The technosystem of the Long Night is vast and unpredictable. Species rise and fall with regularity and new variants appear without warning.
To order such chaos, a universal system has been applied to aid the viewer in determining the general nature of an encounter with minimal effort. All creatures will have names designed as such: “Archetype ID-Size-Disposition-!N-Matter Integration!-Numeric Designator”.
Archetype refers to the broad class of organism it belongs to. Some archetypes are broad, others are narrow. All stem from a single ancestral person or species. Like a clade on the tree of life, they are a shared group of traits which has speciated into countless forms, all bearing the trace of their origins.
Sub-Archetype is a special kind of class within an Archetype, sharing an aesthetic and point of origin. While they do not have official names, they often share sets of abilities and affinities, influenced by their original Archetype but meaningfully different.
MCR- Micro, the smallest size. Tiny flies and other vermin are of this scale.
MNL- Minimal, the second-smallest. Some larger invertebrates are here.
SML- Small, the size of vertebrate vermin, analogous to rats.
LSR- lesser, small non-vermin animals. Cats and dogs.
MDM- Large dogs or people-sized.
LRG- The size of a large animal, bigger than a human. A bear or a horse.
HGE- Huge. An elephant-sized creature.
GNT- A gigantic creature, the size of a whale.
TTN- A titanic creature with no known biological equivalent.
AMBT- A harmless, small creature, little more than background radiation unless in truly great numbers.
VRMN- A harmful small creature, a pest or nuisance.
BNGN- A harmless large creature. A prey animal or nonviolent machine.
HZRD- A creature which doesn’t go out of its way to attack people, but is territorial and unpredictable. An obstacle, but one which can be avoided.
PRBM- A creature which may not directly threaten people, but can be a nuisance, stealing items or causing mischief.
DNGR- A dangerous creature, one which will actively prey on people if it can.
SPNT- A sophontic creature, an intelligent being capable of metacognition and the use of N-matter.
DVNT- An intelligent being which has adapted to the Technosystem, trading human values for better competitiveness.
VSSL- A quasi-intelligent creature acting as a puppet for a malevolent disembodied entity of the Deep Datasphere.
HSTL- A semi-sophont that has for one reason or another become unable to be reasoned with.
EXST- An existential threat to civilizations or settlements.
INCR- An immensely powerful host body of a malevolent Datasphere entity.
AVTR- An immensely powerful host body of a benevolent Datasphere entity or ascended sophont.
CMPN- A creature kept by intelligent beings for companionship.
DMST- A creature which lives in settled areas, kept as a companion and also capable of hunting pests.
VHCL- A transport that can be mounted and ridden but is too specialized for cargo.
CRER- An autonomous transport exclusively for carrying cargo.
NMAD- A transport that can be ridden and also carry cargo, but only half as much as the CRER type.
WEPN- A creature used for both hunting and war.
HNTR- A creature used for hunting, but not war.
MLTR- A powerful creature used only for war.
SRVT- A semi-intelligent creature used as a tool.
SNTN- A creature used exclusively for cleaning vermin and waste.
PRDC- A creature raised, farmed, or built as means to obtain or extract resources.
V#- Denotes that it is a caste with a specific differentiation from another in its creature type.
W#- Denotes it has a unique weapon configuration for its creature type.
EX- Denotes it is the product of experimentation within recorded history.
All species in a given region have a 7-digit number appended to them. This refers to the individual species. The important information is primarily contained in archetype, size, and disposition if one needs to make a quick judgement without caring for the nuances.