A I: Hoarder OUTDATED

Written by Neons-Mindrealm

Hoarder
Crafty little Beings of Alterna I: The Lands of Paradise

Origins:

Given their striking resemblance, both in physical appearance and behavior, to the Endless Forest's deity Ariya, it is believed that their species had not been evolved from a narcanian being. But was rather formed and created entirely by the forest's deity herself.
In order to aid quenching her never-ending greed and curiosity for unique and exotic treasures.
As well as replanting the forest's flora over and over again.

Current Habitat:

Hoarders abundantly live in all parts of the Endless Forest, but are seen less frequently in the deeper areas.
They do not seem to build specific nesting areas or similar shelters to live in, but rather constantly roam the dense thicket of the forest, and rest wherever they claim to be safe.

Average Size / Height:

In their usually squatted down posture, Hoarders average a height of around 40 centimeters, and 55 when standing up straight.
If they are stretched out completely, their full-body and tail length can reach up to 1.2 meters long.

Diet:

The feeding habits of Hoarders seem to directly tie into their role of spreading seeds throughout the Endless Forest.
As their main source of food only consists of seed bearing fruits and other plants, which they at first free by eating away at their edible exterior, before then planting the seeds into the ground, right where they stood whilst eating them.

Physical Appearance:

Most commonly known for their large circular eyes, as well as their five spindly and oblong fingers on each front paw, Hoarders share a striking resemblance to the forest's deity Ariya.
On their hind paws, they only possess short and barbed claws to aid them in climbing trees or rocks. And even their tail appears to be designed to firmly hold on to branches with a slender but muscular length, slightly longer than their entire body.
The fur they are covered in varies from a light to dark brown and is quite ruffled all over their bodies.
On their tail, they are able to near instantly puff up their fur, to make them seem way bigger than they actually are. And in combination with baring the sharp teeth they have at the front of their slightly elongated snout, as well as the ability to expand their rather thin and pointy ears to large half circles. Hoarders are able to suddenly change their appearance from a cute and innocent creature to a demonic looking Imp. To scare off potential predators, or thieves who want to steal their treasures.

Behavior and Social Structure:

As ever curious and greedy critters of the Endless Forest, Hoarder count as purely solitary creatures. As sharing even small bits of pulp from a unique looking fruit would be enough to ignite an aggressive jealousy in every present Hoarder.
The only exception is when a female Hoarder carries their young on her back until it is able to fend for itself. But as soon as it takes its first steps and picks up its first fruit to eat, the mother will see it as every other Hoarder and feel jealous of everything her young picks up as well.
When coming across an adventurer, or any being that appears to hold an interesting looking item, Hoarder will show various forms of behavior in hope to be able to obtain said item.
With the most common one being a friendly and affectionate approach towards an adventurer to be allowed to sit on their shoulder. But once they let their guard down for even a second, the Hoarder would then snatch the item from the adventurer's possession and swiftly run off into the dense leafage of the Endless Forest again. Where, even though they do not build nests for shelter or to house their young, they are known for constructing small stashes for their acquired treasures to store.
However, with a lack of a long-term memory, most of the time Hoarder will just forget where the stashes are they have built. And will either build a new one if they don't find any, or store their treasures in the stash of another Hoarder, thinking it is their own.

Role in the Food Chain:

As a small and mostly defenseless frugivore, Hoarder mainly count as prey in the food chain of the Endless Forest, where they are preyed upon by many carnivores of the forest.
Their main method of defense against smaller predators is hanging themselves upside down from a branch and puffing up the fur on their tail, as well as expanding their ears and baring their teeth in an attempt to scare off the predator.
Against larger predators, or in cases their intimidation fails, Hoarder will count on their small size and maneuverability to simply flee into the dense leafage of the forest and hide until it is safe to come out again.

Special Abilities and unique Physical Traits:

With their spindly and oblong as well as quite bendable and almost boneless seeming fingers, Hoarder are able to reach quite deep into all kinds of crevices and retrieve valuable treasures they may find lodged within.
Their ears are also able to adjust to a multitude of different frequencies and sense unusual sounds within the forest that may hint at a potential exotic treasure to spark their curiosity.
Furthermore, the eyes of a Hoarder also appear to be able to see quite well in both broad daylight and the darkness of night, which some believe comes from an ability to be able to switch to a heat-based vision in darker environments, and return to normal once it's bright.
If a Hoarder possesses any form of primal Channeling like most other creatures of Narcana and the Lands isn't known for sure. But it is assumed that they are able to shoot out small gusts of wind to help them dislodge certain objects stuck in an unreachable depth of a crevice.

Additional Insights:

Since Hoarder are flawed by nature with a lack of a long-term memory, and often forget where they have hidden their stolen treasures, their stashes remain mostly unguarded and scattered all over the Endless Forest, ready to be taken by anyone who is able to find them.
Which for some adventurers presents quite the alluring opportunity to rather easily hunt for treasures of various rarities in just a single biome of the Lands.