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Armohordon

You ask what are the Armohordons, young lady?
Quite a large beast, very good target if you hunt it. Very bad news if it hunts you.
 

Description

Armohordons, seemingly distant descendants of rhinoceros, are heavy four-legged omnivorous beasts with very thick hardened skin.
Their head is armed with sharp horn reaching up to half a meter. Their mouth is able to chew through basic plated armors.   Thanks to their teeth, they are able to bite and chew most of the natural foliage, ground, and rocks.
Their thick skin is being colored and filled with all the dirt, ground, rocks, and other things they won't digest, creating improvised armor.
  Occasionaly, a weird patterns appears on the skin. They are a result of absorption of Solid  Flow. These patterns get more vivid and concentrated over time as Armohordons naturally absorb Solid Flow and turn it into Solid Crystals. Caused as side effect of Solid presence, various sources of metals, minerals, and other tiny gems are present in the patterns.    

Diet

Armohordons can eat pretty much anything. Their digesting system takes biological nutrients to sustain the body, while anything else is then sent to the thick skin around their massive bodies.
  The most preferred diet is wood and foliage of the surrounding, resulting in their skin gaining slight camouflage traits.
   

Behavior

The Armohordons are extremely territorial. Though they won't attack on sight, if they sense prey, they start with charge.
Armohordons, which did not eat meat in some time, will enter a frenzy and dare to attack even tougher beasts.   Smaller beasts and often even Raiders can sense the tremors caused by frenzied Armohordons. A signal to move away or seek shelter quickly. The presence of frenzied Armohordons can be detected by eerie silence in an otherwise hectic environment or by unexpected aggression from otherwise peaceful animals.   Armohordons often create nests in caves and cave systems. Where they can freely eat away the stone to reinforce their skin, and create more room for themselves.
Considering their body structure, the cave system slowly created by Amohordons is steadily going deeper and deeper.
 
If you ever find yourself in Armohordon nest. Be wary. These bastards occasionaly create slides.
Getting back up is a night mare. Firstly you have hungry Armohordon chasing you, secondly, the whole slide is slipery and only good places are the footsteps etched into the tunnel.
  Each Armohordon hunts food for themselves. This makes the old most experienced and tough ones exceptionally dangerous. Old Armohordons, often patrolling the territory, do not hesitate to lash out at sight. Not only it is their job to protect the territory, but it is also their most common way of gathering food.
This behavior could be exploited to pass through the patrol. Triggering their charge, and passing through undetected.    

Hierarchy

The hierarchy of Armohordon is separated by age. The young ones are always paired with adult ones, while the oldest guard the territory.   During aging, the pattern on Armohordons armors gets more vivid and intimidating. Holders of the most intimidating patterns are often seen patrolling the Armohordon territories.
The adult and young Armohordon could be seen inside the territories passing the basics of survival.    

Spreading

Armohordons give birth in their caves deep inside their territory once per year. This occasion is recognized by patrols being enhanced by some of the adult Armohordons as well.   In the case of overpopulation, migration is triggered. This is deemed as dangerous for other places, as the Armohordons can quickly take root in areas with weaker monsters. When such a thing happens, it is imperative to root the Armohordons out before they settle.    

Relationship to other species

The extremely territorial Armohordons recognize only stronger and heavier beasts and monsters. However, they never yield their territory without a fight. Very rare battles for territory can be both bounty and certain death for Raiders.   Many species strategically run and fear them, because of the armor they are very hard to fight, and very few species are willing or even able to take the losses in numbers needed to down even small numbers of Armohordons.    

Relationship towards Raiders

Even though Raiders are small and weak compared to Armohordons and would be seen as nothing more than prey, there is hostility engraved deep in the lineage of Armohordons toward everything related to Raiders.
Due to this, they seek out to hunt and kill Raiders whenever they encounter them. Being a scourge for unprepared groups.    

Dangers, Risks, Strategy, and loot

  Armohordons are most dangerous during their charging. The horns on their heads are able to impale even through some of the toughest plates armors. Resulting in commonly crafted armors being torn as if not even there.
The mass of their body requires the full support of all four legs. Therefore as long as one does not end under the Armohordon, the head is the most dangerous.   The head is also the greatest weakness of these armored beasts. Raiders often lure unsuspecting Armohordons into their traps or ambush and then proceed with chopping the head. This strategy however requires skill and practice. Failed ambush or trap leads to massive danger for the person who is baiting the Armohordon.   Getting inside Armohordons territory requires someone agile and fast enough to disappear from the toughened old Armohordon, or skilled team that can take the patroling beasts out. Triggering their charge by letting themselves be seen might sound like easy bait, but these Armohordons did not survive for that long by falling for such tricks.
The old Armohordons do not hesitate to abruptly turn to the side and use their momentum to roll over small enemies. Their sheer weight crushing anyone unlucky enough to get caught up in this sudden maneuver. Luckily, the Armohordon is usually temporarily confused after doing that. Making them vulnerable.   The greatest risk during the hunt is encountering them in numbers. It takes about two to three Raiders to chop the head of the Armohordon. Considering the base team composition consist of five Raiders, encountering more than two to three Armohordons at once would put a big strain on the Raiders in the baiting role. Any higher amount is an instant call for a retreat for the standard parties.   If Raiders overcome the Armohordons, they can harvest their horn, which is a nice trophy and easily weaponized as a spear.
The Armohordons body mass contains a lot of meat, but it is full of fat and hard to harvest properly.
The biggest bounties are reinforced armored skins containing various materials created by the absorption of Solid Flow and the results of their diet.
The hardened skin of old Armohordons contains Solid Crystals of various sizes.

Details card


Class: Beast
Element: Solid
Material: Biological; Rock
Region: Rocky; Mountains bordering forests
Kind of damage: Bludgeoning, Piercing
Danger: Severe
Usage:
Low-Middle grade armors;
Source of raw meat;
A small source of metals
Target priority:
Target only if equipped to deal with heavy beasts.
Start of Raid: Usable as Bait for a stronger predator.
Middle of Raid: Enough time to process.
End of Raid: Only time to extract the crystal.

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