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Sorry for the delay! I had a 13 hour headache yesterday, and it's proving a struggle to do even basic things. Still working through the backlog, but I'm making good progress!

This one was a commission. The commissioner - draconwolf88 over on DA - wanted me to make a visual reference of one of my alien species. I keep meaning to take the time to write down the details of their physiology and culture, but I just keep getting sick again and again. Lupus is an absolute horror. I have a rheumatologist apt next week, thankfully.

Here are a few little facts on the Selnerial, at least.:

They are related to mollusks.

Their outer material is almost eggshell like. It's a flexible and durable exoskeleton, but has pretty severe limits.

Each 'individual' is actually somewhere between 500-2,000 individuals creating one large body. Every red dot is a separate individual that identifies as a single selnerial. Over time, more and more of these individuals meld together to form one singular one. The less red dots - or individuals - a selnerial has, the older they are.

Selnerial survive on a diet of small creatures similar to plankton. They absorb them through their gooey parts via water and other liquids.

A single Selnerial encompasses a wide variety of genders.

Selnerial reproduce via budding.

The more bumpy and jagged the shell of a selnerial, the more conventionally attractive their society finds them.

Selnerial are shrewd diplomats and are known to be able to convince any alien to buy any product.

Exoskeleton pieces can be easily replaced. They are created from a mucus that the many individual selnerials within the singular that harden upon contact with air. This mucus is also released when they become stressed - causing an inadvertent thickening of the exoskeleton. This often needs to be carved away to not impede movement.

Selnerial are not excellent with verbal communication and generally prefer writing or signing. Their voices - when they do speak - sound as if dozens of voices were layered over each other after being half-drowned.

Selnerial as individuals are practically immortal. Individuals within the vessel can repair themselves. regrow, and add more to the whole. While many of the small creatures die naturally over the course of 100 years, they are typically replaced with their children and choose to remain in the same vessel. While the Selnerial you may speak to will be quite a bit different, it is still the same.

They also really, really like salty snacks, and often just straight up eat grains of salt.