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Description
Meet the mighty Scorpicore!!! Aww, look at that monstrous beauty

So. I've been going back in time to my old stories, characters and creatures and look what I dug out. The Scorpicore. The story.... oh the story....
Since my early imagination started to develop from a game I really loved for its vast biodiversity of non-humanoid creatures and monsters (namely HoMM 3), I adopted many of the creatures that appeared there and put them in my own stories. While some of them are the classical mythical / high fantasy beings (like gryphons, unicorns, phoenixes, dragons etc.), some of them were a little more cryptic and less famous, but still classical (like efreeti, nagas, roc birds, hydras etc.) - and among them, the manticore. A truly beautiful creature. The manticore's upgrade (because all units also had an upgraded version) was called a scorpicore and they were pretty much the same, but tougher, faster and redder (like this: www.rpglegion.com/heroes3/mons… ). I, on the other hand, felt like this creature deserves to be something much more twisted. Thus the Scorpicore in my world was born. Of course, that was many years ago, so now as I look at the original design it's kinda eh.... meh. I decided I want to resurrect it, but in order to do that, I had to redesign the creature a bit. The main thing that I didn't quite like about it, happened to also be the reason why they were called scorpicores to begin with, in my world - because they had these giant scorpion pincers growing out from basically their armpits. Meh. No, very meh. I wanted to remove them, but if I just did, that would have left the creature far too.... ordinary (really?) - so instead, I decided I better substitute the pincers with something else, something to preserve the twistedness of the scorpicore.... but what would that be?....
That is when I thought of Rascal. It simply clicked. That was the perfect finishing touch to the scorpicore. So next thing I wrote to Whiluna....
(For reference for those unaware, Rascal is this beautifully twisted and twistedly beautiful beast: Rascal Anatomy ) I'm a bit of a fan of him, yeah, would you know :3

Aaaand so this is the final result. I am very happy with the design, including the beast's coloration. They are just as monstrous as I want them to be, twisted and scary, but they have a certain grace to them.
So now comes the biology spam. Brace yourselves

Scorpicore
(Monstrum scorpitalus)

Scorpicores belong to the hexapodal subclass of vertebrates (same as dragons, gryphs, manticores, etc.) but in a branch of their own because well.... they are like nothing else that ever lived XD They are large, a bit larger than even the largest of manticores, who are considered their closest (but still distant) extant relatives, and in fact quite heavy. Obviously, they are complete predators sound on the very peak of the ecosystems they inhabit. Their natural habitat are temperate mountain woodlands, preferably in the middle and high ranges of the forest belt. They are rarely ever seen in open areas. They are also endemic for Heraldia - they do not inhabit any other continents. Well, Heraldia is known for its bizarre beasts, both terrifying and beautiful. After all, the name of the continent means "Land of Chaos".
Anyway, time to elaborate some of the biological traits of the species, which distinguish it from any other on the planet.
- Most of the body (except for the head, neck, wings and tail) is covered with large scales, which are fused together in a continuous hide, as in snakes. Thanks to that it is sufficiently flexible to give the creature agility.
- Both sexes have large segmented crooked horns used in territorial displays, as both sexes are equally territorial. The size of the horns depends on age and power solely, not on sex, and they grow relatively slowly, so obviously this particular individual is quite ancient.
- While they have well developed sharp teeth, the front part of the jaws ends with a solid corneous beak which they use to break bones and tear through thick hides. The skin over the upper part of the beak is retractable and they use its retraction as a threat mimic. It is also covered in long thin whisker-like bristles which are quite rigid and have sensory functions. In males, there are three short red streaks on this skin, which grow brighter and more prominent in the mating season. This is pretty much the only evident way to tell males from females.
- Two rows of short, segmented appendages, each ending with a large claw, grow out from two rows of special cervical ribs in front of the beast's chest. They are flexible and can be retracted inside the mane when the beast is asleep. Do NOT ask what they are used for.
- The mane, also in both sexes, is relatively soft and fluffy (for this beast's standards at least XD ) but on the back of their neck there is a row of spikes which they can bristle up when angry, and retract.
- Additional spikes grow along the spine of the creature, in a sort of irregular pattern, but those are immobile. Basically it's Nature's way of saying, "No, you may not ride this beast". Never enough spikes sticking out of joints, either.
- The claws on the front paws cannot retract and are used mainly for grappling when they climb, for better traction and for the initial grip upon the prey they fell. The claws on the hind paws, however, can retract, which helps the scorpicore keep them sharper and ready to kill. In addition, they have a large raptor-like claw on their thumb, with which they rip open their prey.
- The wings are relatively small for the creature's size, and since they are quite massive and heavy scorpicores cannot properly fly. However, they can glide, which is handy in the mountainous areas they like to inhabit. The membrane has a characterizing pinnate outline and a camouflage-like dappled green-and-brown pattern which the scorpicores cunningly use to conceal themselves in the woodlands, which are their natural habitat. The huge claws on the front end of the wing are used for grappling on cliffs when climbing and landing from a glide.
- Finally, the tail, it has a rather complex and specialized structure. The dorsal side is slightly concave and elastic, while the ventral side is covered in large corneous slabs which keep it erect without continuous muscle work. The stinger is, naturally, venomous and the venom is in fact quite aggressive and deadly. The stinger's base, where the venomous glands are housed, is covered with a tuft of rigid needle-like bristles which can fall off and dig into the skin of whoever tries to attack and neutralize the stinger, and they do contain a small portion of venom as well, which is too small quantity to kill, but can cause a lot of pain and thus discourage attackers from going for the sting. However, scorpicores don't usually use their stinger when hunting - they save their most lethal weapon for battles with each other and with potential competitors. This has made them very fearsome even among beasts of their size and tier, ones whom many other fearsome monsters avoid to confront and flee from.

