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| Long Maw Saurian | |
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| Fauna | |
| Official Name | Long Maw Saurian |
| Common Nicknames | Hutanraja |
| Classification | Reptile |
| Habitat | Sendrass |
| Domesticated | No |
| Current Status | Rare |
The Long Maw Saurian is a relentless predator, dominating the continent of Sendrass for millennia despite the Allar trying to force it away at one time. Infamous for being one of the largest and strongest predators on Aloria, this enormous creature has had a great impact on the military culture and lifestyle of the Allar in the form of the tale of the first hunters who took a Long Maw down. They are also known for possessing several unique body features suspected to have gifted to them by their diet and the Void worshipers who won the Allar's civil war. As a result, its body parts are highly sought after by Allar alchemists.
History
The Long Maw Saurian is one of the oldest animals known to exist on Sendrass. Despite the world of mystery that is pre-civil war Allar society, they have tales of this monstrous jungle predator doing battle with hostile, amphibian wildlife and winning despite the toxic nature of the species. Also known as the God Slayer in Pidato, it was considered the apex predator for centuries, but in 500 BC that reputation was finally challenged. A Digmaan named Abyasa took one down with the aid of his entourage of three and became a legend, the Championkiller. Now knowing that the beasts could indeed be killed, the Allar exploded into action against them and pushed the animal away for over 200 years. It was only as the events that led toward the Allar's civil war did the first Long Maw re-appear at the edge of Allar settlements. As the war ripped across the region, the Long Maw Saurian tried to reassert itself as the top predator. While it fed heartily on the bodies of the dead, the animal’s resistance to poison and acids soon came to the forefront of the Void-aligned Allar's minds.
The Mages of the Allar worshipers did have other magics at their disposal however and were able to routinely force Long Maws toward their enemy, though they are known to have trained and released at least one in the middle stage of the conflict. Ultimately, the Void fully embraced the Long Maw. In the final stage of the war, as devastating magic forced the retreat of the loyalists, these Mages used spells and processes on the Long Maw Saurian, mutating it to even larger sizes and even more ferocity. Over the last three centuries since the Cataclysm, as Sendrass has been cloaked in darkness, the Long Maw has remained elusive. What few people have pierced the veil around the continent claim the beast is alive and well, it's thundering steps and terrible roar echoing for miles and sending animals fleeing away. In recent years, these statements have been proven correct by minor Regalian expeditions and assessments of the region. They were also proven correct when several Long Maw Saurians appeared in the Sendrassian Allar's attack on Hadar which lasted from 308 to 309 AC. Transported into the region by these dark Allar, they were monstrous beasts of war commanded by their Sendrassian Allar masters, though most if not all were successfully taken down by Regalian and Hadarian Allar forces. Now many fear what enhancements and changes the Void Allar of Sendrass might be crafting for these titanic beasts, or what further mutated tools of war may lurk in Sendrass' dense foliage.
Physical Appearance
The Long Maw Saurian is a titan of the jungle, able to grow up to 60 feet long, stand at 30 feet tall when erect with a weight estimated at 20 tons. Their skulls feature snouts like that of crocodilians, long and filled with teeth. They also have tusks growing out and upward from their mouths for eviscerating the stomachs of their victims and other Long Maws. Their eyes are enormous and slitted, appearing in deep red and orange colors. Unknown to most but a few Allar historians, the animals see in powerful infrared to make up for a poor sense of smell (Abyasa realized this and covered himself and his party in mud, thus helping them in their initial ambush). Their tympanic membranes are large but are protected by a semi-flexible covering that loosens and tightens depending on the situation. For example, during feeding and routine activities, it is loose but when it is in battle or the chase, it is tightened. Their huge heads are connected to their even larger bodies by a long neck that gives them a great deal of maneuverability, to the degree that they can look at their backs reasonably well. This neck grows jowled the older a Long Maw is. They stand on two thick legs built for running but also have two clawed arms for slashing that they keep close to their bodies despite their decent length (seven to eight feet). Their bodies end in a long, ever narrowing pointed tail.
