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Description

Though not everyone gets the chance to visit rainbow mountains, a lot of folk know of its beauty from the goods that come from these places. Rocks of every hue brought out to be used in sculptures and decoration, and some fancy fellows have even taken colored slabs to use as countertops and tables. They could also be crushed into dust and used as pigments, literally painting with the majesty of these mountains! Such art doesn't just come from the ground, but also from the flora and fauna. Feather, flower and fur share the same rainbow hue, and people can't get enough of their beauty. They become the garb of locals, the souvenirs of tourists and the prized merchandise of traders. It ensures that almost everyone can get at least the smallest glimpse of these fantastic mountains, even if it is just a rainbow paperweight. However, that disconnect can cause some issues...

People who only see these colorful goods can get the wrong idea about the rainbow mountains, unknowing of what life is really like up there. These pretty stones and gorgeous feathery costumes can make these mountains seem like magical places of beauty and wonder, blinding people to the fact that it is still a mountain range that poses the same danger as any other. Folks who finally get the chance to visit may lose themselves in this fantasy they have built up in their heads for so long, thinking it is going to be absolute paradise. They may not prepare accordingly, or climb too high upon these peaks that they can't get down safely. Or, even worse, they may find themselves mesmerized by all the pretty rocks and treasures they find upon the slopes. So busy collecting souvenirs and trinkets to notice approaching danger. Newcomers to this land are incredibly susceptible to this, even more so when they find those gem-like "ambers" scattered upon the earth. Such gorgeous colors! Such wondrous hues! Hold them to the sun and they may shine finer than any precious stone! You find a piece of that, and you instantly scramble to find others. What jewelry it could make! What fine presents they would be! Well, we should grab some for mom, and for dad, and for siblings and friends and the list goes on and on! And then the greed may set in, when they notice even bigger pieces! A treasure trove, ripe for the picking! They hurry to collect more, not realizing that these ambers don't come from plants or even the earth. In truth, they aren't ambers at all. If outsiders don't research any deeper into these gem-like pieces outside of "ooooo pretty stone" then they won't realize that they are digging around in someone else's territory. Someone who doesn't like guests, but loves having people for dinner. Of all the tourists and collectors who have vanished upon these mountains, I wonder how many of them got a good glimpse into one of these giant "ambers" and realized their mistake too late. Yeah, those pieces aren't as big as you out of pure coincidence...

When all beasts upon this mountain wear rainbows, then that means death is clad in such colors as well. This place looks like paradise, but there is not true peace upon the slopes. There are predators to be feared, and one of the most infamous and dangerous is the Amber Eater. They are a worm-like species, though their bodies possess many pairs of stubby legs. While these pudgy limbs may seem cute with their sticky pads, they also have sharp claws to further aid in navigating the rocky slopes. Their tail end is broad and flat, with more claws to help anchor them when climbing or hanging. It is prehensile too, able to roll up or alter its shape to better suit the situation. On the other end is something a bit more fierce. Long sensory tendrils help taste and smell the air for traces of prey, and a small pair of eyes provide visuals for the hunt. Below them is a savage looking maw of many sharp and serrated mandibles to slice, crush and grind. This isn't a mouth that bites your hand off cleanly, it pretty much pulverizes it into a bloody shredded mush. Each part of this nasty mouth is powered by its own set of muscles, allowing it to alter its bite to better suit the target. With a set of chompers like that, you would be like "wow, I sure wouldn't want to be bitten by that! What a terrible way to go!" The good news is that these shredding mouthparts aren't their primary tool in taking down prey. The bad news is that the real way they hunt might be worse...

