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Description
For many, the name "Pedunka" is used to refer to the slimy, armored creatures that stalk the coastal shores. In truth, though, this naming is only half correct. It is because this "species" is actually made of two separate species, with one being a Slime and the other the true Pedunka. Obviously the slimy, shifting body belongs to the Slime, as it is their pseudobody (If you wish to know more about them, check out my entry on Slimes!). The armored growths that emerge from their goo are the Pedunka, who have embedded themselves in the pseudobody. One may quickly leap to the word "parasitism," but that is not what is going on here. Unlike the Paranima and Gilimus (or Kelpie, to others), the Pedunka do not seek to hijack the Slime or steal its nutrients. Rather, their relationship is mutualistic, as both gain something from this bond. Before we dive into this symbiosis, though, let us talk about how they get there in the first place!

If any of you live near the ocean, or have seen a far share of sea life, you may find the Pedunka to look quite familiar. That is because the Pedunka are related to barnacles, the stalked variety to be exact! They start their lives like the rest of their brethren, floating through the sea in a tiny larval form. These small critters look kind of like a shrimp or crab, and they are much more mobile than their adult forms. At this stage, they swim through the waters in search of a good place to perch themselves. What they are looking for is a sturdy structure or body that sits near the coastline, where the water is agitated by the waves. It can be a rock, a piece of coral, the remains of a shipwreck or even a piece of rubbish! It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it stands against the waves and keeps them close to the shore. When they find this perfect spot, they shall latch on and undergo metamorphosis to achieve their stalked form. Their legs will turn to flexible tendrils, their bodies will harden into plates and a fleshy "foot" shall slowly emerge. This "foot" is used to grab onto the surface and keep them anchored, but it is not a permanent hold. During this aquatic stage, the Pedunka will use its tendrils to filter the water for food, getting a steady source from the churning sea. While it is a good and simple life, this is not the end stage of a Pedunka's life. They seek another place to roost, but they need to wait for the time to be right.

The moment adult Pedunka are waiting for comes when a violent storm thrashes the coast. When the sea boils and churns something fierce! If the storm is strong enough, the power of the waves will dislodge the Pedunka from their perch and spew them onto the beach, along with anything else that gets caught up in the chaos. When the sea calms and the sky clears, dozens of Pedunka will be scattered onto the wet sand. While this sounds like a recipe for death by desiccation, the Pedunka are able to survive exposure for quite some time. It will be days before the sun dries them to a crisp, but they are hoping it does not come down to that. What they want is a Slime that will come bumbling down the coast, scrounging through the sands for any tasty morsels. The reason the Pedunka use violent storms as their cue is because many scavengers will come to the beach afterwards in hopes of finding carcasses that have been left by the angry waves. Slimes are no exception to this, as they are always happy to score a free meal. So if luck is on their side, the Pedunka will find a hungry Slime sifting through the debris and they will be swallowed up by the pseudobody. When this happens, the barnacles will release a chemical signal that will reach the Slime's heart. What this does is essentially tell the heart that they are not food, which will keep the Slime from automatically crushing and digesting it. Instead, its own signals will work in harmony with the heart to help the Pedunka become one with the Slime. Within minutes, these barnacles will feel like an extension of the pseudobody, so seamless that many Slimes tend to forget that they are a separate creature! With a bunch of these new additions, the Slime will rearrange them as it see fits, to create a form that will benefit both of them. From here on out, the Pedunka shall leave the sea and ride instead on waves of goo!

