Dust-Striders

Overview

Dust-Striders are the insect-like grazers of the Ashen Wastes, among its Scavenger Beasts. They live by straining the last scraps of energy out of the air itself, and wherever they pass, the air turns colder still.

Appearance

A Dust-Strider stands about as tall as a pony on six or eight long, jointed legs, its body a small, flattened shell slung low between them. The shell is dull grey and pitted, dusted with ash, and from its underside hang fringes of fine bristles like the gills of a fish, which stir constantly as it walks. Its head is little more than a pair of feelers and a mouth. It moves with a high, careful stalking gait, lifting each leg slowly, and in groups it looks like a slow procession of walking tents. It makes almost no sound: a faint dry rustle of bristles and the click of a leg set down. The air behind one is noticeably colder and smells of ozone.

Habitat and Range

They wander the ash plains and the edges of ash storms of the Ashen Wastes in loose herds, drifting towards any place where a little energy lingers: a warm stone, the wake of a storm, a camp.

Behaviour and Temperament

A Dust-Strider feeds as it walks, drawing air through its bristles and taking whatever energy the air still holds. It is not a hunter and does not attack, but it is drawn to warmth and will stand beside a fire or a sleeping traveller, feeding, until it is driven off.

Abilities

It strips warmth and motion from the air around it, leaving a trail of colder air that lingers long after it has gone. A herd standing over a camp can chill it as surely as a frost.

Life Cycle

They lay clutches of grey eggs in the lee of rocks, where the eggs lie for a very long time before the young crawl out, already walking. A dead Dust-Strider leaves its light shell behind on the ash, and the plains are scattered with them.

Uses and Dangers

Their shells are light and hold no heat, and are used as cold boxes and lids by those who keep stored heat. Their danger is quiet: a herd that settles round a sleeping traveller can drain the warmth from a camp before anyone wakes.

Lore and Belief

Travellers who have seen them at a distance speak of tall, walking frost, and some believe that the cold trails across the Wastes are made by them alone. The Ash-Walkers are said to drive them off any hoard with fierce care, because a Dust-Strider at a warm stone is a thief.

Where It Appears

• The Ashen Wastes
• Writers' Guide: The Planes