F#18: Lanternhead

Lanternhead

Also known as: Old Man of the Swamp

Homunculus

In the dark of a summer night, you spot a light that seems to hover half a foot off the ground. Then another light pops into existence.

Then another.

You have come across a rare occurence: a ‘Moot’ of Lanternheads.

This pale skinned, furry-bodied homunculus is normally a solitary creature, wandering large swathes of woodland, moorland or marsh. However, during the summer months it seems that several will congregate in one area- and no one knows why.

There is no visible interaction between the creatures at the moot. They stand several feet away from each other, and appear to gaze skywards. Are they communicating in some internal fashion? Or are they waiting for something?

We may never know.

Entry compiled by: Bartholomew Moon

F#17: Seafoam Dragon

Seafoam dragon (Draconis Nausicaa)

Aquatic fauna

 

The seafoam dragon is native to the Mediterranean sea, but this one showed up in Revery Harbour after a massive storm- she must have been blown off course.

This small aquatic dragon has long webbed forefingers, perfect for breaking open tightly closed shellfish and mollusks. They breathe both underwater and out of it, and lay their eggs in the sand like turtles. A clutch normally consists of five, one to three of which are expected to hatch. Once all the surviving eggs hatch, the parent leads the hatchlings to the water, and they stay in the sandy shallows for a few days before venturing further out.

Entry compiled by: Jesper Beattie

 

F#13: Minluth (Filauny Child)

Name: Minluth, Filauny child

Designation: Fauna

Class: Benign??

Description: Small grey-furred humanoid with powerful hind legs; solid blue eyes; face markings: intentional, possibly traditional (some sort of dye?).

(Note on the name Filauny- we couldn’t ascertain if this was the name of her species, or just of her people/family group. One and the same? Are there others?)

I try to keep these entries purely factual, but today I’ll have to descend into anecdote. I apologise.

We came across the filauny child Minluth in our own back garden/courtyard at the seaflower institue when she tried to use it as a short cut. We were outside, making the most of a rare dry day, when the small figure scrambled down the fence.

Needless to say, she was not expecting a curious party of researchers; just as we were not expecting a small intelligent humanoid no one had ever heard of.

At first we weren’t sure if she could speak english, though she seemed to understand it. Turned out she was just shy; and after Thursday offered her a piece of chocolate the pair of them got quite chatty.
A forest dwelling species of intelligent small humanoids, we gather that the Filauny are proud hunters and have a complex societal structure and culture- more than could be learned in such a short, chance meeting.

Minluth is ten years old, and seems to be taking part in a coming of age ritual, wherein she carries three vials from her home settlement across the countryside to a sacred location. One contains soil from the forest, one an assortment of seeds, and the third water. Once she reaches the sacred place, she tells us, she must plant the seeds with the water and soil, then fill her three bottles with sap tapped from a particular tree. She then makes the return journey and, if she survives, becomes an adult.

She’s not allowed to ask for help on the journey, but is allowed to accept if it is offered to her freely and without prompting. Until the chocolate we gave her, she said, she hadn’t eaten for three days.

She had to leave and continue her task, much to my disappointment, but told us that her people live in deep woodland east of here. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll visit and learn more?

F#11: Garden Cephalopod (Common Name: Snoctopus*. Ugh.)

Name: Garden Cephalopod (Common name: Snoctopus*. Ugh.)

Class: Neutral

Designation: Fauna

Description:  A small green, grey or pinkish cephalopod, carrying around a repurposed snail shell of a variety of types.

*Common name added under protest, for the sake of completion and accuracy of the database.

Photos and info below!

F#10: Fungal Glum

Name: Fungal Glum

Class:  Neutral

Designation: Fauna

Description: A brown, hairy body with two large feet and large yellow eyes. Algae, fungi and moss grow in its fur, most distinctively the top of its head.

Notes: At first you might mistake it for a tuft of dead grass or a root-ball, but then you see its face, its eyes, its large feet…

The fungal glum gets its eponymous fungus by not moving very much. Once it finds a good spot in its preferred damp habitat- marsh, swamp, or dense woodland- there it stays.

It is a symbiotic relationship: the glum and the fungus provide each other with protection from their respective predators. Foxes, badgers and others that would eat the glum are put off by the poisonous toadstools and algae; and insects attracted to the fungus are eaten by the glum, which also provides a perfect growing environment.

Entry Compiled by: Thursday Madaki

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F#09: Magpie Griffin (Pica Avum Pilousus)

Name: Magpie Griffin (Pica Avum Pilousus)

Class: Neutral

Designation: Fauna

Description: This medium sized member of the Avum Pilosus (Griffin) species has glossy black and white plumage with a distinctive blue/green sheen; and long tail feathers.

Notes: The most common Griffin to see in the wild, found across Europe and Asia. The Magpie Griffin is omnivorous, eating insects, fruit, seeds, carrion, eggs and young birds.

It is also considered to be one of the most intelligent of the species, capable of complex emotion, social rituals and use of tools. They are rarely seen alone, remaining in tightly knit groups consisting of up to five families. In some urban areas, these noisy, raucous flocks are considered vermin.

 

Entry Compiled by: Jesper Beattie

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Magpie Griffin (Pica Avum Pilousus)

F#03: Roaming Flytrap (Nomas Muscipula)

Name: Roaming Flytrap Nomas Muscipula

Class: Neutral

Designation: Flora

Description: Similar in appearance to Dionaea Muscipula (Venus Flytrap), the roaming flytrap has four to seven stems from a central shoot. Each stem has two to three fleshy leaves, and end with the distinctive hinged lobes that it uses to catch and digest insects.

Nomas also has four bulbs underneath that it uses as appendages to move itself to new places. It is from these bulbs that roots emerge to supply water and nutrients to the plant.

More pictures below!

F#08: Wyvern Hatchling

Name: Wyvern Hatchling (‘Green Glass Scale’)

Class: Neutral

Designation: Fauna

Description: Green skinned with soft, transparent scales and large yellow eyes. Wyverns have a pair of wings as forelimbs, differentiating them from other dragon species, which typically have four legs + wings.

Notes: This wyvern hatched this morning, the first successful birth of its species in the South West Dragon Centre! Critically endangered, the ‘Green Glass’ Wyvern is named for its transparent scales, which take years to harden as it matures. This vulnerability has left the small dragon species struggling, but efforts to breed them in captivity are finally paying off.

More Pictures Below

F#07: ‘Percy’, Domestic Manticore

Name: ‘Percy’/ Domestic Manticore (Mardyakhor Mansueti)/ Mr Eyebrows

Class: Benign

Designation: Fauna

Description: Fluffy, tan and grey, house cat-sized mammal with a short bobtail. Usually has eyes squinted closed; when opened, the iris is bright red.

More pictures below

Fl#02: ‘Sprout’

Name: ‘Sprout’ species unknown

Class: Neutral

Designation: Flora

Description: A small, firm root ‘body’ capable of slow movement via two ‘feet’ clusters of lateral roots. From the top of the root sprouts a cotyledon (seed leaf). He’s really CUTE, and while i shouldn’t have favourite among the plant specimens… he’s totally my favourite.

Notes: Sprout was brought into the institute by a local, who found him shuffling along the main road. At the time he was only about 3cm high, and he had no leaves, just a small green shoot.