Chelvine

Fast Facts

Height: 2'-5' feet

Weight: 80-120 lbs

Length: 3'-8' (measured to tail tip)

Diet: Omnivorious

Rarity: Common to Uncommon

Trainability/Taming: Varies by temperament and intelligence

Appearance

Most know the Chelvine for its seemingly very odd apperance. The creature itself looks like it's been splashed with colorful paints, almost whimsical as well as terrifying with the entire rest of its body stained black. The chelvine is a creature that most have come to associate with the Sundering. It is in fact one of the species of animals changed by the Sundering that didn't end up dying out after it ended or forcing themselves to be hunted to extinction by trying to hunt mortals. For being a creature born from the Sundering, the chelvines are actually noticeably calm. Most of them anyway.

That being said, its origins certainly show in its apperance. With long-fingered hands tipped in claws, it gives the impression of a primate while being noticeably wrong. While only possessing four fingers on both its hands and its feet, it has an opposable thumb on both which can make the creature a danger. The connections between them and primates further solidify when you look at their tails and their hind legs. While obviously more suited for running on all fours, it becomes evident that the chelvine possesses the ability to crouch, stand, and even walk short distances on its hind legs. The long whip-like tail can be used for climbing trees and also provides balance to the creature during these attempts to stand up.

The claws can be used for self-defense, but for the most part, the chelvine isn't an offensive creature. When threatened, the chelvine usually engages a low level of camouflage. All chelvines are black, however, they can change any color they so desire at will. These colorful patches doting the chelvine will also disappear, though not completely. They'll leave faint marks on the creature regardless.

The head of the chelvine is probably one of its most noticeable features simply because it's so odd. Starting at the top, we have the long ears which are covered in colorful patterns. The ears of a chelvine make up for the majority of their senses due to the fact the chelvine doesn't have a nose and has noticeably weak eyesight. They also pick up on touch easier than a lot of other creatures, feeling the vibrations of the earth even up and through the trees. The eye of the chelvine is singular and small, existing within the ring of color at the center of its forehead. pitch back and without pupil, the eye is almost indistinguishable from the skin and goes a good deal to explaining why their eyesight is so poor. The giant ring that looks like an eye is mostly a defense against predators, for the same reason butterflies look like they have eyes on their wings.

The jaw of the chelvine is powerful but doesn't open very wide. The power is mostly for cracking open things like cuts and bones. The tongue of the chelvine is exceptionally long and well suited to a lot of tasks varying between robbing flowers of their nectar and robbing scavenged bones of their marrow.

The colorful patches of the chelvine aren't just for aesthetic though. These are the portions of its body while raw aether ended up being caught when the creatures were first 'created' in terms of the Sundering. While these spots no longer contain raw aether, they do still contain excess amounts of aether which could be unhealthy for the creature. The way these things have come to adapt is by creating a kind of sugary liquid that holds excess aether reserves. This liquid is then secreted through the skin of the chelvine in a way that's a bit like sweat. The ears of the chelvine possess the highest concentration, which results in them occasionally seeming like their leaking. This liquid can crystallize and becomes stronger as it does so, usually earing like crystallizations will dangle down from the ears until they eventually fall off.

Habitat

The chelvine is a common creature because it can exist just about everywhere in Ransera. The one place it typically doesn't favor are areas that experienced a high level of aetheric corruption post Sundering. Chelvine, due to their nature, have a much easier time being affected by corruptive aether influences. This includes Dread Mists, the likes of which usually affect them at a category level higher than what the actual Dread Mist is. Places that were deeply affected by the Sundering, like Sil-Elaine, are places that can be extremely lethal to the chelvine. There are some variations that have learned to live in these kinds of areas by ingesting certain types of plants and animals which either increase the production of their aetheric sap or protect against corruption, but they haven't been studied in enough depth for researchers to know how.

Aside from that, chelvines are diverse enough that they can exist in most climates, showing no real preference aside from generally disliking extreme ones.

Temperament

The problem with trying to record the temperament of the chelvine stems from how diverse they are. Thanks to the fact they are a product of the sundering, it's uncertain if they actually started out as a single species of animal or multiple species that underwent a similar enough transformation that time has led to their descendants evolutionarily being the same species. A lot of species which were the direct result of the sundering share similar problems, but the chelvines are an interesting case among them. They do share quite a few common traits, but also a good handful that some groups have nothing in common with.

All chelvines are migratory creatures, often having a very large territory that they roam daily. In addition, chelvines are also pack animals. They like to live in large groups with lots of family and friends. A solitary chelvine can become sick from the isolation if left alone for too long a time. In addition to that, chelvines tend to bond with those in their group in a powerful way. Once that bond has been created and solidified it's borderline and unbreakable. Chelvines aren't cowardly, but they are cautious due to the fact their biggest self-defense mechanism is associated with hiding. They tend to be stealthy creatures who address dangers by avoiding those dangers in the first place.

Where the chelvines begin to differ are in their actual cognitive functions. There are some chelvine which seem to be fairly low intelligence, they act more like animals and display a nature that makes them easier to tame and train to the point that even an apprentice could probably tame a low intelligence chelvine. Then there are the smart chelvine. You might not notice at first if you're dealing with a smart chelvine or not because it's smart enough not to make that fact know. While nowhere near as intelligent as a mortal, they are known to be cunning creatures that can easily avoid attempts to train them and outsmart their 'handlers'. These chelvines are difficult to deal with due to their ability to outsmart most people, however, an expert or master animal trainer and handler might know a couple of tricks. The wonderful thing about smart chelvines is their loyalty and their ability to protect those they care about is significantly heightened.

Abilities

The most notable ability (and consistent ability) among the chelvines is their ability to use camouflage While not perfect, their abilities stand a good deal above most other camouflage species to the point where even those with extremely sharp eyes might have difficulty detecting one. The colorful patches on their skin can appear more or less present depending on how much aetheric buildup is in them. A chelvine that recently expelled most of their aether will almost be able to completely make those spots fade, making their ability to blend in all the more powerful.

While not a true ability, the chelvines are extremely sensitive to touch and sound thanks to the fact their sense of sight is inhibited and their sense of smell is completely nonpresent.

Uses

Alchemists who are careful can use the aetheric secretions of a chelvine to produce potions that restore aether in mages. Unfortunately, this does come with some limits and drawbacks. The easiest way to get enough of the compound to actually make a single potion is by killing the chelvine and draining the colorful patches. For those who are looking into more humane ways of harvesting, it can take weeks to even months of collection to gather enough of the material to make a single potion. Even then it needs to be purified as it holds a very potent toxin related to raw aether which can kill those who drink it or even immediately force overstepping in mages. The level of overstepping depends on the level of the mage drinking it as well as the alchemist who made the faulty potion.

Assuming an alchemist knows how to purify the compound for toxins as well as gather enough of it, it's possible for a skilled alchemist to make a potion that can boost a mage's aether supply. This does, however, only boost it an exceptionally small amount per potion and taking too many potions regardless of purity can cause damage to a mage, usually resulting in immediate heavy overstepping or even death via shock. The largest use for these potions is for extremely powerful spells which usually result in overstepping. If anything, they aren't meant to restore aether supplies as much as they are to mitigate the damage young mages can do to themselves while practicing new abilities. With that said, there's still a rather large market for these potions, especially among those stupid or brave enough to try and use them as an unlimited aether supply.