Collion
A small rodent that is native to Lephia
Basic Information
Anatomy
These rodents grow to be about a foot long, including their tail. They are covered in short red fur, with a lighter crest running along the top of the head and along the spine. Their thin dark brown tails make up about half their overall length.
The front of the head narrows to a long white snout and a mouth filled with flat teeth. Small triangular ears sit atop the head, angled slightly outward.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Though this species once survived on nuts, berries, and small insects, the arrival of the Abyssal Storms forced them to adapt to a new diet. With their original foodstuffs all but wiped out the collions began eating the decay matter left by the storms. Such a diet of detritus would normally be fatal to such a species, even more taking into account the magical nature of the damage done by the storms, but somehow the collions survived. It is generally believed by those with little else to study that the collions were affected by the winds themselves, changing rather than being destroyed by the necrotic energy carried from the lower plains.
Additional Information
Domestication
Once considered a nuisance collions are, if not welcome, at least considered useful neighbours. Their strange diet of decaying matter makes them effective at clearing plants or animal corpses affected by the storms. This can help prevent the spread of the mould and fungus that follow the storms. Even when the collions get into grain stores and the like, they only go after stores that are tainted and rotting. This can help identify issues before they become visible and can, if managed properly, help to save more stored foodstuffs than would otherwise be possible.
Occasional attempts have been made to use collions as a foodstuff themselves. Such a meal usually ends up being fatal due to the accumulated necrotic energy and other toxins that build up in a collion#s body. This has also meant that they are avoided by most predators, with the exception of things like the Rocktoad.
Lifespan
10 years
Geographic Distribution
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