#high mineral water

[natural-mineral-water-guide]

Best  mineral water brands in india - Aava Water

Shop for the best mineral water brands in India at AavaWater. Keep up with the healthy habit of drinking water daily with our online water can delivery service. Trust us, the top mineral water suppliers, to provide you with high mineral water for a refreshing and nourishing experience.

[naturalmineralwater01]

Aavawater: Unlock the Alkaline Water's Benefits

Aavawater, your trusted source for high-mineral water, the perfectly sized natural spring water from the Aravalli Hills! Ideal for events, offices, or on-the-go, these 200mL bottles are packed with naturally alkaline goodness (pH 8+), free from chemicals and treatments. Aava: your healthy hydration choice, 24 bottles at a time!

[evilfarmin]

hunter you're glowing! no not like that.

[1] [here] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

[iamthepulta]

I was supposed to talk about Lustrum hours processing once upon a time, wasn't I?

[densewaterenergy]

Energy Dense Water is introducing premium Hydrogen-infused Spring water sourced from the pristine Himalayas.

Meticulously filtered through layers of rocks for 20 years, celebrities and athletes revere this exclusive water for its remarkable antioxidant properties, which contribute to improved digestion, anti-aging effects, enhanced bone health, cancer prevention, and more, making it a choice with limitless advantages.

[ms-demeanor]

wait, are the health claims from bone broth bogus? (genuine/good faith question). i’ve always heard that it’s high in collagen, which supposedly is good for you and better if you get it ‘naturally’ like from bone broth. is that another thing that’s not actually true, or wildly exaggerated?

Bone broth has been eaten for centuries in various cultures because it is easy to digest and believed to have healing properties. Chicken broth is highly valued by some as a remedy for the flu. In more recent years it has been promoted to help symptoms from psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity. [7] Claims that it detoxifies the liver, improves digestion, reverses wrinkles, builds bones, and relieves join pain have led some marketing analysts to predict that the bone broth market will approach $3 billion by 2024. [8] In reality, bone broth contains only small amounts of minerals naturally found in bone including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, and copper. The amount of protein, obtained from the gelatin, varies from 5-10 grams per cup. There is some concern that bone broth contains toxic metals like lead. One small study found that bone broth made from chicken bones contained three times the lead as chicken broth made with the meat only. [7] However the amount of lead in the bone broth per serving was still less than half the amount permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency in drinking water. A different study found that bone broth, both homemade and commercially produced, contained low levels (<5% RDA) of calcium and magnesium as well as heavy metals like lead and cadmium. [9] The study noted that various factors can affect the amount of protein and minerals extracted in bone broth: the amount of acidity, cooking time, cooking temperature, and type of animal bone used. Therefore it is likely that the nutritional value of bone broths will vary widely.

(Source: https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/collagen/)

Your body makes collagen; eating collagen will put the things that make collagen into your body to make collagen with, but so will eating things that go into making collagen (amino acids, basically).

There's not good evidence that eating a ton of collagen or supplementing collagen improves your body's collagen production, and studies on collagen supplementation tend to be done by companies that make collagen supplements or produce expensive bone broth.

Basically if you're eating the 9 essential amino acids by consuming complete proteins (which can be done on any kind of diet, vegan or vegetarian or including meat - this is NOT one of those things your body relies on animal products to produce) your body is going to make collagen and it's going to have the amino acids handy to make collagen; consuming more collagen may mean that your body has more of those collagen-forming amino acids on hand, but it doesn't mean that your body is going to be any more efficient at producing collagen (and your body is going to become less efficient at producing collagen as you age).

But yeah bone broth health claims are primarily bogus. If you want more collagen in your diet for whatever reason, it's probably about as effective to eat jello as it is to eat bone broth but also more collagen in your diet likely isn't doing anything special.

[azzayofchaos]

Since my other Nether worldbuilding post was received pretty well... I'm back on my bullshit!

This time featuring zoning and biomes of the Neath: Lore below cut

Nether (noun): the formidable hellscape straddling the boundery between the Fragments of the Overworld and Death's Realms.

Derived from Beneath -> Neath -> Neth -> Nether.

The Nether is most easily accessable through outer regions of the nether, regions that are comparatively closed-off, and lacking in biodiversity compared to the Deep Nether where most Neath civilizations are centered.

The Neth is divided into three primary zones, distinguished by altitude and general climates.

The Calfactory Zone: the largest and most icon of the three, the Calfactory zone is blisteringly hot and bone-dry, it's most prominent features are its abundant seas and lakes of magma, and the massive Supermagmas atriums that are common above the magma. In the largest of these atriums, the ceiling may be so high above as to be completely invisible from the ground, obscured by an ever present smog of toxic vapor and minerals formed in the self-generated micro-climates that are generated from the rising heat of the lava that begins to cool at a higher altitude.  

