Akhlution

**Akhlution** is an aquatic fanged beast found in the **Glacial Shorelines**. Its super-heated metabolism makes its arctic environment a rather cozy one, but it also fuels its insatiable appetite, both for food and battle.

## Appearance

Akhlution stands out among fanged beasts by having a very similar body plan to that of a Leviathan. It has a slender physique with large forelimbs and small back limbs, a nimble neck ending in a blunt-snouted head and a finned tail. Its fur is black with spots and patterns of white, but it's tail, dorsal fins, belly, lower side of the neck and tip of the snout have an orange warm glow.

## Abilities

Along with it's immense agility and aquatic mobility, its main weapon is the ability to super-heat the orange parts of it's body. When it does so, being in contact with them will burn, and any hits from them will inflict fireblight. It can use this ability to slide over the melted ice with great agility and burrow through the glaciers beneath it, leaving a veil of steam which blocks the hunter's visibility. When in the ice, it will either try to hit the hunter with its dorsal fins, or surface to try and snatch them up, clouding itself in steam to make it more difficult to tell what it's follow-up attack will be. Its roar is also powerful enough to shatter eardrums, so high-grade earplugs are a must to block it.

## Behavior

Akhlution is a very aggressive monster, taking no territory for it's own and instead roaming constantly in search of food. It's metabolism demands copious amounts of fuel, which it is luckily well-built to get thanks to its quick ambush tactics. Surprised prey rarely even gets to see what attacked them from all the steam before they're already mince meat. Should a fight not go their way though, they'll not bother expending more energy and attempt to escape in a cloud of steam. Do not be fooled however, they will always first fight before flight.

## Interactions

They will almost always immediately engage the hunter, seeing them as prey. Encountering them near a carcass while they're eating will cause them to try and intimidate the hunter with low rumbling and a display from their fins, and they won't attack if the hunter backs off. They'll hunt small monsters in the area any chance they're given, usually taking one from a group before letting the rest go. When not hunting, they're resting, curled up on top of glaciers sunbathing, surrounded by a thin, low cloud of steam.

-Turf Wars: More on this when we get more monsters for this area.

## Combat

Akhlution will use their claws and tail when fighting, sometimes following up claw swipes with bites or headbutts depending on if superheated or not. They will actively track the hunter while sliding or burrowing in ice, and when they get out of the ice they will always follow it up with an attack, be it an immediate slide, hopping tail swipe followed by a bite or headbutt, or roaring, which will clear the steam and hurt hunters nearby.

Their orange spots are their weakness, becoming even weaker while superheated. Their claws and tail when not superheated however, are tougher, and hitting them will deal less damage. One can trick them into burrowing out of the side of an iceberg should it be at a higher elevation, which will cause them to start falling before catching themselves and climbing back up, allowing the hunters a chance to breathe. Same cannot be done while sliding, however.

Their head, front limbs and back are breakable, and their tail can be severed.

## Equipment

Its armor is inspired by traditional Inuit clothing and arctic exploration gear. It gives buffs to handling the cold, and allows its wielder to be resistant to ice damage and melt out of snowman much quicker. It's weapons have the fire element, and are all modelled after Inuit hunting equipment.

## Notes

* It's based on the Akhlut, an mythological creature from Inuit folklore that is a mix of orca and wolf, and said to be incredibly vengeful.
* Its resemblance to a Leviathan was an accident, funnily enough!

## Credits

* Matkoc, for the original idea, ecology and illustrations.
* Deviantart Matkoc Link