General
Few creatures in the world are as dangerous as the hylephage, a seldom-seen dweller of the heart of Raza known for its ability to consume nearly anything. While not outwardly violent, and often rather shy around people, a hylephage can nonetheless wreak havoc wherever it goes, for their species consume not only materials such as rock and wood, but also air and magic, leaving behind a dim shadow of the thing they have devoured. The shadows left behind by a hylephage cannot be mended or moved, and anyone who tries to touch such a shadow will pass through it as though it were not there, and feel unwell soon after. These shadows exist for living creatures consumed as well, for one account reports an adult hylephage leaping to snatch a flying bird and leaving its shadow suspended in midair along with the air surrounding it. The shadow had not dissipated nor even faded years later when the original reporter returned to the same site. Though few risk it, a hylephage raised from the egg can be tamed, and some of the most powerful dark wizards in history chose hylephages as companions for their ability to destroy.
Egg
A green crystalline substance is growing on the shell of this egg. The crystals feel sharp to the touch and makes you feel uneasy.
Hatchling
There is only one known method of obtaining a hylephage egg. The lairs of hylephages have been studied by few and are said to be surrounded by statuesque shadows of their past prey, preventing anyone from entering unless they wish to end up as a lifeless shadow themselves. While no one has ever seen their young in the wild, a healthy hylephage egg may be summoned with complex incantations by an experienced magi. The process of summoning the egg coats the surface with a strange material which dissipates when the egg hatches. This substance, the summoning, and the eerie ability of the hylephage to consume materials and magic has led many to believe that they are otherworldly in origin, though inhabitants of Raza think them a natural part of the forest. As hatchlings, hylephages require little care and act much like smaller versions of adults.
Adult
Lithe and limber like a cat but smooth to the touch with lidless, unblinking eyes, few would deny that a hylephage has the presence of a predator, though researchers are in disagreement about whether they are more akin to a feline or a reptile. They have one known close relative, the nyctophage, though both creatures' habitats rarely overlap. In nature, hylephages are noted for the silent manner in which they move, and the speed at which they can travel if provoked, though they will readily fight if attacked. A bite from a hylephage renders whatever is enveloped a faded shadow of its former self, a lasting condition that can only be reversed with the bite of the hylephage's counterpart, a nyctophage.
Notes
Obtained from: Donation (Jan)
Breeding: Yes
Renaming cost: 2000 gold
Release date: January 1st 2017
Element: Void
Breeds with the following:
Hylephage + Hylephage = Hylephage (Guaranteed) Cost: 3 shards
Hylephage + Nyctophage = Hylephage (Guaranteed) Cost: 3 shards
Hylephage + Nyctophage = Nyctophage (Guaranteed) Cost: 3 shards
January 2017 3-shard Donation Pet
Sprite art: Lazuli | Description: PKGriffin