If you look past these jaws, you may see a pair of nozzle-like appendages. Looking like fleshy cannons, they drip with a colorful sticky goo. Compared to the teeth, they seem tame, but just you wait til the hunt is on! When an Amber Eater catches the whiff of food, they slither/crawl their way to the target. They lay low and move slowly, looking to get in range of their prey. When they get close enough, these nozzles open up and release a torrent of vibrant goop. In sticky strands, they sail through the air and splatter upon their prey. At first it looks like the Amber Eater is celebrating a birthday or something, but the victim will find that this colorful slime is actually a very sticky, fast drying glue. The Amber Eater releases this goo in a wide swirling arc, each cannon moving independently to get a good spread on their target. The strands are sprayed and looped around to create a web-like pattern that better ensnares prey. Upon contact, the glue immediately starts to hold fast, and the strands are aimed to catch limbs in a tangle. Even if the victim has enough appendages free to flee, they best watch where they step, as the ground is also covered in this sticky web. One wrong step, and the glue will grab hold and break your gait. Those tripped up by this trap will be doomed if they hit the ground, as that means more of their body will be in contact with this goop. When prey is slowed or dropped, the Amber Eater will crawl closer and continue its firing. It looks to thoroughly coat its target, at least making sure the head is completely covered. For human or llama-sized victims, it is death by asphyxiation, as the glue seals all airways and you perish in a rainbow bog of goop. For larger targets, like a gardenback, the head may be a bit difficult to fully coat while it is alive and thrashing. Rather than waste more glue to pin the victim down completely, the Amber Eater will instead use enough to slow them down to the point that it can use its jaws to rip out a throat without facing much of a fight. When its prey lies dead in this solidifying goo, the Amber Eater will feast. Its many jaws slice and tear, gobbling down chunks of meat in moments. Eventually, though, its hunger will be satiated, but often there is still more flesh to devour. It cannot eat another bite, but if it abandons this kill, then the scavengers will get the spoils. Thankfully, the Amber Eater believes in leftovers!

This worm is capable of preserving its food, and it does so by utilizing its glue cannons again. It will douse the carcass with more and more goo until it is thoroughly coated. When enough is applied, it uses its limbs and prehensile tail to start sculpting. It rolls the drying glue over and over in its arms until it forms sort of a ball, with the corpse making a meaty center. Given time, the sphere solidifies, transforming into that gorgeous "amber" look, complete with trapped victim! You see, this is what "rainbow mountain amber" actually is, it is the dried rolled glue of an Amber Eater. It uses this stuff to store food for later, which is helpful for saving larger kills it can't eat in one sitting or allowing it to hunt prey even on a full stomach! If there is opportunity to strike even when it doesn't want to it, it can just save it for later. When victims are properly hardened and stored, the amber is affixed to its body, with more glue and rough hide to help it all stick. Larger ambers may be dragged along by its tail or rolled back to its lair with its arms. When hunger strikes and it has nothing fresh to eat, those same jaws chisel and carve away at a selected amber to get at the prize inside. This is where "amber eater" comes from, as often you can spot a lounging one gnawing away on one as if it was candy.

Those with a sharp eye may note that some of the ambers this creature carries around have no victims trapped inside. Even more so, you may notice one eating empty ambers too! What's the deal? Well, it turns out there is more to these hardened glue balls then originally thought! The Amber Eater doesn't just devour the meat within, it also swallows the dried glue chunks as well. What has been found is that the creature is able to quickly digest these pieces and reconstitute them back into sticky glue. You see, the process of replenishing its ammo supply naturally is actually pretty long. To get a full load, it would take days to create enough glue, which may be a problem when you are hungry and have failed a couple hunts already. If they eat these ambers, though, the process goes by much faster, as all the ingredients are there, they just need to be put into the right place! This means that Amber Eaters can consume used strands and pieces after a failed hunt to help mitigate the loss. It also means that Amber Eaters can actually store ammo too! When their cannons are filled up but with no target to shoot, they may make these empty ambers instead and save them for later. Sculpt a little glue ball and save it for a rainy day! That way when they need glue in a pinch, they can chow down on one and get a replenish faster,

Coating their bodies in these amber chunks also creates body armor for them, which is good for deflecting attacks or warding off aggressors. Amber Eaters don't have any real predators to fear, but there are other tough foes on the mountains that may wish to pick a fight! These worms get into a lot of scrapes with the Fabulous Lancejaw, with arguments over territory and prey. Each are armed with deadly weaponry, which usually means it is a fifty-fifty chance on who wins the day. If the Lancejaw can fire off its spearing limbs past the Amber Eater's armor, the exploding wound is usually enough to kill them. However, if these kinetic limbs are glued shut, the Lancejaw has no weapon and thus will quickly perish under the onslaught of goop and tooth. Amber Eaters mark their territory with sculpted pillars of this glorious amber, creating colorful obelisks that further decorate the rainbow mountains! Each Amber Eater secretes its own unique goo, with its own color and scent. Other worms that encounter these sculptures will be able to identify the maker in an instant! Their cave lairs too are coated with this amber, making it look like the peaks themselves bleed paint from its wounds! Their stored amber spheres are often glued throughout the interior, making for morbid decoration. Everything the Amber Eater does is beautiful, but also very deadly. One should keep that in mind when hunting for these pretty "jewels."

