Desert Dragons

My version of a Desert Dragon for the Legacy of the Night role playing forum created by . The specific thread was created by the person thewhitecoyote about certain creatures in a desert territory, and one of them was the sand dragon.

So, while bored, I decided to draw my own version of the sand dragon, and I made this guy. This is what happens when you stare at countless pictures of Komodo Dragons and huge black bulls.

COUNTLESS references were used, especially on the muscular frontal half of this beast, and I am SUPER proud of myself for making something so badass. >)


Species Info (WARNING, VERY LONG (based off of the information setup from the Legacy of the Night Creature Creating Thread)):

• Name Of Creature:
Kahaya “Bull snake”
Ka (Kah) which means “Bull” in Ancient Egyptian and Haya (hay-ya) which means “Snake” in Arabic.
(This sounds Hawaiian for some reason. Dx If someone can come up with a better name for this creature let me know.)

• Other names for it:
Sand Serpent, desert dragon, desert cow, or the kúsi (What Torbjörn calls them, meaning “Person who inspires fear or dread” in Old Norse).

(Again, if anyone else can come up with a name, tell me.)

• Detailed Description of its Looks:
The kahaya is a distant cousin to the monstrous sand dragon. Unlike its cousin, the kahaya is much tougher with thicker, pricklier skin. Its skin is similar to that of a horned lizard with sharper, shorter spikes. Along its upper sides are hooked talons that face towards the back end of the animal. This helps the creature somewhat from having its spine bitten at from other kahayas or anything else that tries to attack at its sides. The spikes along its spine from the back of the head also protect the back of the neck and spine but then ends about a fifth of the way down the tail. The tail acts like a whip against anything that is behind it.

• The beast’s frontal half is very muscular and tough. The feet face slightly outward and its strides are heavy and lugged. When it hunts it moves with soft movements while lifting its toes up slightly to prevent the long claws from scraping too noisily against the stones. When it goes for the pounce, it prefers to leap at the prey from a short distance so that it may crush its body weight down on top of it to stun or severely injure. When it fights, it prefers to face its prey head on, like most animals, but it will lower its head and charge forward with wild, thrashing movements. Male kahayas charge forward and if they miss, most of the older ones will turn their body sharply sideways so that their tails will club the individual over. The males also prefer to stand with its head up as high as it can with its enormous jaws wide open to protrude its lethal, six inch long canines and other shorter needle like teeth to intimidate the other. Its lips pull at least two inches up above the gum line to show more of the gums and teeth. Males, when fighting for territory or mating rights, are seen with their mouths open at one another at very close distances for one to make the first move or to scare the other away. Because of having a large chest and body, the creature breathes heavily and is sometimes heard. When it is hunting it seems to breathe shallowly, but its mouth hangs slightly open in order to breathe more quietly.

• The eyes of the kahaya are located on the sides of its head, allowing it to see things in front and slightly behind it like most herbivores. This is caused by a rough evolution of being the prey animal before eventually becoming the hunter. The eyes of the kahaya are slits in daylight hours and become rounder at night to adjust to the darkness. Since the creatures are out in the desert, their eyes have developed an array of oranges like that of the African Elephant’s.


• What level would this be clasified as?:
It is on the borderline of Intermediate and Advanced depending on how the individual learns from these creatures and their ways.

• List some abilities:
The kahayas are fairly good climbers since they mainly live in the rockier outcrops of the Parado. Their strength is incredible with an average speed of about 30-40 mph, but they are somewhat slow to accelerate. They can run long distances because of their build and their eyesight, although mediocre in the daylight, are exceptional during the nightly hours. The tusks on the front of their jaws act like diggers against the hard, dry earth so that it may keep its claws nice and sharp for hunting and defense. Females usually use this tool to dig out the side of a soft mound of dirt or even a huge, underground burrow during mating season that goes down in a steep arch many feet down before sharply turning upward and over a large step to where she’ll lay her eggs for protection against predators and the heavy rain showers that visit rarely every year.

• Height:
Male kahayas grow to range in height from five to nine feet in height.
Females are shorter than the males and range from five to six feet high.

• Weight:
Males weight between 7,900 to 15,000 pounds.
Females weight between 6,000 to 9,800 pounds.

• Body Build:
The kahaya males are more heavily built than the females. Both male and female have large, broad and slanted shoulders with a collarbone to allow it to reach out to its sides and climb up walls better. Their upper halves, especially the necks, are thick in muscle and round (a little more oval for females) so that smaller animals biting down on them have trouble holding on, especially if the creature starts swinging about and their scales are starting to dig into their gums. Their back legs are a little slimmer than the front since it was built as more of a charger and fighter than a runner.

