Laira Darkhold
Well-Known Member
CATRA’DIAMTR
SPECIES INFORMATION
Designation: Semi-sentient
Homeworld: Tra’shebs (Mandalore)
Language: Grunts, Growls, Roars, and Body Language
Average Length of Adults:
Hair color: Black, Dark Brown
Breathes: Type 1
Strengths:
Catra’diamtr have powerful eyes like a vulture or eagle, able to spot prey from high above it, and strong enough nostrils to smell blood and meat from the ground while it soars in the clouds. Its hearing is roughly just below average, a natural evolutionary defense to its own roars.
Thick red scales cover its back, head, and neck, with black coloring. These scales are tough, strong enough to resist blades and bullets, even their own talons. Their underbelly however is much softer, colored beige or gray, allowing it to blend into the clouds when observed from above.Black or brown hair is found on the back of the creature near the wings and shoulder blades. Its scales are tough, much like armored plates, and its bones are strong and lightweight, often likened to turadium in strength and resilience.
Unlike many creatures, Catra’diamtr is slightly regenerative, healing wounds quicker than normal animals. If given a few days alone with enough calories stored up, the beast will heal from all but the most grievous injuries. Some believe this is an effect of the creatures’ Force-Sensitivity.
Its tail is long and muscular, allowing Catra’diamtr to kill humanoids with a swipe of its tail, knock full grown Taakur Bev’uliik off their feet, even breaking the beast’s bones. The neck of the creature is the same, strong and armored protecting its throat from injury. Its jaws, while strong are not extraordinary for a creature its size.
Its true weapon are Catra’diamtr’s talons. Three in front, one on the back of its foot, the talons are fifty centimeters long when full grown, with razor-sharp edges and point, capable of slicing through armor weave, puncturing all but the strongest armor plates, and are hardened to the point of being considered lightsaber resistant, like Phrik or Beskar.
Arguably the most interesting part of Catra’diamtr is that it is innately Force-Sensitive. It hunts much like the Vornskr and Hrosma Tiger, able to sense Force Auras in addition to its ordinary senses. It is thus attracted to the aura created by large prey, large groups of living beings indicating an abundance of prey, but it will sometimes mistake Force-Sensitive beings for larger animals due to the rudimentary sense and is thus attracted to them.
Additionally, the animal uses its Force Sensitivity to amplify its own voice, creating a relatively weak Force Bellow when it roars. This causes a small directional shock wave to emit from its mouth capable of knocking small prey like deer off their feet, and causing a deafening sonic emission much akin to a sonic boom, capable of rupturing prey’s ear drums.
Average Lifespan:
Estimated Population: 750
Diet: Carnivorous
Communication: Vocal growls and grunts and Body Language
Culture: Semi-Sentient
Though they have no strict culture of their own as they lack sentience, they beasts are semi-sentient and their behavior is odd compared to many predators. Some believe that ancient Taung based their beliefs and behaviors off the Catra’diamtr, though archaeological evidence suggests that the creatures were not near as large at that time and evolved larger on Tra'shebs in the past several thousand years due to the abundance of food and loss of their primary competition, the Mythosaur.
Technology level: None
DESCRIPTION
General behavior:
Catra’diamtr is a roaming Predator, meaning that it doesn’t normally create nests or permanent living areas and instead simply continues moving to where prey animals are. Because of this, though the creature prefers rocky crags and high mountains, they may venture practically anywhere on a planet. They roost for the night, preferring to be up high where it can see things approaching.
While not a pack or flock animal, Catra’diamtr are known to share space with one another, so long as there is a clear dominant individual, much larger and stronger than the others in the area. It establishes dominance by roaring at the others, and they don’t interfere with its hunting or taking of prey. When the prey run low, they will simply go their own ways. When grouped together, they will band together to defend each other and each other’s young.
Despite this, they almost always hunt alone. Even if a small group of three or four attack a herd of prey at the same time, they are hunting alone, they just happen to be in the same place. They will never eat on the open plains, always retreating to a high vantage point to devour prey. This is because the beasts are more than willing to scavenge other animals fresh kills, including stealing each others and so normally feeding is done in private.
Challenges for dominance are not rare, in fact, so long as the two biggest Catra’diamtrs are roughly the same size and weight, they will fight. This is initiated when one roars and is answered by the challenger with a roar of its own. Most of these combats are to the death, with the victor devouring the loser in order to store calories long enough to heal itself, though sometimes both animals injure themselves to the point of death. The only thing that will interrupt one of these fights, is the sound of young calling for help.