Despite all these remarkable traits, scorpicores are actually very rare. They are highly territorial and an adult individual's territory is vast, which means their population density is always extremely low. Upon encounter, scorpicores fiercely attack each other, and even in the mating season many meetings end up in a fight, which thanks to their venomous stingers can easily become deadly. They will also aggressively attack any other beasts of comparable size and power, who they feel are a potential competition for their territory. This has kinda earned them the fame of monster killers. Paradoxically, when it comes to smaller animals (including most civilized species of peoples), they are rather apathetic as they clearly don't see a threat in them, nor do they usually show any predatory interest in such small things. However, should another creature attack them, no matter how small and insignificant in their eyes, the scorpicore will react fiercely and aim for the kill without hesitation. Outside of such provoked bloodlust, if they feel their territory is safe from attackers, scorpicores are actually quite calm and sort of lazy. They are feared for both their monstrous look and power, and quick temper, but if not messed with, they are practically harmless. Of course, due to their monstrous fame they have been widely hunted, but usually only to the demise of the hunters foolish enough to provoke their wrath. They are very hard to kill, very dangerous, and practically fearless, all of which makes them a formidable foe.
Something that most people don't know is that scorpicores are actually quite intelligent. Since they are aggressive, don't like to be messed with and generally don't enjoy socializing with other species too much, it isn't often that somebody actually gets to see this, but they are smart and possess advanced analytical thinking. Presumably, they might be as intelligent as gryphons or even more. Furthermore, while it is unknown to what age they are capable of living, the length of the horns in some individuals who have been observed suggest they can possibly live for hundreds of years.

2B - 8B, polychromos pencils and ink fineliner.

No references. However, the idea for the little throat / chest extra limbs belongs to
Many thanks for letting me use these, they really complete the scorpicore's monstrosity, exactly as I wanted it.

Biology of Ætheris

Description
Meet the mighty Scorpicore!!! Aww, look at that monstrous beauty

So. I've been going back in time to my old stories, characters and creatures and look what I dug out. The Scorpicore. The story.... oh the story....
Since my early imagination started to develop from a game I really loved for its vast biodiversity of non-humanoid creatures and monsters (namely HoMM 3), I adopted many of the creatures that appeared there and put them in my own stories. While some of them are the classical mythical / high fantasy beings (like gryphons, unicorns, phoenixes, dragons etc.), some of them were a little more cryptic and less famous, but still classical (like efreeti, nagas, roc birds, hydras etc.) - and among them, the manticore. A truly beautiful creature. The manticore's upgrade (because all units also had an upgraded version) was called a scorpicore and they were pretty much the same, but tougher, faster and redder (like this: www.rpglegion.com/heroes3/mons… ). I, on the other hand, felt like this creature deserves to be something much more twisted. Thus the Scorpicore in my world was born. Of course, that was many years ago, so now as I look at the original design it's kinda eh.... meh. I decided I want to resurrect it, but in order to do that, I had to redesign the creature a bit. The main thing that I didn't quite like about it, happened to also be the reason why they were called scorpicores to begin with, in my world - because they had these giant scorpion pincers growing out from basically their armpits. Meh. No, very meh. I wanted to remove them, but if I just did, that would have left the creature far too.... ordinary (really?) - so instead, I decided I better substitute the pincers with something else, something to preserve the twistedness of the scorpicore.... but what would that be?....
That is when I thought of Rascal. It simply clicked. That was the perfect finishing touch to the scorpicore. So next thing I wrote to Whiluna....
(For reference for those unaware, Rascal is this beautifully twisted and twistedly beautiful beast: Rascal Anatomy ) I'm a bit of a fan of him, yeah, would you know :3

Aaaand so this is the final result. I am very happy with the design, including the beast's coloration. They are just as monstrous as I want them to be, twisted and scary, but they have a certain grace to them.
So now comes the biology spam. Brace yourselves

Scorpicore
(Monstrum scorpitalus)

