[Togetak]

Magimals Catalogue

(Note: This section is subject to change, as I encounter more of these creatures in the wild, to observe them)

III. Fireflies

While it may not be immediately apparent that the common, unassuming firefly has any magical properties at all, let alone enough to be considered a Magimal, any alchemist worth thier craft will happily tell you otherwise. Not concerned with displays of defensive spells, or growing to large sizes, the firefly's magic is actually rather more interesting- it's a mating display.

The swarms of fireflies that adorn the countryside each night may seem as though they're simply set pieces, creatures that wander the world bringing beauty to it- and perhaps they do regardless- but their woderful displays are actually peacocking for romantic attention. They achieve this through a strange fluid produced in their abdomen that, when infused with the barest hint of mana, lights up and allows their flickering midnight courtship to continue.

 

Conventional knowledge would assume that only the males glow, expending mana and energy in service of attracting females with thier flashy displays, but the situation is rather more complicated. For the fireflies that glow yellow, like tiny embers tin the night sky, his is generally the case- the males float across the landscape, flashing their colours to attract the decidedly more plain females, who approach and (should they appreciate the display) choose to mate with one of the swarm.

However- those that glow blue, as tiny stars in the woods, are a rather different type of performer. These float across the landscape in swarms, similar to their yellow cousins, but do not find interested females throwing themselves at the group. Instead, the flightless females sit nestled within trees, bushes and general hidden foliage- and they flash back, indicating not only their interest in the males, but their locations as well. It is for this reason that you will often find the flashes of blue fireflies shining out from within the boughs of trees, as a swarm of males approaches in on females responding in kind, a kind of worldess communication through magical light. I personally find it to be one of the more beatiful sights in the world- love, lust, magic and the raw animalistic appeal of nature, all melding together into a wonderful display.

Unforuntately for the firefly, such an expression of magic and beauty is rarely sustainable for their frail, tiny bodies. Once a male starts their display, channeling what little mana they have within themselves, their life is already forefeit. The strain will slowly mount over the night until (generally right after finishing the throes of passion) they simply expend themselves, their lifeless corpses littering the grass. Their offspring will of course live on, the only remaining evidence of their dance through the night.

These corpses however do serve yet another purpose- the aforementioned alchemy. A dead firefly that has not had its abdomen ruptured will still contain the magically-imbuned chemicals used for their displays, and when in the hands of a skilled alchemist it can be put towards a multitude of purposes, the innate mana left over within being catalysed into a number of facsinating forms.

 

While this is not an alchemical textbook, and my own knowledge is severly limited in the subject, the most common and simple use of dead fireflies in alchemical arts seems to be the creation of magically imbuned "Torchlight Potions", vials of alchemical liquid that, when shaken, picks up on the mana within the envionment and glows brightly for a short period of time, far brighter than any flame-based torch could hope to achieve. While this is a very minor application of the mana within fireflies, it is commendable as the man-made emulation of a natural Magimal process- something I believe we could all better our lives from striving towards.