Their entire body is covered in thick, almost plate-like scales that are colored various earthen tones streaked by putrid yellow stripes, especially around the head and neck. However, their underbellies are lacking in thick scales and are known to be their most vulnerable spot. Males are also known to possess a unique mutation, thought to have come from the Void for its insidiousness. Existing in clusters along the base of the neck almost in a sort of collar or mane are a series of vibrant red, yellow and orange feathers. These feathers can vibrate at different frequencies and affect how the animal’s call can sound, to the degree that it can mimic the cries of other animals and even, supposedly, rudimentary speech or sounds from sentient peoples. They can also be used to communicate special sounds to fellow Long Maws. Aside from these feathers, the animal also has three to five massive spines protruding from their back that reach five feet long in addition to a number of smaller spines along their whole back and the dorsal side of their tail. These are colored grey with a yellow tint to them. They are thought to be a defensive tool against attacks on their back but also serve a purpose in attracting a mate as the older a Long Maw Saurian is, the more spines they have and the longer they are.
Diversity
Long Maw Saurians have a clear gender dimorphism as the males have the colorful frill of feathers at the base of their neck while females do not. The gender population is skewed towards males concerning surviving specimens, but both genders are born in equal amounts by the Long Maw.
Life Span and Development
The Long Maw Saurian is hatched from an egg roughly the size of a Dwarf in clutches of one to four green and brown-streaked eggs. Within a month of their birth, they are a quarter of their adult size, already able to tangle with most foes that they come across. At the age of four, the Long Maw will leave their mother for the jungle wilds and to make their own life. Over the next several years, however, the animal’s growth slows, and by age eight it has reached its peak physically and mentally. Males will seek mates only on occasion while females will never pursue a mate, aware that one will come to them. The mating process is brutal and devastating, especially if a second male is involved. First, the male uses his feathers to communicate his desire to mate, and if another male arrives or sounds a contesting desire, the two will fight until one remains. At this point, the female will allow the mating to occur, but even then the process is difficult, often destroying minor trees nearby and churning up the earth. While these events often happen on dry land, they can happen in freshwater where they are far less destructive. After this, the male will stay with the female for several weeks and then stand guard as the female then lays and tends her eggs. The two of them will live together until shortly before five months have passed after which the male will leave to make room for the coming hatchlings. Female Long Maws can only lay twenty eggs in their lifetime. Long Maw Saurians can live for up to 100 years, but most only live into the twenties or thirties before another Long Maw kills them.
Mental Overview
The Long Maw Saurian is unrivaled in ferocity and ruthless cunning. Massively imposing, the Long Maw Saurian hunts ruthlessly. It will chase land prey for up to a week before giving up and returning to its territory, but the majority of its diet comes from aquatic animals. It hunts these animals with sharp jabs into the water, snapping its jaws shut before allowing the water to drip out, letting it swallow its catch live. It also hunts smaller reptilian life that live in the region, many of the region's mammals and the Allar themselves. It also contends with packs of the Two-Claw Raptor over kills should it be hungry enough as the bigger they come, the harder they fall, and packs of Raptors have been known to bring down adult Long Maws. The animal might be brutish in these attacks and operations, but it is supremely intelligent in the art of conflict at the same time. Young Long Maws learn extremely fast the weaknesses and strengths of their prey and competition, working in battle and off of it to process and create hunting strategies. Even when they are large, they create ambushes for other animals, hiding in dense brush to jump approaching prey or in the case of males, luring prey in with a cry of pain or help. In addition to this, Long Maw Saurians hunt each other, especially older ones to younger competition. However, these are strictly along gender lines as males hunt males and females hunt females, creating individual gender survival of the fittest contests.
Territory and Groupings
The Long Maw Saurians are strictly solitary, except a mated pair as the male and female stick together and protect the nest. The female will then care for and raise her hatchlings until the age of four where they will go out into the world to find their own territory. Male Long Maw Saurians are very territorial, claiming land bordering rivers for miles and marking them with claw marks and scent markers. Females are much less territorial, however, and generally, let males wander but can and will force them off if they crowd or annoy her.
Trivia
- Long Maw Saurian bones are streaked yellow and very useful in Allar alchemy where they can be used to create powerful anti-toxin and anti-acid potions for medical or military use. Unfortunately, these bones are also very rare outside of Sendrass.
- Allar military practices have several aspects expressly derived from the three other Allar who followed Abyassa in his legendary hunt. Named Bayu, Ndari, and Kirana, many military families adopt variations or the name of at least one of these warriors in at least one of their children. Their three weapons of choice are also the cornerstones of traditional Allar weapons combat, the dagger, the tail sword and the spear.
- Some wonder how the Long Maw Saurian got its resistance to toxins, with some pondering if Allar alchemy experiments over centuries may have leaked into the jungles far earlier than the civil war, making its way up the food chain to gather and alter these apex beasts of the jungle.
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