Troll_Man

Serina: Monarch Skulossus

Added 2023-03-06 06:21:23 +0000 UTC

As forests began developing upon the continent of Serinarcta, this allowed vagrant skogres from the offshore islands to finally form longterm populations on the mainland. With a now far greater supply of food, they quickly grew to far greater sizes than had existed prior, and this has now culminated in one of the true titans of Serina: the monarch skulossus. Standing over forty feet tall and weighing up to twenty-seven metric tonnes, this is one of the largest animals to have ever roamed the lands.

A large, healthy adult is one of the few animals virtually immune to predators; not even the most fearsome cutthroats or vultrorcs. While one kick or swipe of its neck could send a rhinoceros flying, it is also covered in rows of bony scutes and thick scaly plates, making it nearly impossible to injure. Because of their size, they only travel in small family groups, sometimes as small as just two adults, to keep from overgrazing, but this helps tremendously in defending against predators. Unlike the more selfish cygnosaurs, skulossi recognize the value of mutual defence, and individuals will frequently come to the rescue of another individual under threat; one twenty-ton skulossus is already a difficult enough target, but multiple skulossi together are totally indestructible.

As with all skulossi, the young are small, born in large litters, and very different in appearance and behaviour than their full-grown parents. Monarchs are born pudgy and heavily armoured, with large spines and knobs covering most of their body, and relatively short legs, and travel in much larger herds. This is vital for defence against predators before they are large enough to ward them off without it. As they grow, their body proportions elongate, resulting in a gradual shift in diet from a low to high-browser, and their armour grows disproportionately, eventually becoming much smaller relative to the animal's size.