Spinose Beaked Shield Dragon
Short introduction
The Spinose Beaked Shield Dragon is the westernmost species of shield dragons that can be found in eastern Erana. They are characterised by having a relatively small shield protecting their head from which almost flamboyantly long and ornate horns grow. Their face, though, is hornless and only has a thick and sturdy nose hump to ram and hammer into competitors for food or space or for defense against predators.
The Spinose Beaked Shield Dragon is a mighty beast, about the size of a common hippopotamos. It inhabits the lowlands west of the Grey Sea down to the southernmost tip of Erana but does not cross the Central Erana Mountain Range. Local cultures like the Messellat Mdûlûn use them to different ends.
Appearance, distribution and ecology
As said, the Spinose Beaked Shield Dragon is quite massive. The size mentioned above does not count in the tail, which adds another three metres to its length. The head is as massive as usual for beaked shield dragons, but the horns on the shields frill make the head about two metres tall.
The animals skin is thick, for the most part leathery with some interspersed scales of different sizes. The scales are often of a different colour, like dark grey, brown or beige. The face and shield is completely covered in rugose scales, giving them a rough and weathered appearance. It is also more brownish, no matter what colour the body scales are.
Spinose Beaked Shield Dragons live west of the Grey Sea with their area of distribution starting from the southern parts of Kissalin stretching down to the southernmost tip of Erana, where the Arakat people settle. This makes them the southernmost and westernmost species of shield dragons in Erana. They are also the only species of shield dragons whose area of distribution does not overlap with other species of their genus, being in fact separated from other shield dragon species by the Sévo Mountains and the entire region of Tarrabaenia.
The species is herbivorous and mostly eats bushy plants, low hanging twigs of trees or, in dire need during long droughts cacti or roots.
Behaviour, cultural role and use
Spinose Beaked Shield Dragons live in small groups of five to seven animals, as the area they inhabit is rather dry and offers only a small amount of vegetation. The groups wander around in a wide area and are usually seen further inland during the rainy season and closer to the sea or to the rivers during the dry season. They are not dangerous if left alone, but can get aggressive if approached too closely. They usually don't worry too much about getting hunted, since larger predators are rare in the area, only intruding from the mountains sometimes and Men and Len alike only hunt them occasionally for food or for their horns.
As these dragons cannot be bonded with and they are too difficult to be kept as cattle, the interaction between them and beings possessing the Gift of Reason is quite limited. They are only hunted sometimes, but otherwise just exist next to the cultures surrounding them. Being difficult to hunt and having not too tasty meat, other animals are preferred for food acquisition.
Their most important asset are their horns, which are used to craft jewellery of musical instruments. As they can pose a major danger due to their massiveness and the aggression displayed when threatened, the horns are mostly collected from already dead animals.
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