Cremling

Cremling
by Ben McSweeney
Type	Animal
World of Origin	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

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A cremling is a type of scavenger crustacean that can be found almost everywhere on Roshar. Rather than a single species, the term encompasses a wide variety of creatures. They are generally considered pests and are reviled by humans in the same way rats are, with "cremling" being a common insult.

Appearance and Anatomy

As there are many species of cremlings, their appearance is not uniform. They tend to be tiny, multilegged, and thin, with elongated bodies and purple blood. Most have claws and a carapace.

Cremlings come in variety of colours. Ones living in the chasms of the Shattered Plains have a reddish hue with semi-transparent carapace, making their organs visible. In Kharbranth, one can find cremlings shaded like the feelers of shalebark, while in the Purelake, they have a multitude of colors.

Ecology

Cremlings grow from larvae, which mature in stagnant pools of water. Adults live in burrows often located in cracks in the rock.

Cremlings have two primary food sources: scavenging and plant matter. Typically, they drink blood and eat the flesh of the deceased humans, Parshendi, and other creatures, such as chasmfiends. In the period immediately after highstorms, they expand their diet to plants, as those will often unfurl to drink in the nutrient rich rainwater, allowing the cremlings to feed on the newly exposed parts. In addition, some cremlings seem to have had a symbiotic relationship with shalebark. The clean the shalebark by eating anything that has built up on it, and take on coloring that helps them blend with it, disguising them from predators.

In turn, the cremlings are preyed upon by graspers, who will swiftly seize them and pull them into their lairs.

It is possible that for an unknown reason cremlings may sometimes shed their carapace.

Sleepless

For more information, see Sleepless.

Some cremlings are part of Sleepless swarms, and share a common hive mind. Such cremlings, called hordelings, are typically heavily-specialized, with some trained to act as ears or eyes, or to assume humanoid colouring so as to allow the Sleepless to pretend to be human. Such cremlings can operate at a significant distance from the rest of their swarm, making them perfect spies. Through heavy breeding, over multiple generations, they can be evolved to do almost anything, including mimicking larkin abilities.

In the past, hordelings have directly participated in the Desolations, fighting on the side of the Knights Radiant. Dalinar witnesses a burnt pile of them in one of his dream-visions.

Notes

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