Undershard Snails

Undershard snails range in size from the width of the palm of your hand to a large dinner plate. They crawl on the bottoms of most Shards of Thaya feeding on algae and plants growing there. They commonly fall off the shards and drop to the Surface of the Shattered Moon, where they can survive by generating a micro-atmosphere within their shells.

On the surface colonies of them survive by feeding on detritus that falls from the shards above them, including their siblings who's shells weren't sturdy enough to survive the drop. Unless they're actively feeding, undershard snails on the surface, remain dormant to conserve energy and resources. They retract into their shells and generate a mucus plug that hardens into a protective trapdoor.

Dormant undershard snails come to life when they smell food or the vibrations of a vine dropping down from the shard above them. They eat their hardened mucus plug and slowly crawl towards the food source or the escape route from the surface. Undershard snails will eat anything organic, so travelers on the surface must be careful to brush them off any leather or wood they may be carrying with them. They must also be careful where they sleep lest they find themselves woken by dozens of hungry undersnails nibbling on their extremities.

Shell

Shell 2/4/2023 by Chris L

The shell of an Undershard Snail can mean life or death for those on the Surface of the Shattered Moon.

Subsisting on Snails

For those who find themselves on the Surface, undershard snails are both a necessity and a nuisance. Each snail's shell contains up to an hour of breathable air in them. The trick is keeping the snail alive, so that it produces breatheable air, without it simultaneously eating your face. Those who know they're traveling to the surface bring special "snail spoons" with them that covers the undersnail's mouth and tentacles while allowing access to their air producing organs.

Using an undershard snail like this is eventually fatal for the snail. However, the snails are edible (if disgusting) and sophonts have been known to live on a diet of them for a few days before being rescued or climbing back up a shard vine to the safety of the Mairun-sphere, the breatheable zone of air.

Beware Brain Parasites

Unfortunately for those surviving through the use of undersnails, a not insignificant portion of them are infected with brain parasites. Left untreated, the parasites can lead to swelling around the brain and spinal cord and madness. In the worst cases, the parasites lead to ceremorphosis, transformation into a mind flayer.