Tarrasque

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tarrasques are gargantuan beasts. Similar in appearance to a strange mix of lizard, mammal, and crustacean, these beasts can grow to sizes of well over 15 meters in height and 20 meters in length, their entire body covered in a mix of hard scales and mineral shells. 
They are quadrupedal animals with two hindelimbs that serve for locomotion and two forelimbs that serve for locomotion and manipulation, all four being located on the underside of their body like the limbs of bovines and caprinae. The fifth limbs of the Tarrasque is the tail they have located just above their anus. This tail is prehensile and ranges in size from 5 to even 10 meters on adults, only to end in an ever slimming point that ends in a minuscule, diamond hard scale that they use as the tip of their whip like tail.
The back of their entire body is covered in a grey-brown shell similar in design to that of a turtle, being made up of overlapping plates and such, but which can endure massive amounts of damage due to it being made up of minerals and ores such as adamantine and aururum. This shell is covered with dozens of large and sharp thorns that point backwards. The shell on the head of the Tarrasque is a bit thinner than the rest of the body but has two larger and stronger thorns on the forehead that point forward and serve the same purpose as horns.
The skull of Tarrasques is similar in shape to that of hippos but has two bone spikes on both end points of the jaw line. Their dental structure consists of 2 to 4 rows of long, relatively thin, needle like teeth perfectly adapted to break stone and bone while shredding the ground and flesh around them. Their eyes are located on the side of their face and are quite small compared to the rest of their bodies, giving them poor vision, with their earholes located just above these and their nostrils located on the front of their box-like snout.

Genetics and Reproduction

During the season of the Tar colored eggs, do not tread on the paths of gem if thou doesn't wish to be trampled under the feet of the children of the Tar. -The underdark gazeteer Verin Never-spring 1235 B.C

Tarrasque reproduction is oft aptly described as ''An orgy of blood, flesh, and magma''. This description derives from how Tarrasque females will attack and pin down males in the magma pits of the underground when in heat only for the male to constantly attempt to get out from under the larger female via biting, scratching, and whiplashes, oft taking off many pieces of his own and her flesh. 


After this gory carnal embrace, the female will lay up to 5, black, almost perfectly round eggs covered in a black, acidic sludge, that protects the egg as well as melts the rock around them for the newborn to feed on, deep within the mantle of the planet. These eggs will hatch after 2 years of incubation, with the parents having left the eggs long before that, after which the newborns will feed on the rock and metals that the sludge of their eggs liquefied.

Growth Rate & Stages

Tarrasques go through a long life cycle, with the latter portions being reached by almost no Tarrasques who grow up on their home-world of Bator, that can take centuries to complete. 
After hatching from their 2 year incubation in their acid-covered eggs, the newborn Tarrasques will feed on the softer minerals and smaller fauna of the underground for the next 20 years of their lives. After these 20 years underground, the Tarrasques will turn on one another and devour one another, ascending to the surface afterwards, bellies full of their siblings, to join a small apocalypse of Tarrasques in the sun. 
For the next 500 years the Tarrasque will slowly grow both in size and regenerative ability, increasing in power and danger because of it. Up until they are fully grown, Tarrasques are not the immortal beasts of the end-times they are oft considered in legend. They are still monstrous beasts that can cut cleanly through entire armies and cities, but with enough damage done to them they will fall. Due to this, alongside the aggressive and cannibalistic behavior of the species, almost no Tarrasque on Bator has actually reached adulthood, with that privilege having been reserved for isolated individuals on other Spheres and a few legendary creatures that were, in some form, special or moved away from the dangers of their own kind. 
After reaching maturity, the Tarrasque becomes a true beast of myth. Immortal, powerful, enormous, and unquestionably ravenous in its hunger.

