Submission (#8844) Approved

In the tempestuous bowels of Zevija, where the fires of the earth churn beneath the crust and unleash great throes of ash and fire, volcanoes are a grand sight. In areas, thrumming lava oozes upwards in slow deliberation, and in others, great eruptions fall upon the land in a deep flash of fury. It is a harsh environment here, and few living creatures are able to find the enormously high temperatures and fiercely dry habitat hospitable.

The draco-pyrolith is one such creature. Despite their intense nomenclature, these canine-sized reptilian fauna are quite ordinary and rather shy. For many years, they had remained unobserved by elnin-folk due to their close resemblance to common rock formations. Their biology seems to contribute to their mastery of camouflage, as it seems that visual and textural differences in the pyrolith’s hide is due to the makeup of the surrounding minerals in the environment, which the creature feeds upon as sustenance. In fact, it seems as though the particular diets these lizards have affect almost any trait upon their bodies outside of their main generic silhouette and shape. In areas with a heavy sulfur scent, for example, their hides taken on a similar pungent smell. In areas with sedimentary rock, one can expect to see a similar grainy feature on the pyroliths, and a particularly sparkly, colorful variety of pyrolith is found in the cooled lava pockets where mineral water had entered to form caverns of geodes. Fascinatingly, when the pyroliths are moved from their current environment to a differing volcanic environment, their physical traits will slowly morph over the course of a few months to match the qualities of their new home. It is theorized that this transformation aids their survival in remaining undetected. That it is possible to begin with is thought to be some form of reaction to magic, whether by that already possessed within, or by that of the ambient surrounding environment. These creatures are, in that sense, a reminder of the marvel of the world and the mysteries it yet keeps.