With this new relationship developed, one now must wonder what each party gets from such a partnership. What could a barnacle provide a Slime, and what could a Slime offer a barnacle? What the Pedunka gets from this is quite obvious. Instead of filtering particles from the sea, the Pedunka will now absorb nutrients directly from the Slime's pseudobody. Their fleshy stalk will develop a special coating that resists the digestive fluids of the Slime, while also absorbing nutrients gained from broken down meals. What they also get is protection! When in the sea or stranded on shore, Pedunka are quite easy prey. Their fleshy foots are favorite to many, even to fishermen and other coastal folk! When pulled into the Slime, though, they gain a great defense. The Slime will not tolerate those that try to feed on it, and its pseudobody is well equipped to ward off predators. This gooey body also keeps the Pedunka hydrated, so that they can survive outside of the sea. While these guys do feed off the Slime's nutrients, Slime does gain some rather nice benefits! The simplest one is the coating of sharp, armored growths that the Slime can now use to protect its heart or take down prey. Since Pedunka are sessile creatures, they cannot really use their sharpened ends to fight off predators, they can only discourage. When attached to a Slime, though, these bladed tips can cause some serious damage! Some Slimes may use them like claws to rake and slice, while others may treat them like horns to charge and impale with. It is a rather nice arsenal, but that is not all. Since the Pedunka no longer filter food with their tendrils, they will alter these limbs to act as sensory organs. These sensitive tentacles will now act like a nose, sniffing the air for the scent of food or carrion. What they smell is reported back to the heart, which will use it to locate food. With this extra set of sensory organs, the Slime can now find nourishment more easily and help pinpoint its location. Lastly, and most importantly, the Pedunka will use their stalks to leech salt from the Slime's pseudobody. This may sound bad, but it is actually a really good thing! Like many terrestrial species, Slimes are not well suited to deal with saltwater. They can withstand mild exposure to it, but they cannot drink it or submerge themselves in it. The high salt content is hard to deal with, and their heart will not be able absorb such large quantities. In time, their pseudobodies will become oversaturated, disrupting their composition and possibly poisoning their heart. So with this, Slimes must limit their exposure to salt water and be sure to take the time to work out all the extra salt. With the Pedunka on board, this is no longer an issue. The Pedunka are used to such environments, and they can absorb the extra salt without a problem. So now the Slime can feed on water logged corpses, or hunt in the shallows without worry of salt poisoning. The Pedunka will just filter out the excess so that their gooey buddy shall stay nice and healthy! Must be nice! I would love something like that, as it would save me from many nights in the tub! So in the end, the Pedunka may take food away from the Slime, but they will give it extra abilities so that it can hunt down even more food to make up for it!

Eventually the time will come for the Pedunka to breed and dispense their eggs. Since the Pedunka are hermaphrodites, finding a mate isn't a problem at all! As long as they have another Pedunka riding the Slime, they can fertilize their eggs with ease. When it is time to lay, the Slime will wander into the shallows and the Pedunka will release thousands of eggs from the tips of their stalks. This cloud will go into the sea, where the larvae will hatch and the cycle will begin anew. It is important that so many eggs are laid at once, as very few Pedunka will actually reach this stage in life. Many are taken out by predators, others may die on the beach, but these numbers are negligible when there are breeding adults still present on the shore and in the seas.

When a Slime takes on these barnacles, people will turn to calling them "Pedunka" as a whole. While the name really only applies to the barnacles, I can't really offer a better alternative. Folk who live by the sea often view Pedunka with caution and worry, as they believe them to be much more aggressive than normal Slimes. When Pedunka are stalking the beaches, many people will avoid the area and stay inside. A common bit of knowledge from these coastal towns is to avoid the beaches after a violent storm, as that is when Pedunka are most likely to roam. To me, these claims are only half right, but I do stress the part about approaching these creatures with caution. You see, Slimes with Pedunka are not more "violent" or "aggressive" as others will say, but that does not mean they are fully wrong. With the barnacles hitching a ride and nabbing some food, these Slimes will get hungrier faster than others and require more food. So when they are on the hunt, they are tempted to try riskier prey if there is no alternative. The other thing is that the fresh acquiring of Pedunka can sometimes make young Slimes grow a bit taller than their roots may hold (or big for their britches, as humans may say). With these new senses and weapons, they are quite eager to try them out. If you are wandering around the coastline after a storm, these newly made Pedunka may see you as an opportunity to try out their new toys, which isn't as cute as I just made it sound. My advice for when it comes to observing Pedunka is to make sure there is plenty of food between you and them. They won't care about you in the slightest when they are gorging on a beached whale carcass. And if that isn't an option, bribery will always succeed. Just like normal Slimes, they are sapient and always looking for an easy meal. If you have goodies to offer them, then they will be happy to leave you be or even stay for a chat! Just be sure that the food you are offering is way more tastier looking than you are.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

This one just came out really pretty. Really love how the colors look and how the design came out. A sheer pain to draw, but definitely worth it! I can't stop making Slimes! More! MORE!

