ImperfectEnthusiast on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/imperfectenthusiast/art/Veiled-Wildwoods-Flitter-Species-Reference-654012584ImperfectEnthusiast

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[Veiled Wildwoods] Flitter Species Reference

ImperfectEnthusiast

Published: Dec 29, 2016

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Description

Lore:

According to legend, flitters were a type of insect that mutually benefited from ‘binding’ with animals. Thought to be long extinct by humans, they have in fact fled to the last secluded and undisturbed place on Earth. Thanks to deforestation and pollution, they can only be found in one specific, pristine forest, and in small numbers.

Biology:

Flitters share a symbiotic relationship with their host, sharing energy from food and allowing both an extended lifespan. Often, a flitter will bind to an unsuspecting animal and take over the animals’ sensory functions- allowing heightened senses to help both organisms survive. They usually bind with herbivorous mammals, as it is easier than binding with carnivores. This is due to the difference in size and neural complexity between the two types.

Once bonded, the animal usually loses all memory from its’ past and starts to slowly gain sentience. A bonded animal will almost always accept the flitter as a part of itself, and name itself with a ‘flit’ at the beginning of a name. The flitter itself is not conscious; rather it passively accentuates the psychological capabilities of the animal and restructures the brain to benefit itself.
On an individual level, the bond between flitter and animal can vary greatly. Some flitters are highly compatible with their bonded animal while others are not, with some flitters giving their strongly bonded animal almost supernatural abilities.

Generally bound animals do not undergo any major bodily changes, except for such as coat or trait change. However, with time the animal may experience changes to their outward appearance due to aging and becoming more strongly bonded.

When the animal dies, so too does the flitter. Like a phoenix, the flitter rises from the body after metamorphosing and tries to find a new host. Occasionally two flitters may arise from a strongly bonded pair, as this is how flitters ‘reproduce’ asexually. At times, flitters that arise from a previous body may store genetic memory in their body, and when merging, continue to change forms and affinities due to their past experiences.

Behaviour:

The creature retains its normal diet, and the animals temperament becomes accentuated after binding (e.g. Skittish animals will become more flighty, Aggressive animals become more aggressive). Additionally, the newfound sentience adds more complex levels of personality to the animal’s original temperament.

Other:

The symbiotic bond causes the pair to fundamentally never stop growing, and have a much longer lifespan; meaning that they could reach an unusually large size. However, the body can only carry a limited amount of weight before succumbing to gravity. The size a flitter might grow to depends on the animal species to which they are bonded. It generally takes a long time for a flitter to grow which makes it unlikely that an animal would reach the mortal maximum size.

Image size

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Comments15

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MistiiFox

Jul 17, 2017

i rlly like this idea thing iTS RLLY COOL