The Immortal Naturalist's Guide to Cryptic Creatures: The Rooftop Clicker

This post is part of the Immortal Naturalist's Guide series. The explanation for that series can be found in this post.

    While it is normal to hear many different sounds at night in a large city, some parents enjoy telling stories to their children about the strange creatures that produce these otherwise mundane sounds. One of these sounds is a distinct, rapid-fire clicking, which stories attribute to a creature known as the Rooftop Clicker. While stories and descriptions vary wildly, there is in fact a real Rooftop Clicker. He stands about three feet tall, is an excellent climber, and he uses his large beak to make his clicking sound. Preferring to run away if anything happens to see him, the Rooftop Clicker seems to prefer to perform in solitude. Should one catch the quick little creature, his beak is actually quite sharp and capable of leaving a nasty gash. As far as food goes, the Rooftop Clicker is able to feed off of the mental anguish of those trying and failing to get to sleep.

    The Rooftop Clicker, when undisturbed, is able to detect the person having the most difficult time getting to sleep in the entire city. He uses this magical sense and climbing skills to make his way to that person's roof, where the Rooftop Clicker will click his beak in irregular, rapid bursts to keep his victim from falling asleep for as long as possible. By standing near his target, the beast is able to absorb the psychic energy produced by the victim's frustration, consuming this psychic energy instead of conventional food. Warding off the Rooftop Clicker is as simple as getting onto the roof and shooing him away, but at that point I would hardly call that a win.

    With great difficulty, I was able to track down the Rooftop Clicker to his nest. Situated inside the attic of an old tavern, the entire nest is coated in a strange, smooth, purple substance. This substance, as it turns out, is regurgitated by the Rooftop Clicker after he feeds, probably a by-product of digesting psychic energy. After it dries, this substance becomes incredibly hard and dense and has been used to create rudimentary furniture in the Rooftop Clicker's nest. This dried substance is harder than diamonds and can be fashioned into incredibly durable and sharp tools with enough work. If the substance is broken, it can be mended by wetting the pieces with water and holding them together for a few moments, making the tools easy to fix as well as durable and sharp.