The living dead of Seïnn

The sandy landscapes of Seïnn must have existed for just as long as the Sliin itself. Despite not laying on the river’s main course anymore they are still hydrated by it and therefore still lay under a shallow drape of crystal water. Rarely does anyone get to admire a smoother surface than that of the fine ash-colored sand through the perfectly still film of water. The mirror is so perfect and the air so still that one might think no life ever disturbs it, yet a voracious hunt is taking place.

Flat against the heavy sand lay a creature from the past, the only know relative of the once successful trilobites. It has grown flat like a leaf and fast thanks to its filament-like appendages that swirl through the sand below. While very variable in size, their general body plan remains disk-like with longitudinal stripes and a slightly thicker front end. It is a hunter perfectly adapted to its unique two-dimensional environment and can travel at high speed without disturbing the thin sheet of water it lives in or the sand it travels on. The only time the wrongly named disk shrimp can be noticed easily is when they catch their prey. At just the right moment they will slide over the victim and quickly curl on themselves, trapping the unlucky creature in a tight roll. While the prey in question usually consists of krill and small suction fish of the area, larger specimens are known to hunt unlucky long silvers and blind bats that got stuck in the quicksands. Some even roll tightly onto explorers’ boots and forearms if threatened.

When pulled out of the water disk shrimps will dry out in their rolled shape. By inserting a wick through the center of the carcass and slowly burning the cartilaginous and greasy tube some early human explorers used them as very effective candles.