Lily Paddler

Overview

The Lily Paddler is a defensive, herbivorous fauna species. As the name implies, it is often found in the Lilypad Islands as well as the Lilypads Crevice and Deep Lilypad Cave.

Habitat

• Deep Lilypads Cave
• Lilypads Crevice
• Lilypad Islands
• Main Lilypad Islands
• Tree Spires
• Large Tree Spire

Appearance

The Lily Paddler has an ornate appearance, decorated with several brightly coloured fins. It is large in size and has a predominantly blue body accented with purple and beige. A long, beige crest runs down the middle of the head, protruding slightly above the surface of the head and dividing the head into two clear halves. The head is flattened and almost octagonal in shape.

Two pairs of green stalks protrude from either side of the head and are tipped with spherical orange eyes with darker orange sclerae. On the underside of the head three black mandibles are situated around a small circular mouth.

A pair of long stalks are attached to the upper half of the head. Each having three pink leaf-shaped structures at the top and a smaller green leaf at the base, with three additional pairs appearing on the tail portion of the body. The main section of the body has a large hump, of which the top is beige and has two large black stalks dotted with bright white spots and splitting into four long, striated fins each bearing a bright orange spot with a dark circle in the middle, similar in color to their eyestalks.

The underside of the body features two long arms ending with small claws, seemingly capable of grasping objects and bringing them to the mouthparts, but ill-suited for defense. The body ends with a slender tail, terminating in a broad, pale-green tail fin.

Behaviour

The Lily Paddler is capable of a form of defensive hypnosis that it will use on the player if they approach, causing them to lose control of their movement and be reoriented against their will, similar to the Mesmer though nonaggressive.

This hypnosis leaves the player in a confused state for some amount of time, during which the function of the Compass and HUD elements are impaired, and audio is distorted.

Data Bank Entry

A medium-sized herbivore with an elongated, bifurcated torso, and multiple bioluminescent adornments.

• Slow and vulnerable to attack
• Long arms for seed foraging on the ocean floor
• An array of feather-like appendages display varied colors in low-light conditions
• When threatened, the paddler emits a pheremonal defense that disrupts higher order brain function in certain species
• At night the paddler's illuminated plumage looks like a school of smaller fish, perhaps convincing predators they're not worth the chase

Assessment: Dangerous in unfamiliar environments.

Design

The Lily Paddler's design draws on many aspects of the real-life fish the weedy seadragon, though unlike the weedy seadragon it appears far more focused on display over camouflage. The claws are very similar to those of many small decapod crustaceans.

Lily Paddler Egg

Description: Lily paddlers hatch from these.

Gallery

A Lily Paddler in the Tree Spires

A Lily Paddler in the Lilypad Islands

A group of Lily Paddlers in the Lilypad Islands

A Lily Paddler in the Deep Lilypads Cave.

A Lily Paddler in the Lilypads Crevice.

Concept art

Trivia

• In past versions of the game Lily Paddlers were rideable. They also lacked their hypnotic ability at the time.
• The Lily Paddler is the second creature to hypnotize other lifeforms, with the first being the Mesmer.