Fantasy Creatures new

I'm practicing sketches for art academy, so I might repost creatures every now and then. Just a warning line.

SALAMANDER

Reptilian fire beast, the Salamander lives in volcanoes and volcanic ashlands. These creatures are covered in though, fireproof skin, as well as being more than confortable in the blazing heat of active volcanoes. Salamanders live wherever they can gain access to magma pools, so active volcanic systems are their favored land. They swim through lava as if it were water, stalking their prey while mimicking rocks floating on the magma.

Salamanders have a high body temperature, product of their extreme metabolism; special cells in their stomachs are able to consume, burn and metabolize everything the creatures eat in a matter of hours. This accellerated process results in the generation of dense black smoke from the combustion. Said smoke is released by the craters on the back of the creatures. The combustion, however, also releases another gass, who's however stored away into an organ rensembling a third lung, to be used later. Salamanders can, taking a deep breath, open this lung and release the gas from their maws. Upon contact with oxygen and, the gas ignites, giving the creature the ability to breathe fire.

Due to this extreme metabolism, Salamanders are nearly always hungry, and that is one of the causes of their irascible nature. Surprisingly, they can sustain on both flesh and minerals. Minerals are a favorite of them, since they take longer to combust, and this appeases the devouring hunger by much; yet, Salamanders love the taste of fresh meat. Their particular diet and their love for treasures made experts think of a possible relationship with Dragons. Possible, but Salamanders have no real sense of money and possession when they look for treasure, they search for gold and jewels only because they can ease their hunger.

Salamanders live in packs, and the members are subdued to an Alpha individual, be it male or female, but they have no real organization, attacking the targets with single-minded and untold ferocity, not really caring about what the others do as long as they help bring down the prey. With the temper they have, Salamanders fight often, be it for leadership, food or mating. Usually, only the strongest and biggest individual assumes the commanding position, even if it is nothing alike to true leadership.

An adult Salamander measures 1.80 meters when standing upright, with scales that vary in color from orange to red to brown, rarely black.

BASILISK

Basilisks are huge, snake-like monsters well-known and feared in every region of the world, and for a good reason; they live pretty much everywhere, since they do not find themselves an habitat, they MAKE themselves an habitat. The presence of a Basilisk can be located when a bright rainforest or a great grass field give way to a desert; charred, burned and stherile land with few if any remains of what was once like the surrounding environment laying dead and half-rotten. This is how a Basilisk's lair looks.

The cause of this devastation is one of the main reasons the Basilisk is so feared: venom. The entire body of the creature is covered by a toxin secreted by glands on it back, from which it drops down along the body and then reaches the ground. Said substance causes highly accellerated necrosis of living tissue on touch, putting anything the Basilisk touches in imminent life threat. However, the toxin covering the creature is dangerous only in great quantities. As such, the environment, patrolled by the beast every day, suffers its effects, but other creatures that accidentally touch it should be fine, unless they somehow ingest it or take too much on them.

The necrotic toxin is mostly concentrated on the creature's long talons and teeth, making the simplest scratch highly dangerous. There is no known antidote to the Basilisk's venom, and it can bring about the end of whoever was attacked in a matter of hours. The rapidly-spreading infection also makes amputation dificult: it has to be done immediately, or the rest of the body would be infected within 10-15 minutes. Death by this venom is among the most painful things ever, as one can feel his body literally dying without being able to do anything about it.

However, the most infamous power of the Basilisk is its stare. The dull grey-green-black color of the body brings the owner's attention to the brightly crimson-purple crests above the head, then to the big, glowing yellow eyes. That's when their life ends. Somehow, the eyes of the Basilisk are able to transmit strange signal through the eyes of others, affecting the brain with the very effect of its toxin. Difference is, no physical contact is needed, and mere seconds are enough for the necrosis to completely destroy the brain.

Basilisks feed on decomposing flesh and carcasses, so this is supposed to be the whole reason behind their power. However, such meals are not really enough to sustain the mass of such a massive beast, so a Basilisk must hunt often. Also, their eyes appear to be somehow very vulnerable to light, as suche they hunt in nightime, when the glowing orbs can be seen well and clear. These beasts are fast and ferocious when striking, and their whole behavior seems to betray an inner malice, as if they know and enjoy the suffering and fear they cause. They are solitary creatures, considering any in their territory a prey, other Basilisks included. While immune to their own toxin, Basilisks themselves cannot resist their stare, and if two of them happen to meet eyes, they will wrestle with willpower alone until the weaker one collapses.

An adult Basilisk can reach the 8-10 meters of lenght.

COCKATRICE

With features of both reptile and bird, this creature might look funny. Truth is, there is very little to laugh at in front of a Cockatrice. Fact is, you'll never find one alone. Cockatrices live and attack in pack, thus overwhelming their prey. More than packs, they hunt in gangs, since they are dishorganized just like the Salamanders, if not more so, for there is no set leader of the pack.

Cockatrices are covered in light, brightly colored plummage, which they move and shake to appear bigger. The crests on their heads are bigger in males, and female lack the long tail feathers and the wattles found in males. Both sexes possess long feathers on their arms, though they are unable to fly. They can, however, run really fast and have an innate leaping ability. Cockatrices are very rumorous, hissing and croacking costantly. They are more o a nuisance than anything, but many of them can be real troublemakers.

While for the most part they rensemble Dinosaurs like Raptors, they have an uncommon and surprising power: their beaks-maws filled with razor-sharp teeth also release a great quantity of dense, sticky saliva, that, upon contact with air for enough time, solidifies rapidly. Many bites can lead the prey to become struck into this substance, of whom a single layer can be as hard as rock. Bite after bite, the prey soon becomes totally enveloped and paralyzed, effectively 'petrified'. This special substance also takes nutrients from the skin of the creatures to turn solid, meaning rapid dehydration. Cockatrices avoid having their maws solidified by continously drooling and spitting when hissing or screaming, and they only devour prey enveloped in the rock-like layer. Their strong jaws allow them to chew on those who are 'petrified' with no problem at all, and the solid layer itself is an excellent source of proteins.

An adult Cockatrice standing measures 1-1,50 in height and nearly 2 meters in lenght.

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Soo, whatcha think? I tried to make them as interesting as possible, without getting too much into the magical thing. So, are they better than before or what?