AlyssaGardener the Smokemuth

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AlyssaGardener
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After Alyssa Victoria Gardener from the Splintered books ❤️






My CDWC Entry:

About the egg:
This egg leaves behind a black, soot like powder when held or rubbed. Many assume this residue is dirt but in fact it is not, it's much more similar to the element carbon. This egg is found buried deep in the earth's crust around the volcano and people have started to run across them frequently while exploring the tunnels left behind from the Pareteorsites' attempted invasion. They can be found in clusters in hollowed out pockets in the tunnel walls, cloaked in a fine cloud dust. When the eggs hatch, the carbon-like residue on the egg is seen to come from the creature's mouth.


About the creature:

When the SAR center tried to figure out how these creatures have never been seen before, they saw that the creatures don't need sunlight to survive. They spend their entire lives underground in a cavern not too far away from the volcano itself and have adapted to the lack of light by becoming bioluminescent once they hatch from their chrysalis. When they're in their caterpillar stage, however, they are completely blind due to their eyes not being completely developed and rely on their antennae to help them find food in the dark. When their metamorphosis begins they start to make a chrysalis out of jellified powder from their mouths to cover themselves and stick to the ceiling of the cavern. As they get closer to hatching the chrysalis starts to heat up rapidly until it crystallizes, and once it does so fully, the creature emerges. This process is a spectacle to see because they emerge in a bust of white light that is later revealed to be their bright bioluminescence. The light emits from their wings and is bright enough to light their way in the heavy darkness to help them see where they fly and find food. After the new stage was examined, it was discovered the creature's wings are made of a stone very similar to a diamond, yet lightweight enough for the creature to still have the ability to fly. When these creatures hatch indoors, the process is still the same, but owners have to take special care in insuring that the egg and caterpillar are kept in complete darkness so that it does not hurt their developing eyes prior to their metamorphosis. Once they emerge, they can be slowly introduced to daylight so that they can freely roam the home. It's a beautiful sight when the sunlight hits their wings, because it reflects rainbows across the walls.

About Smokemuth Eggs

Smokemuth eggs are one of the least-researched eggs on all of Ark and with good reason too: upon exposure to even the mildest breeze, they collapse into a pile of soot and dust. This unfortunate tendency has frustrated and turned away all save the most persevering Arkians. What little is known of Smokemuth eggs is their tendency to turn up in dark, dusty areas, as well as the two small appendages resembling antennae that can be glimpsed through the perpetual dust storm raging around the egg upon closer inspection.

About the Smokemuth Creature

Juvenile Smokemuths are rather dull and uninteresting, being a fat, grey, legless grub easily mistaken for rather dusty statues. This stage however does not last long, and it is widely speculated that a young Smokemuth's lack of movement is to conserve energy for their impending transformation.

The Smokemuth's radical pupation is one of the myriad of mysteries that has puzzled many leading scientists of Ark. Two of the more obvious sources of confusion are how the sedentary larvae pupate so suddenly and the seemingly-counterproductive hard, crystalline material they produce that ensconces the juvenile within seconds. The crystals are smooth, extremely durable and cold to the touch, with sharp edges that seem to stick out every which way. When a sample was analyzed, the "crystals" are found to be extremely similar in composition to Rencup ice, which generated a theory amongst the citizens of Ark that Smokemuth eggs were frozen in the wild to keep them intact until they hatched. Even if the Science and Research Center in Ark City dismisses said theory, an increasing amount of Arkians have taken to freezing or stowing their Smokemuth eggs in a freezer, which not only protects the egg's structural integrity but also causes no damage to the larva.

Adult Smokemuths are a truly magnificent sight to behold — the same shards that once surrounded their unmoving forms during pupation become a pair of wings that allow Smokemuths to take flight. They now possess legs but keep them retracted while airborne. Although the fact that Smokemuths can fly despite the supposed density of their icy wings raises a few eyebrows, it is nowhere near the fascination Smokemuth egg and larvae are held in.