THE
SLYRKING
("WALKING
MOSS") |
The second name ("Walking Moss") of this strange creature gives away the debates over its nature that scholars have engaged in. Considered an animal by one, but a moss by the other, it is still not entirely clear where this creature should be categorized. However, nowadays most scholars tend to agree that the fact this creature does actually move defines it more as an animal, rather than a plant.
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Image description. A piece of moving moss as found in one of the northern swamps. Picture drawn by Bard Judith. |
Appearance.
When first encountered,
this creature actually looks more like a slat of moss, rather than an animal. It
is only three nailsbreadth
in height and about one
palmspan long. Its entire earthen-like
body is covered with tiny soft green hairs of about a
nailsbreadth high and a
half grain thick. The hair
has the same colour on all sides of the creature, though each hair itself is a
bit browner at the bottom and more dark-green at the top.
However, these hairs are about the only things present on this little animal.
Neither mouth, nor eyes, feet, paws or tail can be found, so that the creature
bears amazing similarity with the upper side of a common piece of moss where its
general appearance is concerned.
However, on a closer inspection, one will see that is not the case. The creature
has been observed as being able to move around, something plants are usually
regared not to be able to. And though it moves rather slow, it is far from being
inert or stationary. Actually tthe hairs with which this creature is completely
covered have been observed to move even when there is no
wind to move them. The small rustly of the
soft and dull green hairs looks as if the creature is breathing with its entire
body. The hairs are small and soft to the touch, but still they feel a bit
sticky, as if they are covered with tiny hooks that hold them attached to your
fingers. When you move your hand over the moss, it will softly stick itself to
your fingers, scraping carefully at your skin with its hairs as if it were
inspecting you.
When found on a tree or rock, it is not easy to distinguish this creature from
an ordinary moss. Size, appearance and even smell are all the same. Only when
the creature is either moving, or breathing on a windstill time is it possible
to discern it from a normal moss.
Another way to see if you're dealing with a Slyrking is to lift the creature off
the ground. As, contrary to mosses, the Slyrking has hairs on all sides. Lifting
it from a tree or rock can still be difficult though, as the creature can attach
itself quite firmly such objects.
Special Abilities.
The Walking Moss has a few, yet unspectaculair abilities that allow it to
survive. Firstly, it appears so much like a moss that predators usually do not
feed on this creature, as they mistake it for ordinary moss and thus leave it
alone.
Secondly, it is able to remain in hibernation for quite some time. It has been
said that a Walking Moss that had been inert for years suddenly started moving
when it sensed the presence of a corpse nearby. Which is evidently another of
this creature's abilities: it can detect a dead animal or plant for about three
dashes around.
When a dead corpse is detected, the creature will slowly move towards it and
digest it when it has attached itself to it. A creature about as far away as the
Slyrking can detect will be reached in three quarters of a full day. When the
corpse has been emptied of all its useful nutrients, the Slykring simply returns
to another suitable place for hibernation.
Territory.
The Slyrking is only encountered in permafrosted areas, such as the Icelands,
the continent of Cyhalloi and the North of
Sarvonia, and in some other regions that are still quite cold, yet not
always covered with snow. Within these areas, it resides in tundras and forests,
but not on plain fields of ice. It is assumed this is because the creature needs
some protection from the harsh elements ruling the permafrosted areas, and
because its main sources of food are usually found in vegetated regions. Plain
icefields provide neither food nor shelter, and even though the creatures can be
remarkably resilliant, they will not thrive there.
In forests, the Moss can mainly be found on the barks of trees, such as
mithril birch or the
tulmine, where it attaches itself to
the side of the tree which is least exposed to
wind and rain. In the tundra, it seeks shelter on rocks and stones, also
trying to stay out of the wind.
It is not known whether the Walking Moss is common or not, simply because it is
quite hard to discern whether a random moss is just moss, or this particular
creature. Therefore, no accurate estimate of its population has been made
thusfar and due to its rather uninteresting nature, this will not likely change.
Habitat/Behaviour.
Within the areas they reside in, Slyrkings have no distinctively marked
territory of their own. Though they do not to stray further away than their
detection range, they also don't seem to develop nests or other kinds of
habitats. The creature just tries to find the best shelter nearby, sharing it
with other creatures when necessary.
