Nimessän

In the waters of Elteläi in the midst of the Tenwän wilds, nestled deep within clusters of iehlä-weed lived the nimessän worm. They survived mostly off of decaying matter spread among the sand-depths of lakes, but were not beyond hunting weak and young insects or their larvae.

Nimessän defended and cleaned the clusters of iehlä-weeds where they hid and lived. Some small, water-dwelling creatures were attracted to the moving leaves as a potential food source, instead becoming nourishment for the ethereal worm gliding between the kelp-like plants.

Appearance

It was difficult to notice a single nimessän from an underwater meadow of iehlä-weeds, even with its unusual shape. Most often it was the unusual, dance-like movement of the creature which separated it from the surrounding sea of flora.

They moved through water, circling around their own body in a smooth, steady motion. Long, transluscent hairs fully covered the thin and elongated body beneath as they flowed with the current. The hairs reflected the colors around it; in dark, murky water and under shade they appeared as shades of brown and gray, while wide in the open water they may have shone and glimmered as some shade of pale blue akin to the water itself.

Behavior & Habitat

Nimessän found shelter in clusters of iehlä-weeds which thrived in the waters of the Elteläi region. In return for the safety offered by the aquatic grass, they kept would-be predators away from the plants. This effect seemed completely absent of intent, however, as something about the creatures themselves tended to make many living beings avoid them out of instinct alone.

That's not to say the nimessän had no predators of their own. Nelhei, who usually hunted above the water by shapeshifting into a suitable bait, also caught and devoured nimissän when spotted out in the open. However, the nelhei themselves could not be forced near iehlä-weeds if one were to try, making the plant a perfect hiding place from the worms' only predator.

Origin

With no creature like the nimessän worm known either to the Allorï or their predecessors the ancient Eltiri, stories and myths of their origins became both many and varied over generations. One of the most popular tales was one where the nimessän was a creature born in the depths of Itheläi, and climbed up the trunk of a great oak to the world above.