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Charnidial — Description

There is one environment in this world I can always rely on for some natural weirdness, and it is the Underworld. If there is ever a point in my research where I feel like I have seen it all, or that the subjects are getting repetitive, I can just take a trip down below and have those foolish thoughts blown away. Such strange life! So different from what we have up above, though with just a few similarities to somehow make em even weirder! Oh how I wish to see it all down there, but at the same time, I want to almost "save" these encounters for later days. Kinda like how you don't eat a whole bag of candy at once, instead sprinkling the treats across the days so that you can continue to enjoy them for longer, that's what I want to do here. To have the knowledge that there is always something to look forward to when I take a trip to the Underworld! Well, there is stuff down there I am always excited to see, I don't want it to seem like the fauna is all I care about! The culture, the food, Vespar and the rest of my demon pals! Always a good time, but seeing a cool new critter always makes these trip a little extra special!
The Charnidial is a great example of Underworld weirdness because.....well look at it! Such an odd creature, and the "creature" part is what makes it so odd! You see, most folk only see half of the Charnidial, as they are sessile animals that embed themselves in the cave walls of the Underworld. A chunk of them is buried in the rock, while the rest unfurls like the bloom of a fleshy flower. They have multiple, colorful limbs that are covered in sticky membrane, with rings of them surrounding a central cluster of tendrils. They are held open with the fleshy "petals" slowly undulating as if caught in a breeze. For observers, it looks like a flower growing out of the cave wall, but it isn't a plant! Even after study, earlier researchers thought it was some strange flower-mimicking fungus, but it is indeed an animal! Once you dig the whole body out of the wall....it doesn't clarify anything!
The other end of the creature offers little to identify. The bulbous body narrows into a central stalk, which then ends in a pointed "head." Honestly, it is hard to actually call it a "head" because it bears no features or internal anatomy that would compare with the term. It really is just its "other end," with no real telling which way is which. This hardened piece is what bores into the stone, secreting an enzyme that helps break down the rock. Tendrils emerge to help anchor it, and a swelling of its flesh further roots it in place. It appears that the Charnidial begins its life as some tiny floating larvae that rides the air, then grows onto whatever rock it lands on. Like a deposited seed, it takes root, grows and then blooms into a beautiful flower!
The Charnidial is a filter-feeder, its sticky petals meant to capture food that hangs in the Underworld air. Spores, dust, tiny larvae and such get stuck on these appendages and then are cleaned off by the tendrils. It simply just sits in place and feeds on the air itself, only closing and retracting its bloom when it senses danger or feels pain. Touching the flower will cause it to snap shut and retreat, waiting a few minutes before deploying it again. Though the action may be startling, it is harmless. The Charnidial cannot hurt someone with its soft fleshy petals, and despite the myth, they do not have the strength to suffocate someone in its closed bloom or crush limbs in its grip.
The lifestyle of these creatures is so simple and unmoving that most folk down here treat them like mere fungi. A part of the scenery! They are beautiful, and their presence really adds to the wonder of Underworld biomes! Some Underworld denizens actually "grow" them for decoration! Or food! Well, more like an ingredient, as the fleshy fronds don't offer a whole lot of nutrients. These meaty petals are cut and used in wraps or for cooking, bundling other ingredients in before boiling them or grilling. They are pretty tasty I must say, but it does make me think.
There is a interesting mindset when it comes to foods that has always made me wonder. I see it far more in humans, but it is essentially opinions on certain ingredients based on if the original species "moves or not." I am probably not describing it right, but what I have encountered is folks have issues taking the meat from an animal for consumption, with the idea that this is a fellow, living and thinking creature that is suffering for dinner. But then they pull up plants by the roots and crack them open to feast on their insides without a second thought. And if you bring up the contradiction, there is the offer that plants and fungi don't move, don't think or feel pain, while an animal does all three. How some people can say that to me with a straight face is a bit odd, while others suddenly get real quite when they realize the race they are talking to.
Regardless of my feelings, it still boils down to a comfortable disconnect between the food and its source. They would feel sad putting down a cute moo cow, but a stalk of corn offers no warmth or connection that would make one feel bad. Now do I think people should feel shame for eating plants? Absolutely not! Dryads eat plants and fungi too! We don't find anything morally reprehensible about enjoying some fruit, it is more so if one is doing it sustainably. It is just that the odd point is when folks make these weird excuses pretending that plants and fungi aren't living things and you can do whatever you want to them. Of course this may be blamed on dryads being all "sensitive" or whatever, and that such claims don't apply to us because we are very different from your common houseplant, but the mindset alone raises some questions.
But what I was mainly getting at, before that whole tangent, is what those people would think about eating a Charnidial. It is an animal, yes, but it looks like a plant, moves like a plant and doesn't do any cute stuff only animals are supposedly capable of. Would they feel comfortable eating one of its fronds? I don't see why not, but I feel there would be some folks who still say "no." I guess if they did still refuse I can at least give them credit for being consistent! Granting the Charnidial the same protection means they acknowledge it as an animal regardless of its lifestyle, so that's nice! But then comes the question about eating dryads if one is cool with eating plants. After all, plants are the humane option I have heard, and we are plants, so are we on the menu? We move, think and talk, so that is different, but does that matter in these beliefs as a whole? I feel like you almost have to be fine with eating us because refusal to do so on those grounds would then bring into question the rest of the plants of the world. If we can feel pain, then what about your crops? Wouldn't that mean the same for them? I don't know. Also I feel like I have gone wildly off topic and once again sound like I am advocating for people to stop eating plants or to stop caring about animals or something. This is just me wondering aloud and trying to wrap my head around different beliefs. Because I totally like eating meat, plants and fungi! They are all delicious! Its just the curiosity around the differences between meat folk and plant folk, and what people would think chowing down on a piece of beef versus going down on some dryad. (Another useless tangent to cut out. Also rewording of that statement is desperately needed here, Chlora. - E.R.)
Chlora Myron
Dryad Natural Historian
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Hey Chlora! Welcome back! Been awhile, but don't worry, I never forget my favorite dryad! (Also this design probably would have been cooler if I hadn't sat on it and revised it over and over for like six years until pokemon released something that looks just like it. Good move, idiot!)