Keft

The graves tell a sobering story.  Anna Gracewell.  Died to the burns.  Joss Malcom.  Died to the burns.  Coram Tess.  Died to the burns.  They stretch a mile ahead and a mile behind.  There's a reason nobody settles near this place.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Keft are small insects, about 3 centimetres long as adults.  They have six limbs and the typical three-sectioned insect body of thorax, abdomen, and head.  They have long feelers that sprout from their heads, often adding another 2 centimetres to their body length.

Genetics and Reproduction

Keft are self-fertilising, and lay eggs approximately once each month.  The parent typically dies before the eggs hatch, providing food for the soon-to-be-born young.  Before this happens, the parent will remain with the eggs, providing warmth and shelter from predators.  They will do this at the expense of searching for food, hence the typical death before the eggs hatch.

Growth Rate & Stages

Keft take one week to grow to maturity.  After hatching, they are typically 1 to 2 centimetres long, and grow rapidly over this week.  Their bodies grow out to an adult size first, followed quickly by their antennae.

Ecology and Habitats

Keft occupy a very specific niche in Mythia, living only in hydrothermal vents such as geysers or hot springs.  They are adapted very well for these areas, to the extent that any colder temperature means that they can't move due to the fact that they are cold-blooded.  Within this environment, they consume even smaller insects and the few plants that are adapted for the temperatures of the vents.  Typically, especially in the case of geysers, they inhabit small cracks in the walls to avoid water jets washing them out of their habitats.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Keft can see, but do not see as humans - rather, they can see into the ultraviolet spectrum and can see smells through a form of synesthesia.  Keft cannot see the "normal" range of colours.  They also are able to hear but lack a sense of smell as humans would experience it, only seeing rather than smelling.  Their antennae also allow them to gain information about their environment, including humidity and air currents.

Dangerous Critters

Keft are not widely known in Mythian society today, for one very good reason - nobody lives near them.  The first settlers who set up in the hydrothermal regions surrounding the Alps thought they had stumbled on a gold mine - free heat to boil and refine items and foods, as well as to bathe in and attract tourists.  The fledgling settlement soon foundered as residents one-by-one succumbed to a mysterious disease known only as the burns, which caused the infected to break out in red sores and develop a high temperature.  Feverishly searching for the cause of the disease, the settlers found small insects on the bodies of those who had died, and determined that they must have been the cause of the disease.  After bathing in the warm pools, the settlers had brushed against the sides and picked up the keft, who subsequently bit them and released their venom.