Nitesk

The Nitesk is a small aquatic magivore with an unusual life cycle. It lives in aquatic bodies in the Depths that are in some way connected to the surface. An adult Nitesk is about 6 inches tall and weighs 3 pounds.  

Lifecycle

Hatching

The Nitesk life cycle begins at the surface where it hatches inside a Nitesk Sack along with its siblings. Once the last egg is hatched the Nitesk Sack detaches and very slowly floats up so it is picked up by the currents that will drag it down into the Depths. On its way down into the depths the Nitesk Sack softens as it encounters more and more residual creation magic. After long enough exposure to the magic the sack dissolves, freeing the Nitesk hatchlings. If the hatchlings are lucky the sack was on a lake, river, or seabed so they can instantly dig themselves into the rocky surface. Once dug in the hatchlings start to feed off the magic.  

Young Nitesks

As the young Nitesks grow they start to protrude out of the rock. The protruding part hardens and blends in with the terrain. Once the Nitesk has grown enough it detaches from the rock. The hardened part of its body hangs downwards and the part that was embedded floats in the water. With a wiggling movement it swings itself through the water in search of places that radiate more magic than normal. Once it has found such a place it will once again bury itself and grow.  

Adult Nitesks

When the Nitesk matures it starts to develop sensitive nobs that can pop through the hardened part of its body. It uses these nobs to send out a special Nitesk signal and listen for others depending on its situation. If the adult Nitesk is embedded in a nutritious piece of rock then it will send out signals. If it is swimming then it will listen and try to get closer to any signal it may find. A swimming Nitesk will occasionally embed itself into the rock again to feed off the magic until it has the energy to move on again.  

Mating

When two Nitesks eventually find each other the listener will attach to the hardened part of the sender and gnaw its way through. The two then change roles and the other will gnaw away the hardened part of the first. The two then bite each other and stay latched on. Their bodies slowly dissolve into one big bloated ball of goo. The ball feels nearly weightless and measures about 1 feet in diameter. The bloated ball will quickly rise to the surface and magically propell itself against the flow. Once it reaches the surface it will float on the water. The sunlight and absence of magic hardens the outside of the ball, which then sinks. This way the ball slowly turns into a Nitesk Sack which then sinks to the bottom of the river, lake, or seabed. Inside the sack the reproductive organs of the Nitesks produce fertilized eggs until the organs are completely depleted of energy. The fluid inside the sack will feed the fertilized eggs as they develop into new Nitesk hatchlings.  

Uses

Nitesks themselves don't have any uses aside from being edible, albeit distasteful. The valuable parts are the Nitesk Sacks and the balls they are before turning into sacks. These parts are used as alchemical ingredients. In rare cases the Nitesk Sacks harden into beautiful colors, likely when they were feeding on magic in crystaline rock. Those Nitesk Sacks are then sometimes used in jewelry. The jewelry is however limited in usage as it would soften and eventually dissolve in the presence of magic. This has only increased the demand for this type of jewelry among nobles. Finally, because of its reaction with magic, Nitesk Sacks are often used in consumable products that detect magic.