#also almost finished with request drabble about Besteel and her's babies

[dracocheesecake]

Wondla OC Headcanons: Eegis the Balance Keeper and her Death Rollers

Eegis, as a Balance-Keeper, guards a number of herds of animals, but her favorites were a colony of Death Rollers (giant rolly pollies) that live in a humid, moist temperate rainforest south of Lake Concors.

The Death Rollers need this humid, moist environment on account of their gills- they're terrestrial crustaceans.

Eegis' sister was flattened when the colony was spooked by a storm. Because it's so difficult to get a new handler to "bond" with the Matriarch, Eegis was chosen for the duty because of her resemblance to her sister, which made the process easier.

Despite this, Eegis never held any ill will towards the Death Rollers- she understood they were just animals that lashed out and her sister was just unfortunate enough to be in the way.

Death Rollers expel a toxic ammonia gas instead of urinating- or occasionally as a defense. Because of this, overexposure to any member of the colony is lethal.

They became endangered because their young and eggs are a delicacy to many different races- especially when boiled. Not only this, but many were captured and used to fertilize potential farmland because of their tendency to eat toxic metals from the soil- and detritus like dead plant and animal matter- amongst other things.

Eegis will sit on top of them sometimes- usually the Matriarch- for a quick snooze or just to enjoy the ride as they crawl around.

She has a favorite besides the Matriarch: it's one with a yellowed section of armor near its head that looks almost like a duck bill. She calls him "Billy".

She makes "imprints" of strange animal, plant, or hybrid specimens she finds- based on the Japanese art of gyotaku (fish printing)- usually as a way of recording new specimens, but also as a method of "trophy collecting"- she has a big book filled with such prints- and Zin has his own copy she sent him.

She despises the Taxidermist. She doesn't respect him- the methods he uses go against the Dorcean's traditional stipulations: make a swift, clean, painless kill- no suffering (though the Taxidermist would argue his methods technically did).

She's the only Sister that has been closest to the Heart; the Balance-Keepers worship the Mother, and they know to stay out of the Heart unless one is completely pure; Eegis respects the Mother, and isn't fool or arrogant enough to think of herself as pure, but she isn't beyond testing boundries.

She does very much enjoy hunting, and taking trophies- but she knows there's a balance that must be respected, and laws that cannot be broken. To disrespect and disobey is death- and for the poachers that disobey the law, she is their death.

She carries a small satchel with her with several kits inside- some of which are filled with implements that resemble entomology tools, and others filled with small books for identification, parchment, dust, and brushes to make imprints of said specimens. Another kit is a first aid kit all Sisters carry.

She also carries tongs to pick up smaller specimens with; she will not touch something with her bare talons unless she knows for certain what it is. This was something she had to learn from experience: once she picked up a new specimen near the Heart, some sort of insect like thing that she couldn't identify, and it stung her, sending her into a bad hallucinated hellscape that lasted for three days; from that point forward, she only touched things she didn't know with tongs.

Her relationship with Besteel developed over time, and in secret. Thankfully being a handler on guard duty means she spends most of her time out with the herds alone, isolated from watchful eyes; Sisters are not allowed to have mates and eyasses.

Eegis really wanted girls. When she was pregnant with her and Besteel's litter, she kept referring to them as female and had female names picked out for them; then they had the audacity to be boys.

She's not that great of a mom. She's barely around, but she does care about her sons.

She only started killing poachers because they were always first to try to kill her; but what was once a means of survival soon to her became sport- it's gotten to the point where instead of asking for identification, warrant, or permits, she'll just immediately start blasting. This has gotten her into some trouble with the leader of the Sisters, Mother Fera (not to be confused with the Mother Spirit- the leader of the Balance Keepers is the eldest female veteran of the corps, who earns the title of "Mother" after years of service as a Sister of the Heart; the title is obviously taken from the Spirit, though).

She actively enjoys hunting the sapient species of Orbona- but her favorite prey are other Dorceans.