Balicani

From Mizahar Lore

Revision as of 00:38, 14 August 2012

"I didn't know what hit us. One minute we were changing watch and the next minute my brother was dead - half his face missing. I was the lucky one. I only lost my arm." - Kent Vaktru, Syliran Knight

Balicani

Fauna
Frequency	1 every 100 miles
Threat level	Medium
Major features	wings, sharp fangs, venom
Abilities	flight, constriction
Most common in	Cobalt Mts, Syliras

The Balicani (pl. Balicani) is a common fauna monster in the Sylira Region. Balicani were vicious creatures, part snake and part bat with beautiful patterned wings that tend to be nocturnal. They take years to grow to their full length which often exceeds ten feet in length. Triple rows of slanted teeth rend flesh. Balicani are territorial, agreesive and solitary.

History and Overview

Like most creatures, the Balicani were smaller creatures before the Valterrian exploded upon the world. They inhabited the forests and mountains around what is now the Suvan sea, feeding almost exclusively on rodents and smaller birds. They were also much more common in numbers, and tended to congregate in large numbers unlike today.

The sundering of the world saw the Balicani population destroyed almost utterly, with only a handful of specimens surviving. During the harsh years which ensued, the surviving males began to compete for dominance over the much scarcer females, and thus only the largest and most powerful ones were able to produce progeny. These large males eventually bred even larger offspring, thus contributing to the evolution of these creatures from considerably moderate, to very large in size.

Balicani are among the most terrifying creatures to meet in the Syliran region, with these encounters resulting in death or maiming more often than not. Fortunately such meetings are rare, for Balicani are very rarely active during daytime, and people in the countrysides have learned how to avoid them.

They are extremely difficult to kill or even combat at night, and their ability to swoop in and away from danger makes them particularly dangerous for stationary and slow, heavily-armored combatants. They prefer to attack from the air, divebombing their prey with lethally quick lunges and slashes with their talons. They attack using their powerful jaws and sharp serrated teeth, but would also employ the tail and wings for attack purposes.

They are also extremely territorial and solitary, with each having the ability to secrete a very foul liquid from its salivary glands to use for marking. Once this boundary is crossed a Balicani would stop at nothing until the intruder is either driven out or killed.

Appearance

The Balicani are some of the strangest looking creatures that Mizahar has to offer. They have long sinuous bodies that are muscled and scaled with four legs, slightly reptilian in appearance, and have large strong jaws with wide set eyes characteristic of predators. Their wings are membrane-bound, aiding in faster flight.

They can grow up to 15 feet in length from head to the tip of the tail, with a 20 foot wingspan and around 350 pounds in weight. Their heads, elongated by their thick, muscular jaws, can grow to around 10 inches long. It takes several years for them to reach this full size, however, which drops normal Balicani parameters to around 6 feet in body length, a 13 foot wingspan and a billed weight of 175 pounds. The body is thick and strong, with hard scales adorning the outer skin. Furrier parts of the body include the belly, face and throat area.

Balicani horns are almost of no commercial value. Extremely hard and tough to fashion, they are strangely combustible due to the oily recess which it gives out, which is how they sweat. These mildly sharp ornaments can grow to around two feet long, and can also be used to spear prey.

Triple rows of jagged, serrated teeth line their jaws, with each tooth capable of reaching an inch and a half in length. Much like with a shark, a broken tooth is easily replaceable, for Balicani never stop growing teeth. Due to the nature of their prey, Balicani teeth are constantly renewed and produced. By the time a fully grown individual reaches death, it would have shed around 1000 teeth on average.

Diet

Strictly carnivorous, Balicani normally feed on small animals and birds, but would not hesitate to take down larger prey such as livestock and large dogs. There have been reports of massive individuals carrying away fully grown cows at night, but these have not been verified.

Humans and other sentient creatures are not typically part of a Balicani's diet, but none would think twice about killing and eating them when given the chance. Old and injured individuals have been known to become man-eaters; one particularly famous incident of a Balicani or a very similar creature killing and eating a human happened in a border fortress near Syliras, when a couple of Syliran Knights were attacked. One was killed and carried off, while the other was left maimed for life.

Extremely voracious, these creatures can eat up to 10% of their body weight in one sitting. A 10-foot Balicani, 150 pound specimen can consume up to 15 pounds of meat a day, upon which they will feed again after two or three days. After killing the prey, they would often bring them to safe, high grounds where they feed on the carcass immediately to avoid having confrontations with other would-be thieves.

Reproduction

Balicani mature very slowly, with sexual maturity settling in around 7 years after birth. Mating has been observed to be done once every two seasons, with females having a gestation period of only around 5 months. Once the female gives birth, it takes a few weeks or so before they are ready for mating once more.

These creatures have a strange way of giving birth for reptiles, being aplacental viviparous, with the eggs being fertilized and hatched inside. In this regard, these are extremely rare to acquire, and are highly sought after in the black market due to their very high nutritional value. The offspring are either regurgitated or digested, depending on their ability to call out to the mother upon birth.

Social Structure

Social structures are virtually non-existent with these creatures due to their nature. Male Balicani would fight and kill one another over territory and potential mates without a qualm, which is why they retain a healthy amount of distance away from one another. These territories can reach 40 miles in circumference, and would be centered around a steep craggy cliff or a rocky cave. Males however, would tolerate having females around, especially during mating season. A male Balicani can have up to 2 females within its territory during this time.

Birth is a very dangerous process for a hatchling. Being born inside the mother along with up to five other siblings, weaker individuals are left inside the womb to be digested by the mother's acidic belly fluids. Once they are out of the mother's belly, they can be fed upon by a variety of creatures at a moderately easy rate, for Balicani mothers are very lax ones in caring and protecting their babies. Sometimes when prey is scarce, a mother can even turn to her offspring for food.

The offspring stay with the mother for up to two years, depending on the situation. As mothers can also turn to them as a food source, a wise youngling would leave its mother as soon as its capable of living alone, best defined by the ability to hunt and fly.

Lifespan

As there have been very few instances of capture, there is very limited information regarding their longevity in captivity. However, specimens which have died of old age have been found and collected, and according to testing, Balicani can live for up to 30 years in the wild.