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Description
The Halugyth is one of those creatures of the Underworld that many surface dwellers have a hard time believing exists. This is mainly because people don't really know what the Underworld really looks like, so they just go off of stories and their own personal beliefs. You would not believe how many people think that the world down below is just made of tunnels and lava! They just have this image of it being like an ant colony, but with a lot more fire and demons instead of ants. With this in mind, it is hard to imagine that something the size of the Halugyth could actually function in such a tight space! The funny thing is that they are half right with this belief. While there are fungal forests down below that are massive enough to house entire herds of these creatures, the surrounding networks and tunnel systems cannot. Once a Halugyth reaches its adult size, it is pretty much stuck in that one cavern for the rest of its life.

Like I mentioned before, the Halugyth are giant creatures that live exclusively in the fungal forests of the Underworld. The abundance of fungi and mushrooms are an almost inexhaustible food source for them, which is probably why these beasts can reach such a size. With their necks fully extended, the Halugyth can reach a height of fifty feet! In truth, most of this height is made up of their extremely long necks, but that is still quite impressive! If you were to be walking with a lantern on the forest floor, you wouldn't even be able to see their head when they are grazing! It would just go upwards into darkness! When they fully extend their necks, there is no pod, bulb or mushroom cap that is out of reach. Their diet consists solely of fungal flesh, which is easy to find in these massive forests! They tend to graze in the canopies of these forests, snacking on the juiciest bulbs and pods they can find. Their sharp beaks are perfect for biting off these structures, and their facial antenna are used to smell and taste the potential food in low-light situations. During long periods of feeding, Halugyth will actually coil their necks around the fungal tree they are grazing on. By resting these coils on the numerous branches, they relieve the strain and energy it takes to hold up their necks for so long!

Halugyth tend to travel in herds, marching their way through the forest at a snail's pace. Their herds move in a way that allow the fungal trees and other fungi to regrow and repopulate by they time they make their way back around. Herds do not have any strict structure to them, as they can have any number of males or females. The breeding season seems to be just as lax and slow as they are, with no real competition or ceremony to it at all. When the time comes, a female Halugyth will lay hundreds of small eggs. These come out in bundles of a few dozen, wrapped in a sticky egg sac. While she lays them, the male will use his mouth to pick up the slimy bundles and place them on his back. He rests them between the large spines, giving them protection from aerial or arboreal predators. While these creatures grow to titanic proportions, they begin life rather small. When the young emerge, they are about the thickness of your arm and twice its length. They are worm-like in form, with their six legs just simple nubs. The reason the young start off so small is because they need to travel to new feeding grounds. With the adults too big to ever leave the confines of the caverns, it is up to the young to spread out and seed surrounding areas. The hordes of larvae will slither off their father's back and seek out a new home. At this stage, they are quite defenseless, especially since they are on the move. With the sheer amount of young that are born each time, though, it is almost a guarantee that some will make it to new feeding grounds and grow up into adults. As they grow up, their limbs and plates will develop, slowly giving them that iconic silhouette.

At such a size, it would be hard to believe that these creatures have any predators. In truth, not many are willing to face off with a full grown adult, but predators will target the younger ones. The Panthelis are the main threat, using their bladed heads to slice into their legs and cripple these behemoths. Though they are quick and nimble, the Halugyth have ways to deal with the Panthelis threat. Their long necks and sharp beaks can serve as good weapons, lashing out and sending these predators flying. Their thick, trunk-like legs sport claws and can flatten a Panthelis with a single stomp. By staying in herds, the Halugyth can use the aid of others to ward away the Panthelis and make it harder for them to come in for an attack. The other major predator of Halugyth are the denizens of the Underworld itself! Demons and shades are not ones to turn up their nose at a food source, especially one that has so much meat! Towns and villages that live close to these forests will hunt Halugyth for food, though they are careful to not over harvest. To hunt these massive beasts, the hunters will climb up into the trees and hide near tempting food sources. When the Halugyth comes in for a bite, the hunters will jump out and snare the head will sharp hooks and nets. This traps the Halugyth in one spot, giving the other hunters enough time to target an exposed part of neck and sever it. With a solid chop, they decapitate the beast and gain tons of fresh meat. The rest of the hunt will be spent cutting and cleaning the kill, turning it into manageable chunks that they can take home. The other task will be to ward off interested predators and scavengers, as they become quite thrilled by the opportunity of a fallen Halugyth.

