Dromeo (drohw-mee-oh)

Dromeo is a ceratosaurid kaiju that was freed from Mount Roraima and is now staking its claim to the Amazon Rainforest section of Brazil.

Artifacts

Dromeo and the other dominant kaiju of the underground cavern fought often, and the spectacle was engraved onto the bronze-colored metal with lasers. Its exact purpose is unknown, but it is believed to be some sort of artistic mural or display piece. The orb that washed to the surface through the underground waterways and tunnels became a valuable artifact in the black market, with second and third-hand descriptions of it inspiring the creation of the Ica stones. The stones were touted by Young Earth creationists and ancient astronaut groups as proof of Biblical authenticity and alien existence. While the latter is technically true, the Ica stones are not at all accurate and are anachronistic hoaxes meant to profit off. Any relevance has been denied, but a few Ica stones were procured for the Majestic personal museum for educational purposes alongside the orb.

Physical Description

Body Features

The war bonnet-shaped cone of feathers on its head is the biggest proof of theropod dinosaurs retaining feathers after adulthood, although there is a lot of questioning as to whether it is a result of kaiju evolution or not. Interestingly, no other feathers are present on its body, with only quill-like fixtures on its forelimbs.

Facial Features

The twin rhinoceros-esque horns on its snout can puncture straight through metal and gore with ease.

Physical quirks

Dromeo is both alike and unlike any dinosaur in the fossil record, as its style of combat and form are rather unorthodox. It is the only known dinosaur to possess opposable thumbs, and its claws are all different sizes on its hands. The kaiju also possesses a lot of muscle mass in its lower quarters, especially in its tail. The tail can be a deadly weapon capable of smashing a building, and it can also balance on its tail like a kangaroo and deliver a crushing kick with its large feet. Most peculiar is its much larger head and neck that allows it to deliver an incredibly strong bite, having a bite force on par with the extinct megalodon. Such disproportionate anatomy of the skull and neck has only ever been seen in the Tasmanian devil. Its jaws, horns, grasping hands, pillar-like tail, and kicking legs make for a deadly arsenal.

Special abilities

Like all other kaiju, Dromeo also possesses an advanced healing factor, able to heal broken bones and damaged body parts that would be unsalvagable for normal animals. The massive bulk and thick, scaly hide it possesses can shrug off conventional human artillery and stand up to more unconventional mecha weaponry. Its regenerative healing abilities plus the advanced amniotic-addled DNA have made Dromeo immortal, only killable via starvation or another kaiju.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

• Species description: Dynamondontosaurus bicornis
• Biological basis: Ceratosaurid
• Diet: Carnivorous

