Helioderm

Helioderms are gold-and-black lizards with sun-like or fire-like patterns. They range from Great Dane sized to pony sized and have tough armored skin and a bearded-dragon style face crest. Must of the rest of them is similar to a big gila monster, except for their mouth and the armored lump on their back. Their mouth is basically drill-like mining machinery bug made of iron-hard bone and chitin, which can be kinda horrifying and bad to have bite you. Their back, meanwhile, is remarkably hot and a Fire Orb inside the back hump generates the heat necessary to survive far from the sun. Helioderms live for about 30 years, and carry their nests around their back humps, as well as young below the age of 1 year in age. They eat primarily minerals, though they will easily digest any material they devour along the way. Their mouths help them dig tunnels and burrows deep within the earth. If threatened, they will regurgitate molten metal to fling as high-speed molten shrapnel using their drill-mouths.   Helioderm Orbs develop during their first year of childhood and are minor magic items- they remain scalding hot even after the creature has died - they last 50 years after the helioderm hits its first birthday. The orbs increase with heat as the helioderm ages (the orb does not naturally heat without the helioderm- if taken from a young helioderm, it will last longer but not be as hot). The average adult helioderm orb is around 1000 degrees farenheit, but heat increases with size.   In the Western main continent, I spawn helioderms fairly evenly in small clusters underground. In the Eastern main continent, I spawn them in a large cluster in the central mountains