Cermaute

Cermaute are physically weak due to their low weight and short stature, and even a weak roner could overpower an average cermaute. Most cermaute stand about five feet tall not including their antennae and weigh around 90-100 pounds on average when healthy, with variation between individuals. If they get too much heavier, they become unable to fly.

Biology

Reproduction

Cermaute reproduce sexually using organs located at the ends of their flexible tails. The female moth will lay one egg 3 months after conception, and the egg will hatch after 3 months into a fat grub that eats almost unceasingly until winter, when the grub's parents will bury it in the ground at a secret location before they head off to hibernate. When spring arrives, the parents unearth the grub and it metamorphosizes into a little moth child before the start of the next winter, thereafter growing more conventionally over time.

Diet

Cermaute are mostly herbivorous, but also eat fruit, nuts, and bugs, with fruit being the favorite food of most moths. They very rarely eat meat, and tend to not have cooked foods in their diet.

Magic and Abilities

Cermaute are physically weak, but make up for it with potent and flexible ice magic. They are able to use it in a variety of ways, whether it be simply freezing something, or summoning a blizzard, or creating the illusion of invisibility using light-refracting ice crystals. The strength, precision, and range with which a cermaute is able to use its skills depends highly on the level of practice they've had with it. Utter novices might be able to only chill the air around themselves to maintain their body temperature, while masters can create powerful ice storms around themselves, make ice walls strong enough to stop moving vehicles, and maintain near-perfect invisibility even while in motion and in view of several people.

Different tribes of cermaute generally have a specialty for one particular usage of their ice magic, though these techniques are not restricted to that tribe alone.

Hibernation

For cermaute living free in their original lands, hibernation is a yearly process to make it through a winter where food is scarce. Cermaute can induce a hibernation state willingly, slowing their heart rate and breathing to almost nothing and filling their veins with a mix of chemicals and antifreeze produced by special glands. When it becomes warm enough or they're disturbed harshly enough, they will wake and spend a short time recovering before starting the new year. Unfortunately, this hibernation makes them extremely vulnerable to predators and slavers, and tribes usually hide and protect their hibernation areas with illusions while any hybrids or a few unlucky moths stay awake during the winter to guard them.

Culture

Cermaute are a species with many distinct tribes differing in appearance, temperament, and beliefs. Generally, though, these tribes migrate from north to south and back again each year, splitting time at several different semi-permanent homes. Sometimes tribes will share a particular shelter, with closely related or allied tribes often doing so intentionally. Their dwellings tend to be created out of ice and snow, which is at a perfectly comfortable temperature for them. They decorate their dwellings with ice sculptures and chimes, among other things -- for example, cermaute children often create snowmoths and tunnels for fun, and parents sometimes create ice slides for their kids to play with.

Cermaute themselves are highly concerned with physical beauty and cleanliness, both because they are somewhat vain and because dirty fur hampers much of their self-focused magic, including their invisibility illusions. Many of the prettier tribes were so vain that they took offense when not complemented, and often responded by pelting the offending party with snow and ice. Because they like to maintain a clean appearance, cermaute often spend time grooming each other to relax and bond.