Physical Description

A phoverl (foe-verl) is a medium-sized creature that some say resembles a weird fish with wings, or even a sort of space dragon. Phoverls have four limbs, all of which are wing-like, with no digits. However, they also have a tail, which ends in a pair of limbs with claws, which are usually used for prodding at unusual things.

There are two things easily noticed about phoverls. The first thing is their four wings, as well as their tail fin. Their main, front two wings, which are somewhat large, are a very dark blue, with paler blue lines branching out through them. Phoverls use these wings, and their lines, to absorb heat and light from the stars they orbit. A 'fully-charged' phoverl's lines will be glowing brightly, making it somewhat easy to spot them. Due to how they 'keep' the sunlight, as well as how a healthy phoverl will always be very near to a star, phoverls are extremely warm. Touching them is not recommended, unless someone wants to have a completely charred hand.

Phoverls also have their two smaller hind wings, as well as their tail fin. These are slightly lighter in colour, and glow more when 'fully-charged', and also take in sunlight. A phoverl's wings, due to their glow and heat, can be used as both a signal to possible mates and a defense against predators.

The second most noticeable thing about phoverls is their head. They have no mouth, as they have no need for physical 'food'. In its place, however, they have a small cluster of 'hairs' that can smell and taste things, as well as four longer 'hairs'. These aren't quite as hot as the rest of the phoverl, but they do still feel uncomfortably warm. A phoverl also has eight 'tendrils' - four pairs, one above the eyes, one below, one behind, and one on the back of the head. These are not used for sensing things, but for things such as threat displays. Phoverls also have eight eyes in a diamond shape, four on each side.

Finally, the colour of phoverls. A healthy phoverl has tough, scorching 'skin', which appears as a shimmering purple in males and a slightly-less-shimmering blue in females. This is actually the only noticeable difference between a male and female phoverl.

Behavior

Phoverls are rather peaceful creatures - if their immense heat and threat display doesn't scare a predator off, their tough skin will make it hard to chew on them. They are also rather unintelligent creatures. For most of its life, a phoverl will simply orbit a star, feeding on the sunlight. However, they are easily confused creatures - there have been multiple cases where a phoverl has drifted around near a planet, instead, thinking that the lights below are just multiple small stars. This leads to death for the phoverl, as they won't survive long in an unfamiliar habitat.

Phoverls hatch from round black eggs, which are laid wherever is warm enough and protected by a female phoverl after she has found a suitable mate. Phoverls seem to reach 'adulthood' at the age of about 25 years, and go searching for a mate every 25 years. They do not generally mate for life, and produce one egg each time. A female phoverl will usually produce 5 or 6 eggs in her lifetime.

Phoverls can be rather inquisitive, flying near ships that are near enough to their path, and usually poking at them with their sensory 'hairs'. This has led to damage to the ships in the past, if the phoverl is too curious. Generally, though, they don't mean any harm.

Interestingly, despite how they usually simply let themselves 'drift', phoverls are quite fast. Fast enough to escape danger, at least. A phoverl with 'no charge' will seem to be unable to move, however, and generally die unless they are moved to somewhere with sunlight.

Subspecies

None / Unknown.

Special

Heat: Phoverls are, as has been mentioned previously, very hot when touched. They can easily burn someone with the slightest poke, and are unable to control this. The warmest parts are the wings that absorb heat, followed by the body, followed by the 'tail claws', and then followed by the sensory 'hairs'. The hairs probably won't burn someone with a single touch, but they are said to feel uncomfortably warm. Phoverls are immune to their own heat as they are able to resist high temperatures, enough to be able to move close to the stars that they feed from.

Trivia

• A seraphim, a subtype of angel, was the first person who bred phoverls.

• Phoverls cannot handle normal gravity, nor can they walk or fly in said gravity. Despite their peacefulness, they are not domesticated for this reason.

• The corpses of phoverls keeps heat for a long time after death and may be harvested by freezing crew to warm themselves up, and as a power source if they have the tools for it. Cold, hostile ships, and old age are the most common reasons of death for this fauna.

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