| Class: | Symbiont Microbe |
All statistics depend on host species, save for adding to mode of travel.
BBB is a symbiont that "infects" the fatty tissues of its host. The blastula's hollow sphere shape contains lighter-than-air gas sufficient that the blubber can counter-balance the weight of a roughly equal volume of muscle and bone. Adapted host lineages fall in to four basic categories; lightened hosts, bouncy hosts, float-fliers, and true floaters.
"Lightened Hosts" include Giants and Oliphants. Having only a minimal portion of BBB, "lightened" hosts remain quite heavy; they have just enough BBB that they don't sink into the soil. Without BBB, Giants and Oliphants would be restricted to walking on areas of solid stone. With BBB, they can walk over softer ground without sinking or crushing underground roots too badly, although they must still be wary when approaching wetlands; they may be able to float in water, but they can still get mired in muck.
"Bouncy Hosts" include big, fat "bouncisaurs" (which SEE), cubby dinosaurs whose very fat makes them light enough that their weight is just enough for good traction. Bouncisaurs look almost inflated; they are obviously buoyant, and may even have to grasp at the ground or rooted vegetation when chubby.
"Float-fliers" include some Dragons and other huge fliers, but also includes the much smaller Iniopterygian flying sharks (which SEE). Their BBB provides enough buoyancy that, while they may rest on the ground (or dive into the water) more securely than bouncers, only minimal wing-work is required to lift the host into the air; the wings are primarily for propulsion. In some cases, the BBB of their "lifting lard" generates excess hydrogen; this is useful for jets of flame.
"Dedicated Floaters," such as Hoover-Bells (which SEE), air-born jellyfish, etc. simply float.
Some BBB produce microscopic eggs that are excreted by their host. Another creature that ingests the BBB eggs may become infected. In most cases, BBB infects the host's embryos en utero, even before eggshells form.
Unadapted hosts may have difficulty with their BBB. An unadapted host may gain too much fat and float up in to the sky. While so sky-stranded, the host will eventually start to starve and lose enough fat to sink back down - if the hapless critter doesn't fall prey to some flying predator.
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