Auchlea

Hang on, boy. You want to pay us in... shells? Lad, I know those snails are lucky, but apparently, they cannot make up for lack of brains!

Auchlea or the golden Sea Snail is a rather common species found in the warm waters around the islands of Bren. They are mostly shell-less, and only covered in a hard layer to cover their backs, not unlike turtles. In a few regions, they live mostly on land and have developed a larger shell, forming a spiral at the end of their body. Usually, these shells have the color of amber, but about one in a hundred shelled snails is golden with a metallic sheen.

Encountering a golden snail is supposed to bring the finder luck. Some more naive seafarers believe that the golden slugs only appears close to hidden or buried treasures. It was not unusual for a captain to keep a living Auchlea or the shell of one aboard a ship to bring in good fortune, safe travel - or plentiful bounty.

The shells of Auchlea, not only the golden ones, are well desired in Affeiand and Baradolia for jewelry especially and sometimes even ground up as part of highly marketable wonder medicine.

In the city of Etonne you can find many streets adorned with the shells of Auchlea, covered in glass to protect them from the weather. The Auchlea Cottage at the beach of Etonne is famous for being completely covered in Auchlea shells, including the roof. Some say there exists a room within the cottage completely covered in golden Auchlea Shells, filled with treaures but its exact location unknown and lost in history.