In the Basalt Deltas and other biomes around the edges of these lakes, massive pillars of rock and crystals bulwark the more-visible ceiling. 

The most common of this zone’s biomes is the Crimson woods, home to hearty thermal-philic fungi and plants that grow on the minerals and vapors of the lakes. Many are carnivorous in their lack of access to water or sunlight, and these forests contain many sub-biomes and ecosystems of flourishing life. 

The Wastes are perhaps the most desolate regions of the Neath, irradiated deserts of red-rock, brimstone, and sharp sand. Even the vast majority of nether-folk avoid these deserts due to the leftover radiation that rots and destroys anything that waits too long. The only forms of life are particularly robust lichens and bacteria that are happy to sit by the pools of boiling pools of sulfur and mud and toxic sludge that dot the landscape. Growing within the rocks themselves are colonies of amorphous fungus, called geocorpus molds that get their spores into cracks in the soft netherack and slowly feed on it, a delicacy in nether cuisine. 

The Temperate Zone: Cradled in the heights of the Neath’s atriums and sat bellow the roof is the temperate zones, the rising heat of the zone below begins to cool and forming distinct weather patterns in this zone and leaving it, while still sweltering, a cooler though much more humid climate.

The main biome are the luminescent warped-fungal rainforests that collect the high-rising minerals and odd moisture from the lakes. Liquid is actually precent here, though if it’s not safely filtered through the innards of the various plants and fungi, this water is usually aggressively corrosive, and it is best to shelter from the  acidic precipitation to avoid chemical burns. The nether folk and ender local to these rainforests are suited to deal with these conditions and the ender especially do not have trouble with the extreme pH of the water here like they would in the overworld. The zone is lit almost exclusively by the biolumincense of the organisms there and have often been described as false-stars.

In the Deep Nether, the ceiling may give way, allowing one to pass onto the plateaus of the Nether Roof and the yawning void above. The bedrock of the nether roof is jagged and layered in huge slabs, sometimes broken up my mazes of pillar-like structures and shallow, thermal pools of crystal-clear liquid. The kind you don't want to touch of course. fogs may hang low to the ground, but when its clear, or above the fog, the entire universe seems to spill out into the sky. The nether roof was culturally significant and a source of much knowledge and inspiration in the early days, but I'll get more into that in a later post 0.0

The Rime Zone: Plunge deep enough and one might find themselves bellow the lava beds. Here, where the heat can't quite penetrate, the temperatures will drop rapidly to sub-zero.

Namely, the Rime Zone is made up of the soul valleys, flat steppes of cinder and clotted sand, you can imagine it almost with the blindness effect, a fog that pools by your feet, and a heavier darkness hanging from the sky, it feels massive and endless and claustrophobic all at once. Frost collects as crystals on the irradiated, soul-soaked barrens, and the bones of the massive nether wyrms lie fossilized, breaking up the landscape. The sands are also split with patches of crazing on the ground and vents of blue fire that spills out and sets the sand ablaze.

These same wryms can be found sometimes, ancient things that dig through sand and soft rocks and the magma lakes, far and few between and treated with both fear and reverence.

And in the deepest pits of the Neath are the glowing frozen lakes that are colloquially and rightfully called the Gates to Death, glowing blue from beneath their surfaces. Indeed, any further down and you pass into limbo, the edge of Death's Realms.

Extra Notes??:

Soul sand/soil is tread on carefully or not at all, is one form of remnants from the apocolyspe. Like the general radiated rubble present through the Nether, it's a fault of nuclear fallout. Unlike other areas of radiation, its also been infused with the souls of those who didn't survive the joining of worlds.

This infused quality is also precent in Nether Debris, resulting in a material that takes magic particularly well.

Iron cannot be found in dense veins and crystals like gold or quartz in the nether, but it's a pretty rich mineral a lot of netherack, giving it its ruddy coloring.

Sorry for this massive rant that no one asked for. If you have questions please feel free to send an ask, I may not have an answer yet but I'll certainly come up with one if I can.

I'm also hoping to do a pass on my headcanons about history and culture in the Nether and then we might start talking about character headcanons since this is also an actual AU.

If you read this far, here's some notes on striders and ghast

[hollytanaka]

📌 Mutual Aid, Fundraisers, and Actions

a white heart "🤍" denotes GFM campaigns who have reached out to me via in my inbox

I will be updating this as frequently as possible with new information, campaigns, and forms of supporting displaced and vulnerable folks in Palestine, Sudan, DRC, Ukraine, and elsewhere.