In 1925, an expedition to the Amazon Rainforest was booked at the behest of the eccentric billionaire Morrison Westernraugh . He was interested in pilfering rare antiquities, obtaining exotic species and fossils for the zoos and museums he funded, and finding resources to expand his industry. Though the expedition had found and recovered much, the professor's main stopping point was Mount Roraima at the border of Brazil, Venezuela , and Guyana. Professor Westernaugh was a conspiracy theorist who believed the mountain was actually a giant tree stump and would prove it by digging a hole through it and harvesting the samples, using a tunneling tank he created called the Mole Machine. As the professor and his crew dug through the tepui, the machine ventured deeper underground after not finding satisfactory samples. The machine ended up digging too deep and fell into an immense underground chamber.
Though the crew survived, the Mole Machine was severely damaged and in need of repairs as well as more oil in order to escape. The crew was stunned to find an enormous underground chamber that stretched for hundreds of miles, following and spanning beyond the Pacaraima Mountains. It was a lush tropical environment fueled by an artificial structure mounted to the roof of the cavern that simulated a day and night cycle, as well as created weather patterns like fog and thunderstorms. Strange dinosaurs, birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals populated the land but did not resemble their fossil counterparts. They had specifically evolved to survive in the underground environment. The professor believed this discovery was proof that the planet was actually hollow, and he planned on introducing the lost world to the outside world when he returned to the surface for research and profit. He named the cavern "Pellucidar" in tribute to his favorite author, Edgar Rice Burroughs. The crew was tasked with collecting samples from the soil and water and mapping the place out while a few stayed behind to repair the machine and set up a base camp while the professor went on his makeshift safari to hunt down some specimens to showcase. The Mole Machine was operational enough to assist in construction, with the crew using it to cut down trees, uproot soil, and drill for oil deposits. All the noise and pollution from the Mole Machine provoked a few of the local animals, but they were swiftly dispatched and driven away. Progress would come to a swift and sudden halt when an enormous saurian kaiju emerged from the jungle and attacked the machine. The survivors escaped deeper into the jungle to hide from its fury, with the kaiju eventually calming down and leaving. The group had been separated into two during the calamity. The camp had been abandoned, and the Mole Machine had been taken by the group into the hills above. Those left behind opted to stay in the lowlands to search for any other survivors before joining with the others.
Exploration found many odd pillars and barred walls, overgrown by the forest over many years. One by one, the remaining group picked up stragglers and those who had been separated. They set up a primitive camp in a jungle clearing with wooden spike walls and pits to defend themselves while another part of the group went hunting. Shooting at the animals and felling the trees provoked a thundering sauropod wading in a nearby lake. In desperation, the group lit the forest on fire and managed to bring the creature down with explosives. All the commotion and harming of the environment drew the attention of the kaiju once more, which chased them through the jungle with great fury. The survivors were reunited with the professor's group, who were fleeing another kaiju  in the Mole Machine. A turf war ensued between the two kaiju with the survivors caught in the middle. They had to abandon the Mole Machine and escape into the forest, with the theropod kaiju taking it back to its lair after the fight subsided. Taking refuge inside an old ruin, the group learned the other kaiju had been provoked by harming its environment.
As they explored the ruins, they found them to be made of metal with engineering no human could ever do. Deeper still were the fossilized remains of Elder Things , who had all died from years of isolation. Studying the inner chambers and the strange devices revealed secrets none of them could fully transcribe. The entire cavern had actually been carved beneath Mount Roraima millions of years ago during the Late Cretaceous as a sort of science experiment. All the downed structures or pillars were actually immense fences that divided up the cavern like a sort of biological preserve, with the Elder Things cloning specimens from samples drones had obtained from the outside with the intent of designing a synthetic ecosystem to study organic evolution on the ground floor. They recovered a sample of great amniotic fluid that had crashed onto the tepui surface above and experimented with select organisms in the hopes of learning its secrets. After many failures, they eventually had luck with two dinosaur specimens. The amniotic-addled beasts evolved in containment before being released to grow in the large cavern, becoming what the humans found today. Animal life from the Pleistocene was also harvested from outside and added. While prehistoric life evolved and thrived, the Elder Things grew weaker and unhealthier the more times they cloned themselves. The extraterrestrials were also suffering from a plague that slowly whittled them away. With no Elder Things to perform routine maintenance, the structures fell to decay, and the animals were able to fully interact with one another without interference or control. The professor had found an orb of pure smooth metal shaped like an egg in the ruins, with the visages of the two kaiju engraved into the bronze-looking material with a laser. He speculated it to be some sort of art piece like hieroglyphics and resolved to take it back to the surface as proof. He ordered the men to wrap one of the Elder Thing corpses to take with them. The group argued with the professor about survival, but the Mole Machine had to be obtained first.
They tracked the theropod kaiju to its lair, which was littered with old bones, skeletons, immense diamonds, and their escape vehicle. To free their machine, they had to lure it from its lair. The surrounding forests were burned, and explosives fell many trees and caused landslides. It was working, as the theropod kaiju ventured out to hunt down those responsible for the fire. They managed to burrow out through the back of the rock wall, but the commotion triggered a cave-in. This greatly angered the kaiju, who now skulked the forests with the intention of recovering its stolen treasure. The survivors had grown even more desperate, and tensions were starting to wear thin. As they hunted for more resources to repair the Mole Machine, the survivors found caves carved into the cliff walls. Inside, skeletons of giant ape-like humanoids were left, indicating other intelligent life besides them and the Elder Things had been here, but they were now all extinct. The professor ordered some skeletons to be wrapped in gauze and put into the Mole Machine.
Worry among the group was that it would not be able to hold them all. Strange accidents began to occur around the camp and through the jungle, where members of the group began to drop off one by one. The strange nonchalantness of the professor concerned them more, as they were deemed non-essential. Eventually, it was discovered that he had been sabotaging parts of the camp or putting members into perilous situations to thin the herd and make room for everyone on the Mole Machine. A mutiny occurred, and the professor was tied up while the survivors dedicated themselves to fixing the machine and going home. In the dead of night, the professor managed to escape and set fire to the forest, triggering a stampede that divided the group. He managed to escape with the Mole Machine in the ensuing chaos with the explosives and nerve gas, intending to force the kaiju together and take two birds with one stone. As the survivors tracked him down and lived off the land, they discovered it was not the savage hellscape they believed it to be and that a sort of equilibrium existed.
Explosions throughout the jungle led them to where the professor was, who had been setting parts of the forest on fire in order to bring the two kaiju together and instigate another turf war. The resulting chaos would allow the professor to wound and gas the kaiju, allowing them to be captured. The survivors feared he would destroy the entire ecosystem and risk leaving them without water, food, or air. As the kaiju fought, they set to work sabotaging his traps while the professor shot at them from his Mole Machine. The vehicle was much better equipped than he had let on, carrying weapons that could hurt the kaiju. Gas, flamethrowers, and gunfire were quite a match for the kaiju, but a few survivors managed to sabotage the Mole Machine and do critical damage. As the professor attempted to evacuate, he was crushed underfoot by the kaiju, and the machine exploded. Rain fell over the land and extinguished the fires, and the two kaiju reluctantly went their separate ways. Victory had been achieved, but the survivors were now trapped inside Pellucidar with nowhere to go. They made peace with their predicament and lived the rest of their lives inside the lost world, having children and dying of old age with their lineage dying out in peace.
In 2020, Pellucidar was rediscovered by Majestic, who managed to pinpoint its location after discovering the orb that had fallen into the river and washed into the outside world. The two kaiju attacked one another and the invading humans in the midst of their turf war, but both were felled by gas and maser tanks. As the creatures were airlifted out of the big holes dug into the side of the tepui, they were delivered to a cargo ship to be transported to Institute of Cryptozoological Research and Scientific Advancements . Majestic was headed off by the Brazilian, Guyanese, and Venezuelan army and navy with the intent to arrest and prosecute for defacing Mount Roraima and unauthorized activity on foreign soil. As the forces stood off, the gas began to wear off, and the kaiju regained their strength. Both monsters engaged in a turf war and crushed the surrounding forces underfoot, doing battle with both them and each other before splitting off. The theropod kaiju ventured into Brazil and laid claim to the Amazon Rainforest.

