Excerpted from: “Dangers and Wonders, a Field Guide to Unworld”

The Anatrapis Ignis, or "Firewing Beetle," can be found deep within the Furnace Veins, a region of Unworld where the air itself flickers with faint heat waves. These massive beetles, nearly the size of a human’s outstretched hand, dwell in caverns lined with glowing ore and cracked rock formations. Their heavy exoskeletons are etched with natural runes that gleam faintly in the dim light, marking their connection to the flow of heat from beneath the surface.

It is said that the Anatrapis conjures brief flashes of flame as it flies, trailing faint embers from its segmented wings. These beetles emit a low droning hum that causes vibrations through the rock, and they are sometimes sought by humans for their shells, which are prized as fire-starting charms. The shells can be ground into powder and mixed with blood to create a spark, igniting even the dampest wood.

The Firewing Beetle’s diet consists of the burning minerals that form in deep geodes, which it cracks open with its robust mandibles. The creature is also an object of fascination for those seeking to harness the fire within, for it is rumored that certain rituals, performed under the rare conjunction of Unworld’s twin moons, can bind the essence of these beetles into the soul of a human, granting immunity to heat.

Its mating ritual is a spectacle, the male beetles gathering in shallow pools of molten rock, their wings casting ripples of heat and light as they perform a slow, graceful aerial dance. The female chooses the brightest of them, laying her eggs in the soft pumice near the pools. In time, the larvae emerge, feasting on the same minerals their parents consumed.

The Anatrapis Ignis is most often spotted just before the cycle of burning stars above begins, when the Furnace Veins are at their most active.

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