Adult Female
Name: unnamed
Species: Temple Ghazal
Birthday: Saturday, June 15, 2024
Owner: Pallastronomy
Element: Fire 
Generally small, the temple ghazals make up in elegance for what they lack in size. These creatures move gracefully, barely leaving any tracks in the dunes. While some describe these creatures as nothing more than a beautiful mirage, they are real. The dancing lights that shine from the orbs floating above their heads can make quite the spectacle as the temple ghazals move through the cold desert nights. The fire inside the orbs is magical, providing the ghazals and all living beings around them with the needed warmth. Although seemingly going nowhere, the temple ghazals travel from the temple ruins they use as sleeping spaces to nearby oases. Even if they can survive for long weeks without water or food, they sometimes make these trips to feed, drink, and meet ghazals from other herds, seeking potential mates. The adults mate for life and collectively care for their young, their patience with the hatchlings being limitless.
In the few instances when people discovered temple ghazals during the daytime, they were fast asleep, buried halfway in the sand. They sleep in long-forgotten temples, so ruined that no one bothers with them anymore. If someone happens upon one such place in the middle of the Etain desert and temple ghazals are sleeping there, they will leave and not return for several months. Not because the ghazals are afraid of people; they prefer to give humans their space to explore, appearing aware that people might take an interest in these ruined temples. While they sleep during the day, the scorching heat does not bother them. All the heat is turned into fire, stored inside the floating orb above their heads, and released during the nighttime when the temperatures drop drastically. On the rare occasions when people get lost in the desert, one temple ghazal will part from its herd. These chosen ghazals will act as guides through the night, their floating orb offering the needed light and warmth for people to survive until they reach the nearest populated village.
Sprite art: Munin (adult) | Description: Real