As even though it seems these creatures have hardly any sort of mind at all,
they are remarkable social towards each other. Though they do not commonly form
groups, it does happen that multiple creatures find the same corpse. If this
happens, they will unselfishly share it with all other creatures, instead of
fighting over it by trying to gain access to the better spots.
When encountered by a predator, the Slyrking will try to disguise itself as good
as possible. It will immediately cease all movement, and pretend to be a real
moss. Even its breath holds, though this can only last for a short time. Still,
this disguise is good enough to make most predators believe they have
encountered a moss, on which they lose interest.
Eventually, all this creature concerns itself with is either feeding or resting,
which makes it a rather unspectacular animal where its behaviour is concerned.
Diet.
The Walking Moss lives solely on already died creatures or plants. It attaches
itself to a corpse of a beast, or the remains of a plant, and will then drain
the leftovers of any nutrients found within. For this process, it needs
sunlight, and although not much of it is
required, the creature cannot function at night or in dark places, such as
caves. It has been thought the sunlight
is necessary for the creature to thaw its frozen foodsource, and that otherwise
it will not be able to penetrate the frozen outer layer of a corpse to reach the
leftovers within.
When it has attached itself to a corpse, part of the creature's hair penetrates
the frozen outer layer of the corpse and makes contact with the remains itself.
Then, the nutrients are drained by these same hairs and after being digested by
the creature, a brown homogenous fluid is exerted from parts not attached to the
corpse.
The creature will remain attached to a corpse until all useful nutrients have
been extracted. When the corpse has been drained, the creature will detach
itself and either look for another potential source of food, or seek shelter
again. Normally, there are multiple creatures present, enough to cover the
entire corpse, and it will take them about three days to completely decompose
their host.
Sometimes another predator or another carcass-eating animal will try to get his
share from the corpse as well, by shoving the Slyrkings aside. Being small and
without any defensive mechanisms, the creatures usually have no option than to
find another place on the corpse and get as much food from it as possible. Their
only means of prevention is to cover the entire corpse with a multitude of
Slyrkings, so that their smell will mask that of the carcass, thus preventing
predators from detecting it.
Mating.
It is not known whether Walking Mosses display a difference between males and
females. When reproducing, two seemingly random mosses might decide to merge
into one, larger creature. After this has been done, the new Moss will seek
shelter and after about two weeks, when it has grown to twice its size, it will
fall apart and form multiple new creatures. Usually such a seperation will
result in about fifteen new mosses being formed, though these are still only a
quarter of the creature's normal size. It has been estimated that it takes these
siblings a year to get to their normal size, though this is not at all certain.
Usages.
Although the Walking Moss is not really used, in a way that its contents are
useful, or it has been domesticated, it provides a very important beneficial
effect for the frozen regions. The brown substance it exerts appears to be quite
fertile and does not easily freeze. Thus, the creature plays an important role
in continuing the cycle of life in regions where it would otherwise be hampered
by permafrost.
Myth/Lore.
Legend has that the Walking Moss was actually created from ordinary moss. Ages
ago, a Grey Druid who had merged himself with an ordinary piece of moss was
killed while he was in a merged state. His spirit than remained imprisoned
within the moss, but because of this, the moss itself now became more like an
animal, rather than a plant. Eventually, this Moss divided itself into a group
of smaller ones, thus forming the first generation of Walking Mosses.
Many more myths than those that surround the creature, are connected with the
fertile fluid it exerts. The property of this substance to bring new life to the
frozen lands has given rise to much speculation about supposed
magical benefits a refined form of this
substance might yield. Various effects, ranging from eternal youth to a
resurrection-potion have been suggested, yet none of these things has ever been
successfully created.
Researchers. Only recently the
researcher Eleanna Kalrinwenens established an outpost
within the North of Sarvonia at Hargarth
where she tries to cultivate Walking Mosses so
she can use the fluid they exert to create a youth
potion. Though it is not widely believed this attempt will result in such a
potion, it might provide some more information on the behaviour and properties
of the Walking Moss.
Information provided by
Theodorus
Holzman
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