Catra’diamtrs lay eggs, normally two or three per mating season, and these hatch into very small young. On average a hatchling is about a meter long and is only able to amplify its voice to call for help. When it does so, all Catra’diamtrs that hear the noise will respond protectively, not just the parents of the young, with observers noting passing beasts unaware of the nest stopping to defend it. Once the danger is over or the mother returns, she will shoo off the other defenders
The only time a Catra’diamtr will nest, is when protecting an egg and a hatchling. By the time the creature is a year old it is able to fly and will roam with the mother. While the mother has the young with it, it will not initiate challenges for dominance in an area. Almost acting communally, if the mother is unsuccessful in a hunt, a successful Catra’diamtr will share its meal with the youngling to ensure its survival. It is not uncommon for an orphaned youngling to be adopted by a different female without hesitation.
By the time the creature is eight years old, it is roughly eight meters in length, and is able to hunt on its own and begins roaming on its own for prey. Adolescent Catra’diamtrs are dangerous, being far more reckless than adults. Only Adolescents have been recording attacking larger ships in atmosphere, possibly because they are unable to use their Force Senses to differentiate large groups with large beasts. Adolescents are territorial when roosting, chasing or attacking creatures that enter their space whether hungry or not, normally suddenly as soon as the creature is noticed.
After twenty years, a Catra’diamtr reaches adulthood about sixteen meters long, however as a reptile it never truly stops growing in size so long as there is food in the area. Adults are fairly docile towards smaller prey when not hungry. They don’t kill for sport, and so long as the being respects their personal space and backs off after a few growls, the adult won’t bother with it when roosting. If however, the creature doesn’t respect its privacy, it will roar and engage. It is not uncommon for small predators to pick carcasses clean within fifty or so meters of an awake, but full Catra’diamtr.
When hunting, Catra’diamtr soar high above, normally preferring to strike from cloud cover. It will circle until it sees the prey it has chosen, be it a flying animal, herd creature, or on occasion caravan of travelers, and then will dive blindingly fast towards it. Before it reaches the prey, it will roar as loud as it can, causing the sonic blast to strike and disorient the beast. If the prey is airborne, it will extend its claws and attempt to drag it towards the ground. It is not uncommon for mountain top prey to be dragged off the mountain and dropped. In open plains, it will have to slow its descent and will thus buffet the animal with its powerful wings as it slows digging its talons into it.
Aerial combat normally consists of dives and changes, while ground combat, the creature keeps its head low to the ground and its wings folded over its chest, aware of its weak-spots, however when walking it is unable to make use of its powerful talons as it would like. They will often try to kill hunters by buffeting them with their wings and roars, and leap on top of the hunter using their talons and beak to tear them limb from limb.
History:
Despite normally hunting larger prey, such as Taakur Bev’uliik or even Ori’edee, the Catra’diamtr is not above attacking groups of humans, villages, or settlements it comes across when hungry. And because of their predatory nature, they won’t leave until prey runs short.
Thus, many settlements that are attacked either kill the beasts or move. Luckily Tra’shebs is only sparsely populated or their would be far more deaths related to the beasts.
At least one mountain range near a very fertile region of the planetoid is rumored to be home to dozens of the monsters and is avoided at all costs except by the very foolish.
While the creature is fairly territorial, it pays little attention to ships passing through that are large, though it will attack gunships and the like that get to close.
The Force-Sensitive nature of the beast has brought up many questions, though they are difficult to capture and keep in captivity for observation.
Some Catra’diamtr have been relocated, especially by Trandoshan hunters who revere the being as a demigod of the Score Keeper, created for exceptional hunters to prove their worth.
Some Mandalorians observe the species behaviour and draw comparisons to their own culture. Those that do often revere the creature as a representation the Taung based Mandalorian Culture around, though this is untrue. Regardless, the beast is revered because of its perceived distant biological connection to the Mythosaur, with many hunting the beast to prove their worth just as Ancient Mandalorians did with the city-sized Mythosaurs of old.
Notable Player-Characters: None
Intent: Its a Hunting creature, designed to be opposition of a group of hunters, and representative of Mandalorian Culture.
REFERENCES
SPECIES INFORMATION
Designation: Semi-sentient
Homeworld: Tra’shebs (Mandalore)
Language: Grunts, Growls, Roars, and Body Language
Average Length of Adults:
- Height: 4 Meters
- Length: 16 Meters
- Wingspan: 20 Meters
Hair color: Black, Dark Brown
Breathes: Type 1
Strengths:
- Wings: The creature has powerful wings which allow it to fly at high altitudes and very quickly. Its wings are designed to allow it to dive at incredible speeds and buffet wind on small prey to knock them off balance.
- Talons: The creature’s talons are razor sharp, and very durable, being considered Lightsaber Resistant. It uses these to pierce the hide of prey and other predators during hunts and fights for dominance.
