Special Beings with Special Senses

Written by George Sanders

The Storyteller's Table by iStockPhoto.com\N_defender

Energy flowed different here. I didn't understand decay and other rules at first, but here the time spent alive was special. There wasn't a constant taking and trading, the flow was focused on gathering, sharing, and spreading of energy.

The grey bearded wizard shifted in his seat. Antum had become her sounding board and he didn't seem convinced. Lavani strained to understand what she was not communicating. Words were different here too.

"Sure, there is competition between trees for the light from the sun. The flowers and ferns squeeze into breaks in the canopy. The wolf eats the deer and the cat plays with the mouse. But, think about it, the entire system adds energy with each creature's effort. Once the energy is in the system it is loath to release it, recycled by insect and mushroom. So, the engine driving life grows larger with each generation."

The gentle beard nodded as Antum made notes. "There is no change on the other side?" he asked.

"Where I was from, it was believed, that the energy flowing through life was eternal but finite. There was no more coming in and no more going out. Each creature manuevered and tricked to collect that limited, treasured resource. Nature was still beautiful, but a difference dance. Change spun in a circle instead of steadily growing. I wonder, though, if that perspective wasn't a prison, a trap in itself."

The beard began nodding again. Yes, she got it right. "Some of the beings you told me about did seem to change and you changed, perhaps those were cracks in the prison?"

Now it was Lavani's turn to nod. Her thoughts drifted to creatures she could remember on the other side before...

Name	Description	Special Senses
Floating Leviathans	As large as clouds, sifted the hordes of butterflies and fireflies from the air without wings of their own.	They could sense air density.
Flying Snails	Painted clouds across the sky as they condensed water in the air. The stripes on their shell were formed from other elements in the air.	Stored lighter elements in their shell to become bouyant and fly.
Winged Lemurs	Wide eyed, horned, and mischeivious denizons of tree and vine. Herds race among the tree tops to release leaves and feed. Birthed by a broken branch.	Can find their mother tree from anywhere in the world.
Legged Vines	Trees and other prey evolved to out manuever the vines so they needed to keep up.	Can take the form of locomotion of prey they capture. Never quite got shells or wings to work.
Acorn Butterflies	As trees shake in the wind their leaves fly away to establish new trees as colorful golden, brown, or red butterflies	Can fly in formation creating swarms that stretch across the horizon
Inverted Shell Turtle	Nocturnal hunters of water then rest during the day. They filled the bowls on their backs to hide the tentacles used to catch prey.	Ever resilient. Do not need to sleep.
Weeping Willow	Mythical trees of creations. The only rain comes from the tips of the branches of these trees. That water becomes the vast rivers of the domain.	Will whip anything that moves withing reach of its branches
Gulping Bell Flowers	Tulip like flowers with many color variations. The flowers pump air into the plant which filters their prey out of the air.	They take on the color of things they eat
Mamoth	A monstrous, wide mouthed grazer but is stationary and peaceful most of its life.	When woken will charge anything that moves within 100 yards. Has blindsight.
Slithering Vines	A variation of legged vines, they wind their way to their prey slowly and relentlessly. A sign of danger for sure.	They are able to smell prey.
Surf Grass	The roots of this small plant use hydrolic movement to slide through soils. If you waved your hand over them they would purr.	They have a tremorsense to avoid getting stepped on by approaching creatures
Luring Grasper	You'll head a roar in the distance. Then if you have the misfortune of getting closer, you hear a cry for help. If you get to close you'll be the victim.	Can mimic voices they hear
Siren Salmon	The shriek of the salmon beckons those under its spell into the rivers. They dance with you for a while then feast on remains	They have an enchanting voice above water.
Flower Pixies	A pack of pixies can be the worst problem. They poke and prod. Take seeds and distract flowers with pixies dust before racing off for their next heist.	Some flowers have evolved seeds to survive the Pixie digestive tract.
Mountain Mole	Gigantic burrowing creatures that eat limestone. They have created vast networks of caverns underground.	Can smell rocks.
Elemental Deer	Lightning arcs across their racks as they shock the trees to release the best leaves. They bond by sending sparks back and forth between each other.	Generate an electrical charge.
Sparrow Surprise	These small birds blink away from the tentacles of the turtles as they snack a sip of water. Also useful for avoiding vines.	They fart each time they blink. Very stinky.
Blurred Okapi	These striped allies travel with the elemental deer and appear in two places as once. Excellent defense against predators for both species	Talented at generating illusions
Wingless Vulture	These large bird shed their wings when caught. They are fast runners and then can often outpace predators.	They have endurance and good navitation. Can be used as messengers.
Giant Eagles	These are not eagles at all but air elementals that soar in the highest realms. They take no food, they are the wind.	Can disperse their form into the wind, reforming later.
Drain Spiders	Vicious hunters of elemental energy. They will set traps and snares to drain the energy from their prey. They often don't kill their prey but put them into stasis and keep siphoning off energy.	Use prey as batteries
Firefly Swarms	The brilliantly colored seeds glow with a luminescence after ejected from flowers. Smaller than the butterflies from trees and they all swarm together eventually landing to make diverse fields of flowers.	The color relates to the species of flower
Dragon Bird	Howls in the night from this bird will wake the most sound sleeper. It sings long songs of past events in an unknown tongue. The birds pass their song along long distances	Can repeat a song after one time listening
Rock Fern	This silent plant hides on the floor of forests as a simple rock. When not threats are present it unfurls into a long multi-fronded fern.	It can retract faster than most species can see.
Tree hoppers	These parasites crawl hidden among grasses and flowers to their prey. They climb the trunks of their favorite trees and feast on the sap of the tree.	Only hop when escaping a predator
Sloth	The gentle giant creatures roam the forests and grasslands in never ending walk abouts.	Their size deters predation but they can also become invisible.
Claiming Tree	Some trees welcome would be predators, then absorb them into their bark.	They do not eat all that touch them, selective feeding.
Radiant Flowers	Sometimes there is one flower that stands our as the most radiant in the patch. Beware they may be the kind that absorbs light and energy from radiating bodies. They stalk creatures that move around luring them in with their previously captured radiance.	Emit light, heal themselves

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