SILVERSCALE GLIDER

The Silverscale Glider is a sleek, surface-skimming aquatic species native to the faster-moving currents of the Arla River, the Orlanda River and the Tijonara River inflows into the three major lakes (Lake Arla, Lake Orlanda, Lake Tijonara) of the Asari Region. Its shimmering body and wing-like fins give the illusion of silver ribbons dancing across the water. It feeds primarily on micro-mineral particles suspended in the river water, along with small airborne insects it catches mid-jump.

The Silverscale Glider helps regulate insect populations and is prized in myths of the Trando Tribe and the Honga Tribe as a spirit-fish believed to guide the souls of the drowned.

• Size: 12–15 cm
• Weight: ~600 grams
• Body Shape: Elongated and aerodynamic, designed for speed and gliding
• Skin: Smooth, reflective silver with faint blue undertones, like polished glass
• Fins: Four wing-like fins — two elongated upper fins that extend like glider wings, and two shorter stabilizing fins below. Semi-transparent and faintly iridescent.
• Tail: Flexible and powerful, used for burst acceleration
• Eyes: Small, multifaceted, gem-like

• Aerial Leaping: Can leap up to 1.5 meters above the surface
• Reflective Body: Smooth metallic shine creates dazzling light bursts
• Wing-Fins: Four fins act as natural gliders, allowing short surface flights

• Armor Class (AC): 13 (due to agility)
• Hit Points (HP): 8
• Speed: 50 ft. (swimming) | Leap: 10 ft.

Attacks:

• Fin Slash (Aerial only): 1d3 slashing (only if caught or trapped)
• Flash Dive: Dive with a blinding flare; attackers must succeed DC 11 Dexterity save or suffer disadvantage on their next action.

Special Abilities:

• Evasive Skimmer: Advantage on Dexterity saves in open water
• Mythic Echo (Optional): Pods may symbolize omens or spiritual messages in Native traditions

• Diet: Insect larvae, mineral microdeposits, river plankton
• Social Structure: Pods of 8–12 individuals, moving in synchrony
• Activity Pattern: Most active after rainfall, when sediment and insects spike

• Burst Glide: Uses its four fins to leap and glide, avoiding nets and predators
• Light Confusion: Reflective flashes disorient aerial and aquatic attackers

• Spawning: During high river flow cycles, females lay eggs in water grasses
• Egg Count: Up to 300 per event
• Hatching: 7 days; fry remain near the surface before joining pods
• Lifespan: 6–8 years

In bright daylight, Silverscale Gliders skim just beneath the surface like streaks of quicksilver, their upper fins slicing the air while their lower fins stabilize their glide. When pods leap together, they create the illusion of silver-blue ribbons fanning outward, scattering shards of reflected light across the water. At twilight, their blue undertones blend into mist, making entire pods vanish and reappear in an almost spectral dance.

To Native Tribes, these displays marked spiritual signs; to Exohuman settlers in the Beta Age, they were at once a spectacle and a challenge for nets.

In the Beta Age, settlers at Arla Town occasionally netted Silverscale Gliders alongside larger fish in the Arla River inflows. Too small to be a staple, their shimmering scales and delicate flesh made them a novelty delicacy. Salted fillets were even traded to New Kourou as “silver fish,” marketed by the Trade Guild of New Kourou.

Their role in Native traditions and their small size prevented overfishing. By the Gamma Age, with Exohumans adopting vegetarian nutrition under the Peace Treaty, fishing of Silverscale Gliders was prohibited, and the species returned fully to the rivers and myths of the Trando Tribe and Honga Tribe.

The Silverscale Glider adds movement and wonder to riverside encounters.

• Catch Challenge: Skill checks required to catch these agile skimmers
• Myth Tie-In: Pods may herald storms, death, or ceremonial rites among Native Tribes
• Resource Use: Scales can be crafted into cloaks or armor that shimmer like moving water

• VOI 700 D
• Habitual Belt
• Equatorial Sections East and West
• Eastern Equatorial Section of the Habitual Belt (Asari)
• Lake Arla
• Lake Orlanda
• Lake Tijonara
• Wildlife of Asari

Known Predators:

• Twilight Perch