Scorpicores belong to the hexapodal subclass of vertebrates (same as dragons, gryphs, manticores, etc.) but in a branch of their own because well.... they are like nothing else that ever lived XD They are large, a bit larger than even the largest of manticores, who are considered their closest (but still distant) extant relatives, and in fact quite heavy. Obviously, they are complete predators sound on the very peak of the ecosystems they inhabit. Their natural habitat are temperate mountain woodlands, preferably in the middle and high ranges of the forest belt. They are rarely ever seen in open areas. They are also endemic for Heraldia - they do not inhabit any other continents. Well, Heraldia is known for its bizarre beasts, both terrifying and beautiful. After all, the name of the continent means "Land of Chaos".
Anyway, time to elaborate some of the biological traits of the species, which distinguish it from any other on the planet.
- Most of the body (except for the head, neck, wings and tail) is covered with large scales, which are fused together in a continuous hide, as in snakes. Thanks to that it is sufficiently flexible to give the creature agility.
- Both sexes have large segmented crooked horns used in territorial displays, as both sexes are equally territorial. The size of the horns depends on age and power solely, not on sex, and they grow relatively slowly, so obviously this particular individual is quite ancient.
- While they have well developed sharp teeth, the front part of the jaws ends with a solid corneous beak which they use to break bones and tear through thick hides. The skin over the upper part of the beak is retractable and they use its retraction as a threat mimic. It is also covered in long thin whisker-like bristles which are quite rigid and have sensory functions. In males, there are three short red streaks on this skin, which grow brighter and more prominent in the mating season. This is pretty much the only evident way to tell males from females.
- Two rows of short, segmented appendages, each ending with a large claw, grow out from two rows of special cervical ribs in front of the beast's chest. They are flexible and can be retracted inside the mane when the beast is asleep. Do NOT ask what they are used for.
- The mane, also in both sexes, is relatively soft and fluffy (for this beast's standards at least XD ) but on the back of their neck there is a row of spikes which they can bristle up when angry, and retract.
- Additional spikes grow along the spine of the creature, in a sort of irregular pattern, but those are immobile. Basically it's Nature's way of saying, "No, you may not ride this beast". Never enough spikes sticking out of joints, either.
- The claws on the front paws cannot retract and are used mainly for grappling when they climb, for better traction and for the initial grip upon the prey they fell. The claws on the hind paws, however, can retract, which helps the scorpicore keep them sharper and ready to kill. In addition, they have a large raptor-like claw on their thumb, with which they rip open their prey.
- The wings are relatively small for the creature's size, and since they are quite massive and heavy scorpicores cannot properly fly. However, they can glide, which is handy in the mountainous areas they like to inhabit. The membrane has a characterizing pinnate outline and a camouflage-like dappled green-and-brown pattern which the scorpicores cunningly use to conceal themselves in the woodlands, which are their natural habitat. The huge claws on the front end of the wing are used for grappling on cliffs when climbing and landing from a glide.
- Finally, the tail, it has a rather complex and specialized structure. The dorsal side is slightly concave and elastic, while the ventral side is covered in large corneous slabs which keep it erect without continuous muscle work. The stinger is, naturally, venomous and the venom is in fact quite aggressive and deadly. The stinger's base, where the venomous glands are housed, is covered with a tuft of rigid needle-like bristles which can fall off and dig into the skin of whoever tries to attack and neutralize the stinger, and they do contain a small portion of venom as well, which is too small quantity to kill, but can cause a lot of pain and thus discourage attackers from going for the sting. However, scorpicores don't usually use their stinger when hunting - they save their most lethal weapon for battles with each other and with potential competitors. This has made them very fearsome even among beasts of their size and tier, ones whom many other fearsome monsters avoid to confront and flee from.

Despite all these remarkable traits, scorpicores are actually very rare. They are highly territorial and an adult individual's territory is vast, which means their population density is always extremely low. Upon encounter, scorpicores fiercely attack each other, and even in the mating season many meetings end up in a fight, which thanks to their venomous stingers can easily become deadly. They will also aggressively attack any other beasts of comparable size and power, who they feel are a potential competition for their territory. This has kinda earned them the fame of monster killers. Paradoxically, when it comes to smaller animals (including most civilized species of peoples), they are rather apathetic as they clearly don't see a threat in them, nor do they usually show any predatory interest in such small things. However, should another creature attack them, no matter how small and insignificant in their eyes, the scorpicore will react fiercely and aim for the kill without hesitation. Outside of such provoked bloodlust, if they feel their territory is safe from attackers, scorpicores are actually quite calm and sort of lazy. They are feared for both their monstrous look and power, and quick temper, but if not messed with, they are practically harmless. Of course, due to their monstrous fame they have been widely hunted, but usually only to the demise of the hunters foolish enough to provoke their wrath. They are very hard to kill, very dangerous, and practically fearless, all of which makes them a formidable foe.
Something that most people don't know is that scorpicores are actually quite intelligent. Since they are aggressive, don't like to be messed with and generally don't enjoy socializing with other species too much, it isn't often that somebody actually gets to see this, but they are smart and possess advanced analytical thinking. Presumably, they might be as intelligent as gryphons or even more. Furthermore, while it is unknown to what age they are capable of living, the length of the horns in some individuals who have been observed suggest they can possibly live for hundreds of years.

2B - 8B, polychromos pencils and ink fineliner.

No references. However, the idea for the little throat / chest extra limbs belongs to
Many thanks for letting me use these, they really complete the scorpicore's monstrosity, exactly as I wanted it.

Biology of Ætheris