• Strengths:
Incredible strength and biting power. Their bites can easily crush bone and their sharp, razor teeth make it easier to rip things apart. Males sharpen their horns on rocks while both male and female sharpen their tusks, which will make each gender even more lethal when attacking. Their aggressive nature makes them dangerous to be around, especially during their mating season. Their eyesight at night makes hiding from them literally impossible unless they are very well camouflaged. Their sense of smell if fairly strong, but in daylight hours they don’t normally go sniffing about.

• Weaknesses:
During the daylight hours the kahaya’s eyesight is mediocre and can’t see very long distances. They are practically unseen during the hottest hours of the day as they lay basking in the shade. Where the bottom jaw connects with the neck is a much thinner area of scale-less skin to make it more comfortable to open and close their terrible mouths. Around the armpits, lower belly, and groin area are also soft spots. If someone possessed sharp tools they can more easily pierce the hide of the beast, but the force of the blows must be strong. Females are not as bright as males, and if their eyes are covered they will go into a mad frenzy by sprinting forward and bucking, and this method could be used to run them into walls. If a male is blindfolded they will kick and whirl about on the spot and will usually rely on their sense of smell to figure out where they are.

• For males, if a hunter encountered a male that is gaping its mouth open towards them in a threatening display, they could take the opportunity to try and shoot a weapon down its throat and wound it internally. Although, if they attack and the creature is smart enough to close its mouth or not open it at all, the sudden assault will cause the creature to charge.


• Habitat:
The kahaya live in the rockier areas of the Parado Desert and mostly in the tall rock structures that litter the desert. Females dig burrows before and during mating season if it is their first time, and males usually go around marking their territory or scraping their tusks and horns against the stones in slashes for the outskirts of their territory to straight up and down lines to warn others that they are getting too far into their land, and the second set of marks usually appear at least thirty feet inward or wherever the next large boulder is located beyond that.

• Relations To Other Species Including its Own:
It is related to the Sand Dragon, its taller, more distant cousin with just as frightening appearance. The male kahayas usually travel along unless they are adolescent in which they travel in twos. Females vary in groups of two to four and lay about one to three eggs, so usually the oldest looking one in a pod is possibly the mother.

• Creature Rivalry:
Kahaya’s are very territorial creatures and will chase out anything they consider a threat to the very outskirts and even beyond. Because of elusive involvement for many years, the kahaya’s are super aggressive towards them, the males becoming the most ballistic if they are caught before they have a chance to sneak up on the intruder from the rocks. The creatures, with a mild amount of intelligence, have been able to pick up on the scent of an elusive compared to that of whatever animal they are trying to look at. Although, the creatures don’t usually make this discovery unless an elusive has been standing in a spot for so long or have left a strong scent marking behind.

• Is it A Pray/ Predator Animal:
100% carnivore.

• Diet:
The kahaya eats anything it can gets its teeth on, but it mostly enjoys to hunt after larger desert animals that travel in herds. Since they blend in so well with the sand, if a herd gets too close to a rocky outcrop the kahayas will crawl around so that the herd is between them and the rocks. They then charge and, if successful, they will corner at least one animal to which they will instantly kill.

• Do Elusives Eat it Or Not:
If the Elusive was in the wrong place at the wrong time, then yes. If an elusive is out in the open by itself, depending on how close the kahaya is it will charge and try to take down the elusive as food. If the elusive is in a group, then usually the kahaya will with slink away if the heat of the day is too strong, or it will charge from a far distance to see if it can frighten away the group. Most of the time though, the bull will place itself in the middle of the group and try to kill everyone around it.

• Personality:
The males are smarter than the females. Females can usually be more easily lead into a trap or charged into a wall or over a cliff than the males, who are very hard to trick. The females, however, will slowly sway their heads and tails back and forth in slow movements like a serpent if they believe that they cannot win a fight to try and scare the other away. They will also make chilling hissing noises to go along with it to greater its change of chasing something away. The females, if protecting their nests and younglings (for up to three years), will be even more aggressive than the males, and usually the males will stay clear of them.

• Additional Info:
…They can kill you?





Enjoy!



Art and design (c) me
Idea of wingless dragons in the desert (c) The White Coyote
Texture (Background) I got from here: [link]