Ecology and Habitats

Tarrasques are a migratory species, moving from one end of the planet to the other in a matter of years. This pattern is what allows biomes to recover after an Apocalypse of Tarrasques move through them. This also means that Tarrasques are not, necessarily, adapted, nor do they favor, any specific environment. They do, however, inhabit a specific area within the planet's mantle, oft in the deeper parts of the Underdark. These habitations are more oft than not simply a patch of ground that the Apocalypse finds favorable within which they will rest between their rampages, gliding towards and away from the patch at their leisure.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Tarrasque are omnivores. They can, quite literally, eat anything and everything. From rocks to meat to bone to plants to metals to even Artifacts, the Tarrasque stomach can make use of literally anything the beast would want to eat.

Biological Cycle

Tarrasques have a... unique cycle to their behavior. You see, an individual Tarrasque will likely not actually feed oft in a short period of time. Actually, most do not eat more than a single time within a decade. An Apocalypse of them can still be a ravenous horde when put together, but individually Tarrasques do not actually suffer much from the aches of hunger. 
When a Tarrasque does hunger, tho, this will be an immense one, as is befitting of a beast the size of a small cathedral that has not eaten in a decade, and they will go on rampages that can last for months. When this hunger is finally sated, the beast will return to the earth from whence it came to hibernate. This hibernation is, in general circumstances, 40 times the time it spent active, so if it were to be active for 4 months it would spend 16 years asleep, and is, thankfully and again in general circumstances, indisputable meaning the beast could not be woken from its slumber until it did so on its own. 
After this slumber, the Apocalypse will awaken and rise to wherever their alpha is facing towards when they awaken, proceeding to feed for the next few weeks or months only to return to slumber once more.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Tarrasque Apocalypses are simple in their make-up. They are generally small groups ranging from 5 to 10 Tarrasques, with a single alpha female, a set of her breeding mates, and with the remaining members being made up of the alpha's children and a few strays that were picked up by the Apocalypse. A female in the Apocalypse can ascend to become the Alpha by killing the current Alpha, after which the new alpha will chase out the mates of the previous Alpha before selecting new ones for herself from the adopted strays.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Whenever a Tarrasque is actually captured by mortals, it can be used for a variety of purposes. In ancient times the Tarrasqueborn theocracy used to release them onto enemy armies after calling back their own, having the beasts eliminate their enemies, for example.

Average Intelligence

Tarrasques are not very intelligent. They are mainly driven by instinct and, while they do form groups called Apocalypses, they tend to obtain food and fight threats through brute force rather than complicated tactics or wit

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Tarrasques are very perceptive of their surroundings. While they have rather poor vision and are colorblind they have an amazing sense of smell, can sense the vibrations around them when moving through the earth, and have a supernatural awareness of the Chaotic energies of the world to the point where they can sense the approach of a threat up to 40 metres away, even while asleep.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

In the past, many creatures, particularly Gnolls, would follow the Tarrasque Apocalypses around and prey on the weakened lands that were left in its wake or would nest within their shells when they slumbered. In the present, however, no species has filled the void left in that relationship after The Collision, leaving the Tarrasque alone in their rampages.

Scientific Name

Né du tar

Lifespan

75 years

Conservation Status

The species is heavily endangered, with only small pockets of Tarrasques existing across the Abandoned Realm, a few in the Shadowfell, a single one in the Feywild, just three in Thoughtshine, and besides that a single individual exists on a few other worlds

Average Height

15 metres

Average Weight

90,000 kilogram

Average Length

19 metres

Average Physique

The Tarrasque is a mountain of muscle and stone. With a body-type and gate reminiscent of a mix between a feline and a tortoise, their bodies are very top-heavy, with the hindlimbs and rear being thin compared to the chest and frontlimbs all the while still being towers of flesh and carapace.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The body of a Tarrasque is similar in color to sandstone or granite, with the flesh of the beast being on the lighter side and closer to the color of desert sand while the carapace is much darker and closer to the color of granite. 
The shell on the back of the Tarrasque is covered in minor pieces of gem which, from a distance and in contrast to the rest of the carapace, resemble tiny stars and which give it a glimmering shine when it is hit by magic or in direct sunlight.

Geographic Distribution

• Shadespace
• The Abandoned Realm
• The Pit of Tar
• Thoughtshine