Vetted GFM Campaigns 🤝

🤍 Donate to Khader and Ragheb - [€708 raised of €55,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Amira - [€5,118 raised of €20,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Fadi Ayyad - [$9,530 raised of $35,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Hani Al-Sharif [$445 raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Mohammed Alanqer [€18,196 raised of €38,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ahmed Alanqer [€16,338 raised of €35,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Kareem and Carmen [$6,971 raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Walaa & her family [$3,405CAD raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to the Shamaly family [$23,910CAD raised of $90,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Basel Ayyad [CHF1,828 raised of CHF60,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ashraf Alanqar [€1,463 raised of €30,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Musab [€705 raised of €7,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ahmed and his family [£5,253 raised of £30,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Alaa and her children [€2,995 raised of €20,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Dr. Mohammed Aldeeb [€23,929 raised of his €30,000 goal]

Palestine 🇵🇸

Donate to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society - humanitarian org serving the health and welfare of the Palestinian people

Donate an eSIM for Gaza - helps Palestinians to connect to the outside world

Donate to Gaza Direct Aid - small volunteer-run program funding humanitarian aid in Gaza

Donate to Care for Gaza - supporting displaced families in Gaza

Donate to GazaFunds - find a struggling fundraiser to support

Sudan 🇸🇩

Donate to the Sudanese American Physicians Association - provides critical medical aid, food, and water

Donate to Sudan Solidarity Collective - provides direct financial assistance to civilian-led groups

Sudan Diaspora Network's Sudan Benefit Fundraiser - supports displaced Sudanese by providing medical equipment and food

Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khartoum Kitchen appeal - feeds the hungry, up to 1,250 people daily, in the greater Khartoum area

Help Sudan- Sudan Relief Fund - helps people on the ground with immediate needs such as food, water, shelter and medication

Congo 🇨🇩

Donate to Focus Congo - partnerships with local grassroots organizations and access to resources necessary for survival

Support Friends of the Congo & the Basandja Coalition - provides food, delivers reporting, rescues children from the cobalt mines and supports diggers and miners demanding accountability, combats sexual violence and provides care for women’s health

Action Kivu - dedicated to repairing the harm done by years of violence and neglect in this region with focus on women and children.

Mutual Aim team fundraiser for Congo, Sudan, and Tigray - campaign collecting money that will be will be divided between the DRC, Sudan, and Tigray

Ukraine 🇺🇦

United 24 – main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine

Come Back Alive – provides support to service members in Ukraine

Prytula foundation – provides support to Ukrainian Defense Forces and affected civilians

Dzyga’s Paw – provides Ukrainian Defenders with high-tech equipment

[arvidsgarden]

about last night...

[lustrousbratz]

My High Maintenance Routine

(not my pics)

These are the things I do daily and weekly to look amazing and continue to get hotter💋🎀

Daily:

- dry brush before shower

- shower with exfoliating gloves

- azelaic acid 20% on armpits then deodorant on top

- lava stone foot pumice

- shave

- moisturize

- extractions

- ice roll in the morning

- morning skincare:

- face wash

- hyaluronic acid

- moisturizer

- sunscreen

- nighttime skincare:

- face wash

- moisturizer

- tretinoin 0.025% (3-5x a week)

- azelaic acid 20%

- differin 0.1%

- oral care (floss, brush, tongue scrape)

- lash serum 1-2x a day

- drink 2-3L of water

- eat fresh fruit

- 9-10k steps minimum

- some type of exercise (power walking, pilates, yoga, dumbbell exercises)

- morning vitamins: d3, vitamin c, nac, mineral complex with zinc, selenium, and copper

- nighttime vitamins: magnesium bisglycinate, b12* (1-2x a week)

- nighttime stretching

- tea before bed (green tea, chamomile, peppermint)

- put phone on red mode at night

- cycle sync

- look nice every time i leave the house

Weekly:

- change bed sheets

- hair wash (shampoo and deep condition)

- whiten teeth at home

- everything shower

- sheet mask

- pedicure

- go on date nights with my bf

[littlest-w01f]

Best Medication

Rhysand x Reader

RHYSAND MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

Summary: Rhysand is sick after accidentally scenting a mineral in one of the caves of the Illyrian mountains, he desperately needs Reader's help

CW: Sick Rhys, aphrodisiac, breeding kink, spanking, knoting, FxM, Smut 18+ MDNI

You didn't understand what was wrong with Rhysand, it had been almost half an hour that Azriel had come for you, begging you to check up on Rhysand, and since Madja was busy with another patient and couldn't come to him you packed your supplies.

"Ugh... I'm going to die aren't I?" Rhysand groaned as you set a cold wet cloth on his feverous forehead, slowly changing the cloth over his chest and stomach.

"No, you're not." You frown, dipping the cloth in cold water to cool it down before you keep it back on his chest, "Cassian and Azriel are with the priestesses, trying to find more about the mineral you accidentally scented, I can't see anything from my powers... They show nothing wrong with you."

