MORE THAN A NAME
The story of Polip.
Polip floats through Brassdeep with a horseshoe-shaped body and opposing colored poles. Its expressive bridge face, flexible arms, and hovering anchors develop into Magnetyr, a rare Iron construct closely associated with the mineral routes beneath a fallen observatory.
Buried Meridian Hall once tracked the sky through a shaft now filled with mineral growth. Its markers remained scattered across the surrounding galleries, and generations of Polip paused beside them as though arriving at interrupted conversations. Surveyors learned that the colored poles on an attentive construct made more useful companions than a hurried attempt to lift every marker into a straight line. The old arrangement followed the cavern, including its inconvenient bends.
A Fluxguard's documented bond began when a surveyor abandoned a beautiful replacement diagram and returned the first marker to its weathered socket. The creature then led her to a second recess hidden behind an ordinary curtain of roots. Restoring the full alignment took several visits and the cooperation of the hall's other residents. Flux Turn became a local expression for reconsidering a route: move what genuinely needs moving, and leave enough room for the world already there.
Origins & background
The line's horseshoe body remains open above its central face, with the colored poles growing broader through evolution. Its lower anchors can hover separately as part of the creature's characteristic arrangement. Spark joins Iron at Prime, giving the mature frame a more conspicuous charged presence. Keepers identify individuals by tiny asymmetries in their pole caps and copper bands.
A PLACE TO BELONG
Life in Brassdeep.
Magnetic cliffs and fallen observatories.
Behavior
Polip rotates before approaching unfamiliar mineral surfaces and often pauses midway through a turn. Older forms arrange themselves carefully around narrow passages. Magnetyr responds well to companions who notice where debris has gathered, and becomes restless when every loose object is pushed into the same crowded corner.
Diet
It feeds on fine mineral granules, soft ore salts, and moisture from clean cavern seeps, sorting unsuitable grit into small piles beside its chosen resting place.
Place in the ecosystem
Its repeated movements redistribute loose mineral grit around established passages, opening small gaps used by cavern wildlife. The sorted piles also reveal changes in seep routes and help caretakers distinguish recent collapses from older, settled debris.
Neighbors & bonds
Railipede uses hauling passages that Polip helps keep clear, while Cogpup checks the nearby doors and platforms. A Fluxguard often waits for those travelers to pass before returning to its own slow inspection of the markers.
ONE BOND, FOUR CHAPTERS
The Polip lineage.
Evolution combines experience with a meaningful milestone. A WildKin may keep its current form until its keeper is ready.
Polip ↗
Polip floats around an open horseshoe frame with broad colored pole caps and a small face nestled across its center. Flexible arms end in rounded mittens, and its hovering lower anchors shuffle whenever an unfamiliar stone interrupts its careful turn.
Horseshock ↗
Horseshock grows a wider frame and develops its first clear surrounding flux arc. Its pole bands become more distinct, while the small arms reach more confidently around obstacles. It begins recognizing particular marker sockets along a familiar route through the cavern.
Fluxguard Current
Fluxguard gains a stronger charged presence as Spark joins Iron, with additional polelets appearing around its widening body. Its face remains clearly visible between the main poles. It becomes attentive to whole passage arrangements, making room for neighboring residents before settling into position.
Magnetyr ↗
Magnetyr carries an imposing horseshoe frame, prominent opposing caps, and a mature arrangement of orbiting polelets and anchors. Its small expressive face keeps the silhouette approachable. It patiently revisits old alignments, accepting companions who understand that useful order can follow a winding route.
INSTINCT & ELEMENT
How it holds its own.
Balanced Poles
Alternating an offensive and a defensive action prepares a limited shield.
Flux Turn
IronA magnetic pulse repositions nearby metal debris and shifts a small group of enemies.
A WildKin equips up to four moves. Its secondary element joins at Prime, alongside its signature move. Read the battle and evolution rules →
FROM THE KEEPER’S NOTEBOOK
Meeting in the wild.
- 01
Search the old marker sockets instead of only the brightest ore seams.
- 02
Keep loose equipment secured and leave a clear turning space.
- 03
Restore each marker to the cavern arrangement before attempting the complete alignment milestone.
“My first diagram was perfectly straight. The Polip turned sideways at the narrow bend and waited. I am keeping the corrected diagram, although it is much less elegant.”— Hearthwild field notes