Hyrizi Dragon
'Had I known then about these vile monsters I would never have ventured into those woods, let alone declare war against them'
—-Unnamed veteran of the Wyrarth Offensive
Full Description
These creatures look like miniature dragons, and are as fierce in the fight as them too. They are named after the jungles they inhabit. And though they aren't big, or even really dragons, their name is well earned. Little larger than a vulture, when full grown, this flying lizard perfers to scavenge its food rather than hunt.
Additional Information
They possess an extremely dangerous bite, the toxins in it work by rapidly dissolving the flesh, as if it is rotting on the bone. But a poison this powerful is hard to make, and the tax that it puts on their body means that many of them won't use it except as a last resort. They are also very light sensitive, they live in the dark nether regions of the jungle, and as such have extremely light receptive eyes. Even simple daylight will hurt their eyes.
They're extremely effecient scavengers, possessing acids in their stomach that could dissolve dragon hide. And as such, they are often seen eating the parts of the carcass that any other animal would leave. If one of these get to a kill first it will often gorge itself, and then, too heavy to fly away, will haul itself a safe distance to digest its food.
They're also used for hawking by the elves in the southern parts of the jungle, the swamplands of Wyrarth. Trained from birth, there are many ledgends about them forming an empathic, or even telepathic bond, with their handlers. These little monsters were the scourge of the Ilmin soilders during that ill-fated offensive.
Generally they are solitary creatures, shunning contact with any others of their species. The reason for this might be because, though a large amounts of creatures die every day in the jungle, they are often set upon so quickly by the numerous scavengers of the lower jungle that it would be hard to support a large amount of creatures in any one area.
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? Responses (11)
Interesting, but there is only one problem that I can see and that is that scavengers are typically not aggressive, considering that their primary source of food is already dead.
A second question, why is the toxin so corrosive? If it is a regular part of their digestive system, it would be stomach acid and not horribly hard to produce, while if it is a defensive weapon, that might be more apt.
flying must be tough if they are that sensitive to light no?, but I can picture these suckers tearing into somebody, so I like. And I like the flesh rotting saliva. KOMODO STYLE!
maybe throw in a blurb too, you know something like
'Sir!, I think I see some movement in the trees'
'Shut up and keep a tight formation soldier'
Good stuff, sounds like it might be a nice thing to have for a pet, but... watch the spit, huh?
Ohh, right... The toxin is only used as a last resort type thing. They aren't hunters, usually, and only use it when they can't run away from something.
Muro, about the jungle. Hyrizi is an primodial jungle, and so, 'blah blah blah.' To paraphrase the trees are really tall and block out the sun for a good 50 ft above the ground. More than enough room to fly.
Yeah. I'm doing another little bit about the actual human fighting unit of the war. The ones that learned first hand what hese babies can be trained to do.
Well, there are very few _pure_ scavengers, if at all. Most scavengers do make a kill if death takes too long, or there is easy prey. Besides they need to protect their food (there are other scavengers, and many carnivores are too not above eating dead flesh). So aggressive is alright.
The corrosive toxin could be really their digestive acid. Loosing too much of it too quickly may be a problem, so it is really a good defensive means.
And flying... if they hunt only in the thick growths of a jungle, all they need is gliding. But I can live with that. :)
All in all, interesting.
Owch. Not a creature to be poked.
An interseting and useful creature. You seem to have a strong picture of the critters in your head that is not shared with us. I think the write up could of been a bit more fleshed out. A few more details on how they interact with each other, their environment, and their food. I think that would be useful.
For some reason, I think of the Alapsinian Minidrags from the Commonwealth line of books by Alan Dean Foster when I read this...
I like this - I can really see this thing evolving
All of the powers are believable and logical
Flight is not strictly necessary for a jungle scavanger but might well have evolved in an earlier, more predetory, form
Highly corrosive stomach acids made some sense - a scavanger must make use of any possible food source, no matter how apparently unappetising
Such acid also makes an effective weapon, although depleting its' stomach acids in this way would reduce the creatures' ability to digest its food, so the attack would be used only at times of dire need
And, as manfred suggested, it would need to protect its' meals so it might well be instinctively aggressive
Nicely done Pariah - a good solid post - 4/5
A good creature, but the quote doesn't fit with the beasts - it seems to refer to something much worse then these guys...