Aethernaut's Guidebook: The Loam (Patreon)

Upon my first introduction to the species, I thought the little critters  may be nothing more than the rats or prairie dogs of the Aetherverse, but their patterns seem a little more complex than that. The little buggers (not as thick as animals, but not as sharp as a human) travel in swarms. munching the hollow dreams left over when Sleepers wake, extracting the left over essence as their jaws chomp it back to free sand. Furthermore, both their look and aesthetic appear to be affected by what they ingest. The ones I met first seemed curious and shrub-like from their dream diets, but with continued travel and research I also found the loam that ate sad dream hollows to be more sluggish and willowy. There are even nightmare chewing loams that develop brambles and more ornery and erratic personalities.

How the loam function as a community I’m not quite certain, considering how  shy they can be. I know they aren’t  quite a hive mind, each thinking  independently. Rather they seem  tied together like a herd with no  real concept of individuality; if you  were to ask one for its name, the best  you would get back is a confused look and a "Loam is loam" reply.

— Written by Jessie Star ( Patreon.com/JessieStar )