As I said, the end product of these hunts wind up making these solid rounded chunks of colorful "amber," which people think are absolutely gorgeous. I don't blame them, because they are indeed beautiful! Most folk outside of the rainbow mountains don't realize it is dried worm spit, which I think would change their view of it. It doesn't change mine, though! It makes me love them more! Goes to show that nature's beauty can be found in all places! Aside from that, this amber is collected and polished to be sold under the name of "rainbow mountain amber" or "rainbow gems." Once shaped and shined, they make gorgeous jewelry and ornaments. They are incredibly popular, but they are rarer then you would think. With the idea that this stuff is spit out by a giant worm, you would think it would be easy to get and that is what gets a lot of folk killed. Amber Eaters are territorial, aggressive and very much open to hunting even when they are full. Since they can store food and easily replenish their glue stock, they have no reason to turn down easy prey. Since they also eat this stuff too, the left behind pieces of a hunt can quickly vanish. This amber is sold in small little gems because these morsels are often missed by roaming Amber Eaters. The larger the amber, the more costly and rare, as these would certainly be eaten by any one of these worms. Since they still fetch a fair price, people are eager to ascend the rainbow mountains to gather this treasure. Unfortunately, not all make it back...

The first thing to remember is that if you find amber on the ground, then that means an Amber Eater was in this area. Sure they probably moved on or are hunting elsewhere, but do remember that tidbit. A lot of folk seem to get this idea that since they can't see one, then the worm will never return. In most cases, yeah, you won't run into one. But on the rare chance you are wrong, then you are really paying for that bad bet. The other thing to note is that you will most likely only find pieces ranging in size from a pea to about your thumb. Some scavengers have figured out a way to eat larger chunks that contain meat, while local birds have grown found of collecting these pieces to decorate nests. Combined with weather and wear, and most pieces will be quite small. Be content with what you find, and don't stay on the mountain longer then necessary chasing this idea that you are steps away from a treasure trove. People get this idea that there are boulders of this stuff that everyone else just conveniently ignored. Yeah, those got left behind for a reason, pal. High chance a fellow amber hunter is stuck in that! With people getting obsessed with finding the mother load, their hunger may drive them to try their luck on bigger targets. Those amber spires sure are pretty! Bet those would fetch some fantastic coin! True, but I got a better idea: DON'T TOUCH THOSE! Those are literally territory markers that these aggressive worms use to ward off competitors! You start chiseling away at one and the owner is going to have a word with you! Also, remember when I said that each Amber Eater's glue has a unique color and scent? Let me emphasize the "scent" part! It may not smell like much to you, but other Amber Eaters can sense it clear as day. The second you get a giant chunk of stinky territory marker in your hand and start blundering into other worms' property, you are going to tick off a lot of folk. To their senses, another Amber Eater is trying to invade their turf, and they don't like that one bit. That is another reason why people rarely bring back giant chunks of amber, as the smell draws these beasts like flies to dung. I am not even going to warn you about trying to plunder their lair, because if you think for a even second that that is a good idea then there is no saving with you...

With how dangerous it is to get this precious material, people have wondered if there is a better way. If Amber Eaters secrete this stuff, why not just raise them in captivity? You know dragon scales are also pretty valuable, ever wonder why we don't raise those? Obviously, Amber Eaters are aggressive and voracious, there is no reasonable way to contain one for harvesting amber. Their hunger requires a lot of food and a full belly won't stop them from trying to glue their owner's either. They are also way smarter and faster than you think, making them good at escaping confinement and busting through cages. And like all living things in the rainbow mountains, the area and their diet is what gives them their colors. Keep one in captivity and those ambers are going to look pretty dull and lifeless. All these reasons are why dryads don't use this worm goop for making our amber coins, which many people think would be a swell idea. Yes, it is pretty, but there is no easy way to harvest it consistently. Trees make the sap we can use for minting and they don't tend to eat people. This is also why any recovered piece of amber is considered precious. They aren't easy to get and we also can't change them too much. There was once an idea that you could melt down little blobs of amber to make one giant rainbow piece, but we never figured out how to make that process work. Attempts to replicate the stomach of an Amber Eater just results in ugly brown chunks of sticky amber. So what you find is what you get, no matter what may be inside it. So if you ever see a large specimen of this amber on sale or on a person, see if you can get a good look inside. There is a chance there might be something or a piece of someone inside it....

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

-------------------------------------------------

Ha ha! My masterpiece! Ignore the fact I say that about every other thing I draw, but I do love how these guys turned out. "Amber" was on the "Spit List" and the Velvet Worms felt like a perfect match!

