Axolotl Extraction

Axolotl extraction is an illegal alchemical process involving the harvesting of live dula-dula tadpoles to create a rejuvenating poultice. When mixed with the waters of their native Bluestar Lake, the resulting balm can halt, or even reverse, the aging process. Though highly effective, the dula-dulas have outlawed the harvesting of their young. The practice is banned throughout the Kirinal Concordance Zone.

I don't care if your mug looks like me granddam's voonerables, no one should be putting a paste made from babies on their face! The dula-dulas will kill you if they find you poaching in their lake and I don't blame them!

The rejuvenating compound, axolotl extract, is prepared by pulping living axolotl tadpoles, the non-sentient juvenile form of dula-dulas, into a poultice with enchanted oils and rare herbs. The result is mixed with unfiltered water from Bluestar Lake, the ancestral home of the axolotl-folk. When applied to the skin or consumed, the balm can reverse the physical signs of aging by years or decades across mutliple treatments.

Despite its horrific method of production, demand for the extract remains high. Those with money and without morals can have eternal youth for just a few thousand bilog.

Tadpole Taskforce

The dula-dulas have declared axolotl extraction a mortal crime and consider all who participate in tadpole poaching and trading as enemies of their people. The Secretary of Sophont Detection has deemed the practice illegal according to the Concordant Mandates. Anyone caught undergoing the treatment is sentenced to twice the number of years they reversed in prison, often in dula-dula custody.

All axolotl-folk can smell their tadpoles on someone's skin or clothing. They have developed an elite corps of tadpole sniffers, highly trained border agents and rangers. These agents work across the Zone and Sovranty, particularly around Bluestar Lake, to hunt down traffickers and intercept illegal exports of live tadpoles.

We in the Church of the Moon stand against the abuse of all life, but axolotl extraction especially wounds our hearts. These tadpoles may not yet speak or reason, but they are the future of the dula-dulas. They deserve the same chance to live and grow as any other child of the world.

Heirophant, Golden Metamorphosis by Chris L
Related Species


Cover image: Summer Camp 2025 Metamorphosis Header by grandfailure

Comments

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Jul 20, 2025 23:11

I want to be enraged on behalf of the Dula Dulas, but this article is hilarious! You had me at "granddam's voonerables."

Jul 21, 2025 00:23 by Chris L

I did not know anything about Kill-Flayer's grandma's voonerables before this Summer Camp, but now I apparently do!

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Aug 2, 2025 16:14 by E. Christopher Clark

That was also a LOL moment for me. And now I must rename my band to Granddam's Vulnerables.

Jul 23, 2025 23:30 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

Noooo, not the tadpoles!!   I love voonerables as a word. Thank you for introducing it to me this Summer Camp. Pretty sure it popped up in another of your articles too.

Emy x
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Jul 24, 2025 13:55 by Chris L

Once the voonerables have been exposed, it's hard to stop thinking about them!

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Aug 2, 2025 16:15 by E. Christopher Clark

This was a perfect blend of humor ("granddam's vulnerables") and horror. Makes me wonder if people who undertake this treatment have developed a black market for items/techniques that will mask the smell of the tadpoles.

Aug 2, 2025 17:17 by Chris L

I'm sure there's a whole cat & mouse thing going on around the tadpole trade. I can't wait to explore it in some articles/games sometime in the future. There's a non-zero chance that my players make their next characters dula-dulas.

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