| Cremlino | |
|---|---|
 por Ben McSweeney
| |
| Tipo | Animal |
| Mundo de origen | Roshar |
| Universo | Cosmere |
Un cremlino es un tipo de crustáceo carroñero que se puede encontrar a lo largo de casi todo Roshar.[1][2][3][4] Más que una única especie, el término — derivado de crem, un tipo de sedimento — abarca una amplia variedad de criaturas.[1]
Apariencia y anatomía
Como hay muchas especies de cremlinos, su apariencia no es uniforme. Tienden a ser pequeños, con varias piernas, y delgados, con cuerpos alargados y sangre violeta.[3][5][6] La mayoría tienen garras y caparazón.[5][7] Una variedad conocida es la skrip, que tiene una cola plana, dos grandes garras y largas antenas.[8]
Los cremlinos vienen en una variedad de colores. Los que viven en los abismos de las Llanuras Quebradas tienen un matiz rojizo con caparazón semitransparente, haciendo visibles sus órganos.[9] En Kharbranth, hay cremlinos sombreados como los dedos de la cortezapizarra, mientras que en el Lagopuro, tienen multitud de colores.[2][3] Algunas especies, incluyendo una variedad llamada "cremlino sigs" por los oyentes, son venenosas, y lo indican teniendo vívidas garras rojas o colores brillantes en sus espaldas.[10][11]
Los cremlinos pueden hacer sonidos, incluyendo chillidos y chasquidos.[12][13] Cantarín salvaje - un crustáceo pequeño con un rango vocal más amplio - puede ser un tipo de cremlino.
Ecology
Cremlings grow from larvae, which mature in stagnant pools of water.[14] Adults live in burrows often located in cracks in the rock.[5] Some creatures that Rosharans call cremlings are actually larvae forms of larger animals, like chulls or maybe even Tai-na.[15][16]
Cremlings have two primary food sources: scavenging and plant matter. Typically, they drink blood and eat the flesh of the deceased humans, Parshendi, and other creatures, such as chasmfiends.[17][9][18] In the period immediately after highstorms, they expand their diet to plants, as those will often unfurl to drink in the nutrient-rich rainwater, allowing the cremlings to feed on the newly-exposed parts.[19] In addition, some cremlings seem to have a symbiotic relationship with shalebark. They clean the shalebark by eating anything that has built up on it, and take on coloring that helps them blend with it, disguising them from predators.[3]
Cremlings are in turn preyed upon by graspers, who will swiftly seize them and pull them into their lairs.[5]
For an unknown reason, some cremlings molt occasionally, shedding their carapace.[7][20] Some cremlings are capable of seeing Investiture.[21]
Culture
Cremlings are generally reviled on Roshar, being treated as little more than annoying and disgusting pests. Calling someone a cremling is one of Roshar's most common insults, with meaning similar to "rat" or "snake".[22] In idioms, cremlings are usually synonymous with cautious or cowardly behaviour.[23][24]
Cremlings are edible for humans. While not considered high-quality, their overabundance makes them a reliable food source, and a good cook can turn them into a fine dish.[25][8] They are usually boiled, and the water left afterwards can be drank, although the latter seems to be a habit limited to the Horneaters.[25] They taste similarly to crabs.[26]
Some people collect various species of cremlings, pinning them to boards like butterflies.[27]
As with "chicken" and "spren", the term "cremling" is often misapplied by Rosharans to refer to creatures that aren't part of the same group, like some non-crustacean hordelings, insects and greatshell larvae.[28][29][15]
Sleepless
Some cremlings are part of Sleepless swarms, and share a common hive mind. Such cremlings, called hordelings, are typically heavily-specialized, with some trained to act as ears or eyes, or to assume humanoid coloring so as to allow the Sleepless to pretend to be human.[30][27] They can operate at a significant distance from the rest of their swarm, making them perfect spies.[31] Through heavy breeding, over multiple generations, they can be evolved to do almost anything, including mimicking larkin abilities.[32]
In the past, hordelings have directly participated in the Desolations, fighting on the side of the Knights Radiant.[30] Dalinar witnesses a burnt pile of them in one of his dream-visions.[33]
Notas
- ↑ a b El camino de los reyes capítulo 4#
- ↑ a b El camino de los reyes interludio I-1#
- ↑ a b c d El camino de los reyes capítulo 39#
- ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 41#
- ↑ a b c d El camino de los reyes capítulo 57#
- ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 31#
- ↑ a b El camino de los reyes capítulo 49#
- ↑ a b Juramentada capítulo 68#
- ↑ a b El camino de los reyes capítulo 27#
- ↑ El ritmo de la guerra capítulo 62#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 18#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 26#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 25#
- ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 43#
- ↑ a b General Twitter 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-05-02# - ↑ Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA
— Arcanum - 2018-12-14# - ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 56#
- ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 15#
- ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 11#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 19#
- ↑ Starsight Release Party
— Arcanum - 2019-11-26# - ↑ El camino de los reyes capítulo 6#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 13#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 52#
- ↑ a b Juramentada capítulo 55#
- ↑ Juramentada capítulo 63#
- ↑ a b Juramentada interludio I-4#
- ↑ Leipzig Book Fair
— Arcanum - 2017-03-24# - ↑ General Reddit 2016
— Arcanum - 2016-11-29# - ↑ a b Danzante del Filo (novella) capítulo 18#
- ↑ Skyward San Diego signing
— Arcanum - 2018-11-07# - ↑ FanX Spring 2019
— Arcanum - 2019-04-19# - ↑ Juramentada capítulo 47#