Quagselsuyak

A Quagselsuyak seen drinking at a small icy pond on the continent of Ruhiel.

## **Description**

Quagselsuyak are an extremely rare species of mammal, native exclusively to the cold shoreline of the northern icy continent of Ruhiel. They are the only naturally remaining species of their respective family, the "Suyak" family of mammals that were once spread across the planet Haven. The Suyak's closest analog would be that of the "Rhinocerotidae" family of mammals. They only have a global population of around six hundred and are spread few and far between each other. Due to their rarity, and the extremity of their native environment, they are a fairly obscure species among the many mammal species of planet Haven, holding very little mainstream knowledge among the planet's intelligent inhabitants.

## **Physical**

The Quagselsuyak baseline physical structure is a large, quadrupedal terrestrial mammal, with massive legs standing at an average height of around sixteen feet, (four meters) and an average weight of around two thousand pounds (nine hundred and seven kilograms). Their thick layers of fur obscure their physical appearance, but they resemble a mixture of common species of equine and rhinos. It will typically take around ten standard years for a Quagselsuyak to fully grow into adulthood, and a female Quagselsuyak will typically have a litter of around five individuals young.

Their large bodies are covered in long, silk-like fur that continuously grows as the respective Quagselsuyak ages, leaving elderly Quagselsuyak to have long fur that drags along the ground as they move, as well as completely obscuring the creature from view, making them appear as a quadrupedal mass of cloth. Due to its large size, the Quagselsuyak is extremely slow, only being able to move at a maximum speed of around fifteen kilometers. However, what they lack in speed, they more than makeup for in terms of power and defense, as they are able to crush almost anything beneath their massive feet, while their skin has a tensile strength of around three thousand pounds per square inch, making an individual Quagselsuyak a walking tank.

Quagselsuyak have two front-facing eyes, two large ears on the sides of their head, and a large bulbous nose at the front of their face. Their vision range is very impressive, being able to see up to sixty kilometers in a distance, as well as being able to see through the thick amounts of fur that typically obscure their respective eyes. Their hearing range however is fairly unimpressive, only being able to hear things in close radius around themselves. Their large noses have evolved to be well adapted to pick up minute aromas within water, as the respective flora and fauna they fee upon mainly live within the waters of the frozen shorelines the Quagselsuyak inhabit.

The Quagselsuyak, as an extension of the family they belong to, hold the rather unique trait of controlling the temperature within their very blood through the use of specially designed organs specifically evolved to do so. With this, they are able to survive extremely cold temperatures, heating their blood up to one hundred degrees Celsius, though they usually do not require such extreme heat. This would also allow an individual Quagselsuyak to cool their blood up to negative thirty-seven degrees Celsius if they ever entered a hot environment, though since they exist within a colder region, they do not need this to survive.

## **Behavior**

The Quagselsuyak typically have a shared behavior of aimlessly exploring and walking across the southern Ruhiel coastlines, searching for food within the shallows of the coasts' respective waters. Their diet consists of the many species of seaweed that grow on the sands of the shoreline, as well as small fish species that swim in the shallow waters. They are a herd animal, meaning they travel in a herd, but as there are only around six hundred, there are only around twelve Quagselsuyak herds known to exist, with the largest of which only consisting of around a hundred individual Quagselsuyaks.

They are very calm and slow creatures, often times lacking much urgency in their actions and emotions. Whenever a creature attempts to attack a Quagselsuyak then they will keep a calm demeanor and counterattack the respective predator with incredible power, often times crushing the individual animal with great ease due to their incredible size and strength.

Like many other species on Haven, the Quagselsuyak form life-long bonds with their respective mate, with the two of them being inseparable throughout their entire lives. To find a mate, a Quagselsuyak will leave their respective herd, and begin to traverse to another. Then, when the two meet, a strange sort of: "meeting ritual" will commence, and the two will almost have a strange form of "conversation," and at the end of this exchange, they will both decide which of their respective herds the two of them will return to and have their litter within. Quagselsuyak also forms strong bonds with their mothers and fathers, as well as their respective young. Even when a Quagselsuyak reaches adulthood, they will remain in the same herd as their parents throughout their life, and their lineage will continue to do the same.