[hider=Entropites][center][h3][colour=9e0b0f]Change-Eaters[/colour][/h3]
[b]Species - Sapient - Lex - the Other[/b][/center]

[b]Appearance:[/b] Change-eaters are mobile Other constructs designed to prey on Elementals, fuelling themselves by reducing complex systems to entropy. Diaphane's daughters are all, like she was, fairly amorphous, but retain a 'core' form to which they revert when relaxed. [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/17036157@N03/albums/with/72157650295896510]The core form[/url] ranges in size from a pony to a whale, depending on the age of the entity and how well it has fed, and has no overall axis of symmetry. The shape of a change-eater is semi-random and will change slowly over the course of their life, always consisting of a conglomeration of fluid bubbles, streams, and peaks, arranged into closely connected lobes and organs, a testimony to the variability of flesh.

Change-eater bodies exist in a spectrum of increasing symmetry based on how elaborately coordinated their movements are at a given moment. When they wish to move fast in a single direction, their entire body will simply lose all consistency and [url=https://kimkeever.com/abstract-images/]billow[/url] [url=http://www.marcuspalmqvist.com/powder/]forth[/url] like an inkdrop in water, unimpeded by all but the densest matter. Complex manoeuvres necessitated by combat, dancing and navigating difficult terrain are assisted by appendages resembling those of organic creatures, such as [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=15990573]wings[/url], [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17809699]jointed[/url] [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=16509934]tentacles[/url], [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17403092]claws[/url], [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17600310]plates[/url] and [url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17878138]teeth[/url]. These variations in shape are localised and change quickly. A change-eater executing a high velocity hairpin turn may appear as a streak of misty colour, abruptly condense its anterior end into an elaborate flare of fins and wings with which to brake, and dissolve back into a swirling blur, in under a second.

The species is invariably colourful, vibrant to the point of absurdity. No matter which form they take, they always glow in a strikingly bold assortment of colours, marking them out like a beacon, or a hallucination. Despite their brilliance, their light does not have an internal source. It is not bioluminescent but fluorescent and incandescent, a product of ambient radiation being absorbed by the change-eater and released after it has been robbed of much of its energy. As the main source of radiation on Galbar is its sun, the species is usually only as bright as its surroundings- On a moonless night, they are as faint as a thin cloud. When illuminated again their organs light up brilliantly, though not evenly. The light of a torch may cause an entire network of internal tubules to glow while the rest of the entropite remains almost invisible.

An injured change-eater is an unusual sight. Their changes in bodily organisation also affect their solidity. When forming clearly defined tendrils and wings, those parts of a change-eater are solid, and though resilient, can be injured as such. Tissue damaged while solid become difficult to 'unwind' back into a liquid or gaseous state, and will trail limply with the rest of the body, unable to change shape. Conversely, a dissolved entropite is vulnerable to dispersion by pressure, heat, or vibration. Dispersion is easier to heal and tends to be less localised, but a severely dispersed area will struggle to condense with the rest of the body, and trail behind it as smoke.

[b]Life Cycle:[/b] Typically wanderers, entropites spend most of their lives hunting and feeding. In order to achieve mature size, they seek out sources of complexity and 'burn' them, reducing them to their base components, usually raw elements in steam and dust. As they age they seek out nourishment of increasing animation, abandoning their previous prey in stages. Young change-eaters are happy enough to eat soil, air and water. Through adolescence they feed on predominantly plants, then animals, until at their full size they hunt almost exclusively elementals, chilling their fires, boiling their seas, fighting primal magic with ethereal flesh.

Change-eaters that grow to their full size will not slow their metabolism. Rather, excess energy that would otherwise be used for growth is used to conceive a clutch of eggs through parthenogenesis. These are incubated internally over the course of several months, and are laid days prior to hatching, in a rough nest constructed of all kinds of organic odds and ends. In Lex, this consists of large nocti woven between meteoroids. On Galbar, trees and corals are most common, but bone inclusions aren't rare, and some mothers will use a sentient village as the groundwork for their nest. Hatchlings are small and energetic, but will be gently lifted back into bounds of the nest if they stray during their first few days of sporadic growth.

Hatchlings, or inklets, do not leave their mother for several years. She will herd them within and underneath her body like an excited shoal of fish, sheltering them and teaching them the joys and dangers of the world. They are allowed to stray further and further as they grow in size, but clutches do not separate until well after they have fledged. Families remain emotionally close, and occupy interlocking territories, or wander together as a hunter-pack.

[b]Description:[/b] Designed as living weapons, entropites are agents of destruction no less elegant for their voracity. From birth to death they are hedonists that exist to toy with their surroundings and consume relentlessly. 

Sentient and capable of acute emotions, the daughters of Diaphane are more than simple killing machines. They possess a profound sense of familial empathy for the entire species-wide sisterhood. Entropites never tire of one another's company, and though their nature is petty and riddled with bickering, they never fall into conflict. Such is their love that no loss among their number is not widely mourned, and a grievance against one is a grievance against all.

Other creatures receive no such favour. Entropites are captivated by the beauty of the world around them, and feel sorrow when it is damaged, but their constant sense of fascination and wonder culminates in the act of appreciating life by eating it, savouring its flavour. To change-eaters, there is no shame in devouring anything they observe, or sharing it with their sisters. It is the true and final form of admiration.

This is not to say that they are incapable of forming bonds between species. Change-eaters are not opposed to playing with their food. It is difficult for them to understand morality or mercy, but interesting sentient life may, at the risk of being unexpectedly eaten, form friendships with them. True adoption into the sisterhood, however, remains impossible.

Civilisation is beyond the capacities of entropites. While they are inquisitive and intelligent, they lack the patience and motivation to commit to building infrastructure, even if they had a use for it.

[b]Interactions:[/b] Djinni will soon face a dire threat from change-eaters, who absorb Flickers to grow, heal their wounds, and conceive. Both entities rely on size and numbers for power. All other factors being equal, entropites are a potent match for the prey they were designed for. However, elementals have a staggering advantage in population, and, free of the necessity to breed, they are not limited in size. No entropite will challenge a elemental lord and his retinue alone, or even stay anywhere remotely close.

Interestingly, change-eaters struggle to consume what they aren't made for. The biota of Galbar and Lex are their natural prey, but magical and interdimensional odds and ends such as White Giants, some types of dragon blood, and Other life not designed for their nourishment- That is, Sculptors and Sculpture- tend to be somewhat distasteful.

Sweethearts are readily consumed by change-eaters, who consider them particularly delicious, almost as much so as elementals. Feeding on them gives a rush not dissimilar to caffeine, albeit more potent, and, while young, more addictive. As they mature, they often wean themselves from sweethearts to the more nourishing Flickers.[/hider]