The Immortal Naturalist's Guide to Cryptic Creatures: The Volcano Mimic

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

    While there are many volcanoes that have emerged from the Sea of Treasure, particularly on Pointed Crown Island, but there is exactly one that is worshiped by a tribe of lizard folk who believe it to be a living being capable of protecting them from danger. As the Volcano Tribe of lizard folk tell it, their god, the Volcano Mimic, is a massive, immobile creature that looks identical to any of the many other volcanoes on Pointed Crown Island. They say that one can see the Volcano Mimic open its eyes and blink on the darkest nights, when it thinks no one can see, and that it watches over their village at its base. Hiking up to the rim of what appears to be a volcanic crater reveals the massive teeth of the creature which guard a bright red mouth and gullet. To get its food, the Volcano Mimic is actually fed by regular sacrifice from the Volcano Tribe. These sacrifices are usually of local game such as giant bull geckos, but intelligent people have been sacrificed when hunting other animals has failed in the past.

    In exchange for these sacrifices, the Volcano Mimic is actually able to prevent volcanic eruptions in the area and keep predatory creatures away. With regular sacrifices, the creature is apparently able to generate a field which prevents eruptions and meat eaters from getting within a few miles of its body. Aware of this trait, the Volcano Tribe actually maintains a vegetarian diet to avoid being excluded by their god. Staying on the Volcano Mimic's good side is usually achieved by following the customs and norms of the Volcano Tribe village, as they are the ones who will sacrifice rule-breakers to the mimic. Avoiding such a fate really does seem as simple as staying away from the beast and the lizard folk village, which is easy enough if one has eaten meat in the past day.

    As a part of mimicking a volcano, the Volcano Mimic has a rather extensive network of tunnels in its outer layer of rock. These tunnels do not seems to bother the beast, inhabited by a wide variety of creatures which only eat plants and fungi. Within these tunnels, however, it is possible to find deposits of pure precious metals like silver and gold. Each outcrop takes on a crystalline shape and seems to be made out of a random metal. While these tunnels also give access to the Volcano Mimic's organs, the most lucrative reason to enter the tunnels is to mine and remove the precious metals. This process does not seem to harm the creature, and more crystals seem to be growing all the time, making the resource somewhat sustainable, even. The only thing to be on the lookout for, in that case, is getting trampled by the giant insects that live inside the massive mimic's tunnels, which is easier said than done.