The Worms closest to the surface are the one's with the most muscle. Often seen wearing a complicated headpiece that is it's respiratory headset.

Backstory:

One of the best of his kind, Averus spent most of his life studying for such an occasion. He went to many of the best schools, making revolutionary advances in the field of science. When the Dark Star expedition came along, Averus just had to come as well. His reasons for coming were, as he put it: "Where there are discoveries to be made, I am also."

Likes and Dislikes:
(Note: this is the controlling worm, not the whole.)
It likes being connected to other Worms, exotic forms of life, planets capable of supporting Salavrand worms and Advanced Technology. It doesn't like being backstabbed, outcast Worms, and things with 'an unnatural air about it'. It absolutely detests anything trying to kill it.

Abilities:

- Can Split - Can split up into multiple worms
- Critical and Intelligent Thinking - The many worms in the bondling combined make a huge amount nueral connections, enabling the controlling worm to be able to think incredibly quickly. Even if those worms are hibernating, their brains are still accessible to the controlling worm. 
- Unused to singular form - Will be unused to being a singular worm. Also gets dumber as number of worms in Bondling is reduced.
- Hard to kill. If a worm is killed, another worm will come to replace it until there is not enough worms left.
- Can change form - being an assortment of worms, It can manipulate worms to change body shape.
- Cluster Eyes - By clustering eyes together, the Bondling can gain a less-limited sight.
- Sensitive hairs - Described in race description. Can sense distortions and their shape in air.
- Parasitic - Can lay eggs in a living or non-living body (usually non-living). The eggs will hatch soon after and as such the body will explode.

Skills:

- Basic Survival Skills - Knows basic survival skills
- Biological Knowledge - Knows advanced biology
- Chemistry - Knows the structure of atoms and advanced chemistry
- Advanced Lab Protocols - Familiar with all lab protocols and behavior
- Advanced Lab Tools - Familiar with almost all Standard Lab Tools
- Basic Firearms - Knows a bit about standard handheld projectile and energy weapons
- General Practitioner - Knows a bit about all areas of science.