Tela

Tela are small bilateral creatures located at the bottom of the ocean that resemble rumpled socks. They thrive in the heat of the warm waters next to the hydrothermal vents near the molten core of the Wormsea. Due to their very simple bodies, some of their basic functions remain a mystery.
Despite their simplicity, tela serve two purposes in Tanuli culture: children's playthings and basic fortune telling.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Unlike many living things, tela do not have eyes, brains, or digestive systems. While they definitely have a front and back, and a left and right, it's not always obvious which end is which.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Little Circle created them as playthings, and Tanuli children will poke and prod at them to get them to do things. Most of what they can do is move slightly in an entertaining way, and as soon as the provocation swims away they'll go right back to the hottest spot they can handle. For children, the tela's twisting and turning to escape being poked is seen as dancing, and sometimes many children will work together to gather tela in groups and make them dance collectively. They don't like it.
Tela don't mind being used in basic fortune telling, though, which at least respects their dignity. Tela seek heat and will move in the direction of heat. Lacking eyes to tell them where the heat is, they move their bodies searching for it. Placing a tela on an arm or tentacle causes the worm to move in search of the hottest part of their body. These movements are then interpreted to divine the state of the diviner's love life.

Lifespan

3 months

Average Length

5–10 cm