Storm Dancer
Developed by Elowen
Price: ~ Tier 7, otherwise +1WP per each missing tierHabitat: ~ In still bodies of water like Lake Lovalus, ponds, etc. If held in captivity, requires a large tank without other fish or only with its own kind, or it can have its own pond. Either has to be at least 15 feet across (to allow for Speed Boost distance) with enough depth to afford darker places to hide, or enough underwater weed that could also provide hiding or areas for laying fertilized eggs.
Forum Location Rharne Stormlands
Lifespan and Development: Storm Dancer has the typical development of a fish and lives up to 5 arcs.
Between 15 and 25 fertilized eggs get released into a clump of underwater weed where they settle along the base of the weed or attach to the leaves and stem. The fish then develops into 'fries' and spend the first few months living among the weeds, feeding off of them, or off of each other to accelerate growth and ensure survival of the fittest. During the fry stage, Storm Dancers experience the most growth but they do not get their colours yet, meaning their scales are a dull greyish colour. If plucked out of its habitat at this point, the stress prevents Storm Dancers from ever presenting any colouration. Colours start showing up in the juvenile stage that follows the fry stage.
During juvenile stage, Storm Dancer's growth slows down and their scales as well as tails start changing colour from grey to a variety of combinations. During juvenile stage, Storm Dancers are the prettiest as their colour scheme does not settle until the end of that growth stage. It is most common to catch juveniles for sale as pets due to the aspect of colour change and lower risks that Storm Dancer would lose its colouration. Sometimes it might prematurely stop further colour shifts.
Juvenile stage is then followed by mature stage. At the beginning of this phase, Storm Dancers has reached its final size (anywhere from 6 inches to 12 inches from nose to tail) and its colour scheme has settled. It has to be noted that the colour scheme of a mature fish is not affected by the colour scheme of its parents and seems to be entirely independent of it.
As any fish, Storm Dancer will swim away when being pursued or obviously hunted. Its fins may appear flowy and useless but they are rather powerful propulsion over short distances, giving a Storm Dancer the ability to quickly execute complex evasion manoeuvres or swim out of reach. They also tend to live solitary and deep under the water's surface. Therefore, they are rather difficult to catch on a normal trial.
The easiest way to catch a Storm Dancer is to wait for a storm. When a storm comes, it seems to call all the Storm Dancers to the surface, where they all engage in a beautiful synchronized dance, flowing and swimming in unison. Furthermore, lightning seems to trigger a reflective aspect of their fins as a ripple effect of brightness travelling across the fish's body from nose to tail, highlighting the colours scheme, making it shine with a little afterglow when the lightning flash disappears (the scales do not retain this ability if take from a dead or living fish).
Either way, it is during this particular weather condition and this phenomenon that Storm Dancer is the easiest to capture. The fish seem to be more absorbed in its dance than its surroundings. But beware fishermen, if you take to the water during the storm in hopes to catch your fish, you will end up chasing them all around as they will evade you in unison. Therefore, it is best to sit and wait for the storm to come and hope that the magnificent gala, happens right around your boat.
Due to the difficulty and potential danger of capturing Storm Dancer as well as their exquisite look, their market price is rather high and sometimes it is driven even higher if a trader claims to have caught them during a particularly strong storm.
Diet: Omnivorous (eats underwater greens but also worms, daphnia and small underwater creepy crawlies)
Temperament: Docile, leisurely swimmer that is very alert and aware of its surroundings on most trials, but enters a dazed almost trance like state during storms
RPG Abilities:
Ability 1 ~ Reflective scales - when lightning flashes, a ripple illumination from nose to tail takes place.
Ability 2 ~ Speed boost - flowy yet powerful tail fins give Storm Dancers the ability to gain a speed boost for up to five trills to move distance of up to ten feet.
Ability 3 ~ Agility - due to the flexible nature of the fins, Storm Dancer can execute intricate evasion manoeuvres
Weaknesses:
Weakness 1 ~ Once a fin is damage, its does not heal and will permanently impede its Speed Boost and Agility abilities
Weakness 2 ~ Storms make it lose focus on survival as it gets absorbed in the unison dance
Fast Facts Skill Levels Required~ please fill this in using this page for reference.
Fast Facts
Knowing It
-- Rharne: Common
-- Idalos: Expert
Wealth Tier
-- Rharne: T7
-- Idalos: T9
Sell/Buy It
-- Rharne: N/A
Rarity
-- Rharne: Common
-- Idalos: N/A
Finding It
-- Rharne: Novice (during storms), Expert (during non-stormy weather)
-- Idalos: Novice (during storms), Master (during non-stormy weather)
Collecting It
-- Rharne: Expert
-- Idalos: Master
Using It
-- Pet
Killing It
-- Novice
Capturing It
-- Expert
Danger
-- N/A
Tending It
-- Competent
-- Rharne: Common
-- Idalos: Expert
Wealth Tier
-- Rharne: T7
-- Idalos: T9
Sell/Buy It
-- Rharne: N/A
Rarity
-- Rharne: Common
-- Idalos: N/A
Finding It
-- Rharne: Novice (during storms), Expert (during non-stormy weather)
-- Idalos: Novice (during storms), Master (during non-stormy weather)
Collecting It
-- Rharne: Expert
-- Idalos: Master
Using It
-- Pet
Killing It
-- Novice
Capturing It
-- Expert
Danger
-- N/A
Tending It
-- Competent
