Ekyls

Look! There, in the water, before it's gone-
Adorable little things, aren't they?
Hard to believe they come from a place where no other creature can thrive.

~Ekyl Breeder

Ekyls; the modern life-blood of the city. These curious little creatures produce enough Ekyltric energy to power an entire street for a week, in a single discharge. They are adorable, small, and extremely cuddly if you don't mind ekyltric shocks. Yet these creatures hail not from the lush forests of the Begoria mountain Range, or the southern shores of the Lunis Archiapegalo. No, these critters hail from one of the most inhospitable areas in The Mortal Lands: The Forest of Metal.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Ekyls are similar in size and shape to the ermine ferrets that inhabit the mountains of Ruben, but that is where the similarities end. Ekyls are native to water, swimming amongst its currents like fish. Long, fuzzy tendrils emerge from their cheeks and trail behind them, sparking with ekyltricity. Their four feet have the appearance of claws, but the toes don't seem to be sharp. Indeed, they are more ideal for clinging to what solid objects such as branches they may find around them.
their heads are oblong, and rounded to allow the better passage of water. Their eyes are pitch black, set just far enough from the center of their face as to be slightly disturbing. Two long, fuzzy ear-like protrusions and a long tail complete the impression that some Wizard in the far past decided to combine the aspects of a ferret and a fish purely on a whim.
Most curious about the Ekyl is that despite being a water-based creature, their bodies are covered in fur. Several shocked University interns later, it was discovered that each hair is capable of discharging the ekyltricity the Ekyl stores in its body.

Genetics and Reproduction

As ekyls are a recent discovery, not much is known about their ability to reproduce. Several prospective companies in Shimshar and Mira are dedicated to breeding ekyls for better conductivity and longevity, although results thus far have been mixed.
What has been observed thus far is that ekyls have extensive courtship rituals; they will pick one partner and mate for life. The Male of the species will scour the riverbed for a shiny piece of metal; the more conductive it is, the better. Breeders have noticed that ekyls hunting for a shiny piece will not pick it up if it's the only thing on the riverbed floor; If there are multiple pieces of various metals, however, they will dive and burrow looking for the perfect piece. Once they have a piece that suits their liking, they will seek out a mate. Females tend to hang in clusters, so a male must bravely approach a group with its shiny piece. Often, several males will group together and turn the affair into a sort of dance as they flit about. Once a pairing has been made, the two ekyls will hold the metal piece in their mouths, conducting ekyltricity between them. Breeders believe that different sub-breeds prefer different metals, but there has not been enough opportunity to put these theories to the test. Ekyls will go no more than three years without selecting a mate; their survival rate severely decreases, although breeders are not currently sure why.
Once a female is pregnant, she will nestle in a cluster of metal that hangs into the water. Her eggs will attach to the roots, allowing the eggs to passively suck energy from the metal should it be conducting a charge. If no metal is available, Ekyls will form a small pod with the females in the center, sharing electricity between them. The males will find debris for the females to latch to and try to drag the pods to areas with better opportunity for nesting. Females also become despondent if not frequently visited by their partner, making large-scale breeding difficult.
After a period of seven weeks, the eggs will hatch and baby ekyls will attach themselves to their mother's side. The mothers will slowly swim around the breeding grounds, drawing energy from the electrified metal as they feed their young.

Growth Rate & Stages

Ekyls take a year to grow into their adult forms. Their post-birth stage is similar to a tadpole, although one that clings to its mother as she slowly swims around the breeding grounds. At two months they are strong enough to detach and swim around on their own, although they rarely leave the initial nesting area until they reach puberty at six months. Young ekyls will stay in small groups and play together, chasing each other around the nest and, as they grow older, the riverbed outside. During the autumn season they have their first mating ritual, if they so choose, and find a partner. From there they will seek new breeding grounds and continue their family lines.
Baby ekyls don't have feet; they develop at two months, and their longer sleeker bodies at six. At about ten months their adult forms are almost fully developed. It is the ears that are the greatest indication of their maturity. Fully-grown ekyls have long, floppy ears that work as fins as they navigate through the water. Adult ekyls can live up to ten years in captivity, eight in the wild.

Ecology and Habitats

Ekyls were first discovered in the The Forest of Metal in the year 1893. The otherwise lifeless forest allows these little critters to thrive with almost no fear of predators, and the artificial trees allow the ekyls to discharge their energy safely.
Explorers were retrieving a boat that had been abandoned and found a small family that had nestled itself in the motor, sucking energy from the Memoria centrifuge that powered it. Their potential as living batteries was swiftly latched onto, and they were exported by the hundreds to the major trade cities to use to power.... well, everything. Unfortunately, the Night of Falling Crowns caused such economic instability that many of the ekyl Breeding farms collapsed. A few small farms survived, the ones that treated their ekyls well and mimicked their original habitat to the best of their ability. It is from these farms that all modern ekyls descend from.
ekyls in the Forest of Metal have an abundance of roots and trees to make nests in, and the shorelines of the rivers hold few predators. The artificial trees are ideal for them as they can passively suck energy from the trees. Efforts to breed ekyls in more minimal settings have been ineffective at best, disastrous at worst. ekyls need the full environment of the riverbed to breed; sand, pieces of metal, roots or long protrusions of metal that conduct ekyltricity, even current all affect their mood. As breeders quickly learned, a metal tank by itself will not do. Modern breeding facilities have combination breeding and power plants to allow the ekyls to feel at home.
ekyls are amphibious; given space and adequate access they will emerge from the water to climb rocks and jump back in with a splash, playing with other ekyls. Breeders suspect this trait developed to allow the ekyls to cross forest floor to new lakes or riverbeds, although considering the nature of the digital forest one wonders why they would need to change breeding grounds.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Ekyls have three primary food sources: ekyltricity, kelp, and other ekyls. Kelp is the primary food source, as despite the best efforts of the Forest of Metal it grows along the riverbed in abundance. Ekyltricity is both a treat and a vital part of their development process, and an ekyl that has spent too much of its internal ekyltricity will cling to another source until it has fully re-charged. Ekyls have been known to eat other ekyls in times of crisis. Although the creatures are not naturally hostile to one another, a few select cases in which different sub-breeds of ekyls have fought have been particularly blood-thirsty. Ekyls, it seems, are not fond of ekyls from other pods. Breeders believe this has to do with the metals the ekyls use to breed, but since every attempt to introduce two breeds to each other ends in blood, this theory has been hard to test.

