The Gorgon-Walkers eventually reached a size and power level where their biological processes began to affect the planet's geology. Known as the Tectonic Catalysts, the eldest of the Walkers had become so massive that their movements could trigger volcanic eruptions. Their footsteps were no longer just sounds; they were seismic events recorded in the strata of the earth. They had become the "gardeners" of the Earth's heat, intentionally cracking the crust to release the sulfur and magma they needed to survive. They would congregate at fault lines, their collective weight pressing down on the plates until the earth gave way, providing them with a fresh surge of geothermal energy. This was a deliberate manipulation of the planet; they were not merely inhabitants of the world, but its active geomorphic shapers, bending the very tectonic forces to their biological will.
This was the peak of the Gorgon Era. They were no longer at the mercy of the environment; they were the environment. A single Prime Alpha could maintain a "Thermal Oasis" for hundreds of miles, creating a pocket of warmth where lesser lifeforms—the ancestors of modern mammals—scurried like insects in the cracks of their armor. These oases were the only places where true greenery still existed, fed by the CO2 and moisture exhaled by the titans through their massive dorsal vents. In these zones, life flourished in a strange, parasitic symbiosis with the giants. Birds nested in the ridges of their spines, and small mammals scavenged the scraps of their kills, all living in the shadow of the literal gods of the earth. The air in these oases was thick with the scent of ozone and ancient minerals, a micro-climate sustained entirely by the pulsing heart of a monster.
The evolution of the Catalysts led to a strange, symbiotic relationship with the planet. They breathed the volcanic ash and exhaled oxygen-rich vapors, unintentionally terraforming the world for the next age. Their bodies were living ecosystems, with entire forests of fungi and moss growing in the grooves of their scales. They became so integrated with the earth that they began to incorporate minerals directly into their bones, turning their skeletons into iron and granite. They were no longer just flesh and blood; they were living statues of the planet's own making, the ultimate expression of biological power. Their nervous systems eventually extended into the ground through root-like nerve endings in their feet, allowing them to sense a tectonic shift on the other side of the globe.
But this god-like power came with a price. Their energy requirements were so vast that they spent decades in "Lithic Sleep," becoming indistinguishable from mountains. During these periods, their heartbeats slowed to once every hour, and their body temperature dropped until they were indistinguishable from the surrounding rock. Sediment would collect on their backs, and over centuries, actual soil and vegetation would cover them, hiding the titan beneath a layer of deceptive tranquility. When they did wake, the world trembled as they shed layers of stone and dirt, rising like a continent from the sea. Their awakening was a catastrophe for anything living nearby, as the sudden release of stored thermal energy would incinerate the very oases they had spent centuries nurturing. The landscape was constantly being torn down and rebuilt by their hunger, a cycle of creation and destruction that defined the late Cinder Epoch.
The Tectonic Catalysts represented the limit of what life could achieve on Earth. They were the pinnacle of the Gorgon lineage, creatures that had transcended the need for hunting and instead became forces of nature. However, their reliance on the Earth's internal heat made them vulnerable to the planet's own slowing metabolism. As the core continued to cool and the plates began to settle into more stable configurations, the Catalysts found it harder to trigger the eruptions they needed. They were the kings of a world that was slowly going dormant, their massive forms becoming too heavy for the cooling crust to support. They began to sink