Description
For many, the name "Pedunka" is used to refer to the slimy, armored creatures that stalk the coastal shores. In truth, though, this naming is only half correct. It is because this "species" is actually made of two separate species, with one being a Slime and the other the true Pedunka. Obviously the slimy, shifting body belongs to the Slime, as it is their pseudobody (If you wish to know more about them, check out my entry on Slimes!). The armored growths that emerge from their goo are the Pedunka, who have embedded themselves in the pseudobody. One may quickly leap to the word "parasitism," but that is not what is going on here. Unlike the Paranima and Gilimus (or Kelpie, to others), the Pedunka do not seek to hijack the Slime or steal its nutrients. Rather, their relationship is mutualistic, as both gain something from this bond. Before we dive into this symbiosis, though, let us talk about how they get there in the first place!

If any of you live near the ocean, or have seen a far share of sea life, you may find the Pedunka to look quite familiar. That is because the Pedunka are related to barnacles, the stalked variety to be exact! They start their lives like the rest of their brethren, floating through the sea in a tiny larval form. These small critters look kind of like a shrimp or crab, and they are much more mobile than their adult forms. At this stage, they swim through the waters in search of a good place to perch themselves. What they are looking for is a sturdy structure or body that sits near the coastline, where the water is agitated by the waves. It can be a rock, a piece of coral, the remains of a shipwreck or even a piece of rubbish! It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it stands against the waves and keeps them close to the shore. When they find this perfect spot, they shall latch on and undergo metamorphosis to achieve their stalked form. Their legs will turn to flexible tendrils, their bodies will harden into plates and a fleshy "foot" shall slowly emerge. This "foot" is used to grab onto the surface and keep them anchored, but it is not a permanent hold. During this aquatic stage, the Pedunka will use its tendrils to filter the water for food, getting a steady source from the churning sea. While it is a good and simple life, this is not the end stage of a Pedunka's life. They seek another place to roost, but they need to wait for the time to be right.

The moment adult Pedunka are waiting for comes when a violent storm thrashes the coast. When the sea boils and churns something fierce! If the storm is strong enough, the power of the waves will dislodge the Pedunka from their perch and spew them onto the beach, along with anything else that gets caught up in the chaos. When the sea calms and the sky clears, dozens of Pedunka will be scattered onto the wet sand. While this sounds like a recipe for death by desiccation, the Pedunka are able to survive exposure for quite some time. It will be days before the sun dries them to a crisp, but they are hoping it does not come down to that. What they want is a Slime that will come bumbling down the coast, scrounging through the sands for any tasty morsels. The reason the Pedunka use violent storms as their cue is because many scavengers will come to the beach afterwards in hopes of finding carcasses that have been left by the angry waves. Slimes are no exception to this, as they are always happy to score a free meal. So if luck is on their side, the Pedunka will find a hungry Slime sifting through the debris and they will be swallowed up by the pseudobody. When this happens, the barnacles will release a chemical signal that will reach the Slime's heart. What this does is essentially tell the heart that they are not food, which will keep the Slime from automatically crushing and digesting it. Instead, its own signals will work in harmony with the heart to help the Pedunka become one with the Slime. Within minutes, these barnacles will feel like an extension of the pseudobody, so seamless that many Slimes tend to forget that they are a separate creature! With a bunch of these new additions, the Slime will rearrange them as it see fits, to create a form that will benefit both of them. From here on out, the Pedunka shall leave the sea and ride instead on waves of goo!