As Rhysand lets out another groan, his body covered in sweat, you decide to try your magic on him again, the glow of your healing slipped into him as you held his wrist, eyes going bright, "I don't get it..." You frown, moving your hand away, returning to normal, "You're... Freakisly healthy."

You felt helpless as your High Lord shivered in bed, you moved to sit beside him, "We just have to wait for-"

"y/n~" You freeze when Rhysand purrs your name, that sound of his voice. "y/n..."

You turn to face him, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at the scent of his arousal that fills the room, his violet eyes dark in lust. Rhysand gripped your skirts, eyes almost pleading, "I need you..." He breathed.

"Rhys," you stuttered, feeling your cheeks heat up under his intense gaze. "What... What do you mean?" You asked, trying to keep your voice steady despite the confusion swirling inside you.

"y/n," he murmured, his breath hitching slightly as he spoke your name. "I've wanted you for so long." His words were barely more than a whisper, but they carried an intensity that left no room for misinterpretation.

"Rhys, we shouldn't..." You breathe softly, knowing what he wanted, a part of you wanted it too, "You're sick"

"That may be true," He panted, a faint smile playing on his lips, a smile lopsided from his fatigue. "But I crave your touch like I've never craved anything before." His hand moved from your skirt to the small of your back, pulling you closer until there was not even an inch between you. His body was warm against yours, radiating an energy that seemed to reach out and grab onto every inch of you. "You're wrong if you think I'm helpless," he said softly, his voice dropping down to a near growl. "We can find a way around my illness."

His thumb brushes over your lips, silencing whatever protest was forming there. "And if it's the morality of it you're worried about, remember who you're talking to." He smirked, motioning to himself.

"If you're sure..." You sigh, almost shivering under his gaze, your own arousal flowing, you nod.

His smirk widened at your concession, his grip tightening on your waist as he pulled you flush against him. The sensation of your curves pressing into his tense form sent a shiver through his weakened body, reviving him in ways he hadn't thought possible.

"You're killing me here, my pretty medic," he groaned, leaning down to capture your lips in a passionate kiss. As his tongue explored your mouth, one hand moved down to cup your ass, squeezing the curves firmly while his other hand reached up to caress your cheek gently.

The room spins for him as he flips you onto your back, his strength surprising considering his earlier weakness. Your heart pounds in your chest as he roughly rips at your medical attire, tearing away the fabric to expose your skin beneath.

With a wicked grin, he trails hot kisses down your neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive skin until you arch off the bed, a low moan escaping your lips. His hand moves down your body, tracing over your curves until he reaches the hem of your lingerie, slipping his fingers underneath to tease at your slit. He chuckles against your skin, his breath hot and heavy. "So wet already," he murmurs, his fingers dipping lower to circle your clit.

"Please," you whimper, your hips bucking against his hand in sudden desperation. "Rhys, please..."

His fingers continue their torturous circling, teasing your clit until you're writhing beneath him, desperate for more. But he doesn't give it to you right away, instead choosing to prolong your torment, his other hand moving up to pinch one of your nipples, rolling the hard peak between his fingers.

"You want more, love?" he coos, his hand slipping further down to plunge three of his fingers inside your soaked cunt, his mouth capturing your free breasts.

His fingers slide deeper into your soaking cunt, his palm rubbing against your clit as he starts to pump in and out of you. You gasp at the intrusion, your back arching off the bed as pleasure courses through your veins. "That's it, sweetheart," he murmurs, his other hand pinching and twisting your nipple. "Take my fingers like a good girl."

Your heart was beating wildly, pressed under Rhysand, whimpering softly, with a guttural groan, he withdraws his fingers from your dripping cunt, only to replace them with his throbbing cock. The head teases your entrance for a moment before he thrusts in, burying himself to the hilt within your tight walls. "Ahh, fuck," he grunts, his body shuddering at the feel of you wrapped around him. "So fucking tight." He begins to move, withdrawing slowly before thrusting back in, setting a punishing pace that has you screaming his name mere moments later.

With a grunt of effort, he flips you onto all fours, his strong arms wrapping around your waist as he positions himself behind you. He gives your ass a firm slap, sending a jolt of pain through your sensitive skin. "Mine," he growls, thrusting into you from behind, his cock pounding into your wetness. "Every fucking inch of you is mine." His hands roam freely over your body now, grabbing and squeezing your curves while he takes you hard and fast, his hips slapping against your ass with each thrust, landing another hand on your ass as he dove deeper into you, his body felt better with each thrust into you, his fever slipping away.

"Yours," you moan, eyes rolling back in pleasure as he holds you by your hair, shuddering from his spanks.

His grip tightens in your hair, pulling your head back to expose your neck. "That's it, sweetheart," he murmurs, his teeth grazing against your skin. "Scream for me, y/n." His thrusts become harder, faster, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. He can feel his climax building, the pressure coiling in his lower abdomen as he reaches down to rub at your swollen clit. "Come for me, y/n," he commanded, his voice full of his High Lord's power. "I want to feel you tighten around my cock."

