Tiphon
Tiphon, also known as Mimics or the Black, are hostile shapeshifting aliens encountered on Talos I, a moon base built and funded by the Federal Bureau of Control.
Overview[]
Typhon are hostile extraterrestrials, that were being kept on Talos I space station and Pytheas Moon base for study by the Federal Bureau of Control. The goal of the study was to give the powers that Tiphon have to humans by mapping their Neural patterns onto Humans through Neuromods which could in turn channel and harness Excenothurgy.
Meanwhile, the Neuromods themselves required the use of exotic materials harvested from Tiphon organs, which was what enabled the modification of the neural networks in the human brain, even when used imprint human-derived abilities onto other human recipients. For that purpose, Talos I also housed the primary facility for exotic material production by the order of the Board from the FBC, however, the true purpose behind the establishment of the base was kept confidential to those would partake the quest.
Description[]
Tiphon are a species of inorganic, amorphous, symbiotic type II-minus extraterrestrials though this category could change given their structure being more alien than the generic extraterrestrial. They are formed from a shiny, shimmering grey-black substance that seems to display the characteristics of solids, liquids and gasses all at once, and the Tiphon can with ease change the structure and solidity of this to change shape, and use their appendages as weapons. This semi-solid form is also most likely the source of their high durability. Almost nothing is explained or revealed about their anatomy or biological makeup - indeed, their physiology is incomprehensibly alien. Their sizes and shapes vary greatly, ranging from small arachnid-like creatures to large humanoids and floating orbs, but the vast majority of them are vulnerable to kinetically induced trauma, be it via blunt force or ballistics, or quasiparticle supercharging.
Each Typhon species possesses different abilities such as mimicking matter, telekinesis, teleportation (i.e. quickly phasing or warping to a nearby location), generating fire, electricity, or corrosive gas, mind control, remote machine control, psychic assault, or even creating new species of Tiphon. In spite of their complex neural structures, they lack mirror neurons, preventing them from empathizing with the suffering of other beings or even recognizing they are anything more than prey. It is for this reason that Alex Mercer advises against calling them "evil", as they are not intentionally malevolent or cruel, simply pursuing what they see as a food source, which, according to January, is consciousness. Tiphon are able to replicate or spawn more of themselves in strange processes, as evidenced by the abilities of Mimics and Weavers.
There are also variants of Tiphon, with one being discovered in deep sunless caverns. These variants are called Formless Spawn. They are extremely resilient and very difficult to dispatch. These Formless Spawn, like all species of Tiphon, can take any shape and can attack their targets in nearly every conceivable way. They are extraordinarily flexible and plastic, and can quickly flow into a room through the tiniest of cracks. What sets them apart from regular Tiphon is their lack of symbiosis with humans and thus are more feral and animalistic than their better who gain an understanding of consciousness and even subjects of humanity.
History[]
Origins[]
The Tiphon are revealed to have originally been a substance produced by Yibb-Tstll, one of the Ogdru Jahad. The substance in question could either have been Yibb-Tstll's blood or a fluid it secretes from its orifices. The substance can only be produced whenever Yibb-Tstll feeds off the "living abyss". How the Tiphon was able to find its way into our plane of existence is unknown, though some signs point to the Night Gaunts as they feed on these creatures from Yibb-Tstll's breasts, but it was enough warrant the attention of the Moon Beasts, creatures who resided upon the moon of the Dreamlands, to extract the materials composed by the Tiphon on Earth's moon. In addition, Yibb-Tstll likely ejected these creatures from itself with the hope of them finding Earth and infesting the planet with darkness so as the Tiphon could hasten the arrival of the Ogdru Jahad.
It was further shown that the Moon Beasts constructed an artificial planet for the Tiphon called Klyntar. The Tiphon thrived on Klyntar when in reality it was used as a cage or animal pen of sorts for the Moon Beasts to exploit the rare minerals produced by the Tiphon. After an untold amount of years, the Tiphon rebelled against their jailors which eventually culminated in the destruction of Klyntar. Because of their unique biology, a good number of Tiphon survived and aimlessly wandered the cosmos on fragmented pieces of their homeworld. Few found their way to locations containing the Ogdru Hem inevitably serving them.
Due to such service, they can usually be found in temples dedicated to the Old Ones or in deep sunless caverns, often acting as guardians and protectors of secrets. They may accompany or herald the arrival of a Great Old One or stand in the god's stead, or simply lie motionless for years at a time, like some quiet dark pool waiting to be disturbed by the unwary. So far, only a varian of the Tiphon, colloquially referred to as the Formless Spawn, serve Tsathoggua have been discovered where they rest in the basins of the Toad God's temples and keep the sanctuary from being defiled by nonbelievers. The Formless Spawn are Tiphon variants weaponized by Tsathoggua to be under his own will.
Early History[]
The Tiphon were discovered on the Vorona-1 satellite, which was launched by the Russian branch of the Federal Bureau of Control, known as GRU Division "P" in 1958, though the mission itself was disguised as one of the competitive races between the Soviets and the United States. The satellite was orbiting the moon until the Soviets lost communication with it. They then sent a manned mission to investigate. The repair team did not find any external issues so the leading members of GRU Division "P" ordered the cosmonauts to breach the satellite. In the moments that followed, the cosmonauts encountered a non-terrestrial life form, which killed all members of the mission and the satellite crashed into the Pytheas crater of the Moon.
After two years of silence, GRU Division "P" contacted the Federal Bureau of Control and pleaded for help with containing the threat. Both the FBC and president John F. Kennedy agreed, and in 1963, the US-Soviet collaboration resulted in the Kletka program. A permanent installation was built to contain the non-terrestrials. After a failed assassination attempt on Kennedy, the Bureau sent a Mobile Task Force to seize control of the program and started to have a research team study the non-terrestrials, all while it being disguised as the Apollo 11 mission, but were unable to harness their enigmatic abilities for military or commercial applications. After a containment failure lead to the death of the entire research team, the surviving Mobile Task Force abandoned the station. Eventually, the FBC transformed it into Talos I, a cutting edge innovation center in an attempt to draw the eyes of the public away from what was really going on while also labelling it as a containment site. In just five short years, the team aboard Talos I achieved a great understanding of the Tiphon organisms and started to apply their research to D-Class personnel (in the form of Neuromods).
