Gerunites

note: this is a private species/concept, please dont make any, they are canonically nearly extinct, you can make fanart of the existing gerunites (Grongle, Gronglita and Grunkle)

## Physical description

### Height

8.5 - 18 feet

**Gerunites** are a tier 4 carnivorous arachnid closely related to Knalriki, though they belong in the same family as Viracniar. They are nearly extinct due to the Forge's Hammer, when iztajuatl wiped out a majority of the population apart from Grongle and his family.

### Behavior

"*Large, peaceful but very traumatized, this small family of gerunites are the last of their kind. They survive and scavenge the dry wastelands for prey or carrion.*"

* There are canonically 6 gerunites left, though only 3 have been drawn, all of them belong to a family of warm-colored gerunites
* They are incapable of holding grudges, they can dislike things but they can't hold grudges for very long
* They don't have lower jaws, they scoop meat up, and can use their front horn to pick meat apart to make it easier
* They don't have one because they evolved specifically to be able to breath fire efficiently and without taking damage, if they were to have flameburst but with a softer head and lower jaw, it'd more likely damage them
* Their frills are very expressive and different!
* Before they were wiped out, some gerunites had clawed feet
* They cannot chew, they have teeth in their throat, they vibrate to chew
* They can't speak, so they dance! Some dances can be translated into letters. For example, a spin of the tail and leaning to the right means 'Grongle' or joy/violence depending on the context, while the same thing with frills pointed up means 'Gronglita', or victory

## Appearance

Gerunites are large, arachnid-like creatures. They have 4 eyes (the upper pair they use as eyebrows) and 6 legs, with the back legs being much more similar to it's inspiration. They have no lower jaw, only a helmet-like head with tooth-like mandibles. They have a long, spiky tail with a stinger at the end. Their neck, head and backside are covered with a hard exoskeleton that protects them and their weaker backlegs from damage.

## Abilities

* Flameburst is an AOE ability which allows the Gerunite to release a blast of flame in the area they're facing by pressing Q. The closer a creature is, the more they get damaged and burn.
* Bleed defense
* Poison defense
* Breath defense
* Poison
* Strength In Numbers

## Gameplay

### Pros

Gerunites have a lot of HP and defense and their flameburst ability can severely affect creatures or even one-shot low hp creatures that get too close. They're also surprisingly fast for a tier 4 and have decent enough stamina to get away from larger threats. They also have fast health regeneration, so most can escape a brutal fight without a scratch if the wound isn't too deep (why Gronglita has that scar but Grongle doesn't have any)

### Cons

Due to their low population and strong family morals, once the breeding pair dies, the rest will follow. They also have some of the worst attack damage of any tier 4, as they depend on scavenging to survive, only occasionally killing creatures when desperate.

## History

Gerunites were one of the few species that could survive in or near the volcano, their exoskeleton was so strong it could handle extreme heat, and they scavenged off the corpses of mostly sochuris and creatures that got too close. Back then, gerunites had a decently large population, only getting larger as more creatures survived near the volcano, giving them a better food source.

Then one day, they came. Creatures that crawled directly from the volcano or even from nightmares, their territory shrunk as their teeth evolved to partially break through their exoskeleton. Luckily, all the gerunites were in agreement to not attack each other, so they didn't need to worry too much..

Until the Iztajuatl arrived.

Exploding out of the volcano, they laid waste to all who faced them due to their powerful pack structures and lava-hot claws. They were growing hungrier and more desperate, they needed food, and these scorpions populated the region bordering the swamp.. How bad could just killing a few be?

Turns out, just a few weren't enough, everyone needed to be fed at all times. The gerunites at first could escape with a damaged exoskeleton, some tar blood puddles and not much else, but then they began using their axe tails to bash their exoskeleton in, killing them basically instantly as the swarm descended. They couldn't fight back, as the territories began to shrink, leaving only the warmer colors behind as they were picked off too. A smaller adult by the name of Grongle were confronted, and they struck a deal. Run, run away and never come back to the volcano, and he and his family would live.

Obviously wanting to survive, he accepted, running off to tell his family. They all escaped, escorted out by one of the iztajuatls. And they bolted for it, escaping into the far away desert, the only place that could ever compare to their home.

## Relationships

### **Hellion Warden**

Due to their endangerment, the hellion wardens of the desert regions have agreed to protecting the gerunites from sport killers or jeff hunters, the gerunite aren't aware of this however and frequently run at the sight of them

### Iztajuatl

While they respect izta, they hold a lot of trauma with them too. If they see a single iztajuatl, they often flee to the other side of the desert till everything's 100% safe

## Trivia

* design was originally made by Bruhmoment44 as a "wiki users as creatures" entry, i (sunrisethehexalios) got too attached
* no sexual dimorphism, some gerunites are born nonbinary :)
* they have black blood that's very tar-like, to the point where things can get stuck in it
* grunkle is named after grunkle stan
* grongle's parents are actually called 'victory' (gronglita) and 'reign' (grunkle), meanwhile grongle means both joy and violence

drawn by Bruhmoment44