Congregentur Carnis (Latin for; The Gathering of the Flesh, Gather the Meat), more commonly known as the Harvester, is the 5th member of the Carnis family and the 4th product of the Crawl (and the only one that doesn't detach from it as a node). It is also the 2nd hostile species of the Carnis family. The Harvester is found in sparse areas of the northern hemisphere, typically in woodland forests.
Physical Characteristics[]
The Harvester is a bulbous plant-like Carnis specimen that has tendrils shallow into the ground and surrounding the center bulb. The bulb measures about 3 meters (9.8 feet) in height and 2 meters (6.8 feet) in diameter and the tendrils can extend up to 150 meters (492 feet). The Harvester has a darker red colour compared to other species in the Carnis family.
Types of Tendrils[]
The Harvester is equipped with two different types of tendrils:
- The first type of tendril is bulky and flat. They lie the closest to the surface and are equipped with spines that resemble the shape of a bear trap. These spines have veins that eject two types of venom, one to each side. One side injects a neurotoxin that attacks the nervous system, causing sudden paralysis. The other side can inject an anticoagulant, that prevents blood cells from clotting. Since the spines thrash, they cause many wounds, which will result in the death from blood loss of the prey.
- The second type of tendril shares similar anatomy to the small branches from the Crawl, as they are equipped with organelles that can be used to absorb nutrients. These tendrils can sense blood from prey and move towards it in order to absorb it.
Life Cycle[]
Harvesters are created when a node from the Crawl, instead of detaching from the mother branch, begins to grow larger and grows its own tendrils. The energy the Harvester uses to extend its tendrils is directly provided by the mother branch.
The Harvester can be neutralized by simply killing the exposed main bulb, incapacitating the tendrils. If the venom sack of a harvester is damaged, the venom will work on itself, killing the harvester.
Behaviors[]
The Harvester displays many intelligent behaviors unseen in other plants.
- When the Harvester drags a target into the ground, it will always leave the remains to be absorbed into nutrients for the soil as to boost plant growth. This can attract other organisms
- The Harvester is incredibly energy efficient, often assessing possible targets to figure out whether going in for the attack is worth it. This is shown through the types of animals the harvester consumes. It will always go after large animals and leave smaller animals alone. This is because the energy required to attack smaller targets (such as hares, some types of birds) is not equal or greater than the energy gained. This allows for smaller animals to thrive around the Harvesters radius while also attracting larger organisms toward it.
- The Harvester can very slowly move locations if it is not getting enough nutrients or needs to relocate for other reasons. This is not outright stated in the documentary, but is shown to be true in the species anomaly report where they are seen to migrate closer to Hudson Bay, and was confirmed in an interview with the creator, Darian Quilloy.
Attack Behaviors[]
When a prey (usually large animal such as a wolf, a bear, or the occasional human) approaches the range of the Harvester, the Harvester will inject its tendrils into the prey, making them unable to escape because of the paralysis and making them eventually bleed out because of the anticoagulant and the violent thrashing of the tendrils.
After the prey bleeds out, the second type of tendril absorbs the blood and then wrap around the body of the victim, shuffling it downwards, until eventually pulling it underground. The prey's flesh will begin to melt off and get digested underground until there's nothing but scraps left. Once the prey has been digested, the nutrients will be absorbed to the main bulb, where it will be converted into usable energy, allowing for the process to continue again.
History[]
During SPECIES ANOMALY REPORT an harvester is shown to kill a son and a mother from a family of 4, through the video the gruesome screams and cries of these 2 family members can be heard as the harvester paralyzes them and begins pumping them with the anticoagulant venom from its tendrils, neutralizing them. Despite this the government refuses to eliminate the harvester or any other harvester despite it being possible to do so with one shot. This is likely due to The Cult infiltrating the Government.
Video[]
Gallery[]
Vita Carnis |
Crawl (Scandere Carnis) • Trimming (Ignavus Carnis) • Meat Snake (Mutuari Carnis) • Mimic (Trucidatum Carnis) • Harvester (Congregentur Carnis) • Host of Influence (Imperium Carnis) • Monolith (Coelum Carnis) • Singularity (Verum Carnis) |