Lore:Dullahan
Dullahan |
Denonyms: Dullahan, Dullahans |
A little heads up would be nice!
Dullahan
A class of people whose heads come off, non-fatally. Through various links, the body can operate at a distance from the head, where the center of consciousness remains. Traditionally, Dullahans are human in origin, though traditions only carry so much weight in contrast to their defining feature: headlessness.
Origins
Historical
Early human folklore speaks to a Headless Horseman, who rides a horse and lacks a head. Various interpretations hold the Horseman as either seeking a missing head, or wielding a carved pumpkin as a surrogate head. While the initial tale may be but a fictional tale, a non-zero number of early humans have presented themselves as headless, either through illusion, deceit, a combination of HARS and a daring partner, or guillotine. None of these humans have survived the centuries of time before the resurgence of the Dullahan movement.
MECU
Early in the MECU’s exile, mortality loomed over top brass and, without access to SolFed’s typical life extension means, new methodologies were explored. "Entangled Mindswapping" involves severing the head of a late-term person and, through acids and nutrients, slowly eroding the surrounding biomatter and freeing the brain within, careful as to not induce more than a moment of brain death. Over a matter of weeks, the brain's natural neuroplasticity adapts to the novel sensory inputs of the jar it's entombed in, learning to process the binary feeds from the jar's sensors into sight and sound, and soon thereafter, output electrical signals akin to motor functions. This prolongs the consciousness of the executive within, from one century to numerous.
Over the next dozens of years, Entangled Mindswappers had already begun expanding their innovations, starting with rudimentary corpse embalming and repurposing. While they could not keep the corpse preserved and operational for more than a year, the ability to interface and manipulate their former body for that long proved valuable for the psychological transition to the bodiless infinite.
With the reconnection to SolFed came modern medical advances. Not only could they keep the body going indefinitely, with patented Nutrient Pumps and CNS Control implants, but the connection between brain and neck could reliably go wireless, carrying direct neural signals over airwaves, as opposed to interpreting the brain's motor signals, then translating those to muscle contractions. The first to be transitioned and updated described it "as if I were alive again," despite having already met the MECU's legal definition of life.
The Entangled Mindswap remains one of history's novelties, as the Man-Machine Interface serves as a far superior brain-preservation and interaction device, needing far less maintenance and having far more modularity and software support. What started as merciful support for persons stuck in the past eventually became a fashion statement, as companies such as Interdyne offered temporary Dullahan possession for the October festivities, and ironic usage turned into unironic enjoyment.
Modern
In modern times, undergoing a Dullahan procedure is both risky and cosmetic; most who would choose to leave their neck behind would incorporate themselves into a synthetic or cybernetic shell. Most modern Dullahans utilize a modified MMI designed to preserve the entire head, not simply the brain, with servos to emulate neck muscle movements, permitting complex facial expressions and audible speech.
The head is a self-sustaining container that doesn't need nutrition or oxygenation. It has innate self-respiration and a miniaturized nutriment implant specifically tuned to keep the head alive and independent even in the worst case scenario (separated from body). It uses an experimental short range RSD network linkMore responsive and effective within shorter proximity/line of sight to the main body, and significantly more secure than Bluetooth., similar to room transfers between containers/RSD Evokers.
Dullahans have seen light combat use, as most human-centered attacks focus on exploiting their vulnerable head, attached firmly to their neck. No headshots, no decapitations, no brain stem to sever, and their center of perception isn't even attached to them. While the body itself is not significantly sturdier than a human-standard body, their unique physiology is often enough to distract assailants for seconds in fights decided by moments.
On the civilian side of things, Dullahans are uniquely positioned to multitask around a room where the head may be centrally kept. With head and eyes focused on documentation and technical readoutsEnhanced by eye tracking software and other reactive aids., the body is free to perform intense labor without risk of donking a noggin on door frames.
Work in Progress: Footer subject to change at a moment's notice. Do not take a red link's presence, struck-through or otherwise, as confirmation (or denial) of their canonicity.
| Nova Sector Lore
| |
| Common Species | Humans, Tiziran, Unathi, Moths, Ethereals, Azulae, Slime Hybrids, Teshari, Synthetic Humanoids (and assorted robots), Pod Persons, Hemophages, Xenomorphic Hybrid, |
| Other Species | Genemodders (Felinids, Ice Walkers, Dwarf), Ashwalkers, Snailpersons, Ordoht (Formerly Skrell), Plasmamen, Flypeople, Vox (Primalis et al), Tajaran, Vulpkanin, Rouges (Abductorkin), Miscellaneous Species, Dullahans, Employee Golems, Changelings |
| Nanotrasen | Nanotrasen, Central Command, Emergency Response Corps |
| External Groups | The Syndicate, Interdyne Pharmaceutics, DS-2, Cargo, The Spider Clan, Tiger Cooperative |
| Nova | The Nova Sector, Indecipheres, Freyja |
| Concepts | Bluespace, Plasma, Faster Than Light Travel, Resonance ("Souls"), Death |
| SolFed | SolFed, Earth in 2565, The SolFed Armed Forces, |