Description

Though not everyone gets the chance to visit rainbow mountains, a lot of folk know of its beauty from the goods that come from these places. Rocks of every hue brought out to be used in sculptures and decoration, and some fancy fellows have even taken colored slabs to use as countertops and tables. They could also be crushed into dust and used as pigments, literally painting with the majesty of these mountains! Such art doesn't just come from the ground, but also from the flora and fauna. Feather, flower and fur share the same rainbow hue, and people can't get enough of their beauty. They become the garb of locals, the souvenirs of tourists and the prized merchandise of traders. It ensures that almost everyone can get at least the smallest glimpse of these fantastic mountains, even if it is just a rainbow paperweight. However, that disconnect can cause some issues...

People who only see these colorful goods can get the wrong idea about the rainbow mountains, unknowing of what life is really like up there. These pretty stones and gorgeous feathery costumes can make these mountains seem like magical places of beauty and wonder, blinding people to the fact that it is still a mountain range that poses the same danger as any other. Folks who finally get the chance to visit may lose themselves in this fantasy they have built up in their heads for so long, thinking it is going to be absolute paradise. They may not prepare accordingly, or climb too high upon these peaks that they can't get down safely. Or, even worse, they may find themselves mesmerized by all the pretty rocks and treasures they find upon the slopes. So busy collecting souvenirs and trinkets to notice approaching danger. Newcomers to this land are incredibly susceptible to this, even more so when they find those gem-like "ambers" scattered upon the earth. Such gorgeous colors! Such wondrous hues! Hold them to the sun and they may shine finer than any precious stone! You find a piece of that, and you instantly scramble to find others. What jewelry it could make! What fine presents they would be! Well, we should grab some for mom, and for dad, and for siblings and friends and the list goes on and on! And then the greed may set in, when they notice even bigger pieces! A treasure trove, ripe for the picking! They hurry to collect more, not realizing that these ambers don't come from plants or even the earth. In truth, they aren't ambers at all. If outsiders don't research any deeper into these gem-like pieces outside of "ooooo pretty stone" then they won't realize that they are digging around in someone else's territory. Someone who doesn't like guests, but loves having people for dinner. Of all the tourists and collectors who have vanished upon these mountains, I wonder how many of them got a good glimpse into one of these giant "ambers" and realized their mistake too late. Yeah, those pieces aren't as big as you out of pure coincidence...

When all beasts upon this mountain wear rainbows, then that means death is clad in such colors as well. This place looks like paradise, but there is not true peace upon the slopes. There are predators to be feared, and one of the most infamous and dangerous is the Amber Eater. They are a worm-like species, though their bodies possess many pairs of stubby legs. While these pudgy limbs may seem cute with their sticky pads, they also have sharp claws to further aid in navigating the rocky slopes. Their tail end is broad and flat, with more claws to help anchor them when climbing or hanging. It is prehensile too, able to roll up or alter its shape to better suit the situation. On the other end is something a bit more fierce. Long sensory tendrils help taste and smell the air for traces of prey, and a small pair of eyes provide visuals for the hunt. Below them is a savage looking maw of many sharp and serrated mandibles to slice, crush and grind. This isn't a mouth that bites your hand off cleanly, it pretty much pulverizes it into a bloody shredded mush. Each part of this nasty mouth is powered by its own set of muscles, allowing it to alter its bite to better suit the target. With a set of chompers like that, you would be like "wow, I sure wouldn't want to be bitten by that! What a terrible way to go!" The good news is that these shredding mouthparts aren't their primary tool in taking down prey. The bad news is that the real way they hunt might be worse...