The moment he commands it, you explode, mind blank, filled with an urge to follow his given order, your entire body convulsing as you scream his name. Your walls clamp down on his cock your entire body trembling as you scream out his name. "That's it," he groans, feeling your cunt flutter around his cock. "Such a good girl."

His thrusts become rougher, more primal as he buries himself to the hilt inside you, his balls slapping against your clit with each powerful thrust, the bed creaking loudly. He groans loudly, his body tensing as he feels his release approaching. "Fuck... I'm going to fill you up, y/n," he pants, his voice raw, wings flaring out, fluttering with his thrusts, making him go harder. "Going to breed your pretty cunt so fucking hard."

"Rhys..." You gasp, eyes slightly wide feeling his cock nudge at your cervix, the bed nearly being pulled off its hinges, his words sent a shiver down your back, you're slightly thankful you had decided to keep taking contraceptive tea even if you weren't looking for sleeping around, not wanting to take chances. You push your hips back against his, moaning softly.

You can feel his knot swelling at the base of his shaft, promising a much more thorough breeding than either of you had expected. "Wait... What's that-" you whine, eyes wide, feeling the stretch, eyes rolling back, for the moment not caring for reasoning.

"Ah, fuck... I'm close," he groans, his grip on your hips tightening, fings turning into claws, scratching at you. "Can't hold back anymore." And then he came, his hot seed spilling deep inside your womb. His roar of pleasure fills the room as he rides out his orgasm, his knot locking you two together as he paints your insides with his cum.

For what seems like hours, time blurring together in a haze of lust and pleasure you continue, losing count of the orgasms you both had. Lost in the pleasure, you let instinct guide you, you collapse onto the bed, panting heavily, Rhysand rutting like an animal into you until you're too exhausted to continue. your bodies glistening with sweat.

"Mmm..." Rhysand pulled out softly, making you whine from being stretched too much by his knots, "I feel so much better now," he smirked, watching you sprawled on his bed, covered in both your fluids.

You pass out by the time he brings a clean washcloth to wipe away the cum from your body, snapping his fingers to replace the ruined sheets under you with clean ones.

"Y/N IT'S AN APHRODISIAC HE'S GOING TO GET REALLY HORNY BUT THEN BE OK, WE JUST NEED TO-" Cassian bursts through the room, eyes going from you passed out in Rhysand's bed to him pulling his pants up.

"'Let him ride it out'?" He smirked slyly, finishing what Cassian was thinking, "Oh, don't worry, y/n already did."

{General Taglist- @nox-ceur @lilah-asteria @paleidiot}

[decolonize-the-everything]

Have you heard of the American Indian Movement? Did you know natives had a movement/group in the 70's-80's dedicated to native liberation?

No? It's a part of history they don't teach you in school, but come close and look so I can show you.

Watch this, it's not long I promise. This is Russel Means, a prominent native activists and one of the leaders of AIM. AIM sought to help natives with things like tribal sovereignty, housing, healthcare, and food security.

Here he is testifying to the US government.

The transcript ^

A little excerpt of the end:

"The American Indian people’s right to self-determination is recognized and will be implemented through the following policies:

The American Indian individual shall have the right to choose his or her citizenship and the American Indian nations have the right to choose their level of citizenship and autonomy up to absolute independence;

The American Indian will have their just property rights restored which include rights of easement, access, hunting, fishing, prayer, and water;

The BIA will be abolished with the American Indian tribal members deciding the extent and nature of their governments, if any;

Negotiations will be undertaken to exchange otherwise unclaimed and un-owned federal property for any and all government obligations to the American Indian nations, and to fully -- and to hold fully liable those responsible for any and all damages which have resulted from the resource development on or near our reservation lands including the -- including damages done by careless and inexcusable disposal of uranium mill tailings and other mineral and toxic wastes.

I want to thank you, gentlemen, for inviting me here. It's been a high honor, especially since I'm the only one invited here today to testify that doesn't receive money from the federal government. Also, I want to make -- I was introduced as a former founder and leader of American Indian movement to the tribal chairwoman that you have here, a former associates for the American Indian Movement back in the days when we were gross militants and so I just wanted to let you in on that, that the American Indian Movement is a very proud continuing part of American Indian Society.

Thank you."

"The American Indian Movement remains based in Minneapolis with several branches nationwide. The organization prides itself on fighting for the rights of Native peoples outlined in treaties and helping to preserve indigenous traditions and spiritual practices. The organization also has fought for the interests of aboriginal peoples in Canada, Latin America and worldwide. “At the heart of AIM is deep spirituality and a belief in the connectedness of all Indian people,” the group states on its website."

