Sun-Frilled Hellbolt (Atrocidraco Artemis)

* Sun-frilled Hellbolt

## General Info

The Sun-Frilled Hellbolt (Atrocidraco Artemis), also known simply as the Hellbolt, is the only species in the family of Hellbolts. A medium sized Eudraconid, it lives in the Withering Wastes of Eastern Elthor, nesting atop sandstone spires where it looks out across its' territory. Watching out for prey or predator with its keen eyes.

## Hunting Strategies and Social Behaviour

### Hunting

The Sun-Frilled Hellbolt possesses a truly innovative form of attack, the Hellbolt produces a piece of hardened saliva that forms in its Ignial chamber, this piece is heated to temperatures between 2700 and 3400 Degrees Celsius. It is then shot out of its long snout, which acts as a natural gun barrel, towards prey, with a maximum range of 115 metres. It has keen eyes which can calculate the exact trajectory of the bolt, even taking into account wind speed and the speed at which its prey is moving.

Their frills also aid with hunting, as they redirect sunlight away from the eyes, allowing them to keep a clear view from atop their spire, but they also make the Hellbolt invisible, sort of. When looking in the direction of the Hellbolt, all you'd see is a bright light, which is sunlight reflected by the frills, this makes them unrecognizable even for creatures with highly developed eyes.

If you were to be hit by the bolt, you would likely break multiple bones as the projectile soars through your body, melting your flesh along the way, if the Hellbolt can hit a headshot, you won’t even notice it. You could just be wandering around within less than a millisecond, you're already dead, your brain liquified and vaporized in the fraction of a second. No helmet or armour can stop the bolt and only a few materials, including Basaltscale hide is impervious enough.

If the Hellbolt does not hit a headshot, it will fly toward you and finish you off with a quick breath of its fire, which in itself is already among the most dangerous, being highly concentrated and very, *very* hot.

### Social Behaviour

The Hellbolt is a solitary creature, only when the mating period, which is in the coldest of winter (still very hot in the Withering Wastes), where the males shake their head at females whilst showing their frills, making a dazzling display for them. The female chooses the male they believe has the best displays, and is thus the fittest and strongest.

The female is always the one to guard the eggs, whilst males usually leave the female and return to their own territory. Hellbolt eggs hatch after about 19 months, after which the mother cares for her children for another three years, until the mother will leave to mate again and the children will need to hunt by themselves, which is why only an estimated 12 percent of juvenile Hellbolts reach adulthood, which happens at about the age of 19.

## Equipment

When hunting or researching the Hellbolt, the following things can be highly important:

**Sturdy Armour (Especially a helmet!)**

Hellbolt bolts are able to fly through 8 centimetres of solid iron, thus, heavy and durable armour is a must, it can be made of Basaltscale or Jadeskull hide or Archnite plate, anything else would likely not hold up against a bolt. The armour must also be fireproof, as the Hellbolt is a dangerous firebreather.

**Pike or Spear**

Hellbolt scales are very durable, thus swords or slicing weapons wont do much to the Hellbolt, the scales do, however, have small spaces in between. This makes pikes and spears very useful when hunting Hellbolt, as the tip slides in between the scales, puncturing and hopefully killing the Hellbolt.