With this new relationship developed, one now must wonder what each party gets from such a partnership. What could a barnacle provide a Slime, and what could a Slime offer a barnacle? What the Pedunka gets from this is quite obvious. Instead of filtering particles from the sea, the Pedunka will now absorb nutrients directly from the Slime's pseudobody. Their fleshy stalk will develop a special coating that resists the digestive fluids of the Slime, while also absorbing nutrients gained from broken down meals. What they also get is protection! When in the sea or stranded on shore, Pedunka are quite easy prey. Their fleshy foots are favorite to many, even to fishermen and other coastal folk! When pulled into the Slime, though, they gain a great defense. The Slime will not tolerate those that try to feed on it, and its pseudobody is well equipped to ward off predators. This gooey body also keeps the Pedunka hydrated, so that they can survive outside of the sea. While these guys do feed off the Slime's nutrients, Slime does gain some rather nice benefits! The simplest one is the coating of sharp, armored growths that the Slime can now use to protect its heart or take down prey. Since Pedunka are sessile creatures, they cannot really use their sharpened ends to fight off predators, they can only discourage. When attached to a Slime, though, these bladed tips can cause some serious damage! Some Slimes may use them like claws to rake and slice, while others may treat them like horns to charge and impale with. It is a rather nice arsenal, but that is not all. Since the Pedunka no longer filter food with their tendrils, they will alter these limbs to act as sensory organs. These sensitive tentacles will now act like a nose, sniffing the air for the scent of food or carrion. What they smell is reported back to the heart, which will use it to locate food. With this extra set of sensory organs, the Slime can now find nourishment more easily and help pinpoint its location. Lastly, and most importantly, the Pedunka will use their stalks to leech salt from the Slime's pseudobody. This may sound bad, but it is actually a really good thing! Like many terrestrial species, Slimes are not well suited to deal with saltwater. They can withstand mild exposure to it, but they cannot drink it or submerge themselves in it. The high salt content is hard to deal with, and their heart will not be able absorb such large quantities. In time, their pseudobodies will become oversaturated, disrupting their composition and possibly poisoning their heart. So with this, Slimes must limit their exposure to salt water and be sure to take the time to work out all the extra salt. With the Pedunka on board, this is no longer an issue. The Pedunka are used to such environments, and they can absorb the extra salt without a problem. So now the Slime can feed on water logged corpses, or hunt in the shallows without worry of salt poisoning. The Pedunka will just filter out the excess so that their gooey buddy shall stay nice and healthy! Must be nice! I would love something like that, as it would save me from many nights in the tub! So in the end, the Pedunka may take food away from the Slime, but they will give it extra abilities so that it can hunt down even more food to make up for it!

Eventually the time will come for the Pedunka to breed and dispense their eggs. Since the Pedunka are hermaphrodites, finding a mate isn't a problem at all! As long as they have another Pedunka riding the Slime, they can fertilize their eggs with ease. When it is time to lay, the Slime will wander into the shallows and the Pedunka will release thousands of eggs from the tips of their stalks. This cloud will go into the sea, where the larvae will hatch and the cycle will begin anew. It is important that so many eggs are laid at once, as very few Pedunka will actually reach this stage in life. Many are taken out by predators, others may die on the beach, but these numbers are negligible when there are breeding adults still present on the shore and in the seas.

When a Slime takes on these barnacles, people will turn to calling them "Pedunka" as a whole. While the name really only applies to the barnacles, I can't really offer a better alternative. Folk who live by the sea often view Pedunka with caution and worry, as they believe them to be much more aggressive than normal Slimes. When Pedunka are stalking the beaches, many people will avoid the area and stay inside. A common bit of knowledge from these coastal towns is to avoid the beaches after a violent storm, as that is when Pedunka are most likely to roam. To me, these claims are only half right, but I do stress the part about approaching these creatures with caution. You see, Slimes with Pedunka are not more "violent" or "aggressive" as others will say, but that does not mean they are fully wrong. With the barnacles hitching a ride and nabbing some food, these Slimes will get hungrier faster than others and require more food. So when they are on the hunt, they are tempted to try riskier prey if there is no alternative. The other thing is that the fresh acquiring of Pedunka can sometimes make young Slimes grow a bit taller than their roots may hold (or big for their britches, as humans may say). With these new senses and weapons, they are quite eager to try them out. If you are wandering around the coastline after a storm, these newly made Pedunka may see you as an opportunity to try out their new toys, which isn't as cute as I just made it sound. My advice for when it comes to observing Pedunka is to make sure there is plenty of food between you and them. They won't care about you in the slightest when they are gorging on a beached whale carcass. And if that isn't an option, bribery will always succeed. Just like normal Slimes, they are sapient and always looking for an easy meal. If you have goodies to offer them, then they will be happy to leave you be or even stay for a chat! Just be sure that the food you are offering is way more tastier looking than you are.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

This one just came out really pretty. Really love how the colors look and how the design came out. A sheer pain to draw, but definitely worth it! I can't stop making Slimes! More! MORE!