If you look past these jaws, you may see a pair of nozzle-like appendages. Looking like fleshy cannons, they drip with a colorful sticky goo. Compared to the teeth, they seem tame, but just you wait til the hunt is on! When an Amber Eater catches the whiff of food, they slither/crawl their way to the target. They lay low and move slowly, looking to get in range of their prey. When they get close enough, these nozzles open up and release a torrent of vibrant goop. In sticky strands, they sail through the air and splatter upon their prey. At first it looks like the Amber Eater is celebrating a birthday or something, but the victim will find that this colorful slime is actually a very sticky, fast drying glue. The Amber Eater releases this goo in a wide swirling arc, each cannon moving independently to get a good spread on their target. The strands are sprayed and looped around to create a web-like pattern that better ensnares prey. Upon contact, the glue immediately starts to hold fast, and the strands are aimed to catch limbs in a tangle. Even if the victim has enough appendages free to flee, they best watch where they step, as the ground is also covered in this sticky web. One wrong step, and the glue will grab hold and break your gait. Those tripped up by this trap will be doomed if they hit the ground, as that means more of their body will be in contact with this goop. When prey is slowed or dropped, the Amber Eater will crawl closer and continue its firing. It looks to thoroughly coat its target, at least making sure the head is completely covered. For human or llama-sized victims, it is death by asphyxiation, as the glue seals all airways and you perish in a rainbow bog of goop. For larger targets, like a gardenback, the head may be a bit difficult to fully coat while it is alive and thrashing. Rather than waste more glue to pin the victim down completely, the Amber Eater will instead use enough to slow them down to the point that it can use its jaws to rip out a throat without facing much of a fight. When its prey lies dead in this solidifying goo, the Amber Eater will feast. Its many jaws slice and tear, gobbling down chunks of meat in moments. Eventually, though, its hunger will be satiated, but often there is still more flesh to devour. It cannot eat another bite, but if it abandons this kill, then the scavengers will get the spoils. Thankfully, the Amber Eater believes in leftovers!

This worm is capable of preserving its food, and it does so by utilizing its glue cannons again. It will douse the carcass with more and more goo until it is thoroughly coated. When enough is applied, it uses its limbs and prehensile tail to start sculpting. It rolls the drying glue over and over in its arms until it forms sort of a ball, with the corpse making a meaty center. Given time, the sphere solidifies, transforming into that gorgeous "amber" look, complete with trapped victim! You see, this is what "rainbow mountain amber" actually is, it is the dried rolled glue of an Amber Eater. It uses this stuff to store food for later, which is helpful for saving larger kills it can't eat in one sitting or allowing it to hunt prey even on a full stomach! If there is opportunity to strike even when it doesn't want to it, it can just save it for later. When victims are properly hardened and stored, the amber is affixed to its body, with more glue and rough hide to help it all stick. Larger ambers may be dragged along by its tail or rolled back to its lair with its arms. When hunger strikes and it has nothing fresh to eat, those same jaws chisel and carve away at a selected amber to get at the prize inside. This is where "amber eater" comes from, as often you can spot a lounging one gnawing away on one as if it was candy.

Those with a sharp eye may note that some of the ambers this creature carries around have no victims trapped inside. Even more so, you may notice one eating empty ambers too! What's the deal? Well, it turns out there is more to these hardened glue balls then originally thought! The Amber Eater doesn't just devour the meat within, it also swallows the dried glue chunks as well. What has been found is that the creature is able to quickly digest these pieces and reconstitute them back into sticky glue. You see, the process of replenishing its ammo supply naturally is actually pretty long. To get a full load, it would take days to create enough glue, which may be a problem when you are hungry and have failed a couple hunts already. If they eat these ambers, though, the process goes by much faster, as all the ingredients are there, they just need to be put into the right place! This means that Amber Eaters can consume used strands and pieces after a failed hunt to help mitigate the loss. It also means that Amber Eaters can actually store ammo too! When their cannons are filled up but with no target to shoot, they may make these empty ambers instead and save them for later. Sculpt a little glue ball and save it for a rainy day! That way when they need glue in a pinch, they can chow down on one and get a replenish faster,

Coating their bodies in these amber chunks also creates body armor for them, which is good for deflecting attacks or warding off aggressors. Amber Eaters don't have any real predators to fear, but there are other tough foes on the mountains that may wish to pick a fight! These worms get into a lot of scrapes with the Fabulous Lancejaw, with arguments over territory and prey. Each are armed with deadly weaponry, which usually means it is a fifty-fifty chance on who wins the day. If the Lancejaw can fire off its spearing limbs past the Amber Eater's armor, the exploding wound is usually enough to kill them. However, if these kinetic limbs are glued shut, the Lancejaw has no weapon and thus will quickly perish under the onslaught of goop and tooth. Amber Eaters mark their territory with sculpted pillars of this glorious amber, creating colorful obelisks that further decorate the rainbow mountains! Each Amber Eater secretes its own unique goo, with its own color and scent. Other worms that encounter these sculptures will be able to identify the maker in an instant! Their cave lairs too are coated with this amber, making it look like the peaks themselves bleed paint from its wounds! Their stored amber spheres are often glued throughout the interior, making for morbid decoration. Everything the Amber Eater does is beautiful, but also very deadly. One should keep that in mind when hunting for these pretty "jewels."

