These enigmatic and strangely diverse creatures have rarely been seen to Jaernians, as they tend to live in the deepest parts of Jaern's oceans. They are well documented in the legends and myths of the Onivero, where they are painted as a horde of hard-to-kill, destructive enemies.

Abysslings come in a wide range of forms, each fulfilling a different role amongst their kin. They share a sort of collective consciousness - not quite a hivemind, but a single abyssling has little individuality and sees its purpose only to the betterment of their species. This collective consciousness is referred to simply as “Us” by an abyssling. The more sophisticated abysslings may have some element of personal identity, but it is always secondary to Us.

The prime directive of the abysslings is to adapt. They are always taking in new information from their environment and the other races they interact with, using it to further their species' evolution.

The most notable thing about Abyssling biology is their incredibly fast evolutionary rate. Not even a generation is required for abysslings to evolve and adapt; an individual can change its body and traits over its own lifetime to adapt to a new situation on the fly. They are known to release pheromones to communicate with their kin. Abysslings cannot tolerate saltwater - if immersed, they quickly shrivel and die, and so they pose no threat to Cahyali's oceans.

Studying abysslings is famously difficult, as a captive specimen will quickly revert its body into an inert mass of muscular and connective tissue with zero resemblance to its previous form. This makes it almost impossible to capture or study them. It's thought that this behavior is meant to assist when a colony falls upon hard times; other abysslings have been seen eating these fleshy pieces.

One of the biggest threats to other life the abysslings pose is their ability to assimilate. If even a few abyssling cells enter the body of another being - whether this is by being injected with their blood or eating their meat - this being will slowly but surely transform into an abyssling themselves, and their mind will lose all individuality as it joins the collective consciousness of its new kin.

In general, the more abyssling tissue consumed, the quicker the assimilation and transformation. It can vary on a timescale of days to years.

Left alone, a colony of abysslings will likely not spread. They stay mostly stationary, controlling a relatively small territory and adapting to their local environment. However, if this environment is disrupted by something such as a natural disaster or other races' interference, the colony will enter a “spreading” period, where they radiate out and begin to invade other places, looking for a new path forward and new place to live. These “spreads” can be extremely destructive and result in many being killed or assimilated.

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