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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 2172565" data-attributes="member: 508">The chuul wriggled and thrashed about, eager to be free of its confining outer layer.  It had spent most of its first six weeks of life eating and avoiding being eaten itself; to that end, it had swum far upstream, away from its cannibalistic mother and siblings, and made a den for itself in a wide cavern with a pool that jutted out from the rest of the subterranean stream.  Now it had grown too large for its skin.  Its outer layer had hardened in the weeks after its birth; no longer soft and flexible, it now served as an armor plating to keep the chuul safe from harm.  However, while thick plates of hardened chitin made for an admirable defense, it quickly became confining as the creature's body continued to grow and its outer skin did not.  Thus, the chuul began the process of molting for the first of what would be many times in its life.[6]A rip in the exoskeleton began at the base of the chuul's head and gradually tore its way down to the creature's tail.  Wriggling its body furiously, the chuul backed its way out of its old skin, pulling each leg free in turn.  Its two front limbs were the last to exit, as they required special attention: During the last six weeks of growth, they had begun to form sharp pincer-claws.  With each subsequent molt, these claws would continue to grow until the chuul reached its adult size.[7]There were other changes in the chuul's appearance.  Its new skin was no longer transparent, but was mottled black and orange; the predominance of black on its new armor identified it as male.  Also, in a semicircular ring around the front of its mouth were the beginnings of eight slender tentacles; these prototentacles would also grow with each molt until the chuul was a full adult.  At the moment, the prototentacles were mere stubs; nonetheless, they wiggled around in the current of the water as if eager to test themselves out.The chuul, free at last from its confining skin, didn't let it get too far in the current of the pool.  Crawling back over to the castoff carapace on its four rear legs, the chuul snatched it up in its newly-formed grasping appendages and brought it to its mouth.  Biting off small pieces at a time, it feasted on its old skin with gusto.[8]</blockquote>

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