THE
MERMÄC |
The Mermäc (plural: Mermäc as well) is a large lizard-like beast native to the Hol’Dispor, an enormous desert located in the southwest of the Island of Denilou. They can be found scattered across the enormous desert from the southwest edge to the northeast edge near Toll Brok’Barrol. The Meräc dwells under a thin layer of sand, only allowing its eyes and nose to show from the sand. It is a very deadly beast if you get close enough to it when it is hungry. But it will not go looking for a fight or food, it allows its food to come to it and only travels during the time of mating when the male must go search for a mate.
Appearance.
The Mermäc's appearance is very
lizard-like
with leathery skin covering its body. It is colored beige blending in
tremendously well in the desert climate. The Mermäc ranges from 4 peds to 5
(including tail), which is extremely large, making it easily one of the largest,
if not the largest beast on all of
Denilou.
For those that have got close enough to the Mermäc to study it they may notice a
black strip on either side of its vertebrae. Many speculations have been made,
one of the most intriguing is that the Mermäc once had wings, but evolved back
leaving a black strip where it’s wings once had been located.
The eyes of the Mermäc are well attuned to notice everything in the desert. They
usually are coloured a pale red and are located near the top of its head so it
can stay as far under the sand as possible. The eyes are close to 1 palmspan in
width, they have eyelids that are very thin that they always keep closed to keep
the sand of the desert out of their eyes. Though they can open them they
actually rarely do so.
The Mermäc has 3 rows of incredibly sharp teeth located within its enormous
mouth, there are 3 rows on the top of its mouth. All of these rows are sharp and
extremely dangerous. On the bottom of the Mermäc’s mouth is another row of
teeth, they are all flat and used as a flat surface for its upper sharp teeth to
crush and tear its food on. They often fall out and are very sensitive, new
teeth are growing back in roughly a week. The Mermäc have no ears, but sensitive
nerves in its tail, the Mermäc keeps it tail near the surface of the sand, it
detects all vibration under the sand.
The Mermäc have short but strong legs pertaining to its size, all four legs are
around ½ a ped in length with a six-clawed hand at the end. Despite being small
compared to the Mermäc’s size the legs can allow the Mermäc to leap up to 4 peds
from its lying down position to capture its prey. This allows the Mermäc to jump
nearly its own length. The females are routinely larger at around 4 ½ to 5 ½
peds in length; there leathery skin is a lighter as well. Its two ridges on the
top of its head, one on each side, can always identify the females.
Special Abilities.
As explained above the Mermäc has short legs but they are extremely strong
allowing it to jump to around 4 peds from its lying down position under its
sandy cover. The Mermäc also is an outstanding hunter, even though it does
little hunting, it conceals itself under the sand leaving small fragments of its
body out such as its eyes, ears and nose. It then waits for an unlucky
individual to come close enough; then the Mermäc leaps onto its prey and quickly
rips its head of before slowly eating the rest of the unfortunate traveller or
beast. One thing to be thankful for is that it gives you a quick death.
Also worth mentioning is the Mermäc’s special ability of "hearing". It has
sensitive nerves in its tail that can detect vibrations that are close to the
Mermäc allowing it to find its prey without using its eyes.
Territory.
The Mermäc solely resides in the Hol’Dispor located on the southwest corner of
the
Island of Denilou.
It spreads across all corners of the vast desert usually one male and female
Mermäc to every square stral.
Habitat/Behaviour.
The Mermäc live under the sand, concealed, during the day and during the night.
They have been known to be more active during the night, traveling to new areas
for hunting if their current location is producing well enough. They also simply
roam the desert during the night but then sleep under the sand until morning
when their hunting resumes. The Mermäc are routinely very tame and peaceful to
humans, not really caring whether or not
humans are in their territory. Only when they
are hungry Mermäc act vicious and intimidating to all others around it. When a
Mermäc attacks it charges quickly, killing its prey immediately.
The female Mermäc are more vicious than the males. They are better-developed
hunters than the males and crawl unseen under the sand to seek out their prey
unlike the males who just wait for their prey to come to it. When the female
catches its prey it tends to be just as quick as the males quickly ripping off
its prey’s head, then slowly feasting on the remains.
Diet.
The Mermäc eats anything it can get that roams in the desert. Not too many
beasts live in the Hol’Dispor, making the Mermäc very anxious when it gets a
chance to eat. When the Mermäc catches its prey it enjoys a fight often throwing
it around, shaking it, hoping for some resistance before crushing its entire
skeleton then feasting down to its dinner.
The Mermäc does use some skills to lure prey towards him. There is an extra
gland in his system that produces an odour similar to that of a dead animal. The
other animals living in the desert often are scavengers preying on the bodies of
the dead, and they will often seek out the smell and will soon meet their end at
the fangs of the Mermäc.
One of the Mermäc's favourite prey is a nocturnal rodent found within the
Hol'Dispor named the flaret. They are not as small compared to many other
rodents that dwell in Caelereth making the
flaret a sufficient meal for the Mermäc.
The Mermäc also eat mostly all of the nocturnal mammals that roam the desert
which withstand the powerful heat during the day. They live during the night
scavenging over the desert floor for dead animals that fulfill their diet.
Mating.
The mating season of the Mermäc begins in mid-Singing Bird and stretches into
late Rising Sun. The female will seek out a male mate (when its parents died),
usually within one square stral of it. The female is the dominant gender in
reproduction, the smaller male submits quickly and easily. In roughly 3-5 weeks
the female gives birth to 2 babies, the babies are called Hol’Thereen (Hol’Thereen,
"Desert Babies") among the Thergermin of
Denilou. One is a male and the other is
always a female. The female determines the gender of the child.
The Hol’Thereen are born very active at around 1 ped in length, they run around
on top of the sand for their first week of birth before the mother and father
teach them how to hunt properly and to act with great stealth. When the
Hol’Thereen are roughly a month old they have now become nearly half grown
around 2–2 ½ peds in length. They hunt and stay relatively close to their mother
and father until the parents reach near the age of 30 and die. The male Mermäc
takes over the territory of the parents and the female goes off to find a male
mate. The male will wait for a female from another family to find it and choose
it as its mate.
Usages.
Merchants all over Denilou treasure the Mermäc’s leathery skin. It is very
expensive and the merchant earns a small fortune if he/she is able to get
his/her hands on it. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to get Mermäc skin
from a living beast. If a hunter can get close enough to kill the Mermäc it is
usually already dead, and if the hunter does not notice the Mermäc when he is
close enough, the hunter is certainly dead. The rarity of Mermäc skin is the
real treasure that many people of
Denilou
desire to call their own. Get one and you'll be respected!
Information provided by
Atrii Redwood
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