As I said, the end product of these hunts wind up making these solid rounded chunks of colorful "amber," which people think are absolutely gorgeous. I don't blame them, because they are indeed beautiful! Most folk outside of the rainbow mountains don't realize it is dried worm spit, which I think would change their view of it. It doesn't change mine, though! It makes me love them more! Goes to show that nature's beauty can be found in all places! Aside from that, this amber is collected and polished to be sold under the name of "rainbow mountain amber" or "rainbow gems." Once shaped and shined, they make gorgeous jewelry and ornaments. They are incredibly popular, but they are rarer then you would think. With the idea that this stuff is spit out by a giant worm, you would think it would be easy to get and that is what gets a lot of folk killed. Amber Eaters are territorial, aggressive and very much open to hunting even when they are full. Since they can store food and easily replenish their glue stock, they have no reason to turn down easy prey. Since they also eat this stuff too, the left behind pieces of a hunt can quickly vanish. This amber is sold in small little gems because these morsels are often missed by roaming Amber Eaters. The larger the amber, the more costly and rare, as these would certainly be eaten by any one of these worms. Since they still fetch a fair price, people are eager to ascend the rainbow mountains to gather this treasure. Unfortunately, not all make it back...

The first thing to remember is that if you find amber on the ground, then that means an Amber Eater was in this area. Sure they probably moved on or are hunting elsewhere, but do remember that tidbit. A lot of folk seem to get this idea that since they can't see one, then the worm will never return. In most cases, yeah, you won't run into one. But on the rare chance you are wrong, then you are really paying for that bad bet. The other thing to note is that you will most likely only find pieces ranging in size from a pea to about your thumb. Some scavengers have figured out a way to eat larger chunks that contain meat, while local birds have grown found of collecting these pieces to decorate nests. Combined with weather and wear, and most pieces will be quite small. Be content with what you find, and don't stay on the mountain longer then necessary chasing this idea that you are steps away from a treasure trove. People get this idea that there are boulders of this stuff that everyone else just conveniently ignored. Yeah, those got left behind for a reason, pal. High chance a fellow amber hunter is stuck in that! With people getting obsessed with finding the mother load, their hunger may drive them to try their luck on bigger targets. Those amber spires sure are pretty! Bet those would fetch some fantastic coin! True, but I got a better idea: DON'T TOUCH THOSE! Those are literally territory markers that these aggressive worms use to ward off competitors! You start chiseling away at one and the owner is going to have a word with you! Also, remember when I said that each Amber Eater's glue has a unique color and scent? Let me emphasize the "scent" part! It may not smell like much to you, but other Amber Eaters can sense it clear as day. The second you get a giant chunk of stinky territory marker in your hand and start blundering into other worms' property, you are going to tick off a lot of folk. To their senses, another Amber Eater is trying to invade their turf, and they don't like that one bit. That is another reason why people rarely bring back giant chunks of amber, as the smell draws these beasts like flies to dung. I am not even going to warn you about trying to plunder their lair, because if you think for a even second that that is a good idea then there is no saving with you...

With how dangerous it is to get this precious material, people have wondered if there is a better way. If Amber Eaters secrete this stuff, why not just raise them in captivity? You know dragon scales are also pretty valuable, ever wonder why we don't raise those? Obviously, Amber Eaters are aggressive and voracious, there is no reasonable way to contain one for harvesting amber. Their hunger requires a lot of food and a full belly won't stop them from trying to glue their owner's either. They are also way smarter and faster than you think, making them good at escaping confinement and busting through cages. And like all living things in the rainbow mountains, the area and their diet is what gives them their colors. Keep one in captivity and those ambers are going to look pretty dull and lifeless. All these reasons are why dryads don't use this worm goop for making our amber coins, which many people think would be a swell idea. Yes, it is pretty, but there is no easy way to harvest it consistently. Trees make the sap we can use for minting and they don't tend to eat people. This is also why any recovered piece of amber is considered precious. They aren't easy to get and we also can't change them too much. There was once an idea that you could melt down little blobs of amber to make one giant rainbow piece, but we never figured out how to make that process work. Attempts to replicate the stomach of an Amber Eater just results in ugly brown chunks of sticky amber. So what you find is what you get, no matter what may be inside it. So if you ever see a large specimen of this amber on sale or on a person, see if you can get a good look inside. There is a chance there might be something or a piece of someone inside it....

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

-------------------------------------------------

Ha ha! My masterpiece! Ignore the fact I say that about every other thing I draw, but I do love how these guys turned out. "Amber" was on the "Spit List" and the Velvet Worms felt like a perfect match!