Biological Cycle

As ekyls are native to the Forest of Metal, a place that is so unaffected by the passing of seasons it's almost disturbing, they themselves have few biological means to adapt to the change of seasons that other creatures do. Both extreme heat and extreme cold are detrimental to an ekyl's health, and breeding facilities outside the Forest of Metal are carefully controlled to allow optimal conditions. ekyls have been known to huddle with each other in an utterly adorable attempt at warmth, although their lithe bodies mean little fat to help contain heat.
Elder ekyls, at the end of their life cycle, will swim towards a large pod of ekyls before releasing all its remaining ekyltricity in one big burst. In times of hardship older ekyls have been known to do this, allowing the young to cling to their sides as they die in a final attempt to keep the young alive.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Ekyls travel in Pods; several small families of ekyls clustered together for protection. There is no 'dominant' in the Pods as far as anyone can tell, although in many cases the ekyls will defer to the one with the longest tendrils. As young adult ekyls come of age, they will split away from the Pod with their mates and travel up or down river, often with two or three other pairs to form pods of their own.
Pods are never larger than ten families of ekyls, and have been as small as three. Pods are usually social with each other if one passes another, but with the breeding of ekyls in the Mortal Lands several sub-species have developed, and these seem to have an animosity to each other.

Domestication

Domesticated ekyls have become longer and slightly larger than the native river ekyls, as Breeders endeavor to raise ekyls better suited for creating the ekyltricity that drives modern cities. They also have wider food palates and slightly better heat retention than their wild counterparts as breeders are able to introduce varieties of kelp and seafood that were not available in the Forest of Metal.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Ekyls create ekyltricity; A natural byproduct that has become almost essential to Modern life. While in the early days of ekyl exploitation the creatures were shipped wholesale to slapped-together facilities lined with metal poles, current facilities have become hybrid breeding grounds and power plants, to accommodate the pack and protective nature of the ekyl. Large waterfalls and pumps help create a gentle current, and the poles that gather the ekyltricity from the ekyls also serve as nesting grounds for the ekyls. The bottoms are lined with sand and, during the mating season, sprinkled with all sorts of shiny metal pieces, especially the ones whichever breed favors most. Young adult ekyls are often used to help power long-distance or vehicles in far reaches but are returned to the power plants when it is time for them to select a mate.
After an ekyl has perished, its body is recovered, and the fur stripped away to create filaments for light bulbs and other ekyltric devices. The tendrils are said to be delicious if prepared right but provide a near-fatal shock if not properly discharged. And the ears are said to make a lovely pair of muffs, if you don't mind the constant tingle.
In the early days of ekyl domestication, ekyls were shipped and later died by the hundreds as they could not properly forage for kelp or recharge their bodies from the electric poles as they only removed the ekyltricity, not add it. It was frantic breeding that kept them alive by sheer numbers, until proper breeders could establish facilities that better mimicked their natural habitat.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Until recently, ekyls were only found in the Forest of Metal. Their export to other countries, however, means they can now be found all over the world.

Average Intelligence

Perhaps it has been generations of sucking electricity from semi-sentient trees, but ekyls are clever little creatures and have been known to be quite good at problem solving. early breeders, in particular, often found their measures to separate males from females overcome, swum under, or flat out broken.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The tendrils that protrude from the ekyl's face serve as its primary sensory capacity. While the ekyls have eyes that are sensitive to light, the tendrils on its face detect minor changes in the water around them. Ekyls have been observed to detect potential dangers from up to a hundred meters away, if the water is clear.
Water clarity and purity does affect the ekyl's ability to sense its environment. Muddy water decreases the ekyl's ability to sense danger due to the extra sediment floating in the water. Oddly, Saltwater increases the conductivity of an ekyl, increasing both its ability to sense its environment and its ability to conduct ekyltricity.

Lifespan

10 years

Conservation Status

Ekyls in the wild are highly protected; If not by conservation groups, then by the Forest of Metal Itself. Importation of Ekyls into breeding plants is strictly regulated, if only because sub-breeds have developed with enough variance that they can become hostile to river Ekyls.
While Domesticated Ekyls are bred to create Ekyltricity, Breeders are carefully regulated and monitored to ensure the creatures are safe and happy.

Average Height

6-8 Inches, on all four legs

Average Weight

5-8 Lbs.

Average Length

12-18 Inches.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Ekyls range in color from light yellow to brilliant golds. Certain sub-breeds will have mottling or fine lines throughout their fur, although this seems to be more ornamental than anything to discourage predators.
Recent breeding attempts have discovered that over time, ekyls will take on coloring similar to the metal they use to mate.

Geographic Distribution

• The Forest of Metal