Lucicamps
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Lucicamp have the body shape of Slug Girls. They do tend to come in smaller sizes though, mostly due to their preference for living in caves which have tighter spaces. The lower half of their body, however, has a texture and patterning more common to grubs than slugs. The skin is a translucent blue, with purple and orange sometimes seen through underneath. The back segments of the body glow a bright blue, which is where this species gets the nickname "Glowers." The glowing comes from a natural organ in the Lucicamp that is magically charged. The lower body actually has no real solid structure, all bones and cartilage being in the upper half. The lower half periodically molts to accomadate for growth. Lucicamps are usually found within dark places such as caves, abandoned temples, or even small shady groves. They like to have lots of space, and walls around them for their hunting. Some of the more social types make their homes outside the cave where they hunt, interacting with the outside. They also like their homes to be more on the damp side. Lucicamps tend to be lazy creatures - even more than their cousins ! - and their hunting style reflects this. They take up a position to wait, usually on the ceilings of caves, where they are least likely to be noticed. Lucicamps have an amazing ability to manipulate their slime, which they can secrete in large amounts. They can make it become harder, which they often use to make a sort of hunting nest to keep them comfortably on the ceiling. They then make a long string of slime - and simply go fishing.
The slime has chemicals which slighty paralyze the prey and also can drain magic, Lucicamps being very fond of it. A Lucicamp that has absorbed more magic will tend to glow brighter, or start to glow on other parts of their body and be able to control this glowing. Moreover many Lucicamps possess some sort of magical ability. The slime thread also gives off a sweet smell to attract prey and the Lucicamp can move it around if she sees a prey near it. A surprising effect of this method of hunting is that Lucicamps have become one of the few predators that counts fairies on their menu. The fairies are very attracted to the smell of the slime and flying rather than walking through caves have a greater chance of accidently running into the threads, which then drain them of magic. Lucicamps have gotten to the point where they lump fairies in with other prey species, rarely meeting them as predators. When the prey is snagged, the Lucicamp simply grabs the slime thread and reels in the struggling catch, which is then swallowed. Being reeled in can take quite a while depending on how heavy the prey is. If it's too heavy, the Lucicamp may send down more threads to attach to it. Lucicamps, though smaller, can swallow surprisingly large types of prey, having powerful jaws that can stretch along with the rest of their body. They often move to a more comfortable location for digestion. Like Slug Girls, they digest slowly and noisily. That coupled with the fact that the skin of the Lucicamp is translucent, allowing prey to partially see out and others to partially the prey, made Lucicamps considered one of the less tactful eaters.
To reproduce, Lucicamps need a female prey, which is trapped in a special pouch and impregnated, being kept alive and nourished and then giving birth to the baby Lucicamp for the mother. Apparently, young Lucicamps can have slight differences depending on what species of prey their unwilling mother was, taking on slight characteristics. For example, Lucicamps who had fairy prey mothers tend to be the best at magic. Lucicamps tend to be more lively, creative and motivated if they have absorbed magic. It has a similar effect to caffeine or sugar on them. There are actually rumours that a Lucicamp who absorbs enough magic will get to a point where she overloads her body. Rather than killing the Lucicamp, this causes her to form a coccoon. What happens next is an absolute mystery...
- credits to Jaette_Troll for the Lucicamps idea.