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: cave fish

Prepare for a deep dive today. Not because I'm going to be more in-depth than usual, but because we're talking about caves. Which are deep. In the ground.... Yeah, you get it. Today is going to be a bit different from my normal WBW posts. Instead of going in depth on a particular species or group of related species I'm going to discuss common adaptations fish evolve to live permanently in caves and then go over a few species I find interesting. Let's get spelunking.

(Image: Typhleotris madagascariensis, a typical cave fish. It is a small fish with an entirely white body and smooth skin where the eyes would be on a normal fish. It is resting on rocky sediment. End ID)

Caves are not an easy place to live. There's no light, limited food, often low oxygen levels, and the threat of collapse or rockfall. Cave-swelling animals (collectively called troglofauna) need a number of special adaptations to survive and there is little room for error. Troglofauna that are strictly aquatic are called stygofauna. Troglofauna and stygofauna can be divided into three groups based on their life history. Troglophiles and stygophiles complete part of their life cycle in caves and part outside of them. A classic example of this is the many species of bat who seasonally inhabit caves to give birth and mate. Trogloxenes and stygoxenes are animals who will visit caves, but do not require time in caves to complete their life cycle. An example trogloxene would be a bear who takes shelter in a cave during winter. Finally, troglobites and stygobites live their entire lives in caves and never leave. The fish I discuss today are stygobites. Because troglobites and stygobites generally will die outside of their caves, they have very little opportunity to disperse. As such, many cave fish species are found only in a single cave or cave system and are entirely dependent on the health of their homes to survive.

(Image: two cave catfish sitting next to each other on a rock. They are white with elongated anal and rear dorsal fins, and no eyes. End ID)

Many cave-dwelling animals develop a set of common adaptations called troglomorphism. Cave water is often high in minerals but low in oxygen and food content. To survive, the fauna develop very slow metabolisms, allowing them to last a long time on limited resources while slowing down movement and other active systems and increasing age. These species are also typically smaller than their epigean (above-ground) relatives, further reducing their energy requirements. Slowed metabolism results in comparatively slow development. Cave species take much longer to mature and reproduce then related epigean species. Many species further decrease their energy consumption by moving as little as possible. Many species of cave fish are able to last long periods of time between meals without negative impacts to their health. They will binge eat whatever they can find and then subsist on fat stores while food is scarce. One test in captivity showed that a Phreatobius cisternarum (cave catfish) could go a while year between meals and stay healthy. Cave species are usually opportunistic generalists as they can't afford to pass up resources. Much of their food will originate outside of the cave, either directly or indirectly. Water flow into caves brings in algae, bacteria, plankton, and other food sources. Other more indirect methods of introducing include bat feces. While the fish may not eat the feces directly, other species may do so and potentially become prey to the cave fish. The feces also introduces nutrients from outside the cave that encourages the growth of other food sources like bacteria, fungi, and planktonic animals.

(Image: Amblyopsis hoosieri, the hoosier cave fish. It is a very simplistic fish with no eyes or scales. End ID)

Life in a cave comes with a different sensory requirement. The complete lack of light makes vision useless. You don't know dark until you've seen cave dark. Fun fact: caves are so dark that sighted people can start hallucinating in them because our brains aren't evolved to handle zero visual stimulus and will start making stuff up to fill that gap. As a result of the utter darkness, many species of cave fish are blind. They either evolve to completely lose their eyes or have the eyes considerably reduced in size and function. Eyes take up a lot of energy to maintain and in caves, there is a lot of selective pressure to get rid of organs that aren't useful there. Despite the blindness, many species retain some form of photosensitivity and will flee from light. Cave species also often lack skin pigmentation. Skin pigment has two primary uses. It protects the skin from ultraviolet light in sunlight, and provides skin coloration that can be used for camouflage, displays, warnings, and so on. In an environment where there is no ultraviolet light and everyone is blind, skin pigment serves no real purpose and is lost. As a result, most cave species are white or translucent. The lack of pigment may be a reason so many species remain photosensitive. Without pigment, they would be highly susceptible to sunburn or skin cancer from ultraviolet light. Caves also have a sound dampening effect that makes hearing less valuable. Reduced eyes and pigmentation is also seen in deep sea fish that live too deep for light to reach. Even those species still use visual curs more than cave fish due to the abundance of bioluminescence in the deep ocean.

