The Saltcrabs of the Mire
Blind and barnacled, the Saltcrabs are scavengers of the Valemire — broad-shelled, dog-sized crustaceans whose movements are as sudden as they are silent. Their shells are encrusted with layers of brine and mineral, giving them the look of drowned stones that rise and scuttle only when disturbed. To step too near is to risk a sudden clatter of claws and a grip that can break bone.
Appearance
A Saltcrab’s dome-shaped shell is rough with salt crystals, algae, and barnacle-like growths. From beneath jut six spindly legs and two foreclaws, one always larger and more jagged than the other. Their eyestalks are pale, sightless knobs; they hunt not by vision but by tremor and taste. The stench of brine clings to them, and the damp ground often bears a line of salt where they have passed.
Habitat
Saltcrabs thrive in brackish pools, flooded ruins, and along river crossings where carrion gathers. They bury themselves in silt or cling motionless to submerged stone, waiting for vibrations to stir them. In still water, their shells blend so well with rock that even seasoned fishers mistake them until it is too late.
Behavior
Though scavengers first, Saltcrabs are opportunists. They swarm toward drowned beasts, dead fish, and refuse, but just as readily seize a living ankle that strays too close. A single crab is a nuisance; three or more can drag a grown man into the mire. They fight savagely, not with strategy, but with a persistence born of hunger.
Saltcrabs do not wander far, preferring to cluster where the water is thick with decay. They communicate through faint clacks of claw on shell, a rhythm that echoes oddly across stagnant water. Whether this is language or mere agitation, I cannot say, but the sound unsettles the heart.
Place in the Mire
The folk of the Valemire curse Saltcrabs, yet still make use of them. Their brine-encrusted shells, once cracked and dried, yield crystalline salt — a rare prize in lands where dampness devours flame and spoils food. Hunters risk much to gather it, knowing the same claws that threatened their lives may later season their bread.
Some claim the Saltcrabs keep the waterways clear, stripping carcasses before rot can foul a channel. Others say they are the swamp’s tax collectors, taking their due from all who trespass. I see in them only the pattern the Mire repeats: hunger disguised as stillness, violence wedded to necessity.
Oddities
- Saltcrabs sometimes carry fungal growths upon their backs, glowing faintly like lanterns when disturbed.
- Their shells retain a trace of the swamp’s memory; when burned, they crackle like wet wood and give off the faint scent of sea air.
- Old rivermen swear Saltcrabs always gather in eights — a superstition, perhaps, but I have seen enough to keep count myself.
Reflection
They are neither noble nor demonic, only part of the swamp’s endless cycle. To fear them is sensible. To hate them is wasted breath. A Saltcrab is no more cruel than fire, no less merciful than the tide. It will take what lies before it, and in so doing, remind us that even in the deepest mire, nothing is wasted for long.
Creature Profile: Saltcrab
- Size: Small beast (dog-sized, low and gangly)
- Temperament: Scavenger, patient ambusher, swarms in groups
- Diet: Carrion, fish, small animals, the unwary living
- Habitat: Mire banks, drowned ruins, river crossings, logfalls
- Threat: Moderate — sudden clamping strikes, dangerous in clusters
- Use: Source of salt and spell reagents, meat considered poor but edible