Mischievous scavengers · 10 of 15
The Nibblers
Tiny fairy-gnome aliens who swallow anything shiny that fits in their mouths and, eventually, produce real gold.
ConfirmedNibblers are tiny, quick, curious little humanoids, somewhere between fairy folk and garden gnomes. Coins, buttons, screws, keys, jewellery and small electronic parts all look like snacks to them, and they swallow them whole.
Given time, a Nibbler's remarkable digestion turns what it ate into chunks of genuine gold, known across the galaxy as Golden Bufas. A sneeze nearby, or a truly dreadful recorder solo, makes them cough up everything they swallowed recently, in a spectacular shower of other people's belongings.
01
Small, quick and always snacking
Nibblers get into settlements, workshops, markets and starships, steal small things and swallow them on the spot. Onobo's engineering kit, full of shiny parts, is basically a buffet to them.
A family of Nibblers living inside the Wobblenaut's machinery is a recurring problem, and the cause of several quite serious malfunctions.
“That's not a pest. That's my missing torque driver, with wings.” — Onobo
02
Golden Bufas
Whatever a Nibbler has fully digested comes back out as gold. How much, and how pure, depends on what it ate and how long it took. Recently swallowed things can still be recovered; fully digested things are gone for good, which matters a lot when the thing was a starship key.
Some communities treat Nibblers as pests. Others cultivate them, which has led to Nibbler-proof vaults, gold-collection services and some very questionable musical pest-control devices. Smugglers and collectors are always sniffing around for Golden Bufas.
03
Sneezes and recorders
Two things make a Nibbler bring up its recent meals: a sneeze nearby, or truly terrible recorder playing. A bad enough solo sets off a whole room of them at once, in a shower of coins, bolts, earrings and things nobody remembers owning.
Zamfyr builds elaborate traps. Onobo just gets out his recorder. Unfortunately, Onobo is sometimes a much better musician than the situation needs. Signature gag: one sneeze, and out comes something Zamfyr has been hunting across three planets.
Homeworld
Native to the Ringfall Corridor of Korumbra, where falling ring debris is an endless buffet of shiny scraps.
Development note
Known characters: King Nibbler (villain). Homeworld, life cycle and exact Golden Bufa economics still in development.