Brain empty, but it's like, uh.

Soul’s full Eridian name is Heart-Heard-Through Egg-Shell (pronouns she/they), named by their sires for the oddly loud volume of her egg’s heartbeats before hatching. This is because her egg was formed from being laid in a nest with an abnormally high concentration of calcite crystals, making the shell transparent to human eyes! As a result, their carapace developed almost entirely from various colors of tourmaline, a naturally-occurring mineral growth on calcite.

Calcite and tourmaline are both silicate based minerals, and lighter colored crystals are clear enough for human eyes to see through them. To Eridians, this unusual carapace structure is the equivalent of having a shell made of thick glass- they can hear almost all of Soul’s organs, like having permanent x-ray vision on their sonar. This makes most Eridians intensely uncomfortable, creating a sort of uncanny valley-body horror feeling, and a lot of Eridians avoid Soul because of it. Sometimes this instinct sets off the fight or flight reflex, and an unsettled Eridian may react with hostility.

Another consequence of a silicate based carapace- her song is naturally louder than that of a normal Eridian! The lattice of the crystal that makes up the inorganic majority of her body causes her musical language to project further and feel more piercing than the vocal average. Soul learned to forcibly quiet themselves down around fellow Eridians for their comfort, otherwise stressed or irritated Eridians would get angry with her :( Soul is somewhat socially stunted from lack of connection.

Soul’s carapace is exceedingly fragile- to the point that she can’t receive family crest or occupation engravings without risking a severe fracture in her shell. Soul is also very vulnerable to physical damage; they used to have larger crystal spires growing from their body, but they broke off over the years from accidents, or because another Eridian attacked her and broke pieces off. Soul is afraid to participate in thrums, worried their body will shatter from the vibrations.

Shiny is not put off by Soul’s shell- in fact, to her, Soul sounds like living sea glass! Soul’s song is beautiful and melodious when allowed to hum at full volume, like bells and wind chimes with unmatched audible clarity. Shiny insists Soul is one of the most beautiful Eridians she has ever met <3