Asilera, the False-Legged Snake

==Overview==
These creatures are terrifying. About the size of an ice aershaa height wise, they can be anywhere from ten to fifteen feet long and weigh up to a ton. The body represents a tape worm, long and flat. There are several gaping holes, filled with puss and lined with down-ward facing spikes, that it can open and close on its back at will. They are commonly called "back mouths" but are actually large pores with a special bacteria creating the spikes.
They stand on three legs, two at the back and one at the front, at the point where the chest and lungs meets the neck. Their necks are long and prehensile, able to swing around at great speeds, like a snake.
Their heads are small, but deadly. They have huge eyes that vary in two colours, depending on where the creature lives. The northern creatures have white eyes while the western variety have black eyes. These eyes cannot actually see and are usually used as a technique for confusion. They have large holes for mouths, from which grow two sets of jagged pincers. Set in the middle of these pincers is a circular ring of teeth, leading right into the creature's acidic intestine. Spurting from the creature's head to help it smell the air are a set of feather-ended antenna, exceptionally sensitive to sound waves.
The creature's name, however, comes from its tail. The tail is connected to a club of limbs that, like an earthen chameleon, drop off. The creature uses these legs, which resemble those of a deer, to its ambush strategy when hunting.
The creature can reach speeds of fifty km/h, using its strong back legs to push and its single front to pull. This front leg also acts as a tripod to support the head and spine of the animal. It has a call that ranges between a trumpeting elephant and a lion's roar, which it makes through its cavernous mouth. They come in several colours, but its commonplace to see stripes of either red or white on a darker skinned body.
==Diet==
Carnivorous.
==Habitat==
These creatures are known only in two places- The snowy north, and the deserts of Sundast. They are ambush predators, so they need soft ground cover, like snow and sand. It is debated what kind of animal the Asilera would fall under, as they have no fur or mammary gland, but seem to control their own heat in both their climates. There have been few recordings by humans but aershaa, which are its main source of food, must always beware these creatures.
==Lore & Culture==
The creature seems to thrive in the element opposite it lives in. The western Asilera come out only at night, when it is cooler, while the northern species comes out in the day. Both have matching hunting methods though. They will find a popular place for aershaa to travel and snap one of their many false legs off. When removed, these limbs give off a freshly killed scent. The creature will bellow, imitating a predator who has just killed. Then, it will bury itself underground and lie in wait under the dropped leg. It is then that the creature's back mouths will open. Any aershaa attracted to the smell of the fresh, abandoned kill risks stepping into one of these traps. Once stuck, it is impossible to get out. It is then the creature will rise up and flay the creature with its pincers.
But if the aershaa does not step in one of the holes, the creature has another method. It will rise out of the ground and try to snag its kill in its pincers, using its eyes and body to shock and stun the aershaa. If it has a chance, it will put the aershaa into one of its back mouths itself.
Category:animals