One interesting note I have to mention about the Halugyth is their giant spines. When I was observing them during my expedition to the Underworld, I asked about the purpose of these dorsal spikes. Yes, I did mention that they help ward off predators who would go after their eggs, but what I was curious about was their size. To put it simply, their back spines are way too big to be efficient against the smaller creatures who would go after their young. They do the job, but they could do it just as easily if they were half that size. I asked Mamin about this and he told me something quite amazing! It turns out I was right that the spines were too big for such a simple job, and it is because guarding the young was only half their job! It seems that the Panthelis and demons were not the only hunters of these creatures! He told me that there was a species of predator that existed long ago, called the Malicrus. These predators were equally massive beasts and they preyed upon the Halugyth. When faced with such a giant foe, these spines helped ward off attacks from behind, but that didn't stop these creatures from preying on them. From the tales he was told as an imp, the Malicrus were terrifying creatures of titanic size and strength. The adults stalked the fungal forests, while the smaller young would scour the surrounding tunnels. At this age, the young hunted smaller creatures, and a favorite target of theirs was demonkind. It was said that packs of these beasts would swarm out of the tunnels and assault entire towns. Entire battalions had to be made to defend against these brutal attacks. In time, the demons and shades found a way to repel the young, but that wasn't enough. They wanted the threat to be gone for good. Over the course of decades, demonkind fought the Malicrus and hunted down every last one they could find. The young were slaughtered in droves and the giant adults were brought down and butchered. With these hunts, the Malicrus was driven to extinction, its kind long gone from the Underworld. Perhaps the demise of this super predator is what allows the Halugyth to live in such numbers? It is hard to say, but I imagine they are doing quite well with a major predator gone forever! Well, I wouldn't say that. If I learned anything about the Underworld, it is that nothing is certain. In a labyrinthine world like this, who is to say there are not isolated caverns or caves that have not seen the hunts? Pockets of life that are far from the demons' reach, where these titans still live? Everyone talks about the mysterious Tectons, and the unreachable places where the Desmodals dwell, so that means there are many realms still undiscovered. Who knows what else is lurking out there, in the uncharted unknown? It is a fascinating possibility to me, but also a terrifying one.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

Description
The Halugyth is one of those creatures of the Underworld that many surface dwellers have a hard time believing exists. This is mainly because people don't really know what the Underworld really looks like, so they just go off of stories and their own personal beliefs. You would not believe how many people think that the world down below is just made of tunnels and lava! They just have this image of it being like an ant colony, but with a lot more fire and demons instead of ants. With this in mind, it is hard to imagine that something the size of the Halugyth could actually function in such a tight space! The funny thing is that they are half right with this belief. While there are fungal forests down below that are massive enough to house entire herds of these creatures, the surrounding networks and tunnel systems cannot. Once a Halugyth reaches its adult size, it is pretty much stuck in that one cavern for the rest of its life.

Like I mentioned before, the Halugyth are giant creatures that live exclusively in the fungal forests of the Underworld. The abundance of fungi and mushrooms are an almost inexhaustible food source for them, which is probably why these beasts can reach such a size. With their necks fully extended, the Halugyth can reach a height of fifty feet! In truth, most of this height is made up of their extremely long necks, but that is still quite impressive! If you were to be walking with a lantern on the forest floor, you wouldn't even be able to see their head when they are grazing! It would just go upwards into darkness! When they fully extend their necks, there is no pod, bulb or mushroom cap that is out of reach. Their diet consists solely of fungal flesh, which is easy to find in these massive forests! They tend to graze in the canopies of these forests, snacking on the juiciest bulbs and pods they can find. Their sharp beaks are perfect for biting off these structures, and their facial antenna are used to smell and taste the potential food in low-light situations. During long periods of feeding, Halugyth will actually coil their necks around the fungal tree they are grazing on. By resting these coils on the numerous branches, they relieve the strain and energy it takes to hold up their necks for so long!

