Glith the Smokemuth

131 of 419
Glith
100% Happy
Owner
essaeren
Stolen
24 Jan 2019
Hatched
15 Mar 2019
Immortal
7 Dec 2019
5,181 +1
Views
1,754 +1
Clicks
1,552
Feeds
4
Items Collected
Recent Feeders
juniperrains
trashykawa
riceboysleeps
dougprishpreed
spaceistheplace
༻࿙༓࿚༺ ༿ My first creature ༾ ༻࿙༓࿚༺

~Third Place in @Jello's Beauty Pageant~

~First Place in @Dragistar12's Common Appreciation Contest~

꧁☙⚛ཊཪ•- ༵ Glith's Story ༵ -•ཬཏ⚛❧꧂


I stepped out on the dusty, rocky path that led to the enormous gray island. Somehow, it managed to be interesting while bland, somber yet exciting. A foreboding obsidian pillar stretched up to the heavens, seemingly going on forever, past the clouds. It was encased in a shining crystal, somewhat ice-like, clouded by a gray mist. The skies were cloudy too, but the crystal's clouds were moving, somewhat magically, on their own. The ferryman grinned at my obvious curiosity. "Its'a Megalith or Monolith. We call it Glith. Those're teh two big words all teh locals round 'ere know. Ya'know, it has a soul. That's why we gave it a name. Little gray moths float 'round it at night and fireflies too. Prettier that way. There's stories 'bout it too. Lot's of 'em." I smiled at that. I loved the idea that this majestic monument had a soul. Unfortunately I wouldn't be staying here for very long, although perhaps I could fit visiting the monument into my schedule. I carefully stepped off of the ferry and went into check myself into the inn.

༻࿙༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓༼ ⚛ ༽༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓࿚༺

In the dead of night, I stepped out onto the cold, smooth gray circle platform that surrounded Glith, as the locals called it. I carefully ran my hand on the circular pillar, tracing the dark clouds that slowly moved around the pillar and in the crystal. The wind whispered in my ear with a touch of cold, yet I wasn't truly cold at all. I moved my hand into a groove, one carved into the transparent crystal. Normally I wouldn't be able to see what was carved there, or the infinitely long list of carvings that stretched up the pillar, but the full moon and the warmly glowing fireflies lit the monument perfectly. With abnormal confidence, I recited the poem that was at eye level with me solemnly.

ཌ༒Grey༒ད

Grey wanders through the colourful chaos.
Creating voids and blanks with their touch.
Roaming with monotone emptiness.
Silent and forgotten
Seen yet unappreciated.
Leaving their ignored mark
In dust, stones and clouds.
Helping others shine, but shadowed.
Oh tainted child, I pity you
Not pure or evil, a middling colour.
Have you found anyone who truly loved you?
Grey still wanders through the colourful chaos.
Contrast to the brightness.

And in a whisper, I add the last, faint words scrawled at the bottom of the poem. "We loved you Mother Gray. Even if you were never seen. Even if you cast a cloud of obscurity over this island. This monument is to you.

༻࿙༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓༼ ⚛ ༽༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓࿚༺

The words shimmered, with a light so much stronger than that of the moon or the stars. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I rushed down the rock path that led to the shore, for something, someone compelled me to do so. Looking as I raced, I saw that the path shimmered with a light similar to the one the poem produced. The tide gently lapped at the poles that held up the rock path and filled the air with the scent of the sea. I slowed to a walk as I saw the end, where it seemed like a star had fallen. As I neared, it got brighter, like I was walking towards a sun, if a sun exuded cold, bluish grayish light. If I had been thinking, I would have never gone towards it, but I drew closer. Once I got to arm's length, it, or rather, Glith, as I had realised that it's aura was the same as the monolith's, spoke. It rang through the air in such a musical manner that I stared in a trance, unaware that Glith was speaking.

༻࿙༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓༼ ⚛ ༽༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓࿚༺

I woke in a peaceful manner, first puzzled by the warm, yellow light that shone onto the inn's bed. The light was so different, so contrasting, to the light I had felt moments before. Then the dream rushed through my head, making me smile and shake my head at my imagination. Then a cold, slightly heavy weight made itself known. I clutched whatever it was and tugged it frantically, not realising I had to unclasp it. Once I had realized that, I looked at the fist sized pendant carefully. It was an exact recreation of what Glith had looked like. I blanched and leaped out of my bed. Stumbling to make myself presentable, I rushed down to see the ferryman scarfing down his breakfast. As soon as he saw the necklace I carried in my hand, he oohed appreciatively. "Ain't that a sight for sore eyes! One of the 'ol families' arts, huh? It was a magic creature, was a, was a... Smokemuth! A Smokemuth. That was what the pillar was based on, 'ccordin to an old tale. Called it the heart of the pillar too. Nice. You still got some time to see yer tower and pack before I gotta take you back to mainland though."

༻࿙༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓༼ ⚛ ༽༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓࿚༺

I slowly processed his words and then thanked him before I raced to the tower. It wasn't that far away, although the cold bit into me, unlike my "dream". As I reached the tower, something floated down from the top of the tower. I smiled wryly as I finally remembered what Glith had said and opened my arms, welcoming him down.

"Hello. Let's go on a journey."

༻࿙༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓༼ ⚛ ༽༓࿚༺ | ༻࿙༓࿚༺

╚══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══༻࿙༓✯༓࿚༺══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══•══╝

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.

Log In Register