Physical Description

Lilodelas are an amphibious species sporting bumpy, slimy skin. At first glance, this skin appears to be a singular, set color, but it actually is impacted by a lilodela's diet, residence, and can even signify the state of their health. It's most common to see a lilodela with more natural colors along a scale of murky greens to greys and blacks. However, ill lilodelas may begin to lose color, becoming more pale or blotchy in coloration.

The slime that covers the body of a lilodela not only keeps their skin healthy, but allows them to support plantlife with their own bodies. This plantlife takes the form of a moss blanket coating their abdomen, accompanied by one type of flower. The type of flower has minor affects on the body, typically matching colors with the webbing of the feet, tongue, and some outer sensory organs.

Lilodelas are adapted to survive without any sense of sight, and as such, have a variety of methods for detection. Antennas sprout from their heads, necks, and along their bodies. These are much larger and thicker than typical antenna, having a more similar feel and appearance to tentacles on species such as illusorii. Alongside these antennas, lilodela have heat sensing capabilities, and twin lines down their face (commonly mistaken as eyes) which act as noses. All of these are incredibly sensitive to touch, and doing so is considered extremely rude.

While some might expect lilodelas to use their front feet for tasks, they have a pair of vine-like limbs towards their chest that act as arms. Matching the color of their moss, these boneless limbs have a "bulb" that splits similarly to a three-pointed flower. Each point has two rows of teeth.

The life cycle of lilodelas is fairly complex due to their nature as a symbiotic species. Lilodelas lay a clutch of anywhere from three to five eggs. These are then either stored within a safe, clean water source or within the lilodela's coat of moss. After hatching, the young are aquatic by nature, sporting gills alongside a set of front limbs and a tail. These front limbs are used to anchor to some sort of aquatic plant, of which will begin to form the beginning coat of plantlife on a young lilodela. This will act as their main source of energy for the first few weeks of their life, allowing parents to leave for longer periods of time to hunt for themselves.

Once lilodela young develop their second set of legs, their tails begin to shrink. Their gills become less used as lungs develop fully, and they enter land. At this point, the undercoat of algae will start to be covered with moss. Flowers don't tend to develop until a lilodela has reached adulthood at about twenty-five years old.

It's important to note that the flora that lilodelas rely on may need to be provided artificially in modern environments. Lilodelas in species of their own family will typically acquire this naturally through their parent's own coating, but with non-lilodela parents, this is not possible.

Personality

Being a species that relies on all senses but sight to navigate the world, lilodela culture is rich with experience. That comes in many forms, including music, artistry in food, and even "sensory dramas" which rely solely on scent, subtle sound, and sensations such as wind blowing to tell a story.

By far, the most popular part of lilodela culture is food. They believe in a good meal to introduce people, and even if a person doesn't like the food, they still take away an important piece of the person with them. It's not uncommon for lilodelas to celebrate every occasion with a meal. For them, wasting food or using it to harm someone else (such as through poison or known allergies) is seen as the highest offense, and will immediately see a person discommunicated or otherwise removed from the settlement.

As could be expected from historically pack hunters, lilodelas are incredibly social, and are rarely seen on their own. Family, biological or not, is a key aspect for culture. It's common to see multiple generations of lilodela within the same house, or see a family accept in a lone lilodela and become bonded within a month of knowing eachother.

It's not uncommon for lilodelas to find other ways of enjoying life, such as embracing sound through music, getting into athletics, or anything else that they feel encompasses the wonder of existing.

History

The lilodela species, while at first glance, appears to only have a natural history, a second look at their side of the story portrays a deeper social breakage.

With the arrival of modernization, lilodela religion and culture was challenged at its very core. With the promise of modern medicine also came the threat of deforestation and the destruction of the ecosystems that lilodelas held in the highest of sacred respect.

This caused a massive social divide. Part of the population wanted to embrace the benefits of modernization, while others feared the loss of the only way of life they'd known. While lilodela society hadn't been organized enough for this issue to lead to a civil war, it led to the main lilodela settlements becoming fractured in nature, with some falling completely as members migrated to modern cities.

Lilodela societies still exist in their original state, and are arguably still flourishing. Some changes have been made to allow trade with outer settlements, but the lilodelas that refused to accept the space age are still thriving on their home planet, with little interference from outside aliens.

Subspecies

Cavern: Having fled mass pollution through underground systems, this subspecies of lilodela began to become smaller to preserve energy. The lack of sunlight deeper in the caves led to a decrease in plant production, and instead to an increase of bioluminescent fungi alongside a smaller amount of moss. Their skin also became paler, ranging in cooler colors to stark white. The slime used to support plant life began to shift towards being more of an adhesive, allowing cavern lilodela to climb onto walls, and droop their significantly longer antenna towards the floor to detect prey. Fully-formed tails are more common with this subspecies, but not a constant.

Modern: Modern lilodelas are entirely a result of the pettrade. With nothing but benefits for space life, they're the most common form of lilodela to see off their homeplanet. The differences between modern lilodelas and the main species are subtle, but many. From sprouting multiple types of flowers to a decreased amount of antennas, they essentially embody all of the desirable traits of lilodelas without the risk for sensory issues, or the slime most people find unappealing. The main downside is the fact is that these lilodelas will typically struggle to connect with non-modern members of their own species, and cannot integrate back into their home world.

Special

Plant Symbiosis: All variants of lilodela have some form of plant growing on their bodies. This is allowed due to the slime on their bodies, which acts as not only a grounding spot for new seeds, but a fertilizer for the plants that continue to grow on their bodies. These plants are connected to their bloodstream and nervous system, so attempting to remove plants from a lilodela can result in serious injury or death for the lilodela in question.

Trivia

• Lilodelas often exhibit a personality similar to the common "meaning" associated with the flower they grow. The exact reasoning behind this is unknown, but it is believed to be linked to their family dynamics, as members of the same family will often have the same variety of flower.

• Lilodelas will carry their young inside the moss on their back when traveling long distances. The slime that supports the plantlife that lilodelas grow is also used to keep the young in place as well as hydrated.

• Please stop renaming this entry to "yiggityboo". This is the fifteenth time this month.

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