(Image: Sinocyclocheilus longicornus, a recently discovered species. It is a fish with translucent skin, revealing the skeleton. It has a long shout with two pairs of barbels. Emerging from the upper back is a horn-like protrusion. End ID)

With vision off the table, cave fish rely on other senses. chemoreception through taste and smell are strongly selected for as traits that can direct cave animals toward food or away from threats. Another sensory system fish have is the lateral line. The Lateral line is an organ system found on each side of a fish where modified skin cells called hair cells detect motion in the water. The lateral line allows fish to sense movement in the water around them, informing them of water flow and the movement of food and threats. Cave fish typically have a well-developed lateral line system that compensates for the lack of vision. Many fish perform displays for various reasons, such as attracting mates. These displays are typically visual, but in cave fish, that isn't an option. Instead, their displays are more focused on moving the water in ways that can be detected by lateral lines. Some species of cave fish maintain additional sensory abilities from their epigean ancestors. An example of this are cave catfish, who retain the barbels and electroreception common to their kind.

(Image: six Phreatichthys andruzzii. They are long, eyeless, white fish. The blood-filled gills are visible through its translucent skin, seen as a large red patch on the head. End ID)

Before moving on to specific species, it should be noted that cave fish is not a taxonomic category. Cave fish come from many different lines of descent and independently evolved similar adaptations to cave conditions. These similar adaptations are seen in most cave fauna, not just fish, and are collectively called troglomorphism. There are about 300 species of cavefish known to science.

Ophisternon candidum, or the blind cave eel, lives in north Australian caves that are connected to the ocean. Because these caves intake salt water, the pools and streams within them can become very salty, resulting in the eels developing a tolerance to a high range of salinity. They are rare, having been spotted under 40 times since 1959, and thus little is known of their lifestyle. We do know they burrow into sediment and secrete mucus to keep those burrows stable. Males seem to build burrows to woo females. They have been bred in captivity for use un laboratories. At up to 40 cm long, they are huge for cave fish and used to hold the record for the largest species known until another species was found that's even bigger.

(Image: an eel with translucent, pink skin, no eyes, and ribs visible through the skin. It looks somewhat like an earthworm. End ID)

The actual largest known cave fish is Neolissochilus pnar, which gets up to 40 cm while being more massive than the eel. They are found in a single cave system 100 meters underground in India. The primary food source in the cave appears to be debris from the nearby forest that is washed into the cave during seasonal flooding. The fish may have been known to locals well before it was scientifically described, as there are stories of white cave fish going back over a century in the region.

(Image: a small fish with no eyes, white skin, and a long snout with barbels on it)

The Alabama cave fish (Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni) may be the rarest species of freshwater fish in the world. They live exclusively in key cave, Alabama, USA and no more than 10 have ever been seen at a time. The population is estimated to be under 100, below the generally accepted minimum viable population for a species of 200. Fittingly enough, this means a species only found in Alabama may be severely inbred. They are believed to be triggered to mate by seasonal flooding and may be mouth brooders. Climate change-caused changes to flooding and toxins leaking into the groundwater from sewers are currently threatening them with extinction.

(Image: a long, white, eyeless fish with an elongated snout. Its skeleton is visible through its skin. End ID)

Typhliasina pearsei, the Mexican blind brotula or dama blanca ciega (blind white lady), lives in the cenotes of the Yucatán peninsula. Cenotes are sinkholes filled with groundwater and the ones in the Yucatán are often connected by underground caves, rivers, and aquifers. The fish are apex predators who eat shrimp and mysids and are known to coexist with other cave fish in part of their range. As with other brotulas, they are a rare example of a bony fish that gives live birth. Because of how interconnected and numerous the cenotes are, this species has one of the largest distributions of all cave fish.

(Image: an eyeless white fish with a long tail and elongated rear dorsal and anal fins. It is next to an orange rock. End ID)

Cryptotora thamicola, the cave angel fish or waterfall climbing cave fish, is the adrenaline junkie of the cave fish world. Most cave fish live in slow-moving or still water, but this daredevil lives in rapids. But just living in rapids isn't extreme enough, these guys climb waterfalls. Their large fins with hooked fin rays let them cling onto the rocks while facing into the current. They then allow food to flow right into their mouths. Unlike other walking fish, the waterfall climbers have a well-developed pelvic girdle and walk in a style very similar to tetrapods, with front and back fins alternating strides. This has made them very interesting to evolutionary biologists studying the transition from fish to tetrapods.

(Image: a typical cave fish with very large pectoral and pelvic fins. End ID)

The Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) is an example of a handful of fish species that have a cave form and a non-cave form. Most Mexican tetras are perfectly ordinary tetras, but one population has adapted to cave living and has developed trogomorphic traits. The cave from lack pigment, has tastebuds on its head, lacks eyes, and can store more body fat. While you would expect such radical physiological differences to mean the two populations are different species, they aren't. The two populations are fully capable of producing fertile offspring and do so in the wild. If you've ever seen a cave fish in person, there's a good chance it was one of these as the cave form has entered the pet trade and they do very well in captivity, making them the most studied cave fish.

