Tdëtap

The Tdëtap are small bulbous clumps of material that naturally grow at the pores of the roots of the Volan Tree. These serve to suck moisture from the surrounding soil into the roots (Yoži-Volën), which becomes the tree's main source of oxygen and hydrogen. However, this behavior also allows it a wide variety of uses in Ibrófeneð lifestyle as a dehumidifier and a defogger.

Appearance and Natural Physiology

A typical Tdëtap has the shape of a squashed sphere and is gel-like in quality. If it has no water, a Tdëtap is invisible to the Ibrófeneðian eye.

A Tdëtap is covered with a thin film of carbon and silicon fibers, and the interior is made of salts and other solutes dissolved in a very small amount of water. The difference in concentration between this high-concentration interior and the sparsely-concentrated exterior causes the water in the surrounding soil to be drawn to the Tdëtap via Osmosis.

The center of the Tdëtap is filled with a system of branching tubules, which separate the water solvent from the solutes, draw it from the Tdëtap's body, and channel the molecules into the root of the Volan Tree. Unlike the other pores of the root, the Tdëtap is not merely linked to the root's outside bark but tunnels through the carbon layer to directly dispense the water molecules into the root channels. The outside edges of the tubules is made of silicon, which bonds directly to the carbon lattice that makes up the interior of the root. This is likely due to the increased size of the water molecules, which, while still able to pass through the carbon lattice, has much more of chance to become bonded to the lattice and thus be removed from the tree's nutrient flow.

Once in the channels, the water works with the supply of silicon and other essential nutrients from the rest of the pores to form a diversely populated solution. The water thus aids in transportation via capillary action, and the silicon protects the water and the other nutrients from bonding with the carbon due to its very favorable interactions with it.

The constant flushing of its water supply means that the Tdëtap can theoretically go on collecting and filtering water indefinitely and so long as the tree is alive and intact, this is true. However, if the tree is dead and importantly if it is dismembered, the capillary action does not work, and the water has nowhere to go. As such, the root fills up and the Tdëtap does as well.

Harvesting

A Tdëtap is typically harvested alongside the entire root, or Yoži-Volën, which is also used for various purposes. As the latter is typically harvested while still alive, the Tdëtap is very likely still invisible to the harvesters. However, due to the contours of the soil that surrounds it, they can easily spot out the Tdëtap, but they do not pick the Tdëtap immediately, as the force required can cause it to become damaged beyond use if yanked into the soil or another solid object. Instead, the Yoži-Volën is cut off at the base, and the wound quickly patched up with a paste of silicon and oxygen. Immediately, the soil is cleared out and the root is removed to be attached to an engine which promptly pumps it full of a nutrient-rich solution to keep it alive. Since the solution provides the water that would naturally be supplied by the Tdëtap, it can finally be removed from the root. In addition, the sheer velocity the engine provides weakens the carbon lattice and makes the Tdëtap's bonds with it very easy to break.

Because the Tdëtap automatically works to suck moisture out of any medium, it must be tied up with a cloth throughout the process of harvesting, which also helps to make it more visible.

Applications

Household and Dietary Use

The Tdëtap is one of the most widely-used natural devices in existence due to its abundance, importance, and versatility. Due to the nature of the Ibrófeneð's diet, which consists mostly of rocks, the role water plays in erosion means that it has a tendency to reduce the efficacy of of one's diet. As such, one of the most often-used applications for this is as a means of sucking the water out of a typical sample of rock. For similar reasons, a few Tdëtap are commonly mounted around living quarters and other building sites to ensure structural integrity. As such, a frequently-used house can have anywhere from 5 to 25 Tdëtap based on the size and the purpose, with underground structures like mines, tunnels, and caves attracting the most use.

Because a Tdëtap naturally possesses a transport system to carry the water to a designated spot, most Tdëtap systems are hooked up to a large vessel, which collects the water for further use in cleaning, consumption, and other uses. However, in circumstances where the vessel and/or the tubes connecting them are not ideal, the tubules of the Tdëtap can be sealed over to keep the moisture within it. With this format, the Tdëtap will absorb water like normal, but its appearance will gradually turn from transparent to a hazy off-white color when it is full and ready to be emptied. If not emptied, it will simply cease operation, as the concentrations both inside and outside it are the same. However, the real danger lies in its weight, as a typical Tdëtap will grow about 300% in mass when storing water. If hung on a wall, the increased mass can cause its supports to falter, and, upon impact, the Tdëtap will explode and splatter all the water throughout the surrounding area.

Use as Sensors

The tendency for a Tdëtap to turn opaque upon absorbing enough water means it has potential applications in sensing. When digging new mines, the Tdëtap are very often used to detect any substantial increases in water, as this may signal a nearby body of water, like a lake or ocean, that must be avoided. However, if in prolonged exposure with any kind of water-containing air, the efficacy of its sensing abilities decreases, as contact with any kind of air results in the gradual buildup of residual water molecules, even if it is a miniscule amount. However, the reverse is also useful; in places with severely dry conditions, fully saturated Tdëtap can be gradually emptied at rates proportional to the magnitude of dryness, providing a quantitative estimate on the weather.

Travel-related Applications

Regionally, the Tdëtap saw the most use in the Interbiotic Range, Ðýmóš Plains, Volain Forest and the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, all of which experience a lot of rain and humidity. The Ðýmóš Plains, among the most rain-soaked biomes in all of the Blýfónic Valley, is infamously clouded in a thick blanket of mist. To curb the resultant lack of vision, the Tdëtap becomes not only recommended but imperative, as it remains one of the few affordable means by which one can see the landscape around them. Households and settlements in the Plains will often place Tdëtap at distances of around 10-20 kilometers away to inform lost travelers. Compared with typical rates in other biomes, the Plains see an average of 60 Tdëtap per structure.

Beginning from its conception starting in 25021 AYM, the Palïŋ-Lhrúuŋðarr has been frequently associated with the Tdëtap. The first major trading route of its kind, it stretched from the Amoŋot Desert to the Ðýmóš Plains and relied heavily on the use of roads and transitional towns. Both of these features used Tdëtap in massive amounts to cover the entire 1,500-kilometer stretch that it spent in the Plains. Curiously, during the trading route's most active state, an economy was built in which Tdëtap who were fully saturated with water could be bought and transported to cities in the Desert, whereupon they would be wrapped in cloth (to prevent water diffusion) and stored in case of heat-related emergencies like wildfires and droughts.