Coeurl

==Overview==
The Coeurl is a creature revered, admired and feared. It is revered for its great beauty and magical prowess. Admired for its intelligence, cunning and honorable nature - and rightfully feared for their tendency to hunt only sentient prey, with humans in particular being favored by all Coeurl. Their reason for doing so is simple, Coeurls are a very peculiar breed of creatures because their pride prevents them from preying on what they deem to be lesser beings. A Coeurl believes that a creature such as itself should never degrade itself to choosing easy prey over worthy prey, and it will thus only prey upon regular creatures when no oher food source is available, or to prevent itself from starving to death.
Coeurls are extremely methodical creatures and their method of hunting reflects this, a Coeurl typically camuflages itself outside human settlements and lie in wait while employing their telepathy to silently probe the surface thoughts of each inhabitant within range. From there they employ powerful illusions and glamers to slowly lure their prey from the larger settlements and into their reach, once the victim is within their area they drop all pretenses and masquerade and show themselves to their victim in all their glory. They do this as an act of respect towards their prey; but also as a means to encourage the poor victim to run, and some especially confident Coeurls are even known to give their prey a few seconds worth of lead before giving chase, reckoning that it makes the experience more enjoyable for them.
Among all things, Coeurls are noted for their honorable behaviour and love of challenges; a Coeurl will never break its word no matter the situation (but they're very reluctant to give their word in the first place) - and is peculiar in that they will sometimes spare prey if it manages to outwit or outsmart them, or otherwise impresses them in a challenge of some sort. Such as riddles, questions and general knowledge. If they're outsmarted in a hunt (a feat which is notoriously difficult to accomplish due to a Coeurls advanced intelligence) they will not only leave their prey be but also inquire about exactly what they did wrong during their hunt, in a genuine effort to improve their skills as hunters. This is a dilemma for most however as by answering the Coeurls question they decrease the chances of survival of another victim caught within the grasp of the Coeurl.
==Information==
Coeurls are mesmerizing creatures to behold. With their sleek and graceful build, colorful satin-like coats of soft fur and perfect musculature a Coeurl make an unforgettable first impression on most that gaze upon them. But in such cases, the onlooker is rarely left alive long enough to tell others of the sight, nevertheless they can't help but be awestruck by their magnificence - but humans and other sentient creatures aren't the only ones aware of their great beauty, the Coeurls themselves are also aware of it, and seek to preserve it by never engaging in direct combat unless completely nessecary, preferring instead to employ powerful magic to defeat their foe while protecting themselves from harm.
The most striking of the features of a Coeurl besides its beauty and grace, is its excessively long whiskers, which unlike normal felines number only two, and extend back past their heads; the whiskers are like the rest of the Coeurl very colorful and vibrant, with unique markings in green, blue, red or gold. Nearing their tips, the whiskers become thinner until they end in a single sphere-like appendage at the tip itself; one for each of their whiskers. These appendages are named "Coeurl Beads" by Scholars and researchers, and its known by those knowledgeable in magecraft and wordly lore that this is the organ which enables the Coeurl to cast spells with such alarming potency, as well as the central element to employing their unique ability; Aether Burst.
Indeed, for these Coeurl Beads are capable of drawing upon and storing aether and mana over time, for the Coeurl to draw upon whenever it so pleases. The organ absorbing energy from its immediate sorroundings at a slow but sure rate, and due to their methodical and careful nature, it hardly ever is a need for a Coeurl to exhaust its resserves. The energy stored within the Coeurl Beads are typically directly proportionate to the time the creature has lived, and is also attributed to how effective it is as a hunter. The greater the hunter, the less energy do they need to employ to kill their prey, and the most powerful of Coeurls are not merely the oldest and wisest, but also the most ruthless and efficient hunters.
Coeurls move and live as a collective pack, but they all hunt for themselves and themselves alone - thus its exceedingly rare to encounter more than a single Coeurl unless one has been unfortunate enough as to accidentally stumble upon their lair, at which point nothing can save the unwitting intruder from their wrath. In these packs, the lesser Coeurls defer to the command of one Master Coeurl which is the oldest and most powerful of them all, and thus by extension also the most ruthless and efficient hunter. In their Hierarchy, their rank is based upon their knowledge and wisdom, but also heavily upon the level of energy present in their respective Coeurl Beads.
==In Combat==
Coeurls commonly prefer to eliminate their prey instanteously through their unique ability Aether Burst; which channels great amounts of condensed mana and aether through their long whiskers, culminating in a violet-colored ray of immense concussive force that springs through the air from one or both of the creatures Coeurl Beads. Should this fail however, they'll employ spells instead, primarily related to the element of lightning - as such spells can both stun and quickly incapacitate a foe, an approach they always prefer as opposed to direct combat. Coeurls only fight if they've exhausted all other options, as in doing so they draw more mana from their Coeurl Beads than what they'd be comfortable with; there's also heavy stigma associated with wasting great power on human prey.
When seriously threatened though, a Coeurl is an exceedingly formidable opponent, for each of its Coeurl Beads may be used to cast a different separate spell, which, when combined with the Coeurl itself allows the creature to cast up to three spells at once, with a very slight delay - allowing it to easily outperform and overwhelm even very powerful lone mages, whom are often forced completely on the defensive by the relentless onslaught of magic the creature launches. The reason a Coeurl does this, is tied to its dislike of wasting excess energy; prefering to start a battle by launching a single powerful barrage of mighty spellwork to instantly dispatch its opposition. Rather than to risk prolonging the battle due to its own negligence to dispose of its opponents as quickly and efficiently as at all possible. The initial barrage of magic usually consists of water, lightning and cold-related spells, as the creature is loath to ruin its meal by exposure to flames; the initial assault is almost always Watera, Thundara and Blizzara. Should its prey show particular weakness to certain spells, it will include that spell much more frequently in its assaults, likewise, if any of its opponents are resistant to a particular element, it will make use of that elements respective spells much less often - it will also note if some of its adversaries are capable of casting Nul-spells to defend against elemental attacks.
By default, a Coeurl's prefered element is lightning, as such spells are capable of instantly incapacitating adversaries without severely damaging their bodies, which makes the Coeurl's meal all the sweeter,  beyond this, lightning-elemental spells are typically much faster in movement than the other elements, which makes them uniquely suited to dispatch lone targets very quickly. Such spells may also inflict paralysis on adversaries if its channeled in the right way; and Coeurl's typically employ this ailment frequently in battle. If their lightning spells are rendered ineffective by any means, the Coeurl will instead begin to employ the element of ice, and should this fail - it will employ water. It'll only use the element of fire as the very last resort. In the highly unlikely scenario that all of their spells are ineffective, a Coeurl will typically retreat rather than rely on its natural weapons, (such as its bite, claws and physical strength), which it will only employ if its backed into a corner with no means of escape.
*Aether Burst: This ability, unique to Coeurl is a powerful spell-like ability which channels aether through the creatures whiskers to unleash a powerful torrent of raw mana on the designated target, after a brief moment of preparation. The blast takes on the shape of a coruscating violet ray of light released from any of its two Coeurl Beads. Because of it being tied to only a single of the Coeurl Beads, its fully possible for the creature to cast it twice simultaneously at two separate targets. The blast strikes with tremendous concussive force and its easily capable of defeating even the greatest of humans if they suffer a direct hit. However, due to the Coeurls desire to eat its prey whole, this attack only incapacitates, never does it directly kill, unless the creature has been angered greatly. Blue Mages whom are subjected to the Aether Burst may learn to wield its power for themselves.
Category:Magical Creature
Category:Creature