Drachs

Drachs almost exclusively inhabit The Kniqeht Mountains. Drachs are often referred to by The Kniqeht People as the fiends of the sky.

### **Physical Attributes**

The Drachs are small winged lizards, which are colored white gray or black on the bottom, and are known to have brightly colored spots on the top of their bodies. They are approximately 2-3 feet from the tip of their jaw to the base of their tail. They have short and stubby back legs with clawed feet. They have wings attached to the sides of their bodies with slightly longer claws at the tips of the wings. When fully stretched out, their wingspan will on average reach roughly 4-5 feet. They have elongated jaws, with spiked teeth. Attached to the back of their torso is a tail which will be around 1-2 feet long. Attached to the end of the tail is a barb which is known to carry a poison. They have very small and beady eyes which are almost useless during the day, and a little better than a humans vision during the night. They have large ears on the corners of their head that can rotate a full 180 degrees.

### **Behaviors**

Drachs are generally hostile creatures towards other living things. They are very territorial during the day, and known to hunt and explore during the night. They primarily feast on skrags, and humans when they can. Due to their poor eyesight, they will locate their prey using echolocation while emitting a high pitched shriek. When they locate their prey, they will either attempt to push the prey down a ledge, immobilizing it, where they will then sting it with its tail. However, Drachs are known to simply fly up and sting prey if they are particularly hungry. The venom in its tail can be strong enough to kill if the Drach is big enough, but more often, it will simply paralyze the prey. Once the prey has been paralyzed, the Drach will eat its prey, and over-engorge itself so that it will have enough to feed its young back at its nest. The adolescent ones are also known to tear off limbs and bones to use to build their nests.

When threatened, the Drachs have the ability to release a cloud of their venom. The cloud has a putrid smell, and will leave a moderate burning sensation on any exposed skin. If swallowed, it will usually cause vomiting, however rarely any long-term or deadly symptoms.

The Drachs build nests out of leftover parts from their prey. The nests will usually be built into the side of a mountain where it is difficult to access without the ability to fly. They lay around half a dozen eggs at once, and once laid the eggs will hatch in 2-3 weeks. Not much is known about Drachs due to their hostile nature, and the extreme difficulty in reaching their nests.

### **Domestication**

As far as anyone has been able to tell, drachs have always been hostile to any other creature besides their own. In fact they are often seen fighting other drachs of a different color. There is no record of drachs being domesticated in a normal sense, however there are reports of spiritual bonds being formed with drachs, usually by those on the darker side of society.

Drach venom is known to cause a very enjoyable high, usually resulting in euphoria, extreme relaxation, and occasionally mild hallucinations. Because of this, they are often hunted and milked for their venom which is either mixed with a beverage, usually alcoholic, or it is dried into a power, where it is more concentrated, and snorted. Drach venom is very popular among the Kniqeht people, however The Highest of Priests has outlawed its use.