Ska'kalin revision

Original entry here has an abundance of problems. Mostly with the special abilities section.

The Ska'Kalin or 'Snakeworm' is a creature indigenous to the Isles of R'unor. It resembles a segmented teadrop, made of plates of interlocking bone, and is renowned for its speed as well as its disgusting method of eating. It is largely regarded as a pest by farmers who take efforts to exterminate the beast wherever it is found.

Appearance:
An adult Ska'kalin is roughly a third of a ped in length, and shaped like an elongated teardrop, beginning with a wide head and tapering to a pointed tail. The upper half of a Snakeworm's body is covered in interlocking, segmented plates of bone while the lower half is covered with bone ribbing, which is believed to give it traction on the ground. The Ska'kalin move in a distinctive winding pattern, deceptively quickly given their lack of legs.

Ska'kalin have also been seen to curl into balls and roll down hills, or roll into a ball to hide.

The mouth of the Ska'kalin is roughly circular when open, and ringed with teeth in rows, much like that of a shark, but these teeth are actually blunt cones, used for grinding plant matter. The outermost ring of "teeth" is actually a series of pedipalps used by the Snakeworm to pull food into it's mouth.

Interestingly, the bone plates of the Ska'kalin are not white, but coloured to match the vegetation they ate as a juvenile. As these plates grow and are shed, the Ska'kalin may actually change colours, based on the colour of the vegetation they have been eating.

Special Abilities:
It is rumoured that Ska'kalin possess some manner of innate magic owing to their apparent speed. The rough underside of the Ska'kalin actually allows it to grip in particularly loose soil or on sand, granting it a good turn of speed despite its apparent sluggishness otherwise.

Territory:
The Ska'kalin are found naturally within forests on the isles of R'unor, in the Forest of Souls and the Forest of Deepearth where the ground is easier for them to construct burrows. Small groups of of Ska'kalin occasionally find their way into farmers fields where they are considered a pest. Populations of Ska'kalin are also found on some of the smaller, less inhabited islands.

Diet:
Snakeworms are notoriously omnivorous, though their preferred food is vegetation. Leaves, grasses, bark and shrubs of all kinds make up the typical diet of the Ska'kalin. Oddly enough they seem to find wood and bark quite indigestible. Smaller insects and scraps of meat are also considered to be palatable.
The Ska'kalin oozes a particularly weak aceed over its meals before eating them, which is thought to help with digesting the food it consumes.

Behaviour
A snakeworm is, by it's nature a furtive creature. They shy away from sudden movement and noise, or curl up into a ball. Snakeworms avoid other animals instinctively, and avoid open spaces. Their chief predators are birds, who have learned to smash a Ska'kalin's shell open by letting it strike rocks after dropping it from a significant height.
Ska'kalin make their dens under the roots of trees, or wherever they find soft earth, living in groups of up to eight adult worms

Mating
Ska'kalin mate once every two years, they lay grey eggs that are often mistaken for stones. Ska'kalin do not remain in pairs beyond mating. Until the eggs hatch, the male Ska'kalin will guard its nest, often camouflaging the nest with stones and brush. Ska'kalin mature relatively quickly, from a new-hatched worm to an adult in the space of a month.

Usages
Ska'kalin are largely regarded as pests as a result of their wide diet. They have precious little meat, but when ground their shells make good fertilizer.