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Description

Alternate Title: Denizen of the Swarm

About the Species
J'morenth (literally "Black Shield" in the spaceborn language) are rat sized, hive-minded predators native to the inhospitable planet Urtin-Dyn. Most of the time, they remain dormant in the volcanic regions of the planet, but once a year, they come above the surface to feed.

They travel in swarms, 300-1000 members strong, biting with their mouths full of razor-sharp teeth and clawing with their long nails. They eat any creature in their path and have been known to strip a human-sized creature to the bone in less then a minute. It is rumored that a large swarm can kill and pick clean a Turanden, the 200 foot tall alpha predator of the planet... though nobody has ever dared get close enough to a swarm to find out.

It has been recorded in Azura't'oris history that packs of J'morenth have wiped out entire colonies of early settlers to the planet.

The air is full of their call, a screeching chatter used to communicate with the swarm... but also serves as a warning to any creatures nearby, although most creatures aren't fast enough to get out of their way.

Their skin is covered with a thick membrane that protects them from the lava and molten rock of their volcano home. Their faces are flat and the crests on their heads are rock hard and act as a shield to protect their bodies from the flailing claws and teeth of their prey.

The markings on the crest reseble a face to scare off would-be predators if the J'morenth becomes separated from the swarm as a single J'morenth can become easy prey for predators.

Food that is not eaten right away is brought back the the queen and workers or stored for consumption later. Like a bee hive, the queen is the only member of the hive that lays eggs, which require to be set in small pools of lava to hatch.

About the actual picture
I've been wanting to get some of my more obscure alien species down onto paper. In particular, the native species of Urtin-Dyn as that planet has some of the more unique looking species in my universe.

Funky head crest inspired by the Xenomorph queen of the alien movies.

Species & Image © 2010 Traci Vermeesch-Vezina
Please DO NOT copy, alter, repost, etc without the consent of the artist! Character/Image are NOT public domain!

Description

Alternate Title: Denizen of the Swarm

About the Species
J'morenth (literally "Black Shield" in the spaceborn language) are rat sized, hive-minded predators native to the inhospitable planet Urtin-Dyn. Most of the time, they remain dormant in the volcanic regions of the planet, but once a year, they come above the surface to feed.

They travel in swarms, 300-1000 members strong, biting with their mouths full of razor-sharp teeth and clawing with their long nails. They eat any creature in their path and have been known to strip a human-sized creature to the bone in less then a minute. It is rumored that a large swarm can kill and pick clean a Turanden, the 200 foot tall alpha predator of the planet... though nobody has ever dared get close enough to a swarm to find out.

It has been recorded in Azura't'oris history that packs of J'morenth have wiped out entire colonies of early settlers to the planet.

The air is full of their call, a screeching chatter used to communicate with the swarm... but also serves as a warning to any creatures nearby, although most creatures aren't fast enough to get out of their way.

Their skin is covered with a thick membrane that protects them from the lava and molten rock of their volcano home. Their faces are flat and the crests on their heads are rock hard and act as a shield to protect their bodies from the flailing claws and teeth of their prey.

The markings on the crest reseble a face to scare off would-be predators if the J'morenth becomes separated from the swarm as a single J'morenth can become easy prey for predators.

Food that is not eaten right away is brought back the the queen and workers or stored for consumption later. Like a bee hive, the queen is the only member of the hive that lays eggs, which require to be set in small pools of lava to hatch.

About the actual picture
I've been wanting to get some of my more obscure alien species down onto paper. In particular, the native species of Urtin-Dyn as that planet has some of the more unique looking species in my universe.

Funky head crest inspired by the Xenomorph queen of the alien movies.

Species & Image © 2010 Traci Vermeesch-Vezina
Please DO NOT copy, alter, repost, etc without the consent of the artist! Character/Image are NOT public domain!