False Garden Blubber
Fertile Grounds
There is beauty to be found in these creatures, but their sacrifice ensures our survival. Their deaths power our machines, our crops, our light. So may every life I take from them be an honourable one, to help fuel that of thousands.
The blubber of False Gardens is a valuable material used across the Plane of Air. Produced by the creatures, hunters seek it out for their airships and machinery, even at the cost of the species themselves. Though its sales on the market make it hard to ignore.
Properties
The blubber appears as a semi-transparent, thick yellow gelatine found below a False Garden’s skin. Very few blood vessels and nerves run through the layers. Thanks to its thickness, it protects vital organs from invasive species and lets symbiotic partners settle with ease.
Like other animals with blubber, it regulates the body’s heat while travelling through colder currents. It also keeps infection to a minimum.
Growth & Development
False Gardens start accumulating their blubber at around 6 to 10 years of age. The mass grows between the muscles and skin, clinging onto the former for stability. As the calf gets older, more begins forming until a thick layer forms so that vegetation can settle.
The thickness varies, with some having over a foot of blubber covering their body. Without a proper diet at an early age, it may under-develop to support any plantlife.
Harvesting
One cannot remove Blubber without damaging the body, as it clings to a False Garden's skeleton and muscles. Cutting the blubber free from the body kills them, with even the few that somehow survive dying shortly after from infection or disease.
The best blubber comes from before vegetation had time to settle, making young Gardens a prime target for hunters. Though many regulate against it to protect the species’ numbers.
Counterattacks
Prolonged hunting of False Gardens led to the species adapting with their own tactics. Females and their young appear to stop travelling to common hunting grounds while males sneak up on Airships to destroy hunting equipment. Some know which ships to tackle first, showing higher intellect than expected.
The increased aggression makes become it harder to get Blubber, threatening trade of the resource. Instead, some seek alternatives that do not rely on them for oil or fertiliser.
I liked reading this article. I love that the dangerous "location" is, in fact, an animal. I feel sorry for them and can easily imagine how the public might be divided and try to find other sources of energy to, at least, lower the weight on their shoulders. This article was great, well arranged and nice to read. I am wondering, now, how intelligent they really are. It can raise serious morality questions.