A broad shadow passes lazily across the sand, soft-edged and slow-moving, despite the absence of clouds overhead. Looking up reveals the source: a single Cloud Manta drifting through the air above, its vast, translucent body undulating as though swimming through an invisible sea.
It moves with an almost playful ease, banking gently as it catches unseen currents, its long fins trailing wisps of vapour behind them. Every so often it dips lower, close enough that the air stirs faintly beneath it, before rising again in a wide, looping arc. There is no urgency to its movements, only a quiet curiosity, as though it is enjoying the simple act of being seen.
After a time, the Cloud Manta begins to climb, its pale form thinning against the sky until it becomes little more than a suggestion of motion. Whether it lingers overhead or drifts on beyond sight is impossible to say, its presence as fleeting and gentle as a passing breeze.
Cloud MantaAreas Found: Torchline, Maria Mundi — Common These plantimals have flattened, ray-like bodies, narrow, delicate heads with two large dark eyes, and flowing-finned or leaf-like tails similar to bettas. They are equally comfortable underwater and flying through the air. Large green splotches across the upper surface of their bodies are filled with chlorophyll and photosynthesize both food and oxygen. They also make meals of mosses and lichens. As they age a colorful crystal grows in the middle of their foreheads, comprised of excess minerals that they purify out of their bodies. If worn pressed against the throat these crystals are rumoured to allow someone to breathe underwater.
Challenge Rating: Moderate | Mythical HP: 1,078 | To Hit: +25 | Dmg: 25 Movement: Swim 40 ft.; Fly 40 ft. SPECIAL SKILLS Breathstone: a harvested forehead crystal worn against the throat may allow underwater breathing; Oxygen Bloom: in bright light they enrich nearby water/air with extra oxygen, easing exertion for companions; Buoyant Escort: can support a small creature beneath their fins, aiding calm passage across waves |
TRAITS Amphibious Drift: equally comfortable underwater and in open air; Photosynthetic Patches: chlorophyll-rich splotches produce food and oxygen in sunlight; Silent Glide: broad fins move with near-silent grace through water and sky; Moss & Lichen Grazer: gentle feeders that favour simple flora over live prey; Crystal Growth: a mineral crystal slowly forms at the forehead as impurities are purged ACTIONS Updraft Sweep: fans fins to raise a soft updraft or current, nudging companions and clearing mist; Shade Veil: spreads fins to cast a cool, drifting shade over travellers beneath; Mineral Purge: releases trace minerals that encourage reef growth and subtly purify the surrounding water |
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