”The Golden Devil”, they call it. A feathered being only seen from afar, soaring through the night sky, perching atop the tallest of cliffs. It was easily identified by its markings, which looked like bright tendrils of gold that seem to glow under the waning daylight. Looked like gold, but was not. Far from it. At least that is what the town elders continue to say.
Near the tops of the cliffs and tall rocks where the devil likes to observe, there are visible veins of golden growth. It looks like normal metal to us all, but the elders warn against ever coveting the glimmering material. “A cursed vine it is, not gold you fools!” they yell. They continue to recall many tales of foolish and greedy people who dare try to mine the mineral from the Golden Devil’s territory. All of them make it to the top without any resistance from the creature, as it just observes. But once the humans make their way down, they all fall deathly ill before ever getting the chance to sell the fruits of their labour. And by the next morning, only indescribable rotting matter is left in their baskets and buckets.
Interestingly, the gold never seems to run out. It almost seems like it keeps growing back, enticing new victims of their own greed. That is where the rumours come, I think. All the people who touch the gold get contaminated. Thus, many of us, the inhabitants of the town see the metal as a fungus, an infection, a parasite, a disease. A web of temptation that grows from the wings and mane of the beast. We make sure to dispose of the corpses of the selfish and greedy on the edges of town, as the Golden Devil will continue to feast upon the victims of its wicked scheme.
This was my wta/dta entry for this creature that I ended up winning. His name is Zlatan.
flatid planthopper nymph, Singapore. hemipterans (true bugs) like these have mastered the art of covering oneself in weird waxy filaments, which are shed along with their last juvenile molt, revealing a sleek, gossamer-winged adult
Hi my name is Saimaa Ringed Seal Pusa Hispida Saimensis and I have a ring pattern on my back (that’s how I got my name) with light colored rings and an otherwise black back and dark black eyes like the deep sea and a lot of people tell me I look like Ponsuke (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to the Leopard seal but I wish I was because she’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a carnivore but my teeth are straight and yellow. I have brown fur. I’m also an endangered species, and I go to a lake called Saimaa in Finland where I’m in the third year (I’m three). I’m a generalist feeder (in case you couldn’t tell) and I eat mostly fish. I love Lake Saimaa and I hunt all my fish from there. For example today I was eating some vendace with matching freshwater smelts and a European perch, and rutilus roach. I had shiny brown fur, sharpened claws on both front and back flippers, and thick fat. I was galumphing around the lake. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of other seals stared at me. I put up my left flipper at them.