Arrak (uhh-rack)
(a.k.a. Mongolian Death Worm)
A sandworm kaiju inhabits the Gobi Desert, serving as a protector and observer of the arid climate.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
The kaiju is pure muscle and capable of crushing as well as constricting its enemies to death like a boa. Its bite force is immense and one of the strongest on Earth, with the rough sandpaper-esque baleen bristles in its mouth cutting the flesh and skinning metal. The kaiju itself feasts off bacterial and decomposing material in the soil, rarely hunting along the surface.
Body Features
Arrak is more agile underground than on land itself, capable of digging around and beneath its opponent. All sandworms possess immense strength, but the kaiju's enhanced evolutionary prowess allow it to dig even through the strongest of rock, metal, and diamond. Though the fin on its back functions like that of a shark's as it navigates the surface, it also serves as an intimidation display for intruders or opponents.
Physical quirks
Just like normal worms, sandworms are capable of regenerating damaged parts of the body but will not generate two different worms if sliced in half. The claim itself is nothing more than an urban legend or myth.
Special abilities
Like all other kaiju, Arrak also possesses an advanced healing factor, able to heal damaged body parts that would be unsalvagable for normal animals. Its pure muscular form and thick resistant hide can shrug off conventional human artillery and stand up to more unconventional mecha weaponry. Its regenerative healing abilities plus the advanced amniotic-addled DNA and natural regenerative abilities all worms possess have made Arrak immortal, only killable via starvation or another kaiju.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
- Species description: Gigahelminthes olgoikhorkhoi
- Biological basis: Sandworm
- Diet: Omnivorous
Sandworms were often hunted throughout history by many forces such as the Achaemenid Empire, the Argonauts, and the forces of Alexander the Great, playing a prominent role in ancient Mediterranean history. Public perception of the cryptid was incredibly low, and they were often slaughtered with little remorse because of their perceived unnerving appearance. Attitudes began to change with Pharaoh Cleopatra VII, who extended her reverence for normal earthworms to the sandworms as well. Thanks to her care and convincing of Julius Caesar, the sandworm population began to recover. However, the protections extended to them began to waver after the death of her and Marcus Antonius. Sandworm populations began to nosedive with the rule of Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasianus, who ordered them to be captured for battle within the Flavian Amphitheater - now simply known as the Colosseum. The cryptid species was the most common one to be fought and killed, which quickly returned them to endangered species status. Eventually, the sandworms disappeared from Rome entirely, with populations surviving far out into the East.
One specific sandworm had happened upon a dormant Seed of Creation while digging an enormous underground cavern beneath Mongolia, accidentally spilling the great amniotic fluid out and onto it. The sandworm grew and changed into an enormous kaiju and began nesting. With its plethora of eggs did the sandworm population begin to rise. The giant kaiju and its offspring were eventually discovered by scouts of the Mongol Empire sent to explore the cave. Genghis Khan had the giant sandworm chained up to keep it as a broodmare while its offspring were rounded up as cavalry and siege units alongside their horses. Those deemed too weak or unruly were slaughtered like cattle. As they pushed further into China and even farther West, the sandworm population plummeted faster than the kaiju could repopulate.
Eventually, the kaiju was believed to have outlived its usefulness and was to be executed along with its remaining but broke free of its bonds and escaped into the harsh Gobi Desert. Years of continuous back-to-back breeding had permanently traumatized the sandworm and made continuation of the eastern species impossible because of the cruelty it had endured. However, one egg had been spirited away from its prison while the others had been killed. As sandworm species across the globe went extinct, the great sandworm kaiju and its egg hibernated deep beneath the warm desert. Eventually did the egg hatch and the curious larva explored the desert landscape.
Nomads of Mongol, Kazakh, and Uyghur ethnicity began to spread across and settle, leading to chance encounters with the young wormling. The creature was ultimately seen as a harmless novelty of the desert that was often awarded tribute by villagers. Ancient Mongolian cryptozoologists named the creature olgoi-khorkhoi - or large intestinal worm. As the larva grew larger, the varying dynasties deemed it a threat and attempted to hunt it, forcing the creature to return underground and disappear from the world. As the two sandworms stayed hidden from the world, the history turned to myth and legend, ultimately being largely forgotten by the populace until the 20th Century.
American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews heard tall tales from the Mongolian Prime Minister Jalkhanz Khutagt Sodnomyn Damdinbazar, recounting wildly inaccurate and exaggerated stories and folktales. These stories painted the sandworm as a poisonous killer and - ironically enough - significantly smaller than what it actually was, leading to the rise of the mythological Mongolian death worm.
No sightings had occurred until 1967 when nuclear bomb testing in the area stirred the creature from its hibernation, resulting in retaliation against the Chinese military at the Lop Nur Nuclear Test Base. This led to a surge of interest from many aspiring and amateur cryptozoologists wishing to discover the creature. The sandworm - however - was quick to retreat as soon as it attacked and avoided being spotted by the most intrepid cryptozoologists, including Czech author and explorer Ivan Mackerie. After bomb testing officially ended in 1996, the kaiju returned to slumber with its parent.
It would not be until 2020 when an Australian mining corporation disturbed its nest while digging for copper, resulting in Arrak attacking and defending the desert region.
Gender Identity
Unlike its parent, Arrak seems to lack the ability to genetically reproduce, effectively making it and the Greater Arrak endlings.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Sandworm tunnels have given rise to Hollow Earth theories across varying cultures, who believed them to be immense passages to ancient civilizations or to the afterlife. Despite bringing the creature's identity to the mainstream with his novel On the Trail of Ancient Man, Roy Chapman Andrews never believed in the kaiju's existence. Instead, he and other skeptics often believed the native Tartar sand boa was the inspiration for the legend according to local testimony and correlation with the distorted legends. However, the boa itself is not venomous and neither is the kaiju, so the origin of the claim is unknown.
Personality Characteristics
Likes & Dislikes
The sandworm is ordinarily quite docile and even possesses a curiousness for humanity. It is also quite isolated and prefers the cool darkness of the underground, away from loud noises and bright lights. Despite its natural curiosity, Arrak can be skittish and suspicious of humans, as well as showing a huge protective nature in regards to its dormant parent.
Virtues & Personality perks
While it leaves massive destruction in its wake when provoked, its influence on the environment is profound. Its feces is high in protein - both natural and amniotic-addled - and benign nuclear isotopes that - after being absorbed by the soil and filtered into the water - cause immense population booms in the flora and fauna inhabiting its region. Flowering plants and trees will grow wildly, and animals experience high birth rates. Przewalski's horses and Bactrian camels have seen significant population booms and have been taken off the endangered species list, along with the goitered gazelle and marbled polecats. Because of its rapid movement and excavation, copper and rare earth minerals are often pushed to the surface as they serve no use to Arrak's diet. This has caused mining companies to take an immense interest in Mongolia, and there is now immense political pressure from the corporations and the neighboring Chinese government to allow them to dig in the desert for more despite the potential archaeological damage to the location as well as possible provocation of Arrak.
Personality Quirks
The older parent in hibernation beneath the desert is known as the Greater Arrak, as it was discovered after the original kaiju offspring had already been named. Its true size is not yet known nor is the size of its underground lair, but the parent kaiju is believed to be about two hundred feet tall.
Social
Family Ties
- Greater Arrak: Parent
Sandworm kaiju of the Gobi Desert.
View Character Profile
Current Status
Alive
Current Location
Age
Tianxian
Circumstances of Birth
Natural birth
Birthplace
Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Earth
Children
Current Residence
Mongolia, Earth
Sex
Hermaphroditic
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Tan with brown, orange, and green
Height
80ft
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