Chittering Builders

Chittering Builders are found all over the world, and com in many varieties. These elemental beasts can range from the size of a rat to the size of a medium dog, and are very insect-like in their appearance. These sentient elementals are most closely linked to the earth element, with some affinity for vegetation.

The different varieties of Chittering Builders come from their diet. Each type will eat different building materials. They come by their name due to what happens to the building materials they eat. Once the material is broken down and digested, the Chittering Builder will rustle its chitonous segments and excrete small amounts of the digested material form under each segment. This rustling of the chitinous segments creates part the chittering noise the elemental beast is known for. The beasts will also communicate with the rest of their hive with chirping noises while building.

While excreting the material they have eaten, the Chittering Builders move around and build networking structures with other Chittering Builders in the area. This structures can become enormous if left to build up over time, and are very sturdy.

Rust Builders

One variety of Chittering Builders has developed some unique adaptations to their unusual surroundings. Within the Fog Zone of Chronwhorl there is a variety that feeds on the rust from decaying metals in the permanent fog. The fog itself muffles the chittering noises they use to communicate. Due to this, these builders have adapted to build their structures alone instead of in hives, and the structures themselves are the communication within the hive.

These rust structures are very fragile, and break down quickly. The builders will build an elaborate structure and then eat it to build up a new one soon after. This variant of the Chittering Builders tends to be on the smaller side, with many specimens being about the size of a human fist. The structures they build tend to be similar in structure to a spider's web, but with much larger threads and filling larger spaces.

Origins

Like many of the lesser elemental bests, Chittering Builders tend to show up anywhere the conditions are right without requiring previous specimens to be in the area. Wherever there is a rich source or deposit of a structural building material, you will find builders of that variety.

It is possible to seed an area for Chittering Builders by collecting large quantities of a material in one area where it is not normally found. One elementine architect brought a full quarry of limestone into a deep mountainous cavern near Nighthold to seed the area for Chittering Limestone Builders. After breeding them to be quite large, the structures the hive built became an iconic sight for the region.