Hermit Huts

Hermit Huts is the name most commonly given to large hermit crab-like creatures whose shells are hollowed out and made into homes for people.

Biology

Hermit Huts resemble a normal hermit crab in many ways, save for the fact that they are about eight to ten feet tall. They have strong claws which can tear through some weaker metals, and many legs to help them traverse on both land and sea.

Henros Fyodder by Jarhed

While they are crustaceans, they are not crabs. They do not have an exoskeleton on anything but the front of their bodies. Their soft abdomens, which spiral behind them, are very vulnerable, which is why they wear the shells that make them most famous.

Shells

Shells are made for Hermit Huts to live in which protect their abdomens. While many of these shells are naturally occuring, one finds very few Hermit Huts with natural shells. Instead, custom shells are built around their abdomens by people.
There is a company run by aquatic folk, founded by the Nereid known as Henros Fyodder in -211, known as Fyodder Hermit Company, or just Fyodder. People bring Hermit Huts to them, and the Fyodder Hermit Company makes shells according to the size of the Hut and the whims of the person requesting the shell. Due to this, many Hermit Huts either look similar to a normal home, or have outlandish, colorful designs, as Fyodder makes anything.

Habitats

Hermit Huts stick to wet areas, as their natural habitat is the sea. Some remain in there, homes for Nereids, Merfolk, Orcs, or Anurans.
Others stay coastal, on beaches and shores across the world.
They are not limited to one region for many reasons. Most notably of course, they can swim and have many legs, making them fairly aquatic creatures.
Aside from that, however, residents of their shells often find ways to convince the Hermit Huts to travel, often with the incentive of food, sending them far away from their original habitat.
This also means that they could end up far from water. Many Hermit Huts end up in the desert as long as there is a Water Mage there to keep them properly hydrated.

Diet

Hermit Huts eat anything. Generally, they prefer meat, particularly fish and other types of seafood. However, they have been raised over the years to eat anything, including trash, which allows them to serve as garbage disposals for those that live in their shells. Their insides break down the trash as if it were fish, digesting it with ease.

Lifespan

Hermit Huts live on average about 50-60 years. They become large enough to be homes at about 10, and often parents will get a baby Hermit Hut for their child so that they can grow up alongside it.

Domestication

It is said that Hermit Huts were domesticated by Orcs as far back as the -2000s during the March of the Orcs. Some claim that this is how they crossed from Elone to Udai, while others say the Strait of Ildial was a land bridge at one point.
Still, they were likely the first to domesticate Hermit Huts, seeing them as a means to have temporary housing on their journey. Some say they simply carved the shells and did nothing else, while others believe the Orcs were actually fairly gentle with the Hermit Huts.
The narrative that it was a difficult or violent process is one of many false claims made by Elves and Korvians to discredit Orcs.