Zikiti Crabs
The Zikiti Crabs are tiny crustaceans that live most of their lives buried beneath the salt of Echo Flats. The emerge from their hibernation during the high tides when the flats become swamped with in-rushing ocean water.
They get their name from the deafening sound they make as thousands of them click their claws together during their feeding frenzy.
They are highly sought after for their magical and hallucinogenic properties, and are the source of the powers of the Saltseers of Echo Flats.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
During the tidal flooding of Echo Flats, female Zikity crabs will feast and lay thousands of eggs in the waters, to be fertilised at random by the males. When the waters subside, the fertilised eggs that are not eaten by the many birds will sink into the salt and hatch upon the next flood.
Biological Cycle
When they hatch the crabs are tiny and transparent, but fully formed. They usually grow to their full size after their second flooding. A single zikiti crab may last up to three or four cycles of tidal flooding, and a rare few have been known to survive for up to a decade. These unusually long lived Zikiti Crabs can grow up to one meter wide, and it is rumoured have developed magical defenses.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Due to their food source being the polyps of the coral grown in the Uferbrech sea, the crabs draw in the magic inherent in those polyps. This becomes highly concentrated in the crab's internal fluids while they hibernate and dry out within their salty burrows, and it become a potent hallucinogen.
The dried husks of Zikiti Crabs is a much sought after resource - used for recreation as a party drug, for magic research at the The Academy and the the Stoneforged Assembly, and is the primary source of power for the Saltseers who have made their home on the edges of Echo Flats .
A rare drink made from Fermented Zikiti Crabs is brewed and served at The Skull and Duggery during the Moontide trials. This combines the magical properties of Zikiti with a potent alcohol. Its consumption is dangerous, and many unfortunate revellers have been known to overdose on it, and become Soulhusks. But this does not deter the many who seek it out during the celebrations at Camp Thrifty.
Lifespan
6 months to a year, rarely up to 10 years.
Average Height
Tiny. Their shells are only 1-2 inches in diameter.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
The shell of the Zikity Crab is hard, and when young is transparent. As the crabs age, and they imbibe more of the coral polyps, their shells take on golden hues laced with purple and blue swirls. The hard spikes and edges of their shells tend to be encrusted with white salt.
Geographic Distribution
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