(Image: the non-cave and cave forms of the Mexican tetra seen next to each other for comparison. The non-cave form is a fairly typical silvery-green fish. The cave form is slightly more robust, white, and eyeless. End ID)

Because most cave fish are found only in a singe cave or cave system, they are fully dependent on the health of that cave. Caves tend to be very stable environments, which results in the inhabitants being pretty bad at adapting to change. Changes in water flow, introduction of new species, and pollutants can seriously harm or wipe out whole species. Many species of cave fish are rated as endangered or critically endangered based on their low populations and vulnerability to change.

[jayrockin]

Avian Homeplanet

Star: F-class (yellow white) Vegetation: blue and black Axial tilt: 11 degrees Gravity: 1.12 g Position from star: fourth

Over 90% ocean and blasted by the light of an intense star, the avian homeplanet is prone to hot, humid weather and enormous monsoon storms. In spite of this, the planet’s very slight axial tilt gives its poles a coating of year-round sea ice, whose sifting, dune-like surface plays host to a strange variety of slow growing plants and hardy animals. On solid land, the dominant photosynthetic life is a clade of “plants” ranging from dark blue to cerulean, and a clade of sessile tube-dwelling “landworms” with black flesh and frond-like appendages. Their dark colors selectively absorb and reflect the harsh, high-UV light of the sun.

The crust of the planet also has an usually large amount of the element cobalt. It compromises over 5% of the planet’s crust, comparable to iron on Earth. Cobalt compounds generally have a much higher solubility in water than iron compounds, though, and the avian oceans are stained a purplish red from huge amounts of dissolved cobalt nitrate, cobalt chloride, and cobalt carbonate. Mineral veins of cobalt compounds can be found commonly in the planet’s rocks, forming streaks of red, blue, black, green, and sometimes yellow depending on composition. Sand and soil are sometimes stained purple and blue by cobalt salts, as well.

The clade of avians has a difficult evolutionary history to track, given the limited amount of dry land and intense development over the past thousand years. The current theory is that a flying sophont ancestor originated on the planet’s largest landmass, an Australia-sized continent, and radiated outwards to evolve into the 5 extant species of avians.

In modern history, avians have often run into space issues developing their societies, and metal as a resource has been at the center of some particularly bitter wars. Most land on the homeplanet is currently colonized by the Dominion of Tiiliit, and now in the space age, imported metal and helium is being used to add new land in the form of artificial islands and floating cities.

Avians tend to use simple, writable icons to represent their nations. Though traditionally, the Hotsuuv nations use local cultivated varieties of seal fruit as icons, and the mineral rich south pole uses dots of pigment.

Map art rendered in Photopea by the stellar @cmaidaartworkblog! Edited in CSP by me.

PATREON | Runaway to the Stars

[mebis-art-dump]

kingdom Pathologia, part 2: Crystal Poisoning

Also known as "Gleamshell" or "Miner's jewels", this crystal growth mostly affects the workers of Crystal Peak.

It is caused by shards lodging into the shell, although it has been recently proposed that inhaling the dust from the mines can also cause it.

It does not distinguish between bug or beast of burden, thus daily checks are realized in the mine's exits.

As the crystals grow they cause more, acute pain. Other symptoms include:

- Prolonged lethargy

- Difficulty breathing

- High fever

- numbness

- Auditory hallucinations

- Stiffness

(Shards quickly grow and branch out)

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Crystal poisoning has no cure, and must be constantly taken care of, resulting in the classification of three stages of crystal growth:

1- Initial discovery. The growth is minimal. Checks in the mines are aimed at finding these, and treatment seeks for it to not progress past this.

2- Great Crystal Growth. Critical state. Extreme action must be taken and the survival of the patient is not warranted. Searing fever and hallucinations are to be expected.

3- If action is not taken in time, Great Crystal Growth can turn into Greater Crystal Growth —also known as "Glass Tomb" or "Gleaming Cocoon"— at any time. The victim is considered dead at this point.

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Daily treatment consists of the careful extraction of any visible crystals; it is custom for the entire treatment to be paid with the crystals extracted this way.

Afterwards it is suggested to balance out one's breath, soul and water to further reduce the growth speed. The assistance of a priest or sage is recommended.

The common method is meditation to spread the soul and to inhale incense to balance both water and breath.

It is not recommended to visit Hot Springs, for its heat and streams will quickly throw water and soul out of balance.

(There aren't any Hot Springs on Crystal Peak for a reason...)

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Unfortunately, there's a rather sad trend growing between miners: to hide away the sickness and let the valuable crystals grow on their shell, to sell the shards for some quick Geo; this practice has lately gained the disease the new monicker of "Greed's Glaze".

There are already many poorly made jewels on the city, even in noble houses.

They shatter easily, and crystal poisoning outside of the miner community is on the rise.

(so brittle...)

To avoid shame, affected aristocrats will refuse to be publicly treated, and resort to... unorthodox methods.

(so unsanitary...)

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