"The iriik - saucerfish, if one can even call it a fish - is a very strange creature. It is a little unsettling to see. The eyes seem to be in the wrong place and the the creature is thin and round. The way it moves through the wind, it scares me. Fortunately, they are harmless."— Tasiir of the People of the Horse
Where the Wind Blows Strong
In
Haira's Land where the land meets the sky, there is not much wildlife. The
winter wind makes the side and underside of the island too cold for most
skyfish there. Despite this, one species of
fish survives there. The iriik - as the
Orth call it - is a thin, round creature with a mouth on one side and eyes on the other.
There isn't much to eat in
Haira's Land but the flocks of saucerfish are able to survive on the moss that grows on the rocks. They spend most of their time eating, leaving long trails of bare rock where they have shuffled around consuming the moss.
A Flying Saucer
The common name for this fish in Grara is based on its resemblence to a plate. Distinctly different from the dinnerware to which we are accustomed, is the flying nature of the creature.— Karmish Aran, Personal Journal
The saucerfish - like other
skyfish - possesses the ability to fly through the air. However, it has a few additional difficulties that its long-bodied bretheren do not have. First, give its large surface area it can catch a lot of wind and easily be blown around unless oriented with an edge toward the wind. Second, the placement of its eyes prevent it from seeing anything below it. Finally, the iriik dies quickly to the cold because it is thin but with a lot of area to radiate heat but the creature has an interesting way to overcome this disadvantage.
A Fish in Winter
Before the winter sets in and the first snow falls, the saucerfish find a low spot in the rocky region in which they reside. Here, they form a large pile and wait out the winter. In addition to the protection granted to the saucerfish at the bottom of the pile, any snow that piles up on top of them provides additional insulation as they hibernate. While saucerfish Every year, many saucerfish on the outer layer die but the ones below them are protected.
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