Bestiary

Zafeiri - by S.A. Robles ©2021 v1.0

Stats Description The first word that comes to describe the shell-less mollusks is ‘Beautiful’, their streamlined bodies vaguely reminiscent of fanciful fish with the six fin-like appendages alongside its elegant, tapering body. The appendages are, despite their appearance, actually designed as both a defensive mechanism and an external part of their digestive systems. Tipped with gossamer, thin strands that look almost like feathers, the hollowed quills contain an assortment of toxins for immobilizing both attackers and prey. Predominantly blue, Zafeiri adjusted to life on land can sometimes assume greens and yellows instead. Their heads, while seemingly unassuming, actually houses something akin to a tongue, the ribbon-esque organ bearing serrated teeth akin to a leech’s; often times they cling to large creatures to feast on their blood and are met with little hostility, simply falling loose to be swept away into the currents. Rarely is a specimen found measuring over a foot, but the oldest ones or those with access to much food can sometimes reach five to six feet long.

Lore Perhaps one of the most unique creatures to come from the Burning Lands, scholars believe they originated from lakes nearer to D`Mir, only to migrate north toward the sea. Migration in this way is possible, similar to the migration of birds, due to the Zafeiri’ ability to produce a variety of chemicals inside their bodies, some toxic and some not, two of which being gases it can filter through its fin-like appendages to reduce its weight to lighter-than-air to sustain flight, and then counteract it with a gas that weighs it down. This process is extremely taxing on their bodies, so they regularly do it during the daytime even though they would be better concealed at night, as they are capable of synthesizing Ka’s light into nutrients. The amount they gain is almost trivial, but it allows them to survive extended travel better.

More fascinating, though, is their ability to utterly neutralize all non-magical sources of poison and toxin, and even some magical ones. Instead of disposing of the resulting chemicals they instead store them in sacs alongside their four largest appendages. Housed here they wait and, once the Zafeiri obtains poisons from another source, will be mixed and matched to form compounds of untold lethality. Oftentimes their poisons aren’t aimed to kill, more incapacitate so they can draw blood and feed, but for less sturdy species—like most humanoids—it can still prove deadly.

Their strange abilities born from the D`Mir Cataclysm have attracted much attention from certain circles, Assassins, Druids, and Priests among them, for being able to both fly and swim, neutralize poisons and toxins, filter both air and water for breathing, and being able to regenerate all but the most catastrophic damage, all without possessing any notable intelligence. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much success in reproducing their talents, presumably born from the chaotic energies swirling about the Burning Lands. Sometimes they’re kept in aquariums due to their startling beauty, but unless treated to have their poison glands removed without regenerating they could always prove to be their owner’s undoing.