#nature element

This is a lushtender, also called a Behemoth of the Forest due to their large stature. They are flightless dragons with an ancient body plan that combines impressive muscle with plant-like qualities (such as antlers meant to blend in with trees.)

This is a female lushtender, which you can tell from the smaller tusks in the mouth and the smaller dewlap - these are much larger on males. Her antlers are shedding their leaf-like velvet because it's autumn - and because they are antlers, they do eventually fall off entirely. The "branches" will fall off for the winter and regrow in the spring. The velvet releases a pheromone present in all sexes of this species once it starts growing back.

After my daughter pointed out that the original two verses of this song referenced seven of the ten elements in “Age of Exploration,” I couldn’t resist writing a third verse to make it 10/10.

Well wind it sure can whistle

And rain makes quite a beat

Hearing sandstone rubbed together

Can make me tap my feet

And there is no denying

Some singers sing with fire

But nature’s the conductor

That can harmonize the choir

🎼🎶🎵🌿

Well horns of brass and metal

Can trumpet clear and far

And those electric fiddles

They may sound quite bizarre

But just ask anybody

Be they Oni, Elf, or Faun

And they’ll confess that nature

She provides the wood baton

🎼🎶🎵🌿

A concert in the sunshine

Is worth a picnic treat

And a ballad under moonlight

Is also very sweet

Oh in the chilly winter

There are festivals of song

And throughout them you’ll find nature

Harmonizing all year long