Difference between revisions of "Greatshell"

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{{lifeform
|image=Chasmfiend Hunt by Randy Vargas.jpg
|type=Animal family
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}{{update|book=sa3}}
'''Greatshells''' are a group of large, crustacean-like animalscrustaceans native to [[Roshar]]. TheyThe includefamily includes numerous species, among them [[chasmfiend]]s,{{book ref|sa1|12}} the [[YuTai-nerigna]]{{book ref|sa1|40}},and the extinct [[Tai-nalanceryn]]s.{{book ref|sa1|i|836}}, the extinct [[Lanceryn]]{{book ref|sa1|3612}}, and others.{{citebook ref|sa2|i|3}}
 
== Appearance and Anatomy ==
People from [[Kadrix]] are said to ride greatshell beasts.{{book ref|sa1|36}}
Greatshells refers to a variety of creatures both aquatic and land-bound. They do, however, share a number of physical characteristics. They are uniformly massive, vastly larger than a human; the largest creatures on the planet, both on land and in the water, are greatshells.{{book ref|sa2|i|3}} They possess an exoskeleton, and multiple legs.{{file ref|Chasmfiend.jpeg|text=Shallan's sketch: Chasmfiend}} They have no tongue, and a complex set of jaws;{{book ref|sa1|15}} though it's unclear if they're all carnivorous, it is unlikely. Their blood is violet, and has a musty, moldy smell.{{book ref|sa1|26}}
 
Greatshells do not seem to have a singular biome they thrive in; they can be found as far east as the [[Shattered Plains]], as far west as [[Aimia]], and as far north as the [[Reshi Isles]].{{book ref|sa2|i|3}}{{book ref|sa1|36}} Their sheer size makes domesticating most species unfeasible, although there are stories of greatshell riders in places like [[Kadrix]].{{book ref|sa1|36}} If the [[chull]]s are considered greatshells -- which is unclear -- it would make them the only case of widely-spread domestication of greatshells.
== Appearance Anatomy ==
Larger species have a large gem inside of them, called a [[gemheart]]. Greatshells are usually wild and hunted for their gemhearts, edible meat and carapace, although some species are domesticated.
 
=== Spren bonds ===
Their blood is violet, and has a musty, moldy smell.{{book ref|sa1|26}}
The greatshells maintain their enormous size by bonding with [[mandra]]s, a type of [[spren]].{{wob ref|1227}} Mandras decrease their weight, allowing them to exist and move their bulk in defiance of square-cube law.{{book ref|sa3|99}} Perhaps to facilitate this bond, greatshells possess [[gemheart]]s, massive gemstones, within their bodies.{{book ref|sa3|i|13}} For this reason, they're often hunted; some species, like the [[lanceryn]] and [[chasmfiend]]s, have been hunted down to extinction or near-extinction over their gemhearts.{{book ref|sa1|36}}
 
== Known Greatshellgreatshell Speciesspecies ==
They have no tongue, and a complex set of jaws. Chasmfiends, for example, have some flat platelike teeth for crushing and destroying shells and other, smaller mandibles for ripping off flesh or shoving it deeper into the throat.
*[[chasmfiend]]
 
*[[lanceryn]]
Greatshells live in symbiotic relationships with spren that allow them to grow as large as they do.{{wob ref|1227}} These [[Chasmfiend spren|spren]] only appear around the corpses of recently killed greatshells.{{book ref|sa1|15}}
 
== Known Greatshell Species ==
*[[Chasmfiend]]
*[[Lanceryn]]
*[[Tai-na]]
*[[Yuyu-nerig]]
 
== Notes ==
Editors, Keepers
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