Chasmfiend

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Chasmfiends are enormous greatshells native to the Shattered Plains on Roshar. They are large, crustacean-like creatures. They normally live in the chasms of the Shattered Plains, hence the name.

Anatomy

A depiction of a chasmfiend drawn by Shallan Davar

The chasmfiend killed by Dalinar and Elhokar had violet carapace and uniform green eyes. Like most greatshells, it had violet, moldy-smelling blood. Chasmfiends have a twisted, arrowhead-like face, with a mouth full of barbed mandibles. They are long and narrow, and have a flattened tail, somewhat resembling that of a crayfish. They have four foreclaws set into broad shoulders that are used as primary means of attack, and about fourteen smaller legs used for locomotion. They are capable of vocalization, and usually bellow with four overlapping voices at a time.

Each chasmfiend has a large gemstone growing inside of it, called a gemheart. The gemhearts are the primary reason they are hunted, although meat and carapace are also harvested. They also have a symbiotic bond with a spren. This bond is one of the factors allowing the chasmfiends to reach their enormous size. This spren can be observed when the chasmfiend is dead, leaving the body, looking like tongues of smoke.

Sometime during the strange life cycle of the chasmfiends, they each seek a large plateau, climb up onto the top of it and form a rocky chrysalis, waiting for the coming of a highstorm. They usually start pupating during the day - rarely in the evening or night - during which time they are extremely vulnerable. It is unknown what emerges from the chrysalis as it is during pupation that they are preferably harvested.

Speculation

Dalinar Kholin fights a chasmfiend during a hunt

It has been speculated that the chasmfiends are somehow related to the Voidbringers after Jasnah Kholin found a picture of a Voidbringer very similar to a chasmfiend. However, as was noted by the participants in this discussion, this may be the result of an artist choosing the most terrifying thing she could think of, not actually having seen a Voidbringer herself. According to Adolin, the drawing lacks a set of foreclaws, and is drawn more menacing compared to the modern version.