Evat

Overview

Evats are small creatures that fall somewhere between an animal and a walking fungi. They originate from the homeworld of the Kepek, Xebrik, specifically from the southern polar region.

Once considered pests, they survived the destruction of Xebrik by stowing away on the ships used to evacuate the Kepek. They hid in the soil of the on-ship farms and biospheres, remaining undetected until after the ships had taken off. After attempts to exterminate them proved fruitless, some Kepek decided to capture and domesticate them instead.

Today, evat are often kept as pets, though they still carry the unwarranted stigma from their days as stowaways- mainly that they are dirty, disease-ridden, or even that they are poisonous and dangerous to handle. None of this is true of course, especially not of domesticated evats, but these stigmas have been around for millennia and so will be difficult to ever shake. As a result, people who keep evats as pets are often seen as a bit odd or weird.

An illustrated diagram of an evat on a blue, holographic background. The evat's torso consists of a lump of soil with purple root-like structures embedded into it. It's body and limbs -two legs and 3 arms- are made of purple, intertwined vines and it's head and tail are made of a fleshy, mushroom like material. The "mushrooms" are orange, fading to pink along the edge, with red spots on tops. It's 4 eyes resembled the red spots, and it is standing in a raptor-like pose

A close up image of the Evat's head from the side

Quick Facts

Origin

Xebrik

Current Habitat

Found all throughout the galaxy, anywhere Kepek can be found

Ideal habitat

Tropical rainforest/dense underbrush with moist soil

Lifespan

10 Bektep Orbits

Age of maturation

1 Bektep Orbit

Average Height

Potential colouration

Evats are made mostly of purple vines, though these can vary in colour from cool pink to deep blue. Their heads and tails will usually be yellow or orange on top, and red or pink on the bottom, with their tails being covered in dark red spots with a pale yellow or white underside.

Anatomy

Evat anatomy is very strange. Despite looking like and moving like one, they aren't true animals. Instead, evats are a type of fungi, believed to be distant relatives of the Mavi'ru tree.

their "torso" is actually just a lump of very compact, very nutrient-rich soil, which they carry around with them. It is held together by their roots, the purple vine-like structures that make up their limbs, neck, and spine and holds their tail to the rest of their bodies. Evats will spend much of their day finding the most nutrient-rich soil they can to bring back to their nests. Any easy-to-decompose organic matter is an even better score, and it likewise, will also be brought back to the nest. while they are usually scavengers, they have been known to hunt and kill prey themselves when desperate, using their prey's carcass as nutrients to add to their soil.

"sleeping" for an evat is done once enough material has been brought back to the nest. the evats will discard their current dirt torso and fall asleep on the new material. As they sleep, their roots work to absorb nutrients and create a new torso for them to carry. This new torso will have more nutrients to feed the evat as it goes about its day. This process is usually repeated once a week, though the roots that make up their arms and legs can also pick up and add small, new material to their torso between longer rests. They drink by placing their arms or legs into water or damp soil and absorbing it. "drinking" is done most effectively while they sleep, but they are capable of taking smaller drinks throughout the day this way as well.

Their tails contain a structure analogous to a brain, which controls the rest of the body's movement and sensory input. The mouths on their heads are not connected to a digestive track like in most true animals, instead, they use their mouths to carry material back to the nest or as a weapon, making it more like an additional limb. They have 4 large eyes, coloured red or pink like the spots on their tail, possibly to confuse predators. They also have very rudimentary ears located at the back of their heads, and nostrils located near their beak-like mouth. because their brains are located in their tails, an evat can survive if decapitated. If they loose their tails however, they'll be unable to move and lose all sensory input due to the loss of their proto-brains, but won't actually die. not immediately anyway. If this happens, the evat will take root wherever they were and continue to live similarly to any other fungi, assuming the soil where they are has sufficient water and nutrients to sustain them.

Reproduction and Growth Stages

Evats are asexual beings, meaning they do not need a partner to reproduce. instead, offspring are biological clones of their parents and are produced via the spreading of spores, located on the underside of their tails.

An adult evat will spread spores around their territory as they wander, allowing for wide dispersal of their offspring. Those that are able to settle somewhere suitable to take root will begin to grow, stuck in place for the first few years of their lives. Their parent will return to feed and tend to them regularily, as will other members of the parent's pack. Once they reach one Bektep Orbit in age, they will sprout limbs and find their own pack to live with.

In the event an Evat's tail is severed, the spores in the tail will take root and use the tail as nutrients to help them grow. The Evats born through this method, using their parent's body as its first source of food tend to be bigger and stronger than other Evats, and will often be the ones leading their pack once mature.

Social Structure

Evats are social creatures, usually living in groups of up to 3-6 individuals. these groups, called packs, are very closely bonded and take turns hunting for food, maintaining the nests and protecting to others from predators.

However, in the event their packs are disrupted, either by just being separated or if some members are killed, the rest of the pack will not accept replacements for their old companions and can even be aggressive towards new potential pack-mates. It is typically only once an Evat is alone that they will begin to seek out a new pack. The only time exceptions seem to be made, is if the potential new addition is the offspring of a lost pack-mate. It is unclear if the Evats recognise that the offspring is not the same entity as their lost pack-mate.

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