Halugyth tend to travel in herds, marching their way through the forest at a snail's pace. Their herds move in a way that allow the fungal trees and other fungi to regrow and repopulate by they time they make their way back around. Herds do not have any strict structure to them, as they can have any number of males or females. The breeding season seems to be just as lax and slow as they are, with no real competition or ceremony to it at all. When the time comes, a female Halugyth will lay hundreds of small eggs. These come out in bundles of a few dozen, wrapped in a sticky egg sac. While she lays them, the male will use his mouth to pick up the slimy bundles and place them on his back. He rests them between the large spines, giving them protection from aerial or arboreal predators. While these creatures grow to titanic proportions, they begin life rather small. When the young emerge, they are about the thickness of your arm and twice its length. They are worm-like in form, with their six legs just simple nubs. The reason the young start off so small is because they need to travel to new feeding grounds. With the adults too big to ever leave the confines of the caverns, it is up to the young to spread out and seed surrounding areas. The hordes of larvae will slither off their father's back and seek out a new home. At this stage, they are quite defenseless, especially since they are on the move. With the sheer amount of young that are born each time, though, it is almost a guarantee that some will make it to new feeding grounds and grow up into adults. As they grow up, their limbs and plates will develop, slowly giving them that iconic silhouette.

At such a size, it would be hard to believe that these creatures have any predators. In truth, not many are willing to face off with a full grown adult, but predators will target the younger ones. The Panthelis are the main threat, using their bladed heads to slice into their legs and cripple these behemoths. Though they are quick and nimble, the Halugyth have ways to deal with the Panthelis threat. Their long necks and sharp beaks can serve as good weapons, lashing out and sending these predators flying. Their thick, trunk-like legs sport claws and can flatten a Panthelis with a single stomp. By staying in herds, the Halugyth can use the aid of others to ward away the Panthelis and make it harder for them to come in for an attack. The other major predator of Halugyth are the denizens of the Underworld itself! Demons and shades are not ones to turn up their nose at a food source, especially one that has so much meat! Towns and villages that live close to these forests will hunt Halugyth for food, though they are careful to not over harvest. To hunt these massive beasts, the hunters will climb up into the trees and hide near tempting food sources. When the Halugyth comes in for a bite, the hunters will jump out and snare the head will sharp hooks and nets. This traps the Halugyth in one spot, giving the other hunters enough time to target an exposed part of neck and sever it. With a solid chop, they decapitate the beast and gain tons of fresh meat. The rest of the hunt will be spent cutting and cleaning the kill, turning it into manageable chunks that they can take home. The other task will be to ward off interested predators and scavengers, as they become quite thrilled by the opportunity of a fallen Halugyth.

One interesting note I have to mention about the Halugyth is their giant spines. When I was observing them during my expedition to the Underworld, I asked about the purpose of these dorsal spikes. Yes, I did mention that they help ward off predators who would go after their eggs, but what I was curious about was their size. To put it simply, their back spines are way too big to be efficient against the smaller creatures who would go after their young. They do the job, but they could do it just as easily if they were half that size. I asked Mamin about this and he told me something quite amazing! It turns out I was right that the spines were too big for such a simple job, and it is because guarding the young was only half their job! It seems that the Panthelis and demons were not the only hunters of these creatures! He told me that there was a species of predator that existed long ago, called the Malicrus. These predators were equally massive beasts and they preyed upon the Halugyth. When faced with such a giant foe, these spines helped ward off attacks from behind, but that didn't stop these creatures from preying on them. From the tales he was told as an imp, the Malicrus were terrifying creatures of titanic size and strength. The adults stalked the fungal forests, while the smaller young would scour the surrounding tunnels. At this age, the young hunted smaller creatures, and a favorite target of theirs was demonkind. It was said that packs of these beasts would swarm out of the tunnels and assault entire towns. Entire battalions had to be made to defend against these brutal attacks. In time, the demons and shades found a way to repel the young, but that wasn't enough. They wanted the threat to be gone for good. Over the course of decades, demonkind fought the Malicrus and hunted down every last one they could find. The young were slaughtered in droves and the giant adults were brought down and butchered. With these hunts, the Malicrus was driven to extinction, its kind long gone from the Underworld. Perhaps the demise of this super predator is what allows the Halugyth to live in such numbers? It is hard to say, but I imagine they are doing quite well with a major predator gone forever! Well, I wouldn't say that. If I learned anything about the Underworld, it is that nothing is certain. In a labyrinthine world like this, who is to say there are not isolated caverns or caves that have not seen the hunts? Pockets of life that are far from the demons' reach, where these titans still live? Everyone talks about the mysterious Tectons, and the unreachable places where the Desmodals dwell, so that means there are many realms still undiscovered. Who knows what else is lurking out there, in the uncharted unknown? It is a fascinating possibility to me, but also a terrifying one.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian