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Description
Alright, we`re done with the weird names, but not the weird creatures!

The Uhndabathorn
Kanonodrakos skelegephyros

Over 14 m, 8 t.

A bizarre creature dwelling on the rocky banks of savannah rivers, the uhndabathorn is encased in hard, bladed armor that works as a sort of exoskeleton to support its giant neck and tail. Its skin is covered in small, shiny scales. What sensory organs it relies on is a mystery, as its eyes, radars, ears and gills are underdeveloped.
Its short powerful limbs, bearing large curved claws and strong adhesive pads, are arranged into a sort of cube shape, the raised arms being used only for defense (along with its spiked tail, which it swings by spinning around surprisingly fast). The last two corners of that cube are taken by the animal`s most striking feature - large glandular organs that function as organic flare guns. When threatened, uhndabathorn can shoot a flare of arbitrary color into the sky - or into the enemy`s face.

Living for centuries, this creature is extremely passive, but always alert. Most of the time it sits motionless at the riverside, pointing its head upstream. When a small enough galerid swims by, it swings its long neck to grab the boat-animal and throw it ashore where it`s completely helpless. The uhndabathorn`s many-chambered aspirator allows it to consume large amounts of meat very rapidly, and the leftovers are picked up by the various small animals that live on or near this nearly sessile giant.
These river-dragons are necessarily solitary, though generate an entire ecosystem around themselves. This is no hindrance for their reproduction, though, as their large blueish eggs can float on the currents, the male catching the floating clutch (of up to 10 eggs) with his tail to fertilize and letting it go again. Soft external shell soon peels to reveal long bony spines that both protect the egg and allow it to catch onto something , hopefully stopping its voyage in a suitable place. Hatching four months later, after the end of the flood season, the larvae make their way upstream. Half a year later they become terrestrial and develop armor, then their cannons, and then pick a place to call their home. They practice their hunting method on fish first, until they finally become large enough (and sexually mature) at the age of 20. For the next 70 years they continue slowly growing to their maximum size.

The uhndabathorn totem symbolizes diligence and mastery of a single job, used mainly by artisans or warriors specializing at something specific. Its bizarre anatomy promotes the mythologization of this animal, but also finds some practical uses, as its cannon organs became an inspiration for a variety of weapons and fireworks.

ambarra.wikidot.com/uhndabatho…

Description
Alright, we`re done with the weird names, but not the weird creatures!

The Uhndabathorn
Kanonodrakos skelegephyros

Over 14 m, 8 t.

A bizarre creature dwelling on the rocky banks of savannah rivers, the uhndabathorn is encased in hard, bladed armor that works as a sort of exoskeleton to support its giant neck and tail. Its skin is covered in small, shiny scales. What sensory organs it relies on is a mystery, as its eyes, radars, ears and gills are underdeveloped.
Its short powerful limbs, bearing large curved claws and strong adhesive pads, are arranged into a sort of cube shape, the raised arms being used only for defense (along with its spiked tail, which it swings by spinning around surprisingly fast). The last two corners of that cube are taken by the animal`s most striking feature - large glandular organs that function as organic flare guns. When threatened, uhndabathorn can shoot a flare of arbitrary color into the sky - or into the enemy`s face.

Living for centuries, this creature is extremely passive, but always alert. Most of the time it sits motionless at the riverside, pointing its head upstream. When a small enough galerid swims by, it swings its long neck to grab the boat-animal and throw it ashore where it`s completely helpless. The uhndabathorn`s many-chambered aspirator allows it to consume large amounts of meat very rapidly, and the leftovers are picked up by the various small animals that live on or near this nearly sessile giant.
These river-dragons are necessarily solitary, though generate an entire ecosystem around themselves. This is no hindrance for their reproduction, though, as their large blueish eggs can float on the currents, the male catching the floating clutch (of up to 10 eggs) with his tail to fertilize and letting it go again. Soft external shell soon peels to reveal long bony spines that both protect the egg and allow it to catch onto something , hopefully stopping its voyage in a suitable place. Hatching four months later, after the end of the flood season, the larvae make their way upstream. Half a year later they become terrestrial and develop armor, then their cannons, and then pick a place to call their home. They practice their hunting method on fish first, until they finally become large enough (and sexually mature) at the age of 20. For the next 70 years they continue slowly growing to their maximum size.

The uhndabathorn totem symbolizes diligence and mastery of a single job, used mainly by artisans or warriors specializing at something specific. Its bizarre anatomy promotes the mythologization of this animal, but also finds some practical uses, as its cannon organs became an inspiration for a variety of weapons and fireworks.

ambarra.wikidot.com/uhndabatho…