- Force Sensitive: While non-sentient, the beast is innately Force Sensitive, allowing it to track prey through a type of Force Sense in which it is able to detect auras and is drawn to the aura of large prey or Force Sensitive creatures. This also augments the sound of its Roar, making it into a relatively weak Force Bellow, in which it causes a small sonic blast and a very loud, deafening noise.
- No Forearms: The creature lacks arms or forelimbs besides its wings, which it does not use to walk, manipulate objects, or really strike with. This limits its ground based attacks greatly, though its jaws and tail are still deadly, they are nothing compared to its talons.
- Underbelly: Its underbelly is soft and fleshy, with no hardened scales or such, making it weak from attacks from below.
- Alpha Predator: The King of the Skies does not kneel. It is unwilling to accept the dominance of other species and will viciously maul anything that steps up and tries to challenge it. It fights to the bitter end, and does not make friends.
- Reptilian, Avian, Predator, Force-Sensitive
Catra’diamtr have powerful eyes like a vulture or eagle, able to spot prey from high above it, and strong enough nostrils to smell blood and meat from the ground while it soars in the clouds. Its hearing is roughly just below average, a natural evolutionary defense to its own roars.
Thick red scales cover its back, head, and neck, with black coloring. These scales are tough, strong enough to resist blades and bullets, even their own talons. Their underbelly however is much softer, colored beige or gray, allowing it to blend into the clouds when observed from above.Black or brown hair is found on the back of the creature near the wings and shoulder blades. Its scales are tough, much like armored plates, and its bones are strong and lightweight, often likened to turadium in strength and resilience.
Unlike many creatures, Catra’diamtr is slightly regenerative, healing wounds quicker than normal animals. If given a few days alone with enough calories stored up, the beast will heal from all but the most grievous injuries. Some believe this is an effect of the creatures’ Force-Sensitivity.
Its tail is long and muscular, allowing Catra’diamtr to kill humanoids with a swipe of its tail, knock full grown Taakur Bev’uliik off their feet, even breaking the beast’s bones. The neck of the creature is the same, strong and armored protecting its throat from injury. Its jaws, while strong are not extraordinary for a creature its size.
Its true weapon are Catra’diamtr’s talons. Three in front, one on the back of its foot, the talons are fifty centimeters long when full grown, with razor-sharp edges and point, capable of slicing through armor weave, puncturing all but the strongest armor plates, and are hardened to the point of being considered lightsaber resistant, like Phrik or Beskar.
Arguably the most interesting part of Catra’diamtr is that it is innately Force-Sensitive. It hunts much like the Vornskr and Hrosma Tiger, able to sense Force Auras in addition to its ordinary senses. It is thus attracted to the aura created by large prey, large groups of living beings indicating an abundance of prey, but it will sometimes mistake Force-Sensitive beings for larger animals due to the rudimentary sense and is thus attracted to them.
Additionally, the animal uses its Force Sensitivity to amplify its own voice, creating a relatively weak Force Bellow when it roars. This causes a small directional shock wave to emit from its mouth capable of knocking small prey like deer off their feet, and causing a deafening sonic emission much akin to a sonic boom, capable of rupturing prey’s ear drums.
Average Lifespan:
- Young: 1-8 Years
- Adolescent: 8-20 Years
- Adult: 20-60 Years
Estimated Population: 750
Diet: Carnivorous
Communication: Vocal growls and grunts and Body Language
Culture: Semi-Sentient
Though they have no strict culture of their own as they lack sentience, they beasts are semi-sentient and their behavior is odd compared to many predators. Some believe that ancient Taung based their beliefs and behaviors off the Catra’diamtr, though archaeological evidence suggests that the creatures were not near as large at that time and evolved larger on Tra'shebs in the past several thousand years due to the abundance of food and loss of their primary competition, the Mythosaur.
Technology level: None
DESCRIPTION
General behavior:
Catra’diamtr is a roaming Predator, meaning that it doesn’t normally create nests or permanent living areas and instead simply continues moving to where prey animals are. Because of this, though the creature prefers rocky crags and high mountains, they may venture practically anywhere on a planet. They roost for the night, preferring to be up high where it can see things approaching.
While not a pack or flock animal, Catra’diamtr are known to share space with one another, so long as there is a clear dominant individual, much larger and stronger than the others in the area. It establishes dominance by roaring at the others, and they don’t interfere with its hunting or taking of prey. When the prey run low, they will simply go their own ways. When grouped together, they will band together to defend each other and each other’s young.
Despite this, they almost always hunt alone. Even if a small group of three or four attack a herd of prey at the same time, they are hunting alone, they just happen to be in the same place. They will never eat on the open plains, always retreating to a high vantage point to devour prey. This is because the beasts are more than willing to scavenge other animals fresh kills, including stealing each others and so normally feeding is done in private.
