Name: “Harvester” (Vest'elah)

  Vest'elah — a.k.a. Harvesters, or sometimes ‘stardogs’ are simple resource gatherers that resemble starfish, which are capable of coordinating their limbs to perform complex locomotion in search of resources or prey.

  Harvesters come in a variety of colors based on habitat and selected diet, but are identifiable by their rough skin which is pebbled in texture, folded over each of its five to nine ‘legs’. Each limb folds over thousands to millions of tube feet, and is capped with a fused-base twin pronged talon.

  Each ‘leg’ may be used for locomotion, however whenever the harvester is actively changing position, one will be chosen to act as a sensory organ. That limb will then bend upwards from the small central body, exposing the underside with feeding and abrasive structures, as well as a bevy of sensory organs.

  Notably, when locomoting in a quadrupedal — or more based on leg count — fashion, the tube feet within the limbs are primarily hidden from view and only a seam is exposed. This locomotion is not awkward, but resembles that of any natively quadrupedal creature, the talons used as hooves or claws.

  As with many Ber, gene-equivalent expression depends upon the specific diet, but all variations have rough, durable skin over their legs and relatively small central body.

  The simple limbs tend to vary only in length, number of tube feet, and talon size and shape. They operate in a manner similar to tentacles when not used for large scale movement. Smaller movements are typically done through tractor motion of the tube feet, which allow the harvester to remain in contact with the material they are abrading. While the limbs do not contain bones, they do consist of internal pressure vessels which may rupture, disrupting motion and causing them to go flaccid.

  Sensory organs are present a small distance down the limbs from the central body, nestled within and often indistinguishable to tube feet. Olfactory, vision, hearing, and thermal senses are well represented, and do not suffer from the relatively rudimentary structures; the number of them mean that most senses are considered superior.

  The central body is where the complexity of organism arises — it contains a central feeding ring which thousands of tube feet will tractor resources to, as well as primary respiratory organs and a reproductive sac. The feeding ring can be extended from the body during feeding or to attack, with a sharp rotation-capable ring of tooth-like nodules that may invert to expose a harder, grinding surface. The rotation of the ring, up to ninety degrees before having to counter-rotate, allows it to apply powerful cutting or grinding torque, depending on if teeth edge or base nodules are presented.

  Newly spawned harvesters are only a few cm in length, but rapidly grow to palm-sized for their early life. Once they have differentiated to a specific pattern of consumption, they will then grow to the size applicable for optimal availability of that resource or material.

  The largest observed harvesters were approximately four meters in length, from ‘head’ to trailing limb, including central body. Respiration seems to be the upper limit in size, with larger entities being less active, and incapable of locomotion beyond a few minutes of activity.

  They have no preferred habitat as far as can be determined, but instead adapt to that of whatever their specific diet consists of.

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  Smaller harvesters tend to be more prone to ceilings, walls, trees or such, whereas larger ones are most commonly found on the ground or even buried beneath material as it slowly abrades its way through upper layers.

  Harvesters are well suited to any ecology. As they lack exposed sensory organs and are capable of gas exchange in both liquid and air environments, they are well suited to surface, aquatic, or subterranean habitation across a variety of temperatures from solid-ice to active volcanism.

  They are found absolutely anywhere, slowly concentrating whatever resource their diet has been chosen to primarily consist of.

  Harvesters are generally non-aggressive, but may become hostile if in competition for a resource or food source.

  They will often operate symbiotically with a variety of other species, cooperating by making seconds, castoffs, or leavings for other entities.

  Pre-maturation diet is completely opportunistic, consisting of plants, scavenging, or even smaller animal life.

  Once a diet is selected, prior to maturation, the harvester adjusts to suit the local clime and feeding needs of the resource; this change is irrevocable and once a food source is exhausted, local harvesters will attempt to migrate, or else starve.

  When in resource collection stages of life, any suitable nutrient or calorie source adjacent to the selected material will be consumed.

  Harvesters are a composite life-form, consisting of two — or possibly more — distinct species that were merged together several billion years ago. The locomotive limbs were grafted around the central body, with the prior central mass being replaced.

  Larval stage harvesters will remain in the brood sac, until they reach a stage of maturation where limb development renders locomotion possible.

  At this point, they will depart the brood sac, to find an available primary resource. They will then select this resource — which may not be food, and begin secondary maturation where they develop traits that render them suitable for collection and concentration of said resource.

  During maturation, they will actively search for rich deposits or clusters of their chosen resource — then changing to a more sessile collection phase.

  Harvesters spawn in broods, kept in the central brood sac unfertilized, until a suitable partner is found. Once fertilized, they will then mature in place, feeding off of secondary materials until they reach their secondary stage of growth or are ejected by the parent due to stress or predation.

  Harvesters tend to have relatively short lifespans, lasting less than 10 years at the upper bound.

  They collect until they can no longer predate or passively feed, at which point they will simply die in place, leaving balls of material wrapped in their desiccated skin.

  In their collection phase, they will simply abrade, collect, condense, and hold the resource in their central body, growing only as needed to collect additional material. Once they are nearly incapable of becoming migratory due to weight constraints, they will cease collection and become dormant.

  Harvesters are semisocial, and communicate using a variety of auditory and olfactory mechanisms. They are often found in packs, often an entire brood will migrate as a group, and are believed to actively signal to others when a resource-rich location is found, drawing in others.

  There are no known Vest'elah Ber'Duun, and it is not known if they awaken as a singular entity, or a mutual organism.

  Harvesters are generally not aggressive, but have poor target selection if in a predatory phase. As almost all organic resources are secondary — meaning food, rather than a selected material, they don't differentiate between them. Essentially, don't get in the way of a hunting pack of harvesters.

  Once they have a grip on something, it is difficult to break their hold, due to the thousands of tube feet. Never attempt to pet the head of a harvester, as the tube feet are exposed upwards, and hands or limbs will not be returned in original condition.

  Attempting to collect materials from a living Vest'elah will likely result in a defensive attack, but collection of desiccated entities will not result in an attack or even apparent notice from other members of a nearby cluster.

  P.S. Why are they called stardogs when harvestars is right there? — Silden

  P.P.S. Because we're analysts, Silden. Stop trying to make harvestar happen. — Frencen