Aetherpila Brutusoscaputa
 

Female: Pain Elemental

 
 

Male/Genderless: Lost Soul

    Aetherpila Brutusoscaputa is a member of the Narereperea family, which is the classification for creatures which have a semi-gaseous body and whose only mobility is through floating above the ground.

Brutusoscaputa  takes two forms: The more common form is an apparently sexless version that has been given the common name of Lost Soul. This one is relatively small (measuring about one meter from horn to horn) as Aetherpilli go.

The Lost Soul has an unusual method of propulsion which enables it to do bursts of forward, high speed propulsion. Lost Souls absorb gas they gather from the environment and store it in a boney compartment in the skull-looking area of their bodies. The gas as it is gathered is not particularly flammable, but the Lost Soul synthesizes it into a more volatile fuel source and pressurizes it within this body cavity. As part of its normal bodily functions, some of the gas is slowly released from an orifice in the back of its body, and this gas release is maintained ignited by the organism. This is what causes Lost Souls to be perpetually on fire. To obtain a great burst of speed, the Lost Soul releases a larger burst of this flammable gas through its orifice, and this propels the virtually weightless Lost Soul to a high rate of speed. This process is called "Efforvation".

The second form is that of the reproducing female, which has been named Pain Elemental. This female version of the species is created when one of the male/sexless forms morphs into one, a process which was recorded to take less than a second. This has only been observed once, in a captive specimen, after which the new Pain Elemental began to spontaneously produce Lost Souls. The trigger which causes the metamorphosis has yet to be identified. There does appear to be genetic diversity within Brutusoscaputa , but the means by which this is achieved within the species has not been identified.
 

The natural environment for the female Brutusoscaputa is low-light, swamp-like areas on the other side of The Portal. They do venture out into more open areas for hunting or exploration. In general, they explore like this more frequently, and wander farther than, their Grandisbucca cousins, and they are also less territorial than the Grandisbucca . Their one large eye is well adapted to their low light environment, having several times the light amplification characteristics as humans eyes.

The Lost Soul form of the species ventures farther than any of the other documented Aetherpilli. Because of its ability to store and partially synthesize the gas they requires for levitation and propulsion, they are free to wander farther away from these swamp areas.
 

All Brutusoscaputa are carnivorous. The Lost Soul form is known to congregate into large groups, called flocks, although the behavior of the individuals is identical whether they are part of a flock, or happen to be solitary. They will attack creatures they perceive as prey regardless of the prey's relative size, but the attacks are not an effort to kill the prey. They simply attempt to eat the prey alive, bite by bite. Lost Souls consider non-zombified Humans as prey. The high-speed attack in which the Lost Soul attempts to take a bite out of its prey is the only time they are seen to efforvate. The Pain Elemental, on the other hand, seems to prefer prey that is about one meter in size (which means they do not directly attack Humans with the intent to eat them), however, they seem able to recognize when prey for Lost Souls has entered the area. When a prey item for Lost Souls is present, she immediately approaches the organism and releases a new group of Lost Souls, one at a time, which immediately recognize and attempt to eat the prey. They will also do this when they perceive they are in danger from another organism, as the Lost Souls will frequently attack and attempt to eat whatever is threatening the Pain Elemental.