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{{quote
|I heard that once an entire bridge crew got eaten by a chasmfiend, one at a time, after it backed them into a dead end. It just sat there, picking them off as they tried to run past.▼
|[[
}}
'''Chasmfiends''' are enormous [[greatshell]]s native to the chasms of the [[Shattered Plains]] on [[Roshar]].
== Appearance and Biology ==
[[File:Chasmfiend.jpeg|
Chasmfiends are the largest known land animals on [[Roshar]]: at least twenty feet wide, six times the height of an adult man at their peak, and over twice as long.{{book ref|sa2|72}}{{file ref|name="journal"}} They are long and narrow, with a flattened, split tail reminescent of that of a crayfish.{{file ref|name=journal}} Like most of Rosharan fauna, they're crustaceans, with a carapace exoskeleton covering their entire body. The carapace is dark violet (though it's possible that other colors can also occur), and extremely durable, being able to withstand even a hail of arrows.{{book ref|sa1|13}} It covers the beast's back in a series of interlocking, upside-down-V-shaped plates with horn-like protrusions growing on the edges.{{file ref|name=journal}} Beneath it, the chasmfiend's blood and gore is purple, and smells of mold.{{book ref|sa1|13}}
Below the armor, a chasmfiend has eighteen legs. Four foreclaws are set into broad shoulders, with two clawed toes on each of them. They serve as the primary means of attack, both smashing and slicing the chasmfiend's prey.{{book ref|sa1|13}} Behind them, fourteen smaller limbs provide locomotion. A chasmfiend can move extremely fast when it so desires, and has the agility to turn around in the narrow corridors of the chasms.{{book ref|sa2|71}}
A chasmfiend's head is triangular, narrowing down to a point like an arrowhead.{{book ref|sa2|70}} Inside the long jaw, its mouth is circular, surrounded by several rings of sharp teeth. Flanking it is a pair of smaller mandibles, which the chasmfiend can use to manipulate objects and pick up food.{{file ref|name=journal}} The mouth allows the chasmfiend to vocalize; it makes roars that sounds like four bellowing trumpets playing at the same time. The chasmfiend's eyes, set above the jaw, are glassy and green.{{book ref|sa2|70}} Its nostrils are located slightly behind the eyes; they allow the chasmfiend to smell its prey.{{file ref|name=journal}}
<gallery caption="Images of chasmfiends">
Chasmfiend.jpeg | <center><small>by [[Ben McSweeney]]</small></center> [[Shallan]]'s sketch
Chasmfiend Hunt by Randy Vargas.jpg | <center><small>by {{a|Randy Vargas}}</small></center> [[Elhokar]] hunting a chasmfiend▼
Dalinar and the Chasmfiend by Ryan M-W.jpg | <center><small>by {{a|Ryan M-W}}</small></center> A profile of a chasmfiend beside a spearman for scale
Chasmfiend Fight by Ellie L..png | <center><small>by {{a|Ellie L.}}</small></center> [[Kaladin]]'s encounter with a chasmfiend in the chasms
</gallery>
}}
Very little is known about the early stages of chasmfiend's life. It's highly likely that they don't live on the [[Shattered Plains]] for most of their life, but rather migrate there when the time comes for them to breed.{{book ref|sa2|49}} Once there, they
=== Feeding habits ===
Chasmfiends are carnivorous; within their original habitat, they likely hunt wild [[chull]]s, using their massive foreclaws to crush their prey's shells and feed on the meat within.{{book ref|sa2|70}} As they travel to the [[Shattered Plains]], however, they turn to carrion-eating, eating corpses of creatures that fall or are washed down into the chasms from the pleateaus above.{{book ref|sa1|43}}▼
== Exploitation ==
▲[[File:Chasmfiend Hunt by Randy Vargas.jpg |
Both [[listener]]s and humans hunt chasmfiends down for their [[gemheart]]s, although meat and carapace are also harvested.{{book ref|sa1|13}} Most of the time, only the chrysalis is "hunted", as it is then that the chasmfiend is at both its most vulnerable and least aggressive.{{book ref|sa1|12}} Once the chrysalis is located, the hunters break it open with mallets and [[Shardblade]]s and extract the gemheart within, killing the chasmfiend in the process. On such "hunts", the biggest danger are the other armies after the same chrysalis.{{book ref|sa1|15}}
=== Chasmfiend hunts ===
Though rarely, adult chasmfiends are also hunted, mostly when one wanders into a territory claimed by one of the [[highprince]]s. First, the chasmfiend is lured to climb up onto the plateau by hog carcasses, and pouring hog's blood into the chasms, to let the chasmfiend smell it. Once the chasmfiend emerges, which can take up to several hours, a flock of wild hogs is let loose for it to pursue. Archers equipped with [[Grandbow]]s -- the only bow type capable of harming the chasmfiend -- then pepper the creature with arrows to weaken it. Eventually, [[Shardbearer]]s approach the beast and cut off its legs with their Blades.{{book ref|sa1|12}} Once toppled, the beast is set up for a killing stroke, delivered with a Blade thorugh the spine. The gemheart can then be harvested from the downed beast.{{book ref|sa1|13}}
=== Overhunting ===
{{quote
|Animals like the chasmfiends don't normally have predators. Suddenly losing a hundred and fifty or more of their numbers a year could be catastrophic to their population.
▲|I heard that once an entire bridge crew got eaten by a chasmfiend, one at a time, after it backed them into a dead end. It just sat there, picking them off as they tried to run past.
|[[
}}
During the [[War of Reckoning]], the number of chasmfiends that died before they could produce offspring soared, with over fifteen being hunted down every month for their gemhearts, and the wealth and [[Soulcasting]] ability they provide. As a result, in the waning years of the war, their numbers began to dwindle, with fewer chrysalises appearing. [[Shallan Davar]] theorized that as the species previously lacked any predators, it simply cannot cope with this new influx of losses, and is thus headed towards extinction.{{book ref|sa2|49}}
▲Within the natural ecosystem of the Plains, chasmfiends are the apex predators.{{book ref|sa2|49}} Their segmented, narrow body makes it easy for them to move through the chasms; even still, they fill all avaiable space, and their passing is often marked by long scratches and scraped flora as the carapace drags across the chasm wall.{{book ref|sa2|71}} Their massive bulk could also be a form of protection from the [[highstorm]] flooding, as it can lock the chasmfiend in place, stopping the flood water from carrying it off.{{book ref|sa2|74}}
▲Chasmfiends are carnivorous; within their original habitat, they likely hunt wild [[chull]]s, using their massive foreclaws to crush their prey's shells and feed on the meat within.{{book ref|sa2|70}} As they travel to the [[Shattered Plains]], however, they turn to carrion-eating, eating corpses of creatures that fall or are washed down into the chasms from the pleateaus above.{{book ref|sa1|43}}
Some solutions have been proposed to mitigate this; primarily, reducing the number of hunts and even breeding chasmfiends in captivity for their gemhearts.{{book ref|sa2|49}} However, with the arrival of the [[Everstorm]], those plans, as well as the hunts themselves, have been put on hold as a bigger threat in form of the [[Voidbringer]]s occupied the attention of the armies that would normally hunt chasmfiends.{{book ref|sa3|50}}
== Notes ==
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