Pailava

Artwork by Megabooms, but alternative art would be appreciated.

**Pailava** is the Lava Bucket Complien. It belongs to the Fire and Metal Elements.

## Appearance

Pailava appears to be a bucket with eyes painted on it, while a rip in the metal functions as a mouth. It is almost always full to the brim with lava, with some dripping out of its "mouth". There is a limb resembling a rope on the top of its "handle", which splits in two somewhere in its middle. On the end of each diverging strand of rope is a spike that Pailava uses to attach to ceilings.

## Information

Little is known about the origin of Pailava, but it can be assumed that someone drew eyes on an old bucket, which then came into contact with Complixonox and developed a thrist for lava.

Its eyes, interestingly, do not actually function, and it instead is drawn towards areas of extreme warmth. This is because Pailavae gain their energy from lava - it is almost their equivalent of blood. A Pailava could potentially live its entire life never needing to search for lava if it wasn't for one thing - the rip that forms its mouth. Lava slowly drains out of the tear, sapping at their life essence, so they have to search for lava even in the second that they are born.

Pailavae get around by attaching their "rope" to the ceiling, then moving the two strands of spikes aross it like they were walking upside down. Think of it like horizontal mountain climbing. This makes them sitting ducks for unruly young Compliens, as they are the perfect shape to be tipped over, and are too slow to get away. However, this is seen as an act of extreme cruelty, as this essentially leaves them to starve to death, hence the phrase *"to tip the bucket"*, meaning "to go too far".

Pailavae travel in groups, with the leader being the youngest one, as they lose heat sensitivity with age. When they encounter a magma chamber, everyone lowers themselves into the lava and emerge refreshed. Pailava never refill their buckets at the same pool twice, for reasons unknown.

The older they get, the number Pailavae feel, and this is because they are slowly melting. Eventually, a Pailava's "handle" will become weak enough to break into half, detaching it from its "rope". As soon as the Complien hits the floor, it collapses into molten metal, intertwined with lava. But out of this death comes new life, as the metal will slowly cool into the shape of around 3 or 4 new Pailavae, with a small supply of lava to keep them alive. The group of Pailavae that it previously belonged to adopt the newborn children, and teach them how to search for fuel.

It is unknown how Pailavae communicate, but it is believed to be related to the bubbles in their lava.

### Habitat

Pailavae are mostly found in volcanic caves, but some groups seem to have gotten lost and ended up in underground rivers, where their lava cooled off and they died.

## Growth

### Name

Pailava is a portmanteau of Pail and Lava.

### Design

It's a lava bucket. You know, like from Minecraft.

## Trivia

* A Pailava that has spent a large amount of time in magma, mainly due to their rope snapping while gathering lava, may burgeon into a Containo.

## Spells

 Lava Puddle
 Searing Touch
 Torch Smack