Beetle
(#32283222)
terrifying tundra
Dinner
Deepmine Aardvark
Click or tap to view this dragon in Predict Morphology.
Energy: 50/50
This dragon’s natural inborn element is Ice.
Female Tundra
This dragon is hibernating.
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Personal Style
Apparel
Skin
Scene
Measurements
Length
3.59 m
Wingspan
2.83 m
Weight
322.42 kg
Genetics
Black
Petals
Petals
Lavender
Butterfly
Butterfly
Oilslick
Underbelly
Underbelly
Hatchday
Breed
Eye Type
Level 1 Tundra
EXP: 0 / 245
STR
7
AGI
6
DEF
6
QCK
5
INT
7
VIT
7
MND
7
Biography
THE MUSHROOM FARMER
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The Hewn City. An archaeologist’s darkest fantasy, a massive ruin where no matter how many secrets you pulled out of its grasp there was still something more to discover, something hidden just out of your reach, waiting to be found. Dragons and beastfolk alike came seeking answers, fame, wealth — and the city took them and it ate them alive, piece by piece. It hadn’t eaten Beetle, though. She cared nothing for the secrets of the dead; the city’s twisting catacombs and crumbling towers held no temptation for her. Her interests lay elsewhere. At present, she was interested in the results of an experiment she had set up in a damp alleyway the week before. She walked slowly over cracked wet cobblestone, resting her weight on her knuckles like an ape, careful not to dislodge the deepmine aardvark nestled between her massive shoulders. Her experiment was difficult to see in the darkness, but she could smell it easily enough, even from blocks away. Soon enough she had found it — a large mound of rotting wood and other plant matter piled in the darkest and warmest section of the alleyway. “This is our lucky day, Dinner. I can smell it in the air.” Beetle said to the aardvark as she gently peeled the outer layer of wood away from the mound with her giant claws. She got only a sleepy grunt in reply, but she nodded to herself as if she understood. “I know I said that last time, but this time I’m sure I got the conditions just right.” Sure enough, when she pulled the moldy planks away, a misty white light cut through the darkness. The source of the glow was a sprawling colony of fungus, pale and bulbous and dappled with a shade of black so dark it seemed to almost emit its own radiance. Beetle sighed reverently. “Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.” Beetle carefully plucked a mushroom and held it up to her snout to give it a nice long sniff. “Smells of, hmm… Strong mental magic, I would say. And just a hint of curses. A promising batch, eh, Dinner? Should make a nice stew.” She opened her satchel and dropped the mushroom inside, then reached for more. In a few minutes, Beetle had gathered as much fungus as she desired, leaving a portion of the colony untouched so it could propagate. She tied her satchel tightly shut, hiding the light of her precious cargo. Then she began to place the wood planks she had removed atop the mound once more — but paused when she heard a familiar voice from above. Beetle didn’t have to look up to know who it was, but she did anyway. As she suspected, a small creature in bright shades of pink and lavender was fluttering among the tall ruins surrounding her alleyway, talking to someone she couldn’t see. They looked like a Fae, but she had caught a whiff of their scent once and it was magic all the way through. Beetle groaned. She didn’t care for spirits generally, save for as occasional fertilizer for her mushrooms, and this one was always so noisy. She could hear what they were saying clearly even from here. “You’re certain this is the way? I’ve been here for years and I’ve never heard of — I’m not scared, I would simply prefer to know more about what I’m dealing with before we get there. Need I remind you what will happen to the both of you if I don’t like what I see?” There was a long pause as the spirit appeared to be listening to something, although Beetle heard no reply. “Very well. Onwards, then! Scrape, you’d better keep up! I swear, this would be much easier if you could fly. It’s like you don’t know what wings are for…” The voice trailed off as its owner flew out of sight. Now once again surrounded by nothing but clammy air and blessed silence, Beetle resumed her work. Her precious mound soon looked once again like nothing more than a fetid pile of garbage, of interest to no one. As she applied the finishing touches, though, she noticed a new scent in the air. It was one she had smelled around that noisy spirit before, and it was by far her least favorite. It was foul, but not the comforting, earthy foulness she associated with rotting things, but something disturbingly unlike anything else she knew. And this time, it smelled very close indeed. A bad feeling settled in her gut. She realized she hadn’t heard or felt much from Dinner in the past few minutes; the aardvark on her back was frozen stiff and silent. Slowly, Beetle looked up again. There was something there, clinging to the wall above her like a massive insect. In the most rudimentary sense she thought it resembled a Skydancer, although its limbs were twisted at such an unnatural angle that the comparison made her nauseous. Black liquid oozed languidly from its beak, its nostrils, and the empty pits where its eyes should have been. Although it shouldn’t have been able to see, she was certain it was staring right at her. For a moment, both of them were frozen in place. Then the monster let out a soft creaking sound and started to crawl closer, and Beetle scrambled backwards, nearly falling over in her attempt to escape. The monster only sped up, leaping from the wall to the ground, and soon it was so close that if it stretched its neck out just a little bit it could — “SCRAPE!” At the sound of that word, the monster stopped in its tracks. The spirit that looked like a Fae was back again, their crests twitching in annoyance. “What on Sornieth do you think you’re doing? I’ve told you a thousand times, you’re not ready to socialize yet. You’re a complete embarrassment to society, and more importantly, you’re holding me up! You’re needed for this, remember?” The monster creaked again, and this time Beetle thought it sounded a little petulant. But it turned away from her and started climbing back up the wall to meet its master, who continued to scold it without giving Beetle so much as a glance. It was only once they were both gone and Beetle could finally breathe again that she realized that there was something important about that monster. Something she had seen when it was approaching her, but was too terrified to fully understand at the time. There had been mushrooms growing on that thing. Thin and branching like a coral fungus, but glistening with slime and black as coal. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. She needed to see it again. The curiosity she felt was so powerful it almost choked her. A unique species, growing on a kind of monster she had never seen before… Something like that didn’t show up every day. She had no choice. No matter how horrifying that monster was, she would find it again and partake of its bounty. The Hewn City had many ways to tempt those who dared enter its walls. Beetle had thought she was immune to its wiles, but… well. It seemed that she was just another fool, after all. She could only pray that the city wouldn’t eat her, too. |
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Exalting Beetle to the service of the Tidelord will remove them from your lair forever. They will leave behind a small sum of riches that they have accumulated. This action is irreversible.
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