Sileans
Sileans are obnoxious, tenacious little creatures. They love to make homes under beds, in closets, anywhere dark or warm, but most importantly, dry, since unlike most creatures, they cannot swim. Most homes will have them from time to time, but a bad infestation can wreak true havoc. Removing an infestation takes either a fair bit of work, or a very keen mind, due to the powerful superstitions that surround the creatures, and their sturdy makeups.
They range in size, from apple to melon, though most of what's visible is actually made up of an awful substance called sillee, a sort of fluff or fur covering its long, thin body, that sheds when the silean grows, is disturbed, or otherwise
stressed. Sillee is quite hazardous, making most staxies itch, and some even have dangerous, life-threatening reactions. The worse an infestation, the more sile makes its way into the walls, and floors, making the place more and more difficult to live in.
Though very rarely seen, sileans have long, spindly legs beneath their fluff that only become visible when the creature becomes wet, or is extremely frightened. To see a Sileans legs is a very bad omen, akin to a banshee's scream or perhaps breaking a mirror, which is why most who have to remove them don't take the most obvious route of hosing the house down and hoping they leave.
Most of the time, Sileans move simply by rolling akin to a tumbleweed, and this can be used to one's advantage! Their strange bodies and caustic coverings make them practically immune to being squashed, but their eagerness to roll about makes them very easy to sweep into a barrel to be taken away, or even right out the front door! It's considered best manners to take them into the woods, though some cruel folks will toss them into the cove and watch them drown (And spread sillee to the underwater homes!), and lazy folks may just leave them on the stoop, hoping that they'll bother a different house.
Many stumps are taken in by their fluff and little eyes, but quickly learn not to disobey rules about touching sileans or bringing them inside when they're rewarded with a bright rash, or worse.
Sileans eat just about anything, from bugs, crumbs, and foliage, to dust and even wood, making a bad infestation dangerous to the structure of buildings. They come in many pale colors, though it's often difficult to see what color their sillee is under the layer of dust and lint that they accumulate.
Sileans mate and create a small, very sticky egg sack, once a year. They hide it carefully, guard it bravely, and wait for the little tiny grain of rice-sized babies to emerge in a couple of weeks. If anyone in a staxies home has a strong reaction to sillee, it's important to have someone experienced come in and help
remove all traces of the creatures, especially if an egg sac is found, which are prone to leaking the sillee they're spun from, and of course, come with aggressive parents who aren't afraid to jump at a stax and shake some horrid sillee onto them!
Sillee does have a few uses, from making certain medicines to its use as an alchemical ingredient. It also makes an excellent itching powder, though of course, removing it is hazardous.