Burrowing Provuci

As Mason has become more hostile to life, the symbiotic provuci have adapted to the new conditions, replacing its ancestor, and forging closer relations with both their symbiotes and others of the same species. The two appendages which serve to help it to scrape its food off of its symbiote and the ground have developed a rigid coating, as well as a rougher edge. They also serve a new purpose; using these tools, the provuci dig massive underground labyrinths underneath gelatus fields, using their sense tentacles to apply a sticky coating to the interiors so as to keep the entire structure stable, even when the greater part of the ground is the air and water which fills these tunnels. For while some upper levels of the tunnels serve as places to store eggs and food, as would be expected from a tunnel-dwelling organism, the vast majority of the space serves as a great store for water and air, connected to all other gelatus by the great network stiltbulb roots. In this way the provuci are connected to an island-wide symbiotic network, and contribute to it by maintaining its infrastructure and clearing it of parasites, as well as delivering their waste directly into the gelatus.

The way that the provuci interact with each other has become more complex as well, as a language of rough body heat patterns and waving tentacles help the provuci effectively communicate what they have seen, their needs, and their primitive intents. As some communities grow to the thousands, these constant interactions between members create a situation in which although the individual brain power of a provuci is small, their net sum can successfully coordinate complex activities with limited waste.