Black slyther

The black slyther is a spirit in the lemures group, known for its agile and peculiar way of moving. This creature, almost always of small size, is easily recognizable thanks to its dark coat that tends to black. Black slythers are known for their social behavior, preferring to associate in crowded groups rather than living alone.

Etymology

The scientific name of this creature, Nigris reptans, and the common name, black slyther, have similar meanings: "Nigris" comes from the Latin for "black", while "reptans" indicates the creeping movement.

Appearance

Black slythers are spirits that, once they reach adulthood, are between twenty-five centimeters and one and a half meters long. They have a thin and tapered body, extremely flexible and elastic, which ends at one end with a very thin tail and at the other with a small blunt head.

The eyes, round and placed on the sides of the head, are generally green, more rarely red or white, and resemble small marbles with no visible distinction between sclera, iris and pupil: these three parts of the eye are in fact generally transparent and the color is simply due to the type of energy that flows in the body of the creature. The type of core of a black slyther can easily be identified by looking at its eyes.

The dead bodies of slythers always have transparent eyes, similar to the empty ones of a snake's exuvia.

Some populations of the Old World have milky eyes, very similar to the streaks along their body, but these are very isolated groups that have undertaken an evolutionary path very different from that of their migratory brothers.

Black slythers rarely try to manifest themselves in the material world, but sometimes this happens, being small spirits they are often able to create only shadows that move along the walls, not unlike natural shadows, just like the more famous wuppi.

Despite their small size, black slythers are known for being the "base" species for the creation of ink killers, enormous, snake-like creatures that are created when a black slyther is brought into the material world and force-fed enough energy to cause an anomaly in its core that changes its coding.

Behavior

Unlike many other lemures, which are known for their ability to float in any direction, the black slyther shows a preference for solid surfaces, hence its common name: while it can float, it much prefers to have its body always in contact with some physical object. This creature is able to move quickly by crawling on the ground, branches, rocks, and other surfaces, using its limbs to push and cling.

In groups, black slythers sometimes form swarming masses, creating a fascinating and almost hypnotic image. Their propensity to band together in large masses allows the species to make the most of available resources and protect themselves from predators.

During the light phases, black slythers hide in shaded areas or under thick vegetation, to emerge when the twilight phases return, or even dark, in search of food. Black slythers are migratory creatures, moving in search of places rich in food and poor in predators. Their most developed sense, smell, guides them reliably to those "decaying" places where it is possible to find a large quantity of decomposers to feed on.

Habitat

Black slythers prefer habitats rich in vegetation, such as dense forests and mountainous areas; they are the spirits most commonly found in so-called exhausted woods, or the spiritual remains of what were once stands of trees, which have been cut down and/or eradicated in the material world, but whose spiritual presence has remained sealed by the concrete, unable to disperse in its natural way.

The ability of black slythers to camouflage themselves through their dark, dull coloring makes them adept at hiding in the shadows of their home ranges. They are small, adaptable spirits that can be found in a variety of geographic areas, as long as there is a safe space available to crawl into and take shelter.

Some subspecies of black slythers live in spiritual space adjacent to abandoned attics.

Diet

The diet of black slythers consists primarily of paralarvae, decomposer spirits, and small fresh ectoplasmic matter, such as the remains of larger creatures' meals. Due to their social nature, they often work together when searching for food, with some members of the group responsible for locating food while others ensure the surrounding area is safe from potential threats. Their mouthsare very small, so they can only swallow bites no larger than a cricket.

The largest specimens, those measuring one and a half meters long, are capable of eating slightly larger prey, up to the size of a mouse, but it is still rare for these creatures to try to feed on anything like that: only when extremely hungry will they try to hunt mouse-spirits or frog-spirits.

Black slythers appear to be able to digest plant matter, a rare condition among spirits and especially among those with a carnivorous tendency, and for some researchers this is evidence that in the past the diet of creepers must have been very different. The ability to digest plant matter is also irrefutable proof of the total lack of a connection between slythers and the snakes of the material world that they so closely resemble.

Conservation

Although black slythers are not currently considered to be in immediate danger of extinction, their population is affected by human activities that damage their natural habitat. Deforestation and urbanization do not directly affect their presence, as they can often be found in places that have been heavily deforested for decades, but they do pose significant threats to the survival of the species due to the gradual removal of other larger spirits, which do not like urban areas. Without larger spirits to hunt and reproduce in those places, the slythers risk dying of hunger and, after more or less long periods, they move to other areas, in search of new food; therefore, the extension of their habitat is considered to be significantly decreasing.

It may seem counterintuitive that the most common place to find them is in exhausted woods, but it must be remembered that these stands of dead, slowly decaying spiritual trees are non-renewable: once the trees have completely dissolved, no new ones will be planted, and the slythers will not be able to return to those places.

Trivia

• Black slythers have a unique communicative language, composed of distinctive sounds and movements that allow them to coordinate during the search for food and to warn each other in case of danger. This language is not instinctively understood by any other spirit.
• Despite their very different appearance, wuppies and slythers belong to the same genus, Nigris. What appear to be "octopus" tentacles in wuppi are actually multiple tails, completely identical to those of black crawlers in their internal structure.