Dwellers
Dwellers are enigmatic creatures. They are gaunt, bipedal beings with long limbs, squat bodies, heavy jaws and bulbous eyes. They are social and self aware but otherwise appear prelingual. Dwellers are found across the skies but are most commonly encountered in the Twilight Frontier. Though regional populations are usually small there have been reports of large concentrations in specific locales.
The creatures are furtive and live in small, family bands. Strangely, dwellers are most frequently found denning in Masters’ ruins - living in the deepest chambers and using the tunnels to move about unseen. The more warren-like the cache the more likely dwellers are to be found. Dwellers to not appear to make tools or build structures, but they have been observed using found objects in tool-like ways - including as effective weapons. They appear to be omnivores and only opportunistic hunters.
Most Guild zoologists believe dwellers are related to the ferals encountered in the Dark - another vestigial line of Child. Some fringe thinkers believe they may be degenerate relatives of the Kin or even corrupt descendants of the Masters of the Wind themselves. Necropsies of recovered specimens have provided scant clues to the mystery and scholars continue to debate their origins.
Though the creatures generally avoid contact with Kin there are cases of violent encounters and savage battles with dweller hordes. Whether larger populations make them more aggressive or drive them into territorial frenzies these attacks have been unprovoked, vicious and deadly. Accordingly, Guild members are instructed to treat all contact with dwellers as potentially dangerous.
Meat Crickets
Meat crickets are large, regionally abundant arthropods found throughout the Frontier. They are ugly, pallid, hard-shelled creatures the size of dogs with dangerous pinching claws and long, multi-jointed hind legs that allow them to leap 30 feet at a bound. Meat crickets are voracious, carnivorous pack-hunters that employ both pursuit and ambush tactics with equal effectiveness.
When chasing prey, crickets cooperate to bring down individual animals much larger than themselves - snapping at their limbs with their formidable claws, leaping ahead to cut them off, wearing them down by injury, blood loss and fatigue. The loud and eerie chirping sounds they use to coordinate their pursuit add chilling notes to the kill.
When lying in ambush, meat crickets array themselves around a kill zone, camouflaging themselves in ground litter. The ring of predators will then take it in turns, chirping quietly, their cooing calls serving to attract other predators that are themselves on the hunt. When the unwary target finally enters their ring the crickets burst from cover, swarming the prey and eating it alive. Meat crickets in a feeding frenzy are frightening and dangerous even to themselves, often taking slices out of each other as they eat.
Meat crickets are actually quite tasty and if explorer crews are willing to risk being hunted themselves crickets are a ready source of fresh meat. They are easily roasted and served in their own shells and have a mild, fish-like taste. It has become a common pastime for the more artistic among Guild crews to scrimshaw images from their explorations on the large pincer claws leftover from a meat cricket feast.