Challenges for dominance are not rare, in fact, so long as the two biggest Catra’diamtrs are roughly the same size and weight, they will fight. This is initiated when one roars and is answered by the challenger with a roar of its own. Most of these combats are to the death, with the victor devouring the loser in order to store calories long enough to heal itself, though sometimes both animals injure themselves to the point of death. The only thing that will interrupt one of these fights, is the sound of young calling for help.
Catra’diamtrs lay eggs, normally two or three per mating season, and these hatch into very small young. On average a hatchling is about a meter long and is only able to amplify its voice to call for help. When it does so, all Catra’diamtrs that hear the noise will respond protectively, not just the parents of the young, with observers noting passing beasts unaware of the nest stopping to defend it. Once the danger is over or the mother returns, she will shoo off the other defenders
The only time a Catra’diamtr will nest, is when protecting an egg and a hatchling. By the time the creature is a year old it is able to fly and will roam with the mother. While the mother has the young with it, it will not initiate challenges for dominance in an area. Almost acting communally, if the mother is unsuccessful in a hunt, a successful Catra’diamtr will share its meal with the youngling to ensure its survival. It is not uncommon for an orphaned youngling to be adopted by a different female without hesitation.
By the time the creature is eight years old, it is roughly eight meters in length, and is able to hunt on its own and begins roaming on its own for prey. Adolescent Catra’diamtrs are dangerous, being far more reckless than adults. Only Adolescents have been recording attacking larger ships in atmosphere, possibly because they are unable to use their Force Senses to differentiate large groups with large beasts. Adolescents are territorial when roosting, chasing or attacking creatures that enter their space whether hungry or not, normally suddenly as soon as the creature is noticed.
After twenty years, a Catra’diamtr reaches adulthood about sixteen meters long, however as a reptile it never truly stops growing in size so long as there is food in the area. Adults are fairly docile towards smaller prey when not hungry. They don’t kill for sport, and so long as the being respects their personal space and backs off after a few growls, the adult won’t bother with it when roosting. If however, the creature doesn’t respect its privacy, it will roar and engage. It is not uncommon for small predators to pick carcasses clean within fifty or so meters of an awake, but full Catra’diamtr.
When hunting, Catra’diamtr soar high above, normally preferring to strike from cloud cover. It will circle until it sees the prey it has chosen, be it a flying animal, herd creature, or on occasion caravan of travelers, and then will dive blindingly fast towards it. Before it reaches the prey, it will roar as loud as it can, causing the sonic blast to strike and disorient the beast. If the prey is airborne, it will extend its claws and attempt to drag it towards the ground. It is not uncommon for mountain top prey to be dragged off the mountain and dropped. In open plains, it will have to slow its descent and will thus buffet the animal with its powerful wings as it slows digging its talons into it.
Aerial combat normally consists of dives and changes, while ground combat, the creature keeps its head low to the ground and its wings folded over its chest, aware of its weak-spots, however when walking it is unable to make use of its powerful talons as it would like. They will often try to kill hunters by buffeting them with their wings and roars, and leap on top of the hunter using their talons and beak to tear them limb from limb.
History:
Despite normally hunting larger prey, such as Taakur Bev’uliik or even Ori’edee, the Catra’diamtr is not above attacking groups of humans, villages, or settlements it comes across when hungry. And because of their predatory nature, they won’t leave until prey runs short.
Thus, many settlements that are attacked either kill the beasts or move. Luckily Tra’shebs is only sparsely populated or their would be far more deaths related to the beasts.
At least one mountain range near a very fertile region of the planetoid is rumored to be home to dozens of the monsters and is avoided at all costs except by the very foolish.
While the creature is fairly territorial, it pays little attention to ships passing through that are large, though it will attack gunships and the like that get to close.
The Force-Sensitive nature of the beast has brought up many questions, though they are difficult to capture and keep in captivity for observation.
Some Catra’diamtr have been relocated, especially by Trandoshan hunters who revere the being as a demigod of the Score Keeper, created for exceptional hunters to prove their worth.
Some Mandalorians observe the species behaviour and draw comparisons to their own culture. Those that do often revere the creature as a representation the Taung based Mandalorian Culture around, though this is untrue. Regardless, the beast is revered because of its perceived distant biological connection to the Mythosaur, with many hunting the beast to prove their worth just as Ancient Mandalorians did with the city-sized Mythosaurs of old.
Notable Player-Characters: None
Intent: Its a Hunting creature, designed to be opposition of a group of hunters, and representative of Mandalorian Culture.
REFERENCES
