Old Gaiad/31

Fire rained down from the sky and many died.

Twas the first extinction. Hengweh and Mithra wrestled for years in the sky, blocking out the sun. The archaeocyathids were no more, the Trilobites and Brachiopods and Hyoliths barely survived. The Botomian had ended.

Mithra said unto Wiwaxius: “I choose thee to restore life to the world, and protect us from extinction to come”

Wiwaxius begat Molluscus and Kamptos

Kamptos and his sons on the left, Molluscus on the right Kamptos was a terrible builder so he built a small brainless kingdom

Molluscus bore many sons: eldest was Testar the sixteen-plated

Testar built a great thick organized shell of 16 valves. Eight on the right and eight on the left

His brothers had bad work ethics. None of them even tried to build shells. Solenos just drank the blood of the sons of Ctenofer and Cnider and Caudos just ate the sons of Foramer

Testar Chiton Horizontus Conrhus Verticus Testar bore two sons: Chiton Horizontus and Conchifer Verticus

Chiton unified his shells horizontally. He became the ancestor of the chitons. Eight shells in a row

The sons of Chiton roll when threatened but they aren’t very smart, they gave up on brains long ago

Conchifer Verticus unified his shells vertically. With a shell on his left and a shell on his right

Conchifer bore two sons: Bivos and Monos

Bivos

Monos Bivos kept his hinged shell and Monos merged it into one

Bivos laid in the sand and fished food out of the sea, when he was threatened he closed his shells together

His descendants came to lay on their sides, and soon they looked identical to the sons of Brachios. They became the Bivalves

The sons of Monos at first found little success. But as time progressed they grew more successful. Many are called the Monoplacophores, for they have nothing but a single shell as their identity

Modern day Monoplacophore But Carlos the curly, grandson of Monos had a different idea

He walked across the seas exploring many different places and discovering countless things

He bore two sons: Gastropus and Digitos

Gastropus twisted himself into a spiral, and so his shell developed great strength. He became the ancestor of the snails.

Anatomy of Gastropus the limpet Each generation curled more and grew stronger

A distant descendant of Gastropus Digitos made his foot into tentacles

Digitus He bore two sons: Cephalopus and Scaphopus

Cephalopus studied hard and learned to fly with buoyancy while Scaphopus lived lazily in the ground

Cephalopus built a great coiling spiral shell with flotation chambers within, and through this he flew. He even built for himself a circulatory system like the Annelids and Chordates

Scaphopus became the ancestor of the tusk shells. Simple brainless creatures who live underground and prey on the sons of Foramer.

Through this story we remember how small choices can have huge impacts. The sons of Molluscus flourished and expanded around the world, taking upon themselves all roles they could.