Personality Characteristics

Likes & Dislikes

The theropod is very territorial like a lion and is perfectly willing to throw its weight around to protect its territory. Despite his confrontational attitude, it is often rather calm and regal in times of quiet. The territory it inhabits is fiercely guarded and jealously protected, with even its prey feeling a sense of safety underneath it. Humans are seen as a nuisance by the kaiju, little more than ants. It will often leave them alone unless provoked. Deforestation and the presence of loud vehicles greatly aggravate the kaiju, which will crush tanks in its mouth like chew toys. Dromeo likes to chew on tanks, helicopters, and ground vehicles, the dinosaur gaining some form of enrichment from it. It will harvest various odd findings and bring them to its lair for some form of decor. The kaiju does not like being out in the open when it sleeps, but no cave in the region of Brazil it inhabits that can house it. Luckily, it has no desire to move further out into civilian territory.

Personality Quirks

When in pursuit of prey or enemies, it will run horizontally along the ground like typical theropod dinosaurs but will switch to a more anachronistic, kangaroo-like, tail-dragging posture for up-close combat or when relaxed.

Environmental Impact

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. Hoatzin flock in abundance where it resides, and many species have fallen off the endangered species list such as the giant anteater, Amazon river dolphin, South American tapir, hyacinth macaw, harpy eagle, white-lipped peccary, Amazonian manatee, and more. The only animal it seems to avoid eating is the capybara. Much of the Brazilian side of the Amazon has greatly recovered, with trees growing larger and in greater abundance. The kaiju's presence has also greatly discouraged logging, as it destroys and/or eats most equipment. Its voracious appetite, ability to consume inorganic matter, and powerful jaw have turned it into a living garbage disposal.
Dromeo has become a subject of great fascination to the local Yanomami people, who both revere and fear the monster as a sort of guardian. Turf wars between Dromeo and the other kaiju often occur on the border between Brazil and Venezuela , with tons of land being leveled and fatalities from military forces trying to intervene. Yonanami tribes on the Brazilian side of the Amazon rallied behind Dromeo as a sort of guardian monster, fighting in skirmishes with the tribe allied with the other kaiju.

Miscellaneous Information

The name is a portmanteau of "dromaeosaurid" and the name "Romeo", even though the dinosaur is a ceratosaurid. Its presence fuels a long-standing mystery as to whether or not ceratosaurs lived in South America, and it is unknown whether genetic material for it was obtained in Gondwanaland or overseas.

Gallery

dromeo.png

Commission of Dromeo from rochasaurus.

Ceratosaurid kaiju of the Amazon Rainforest.

View Character Profile

Current Status

Alive

Current Location

Amazon Rainforest

Age

Prehistoric

Date of Birth

Cretaceous Period

Circumstances of Birth

Elder Things experiment

Birthplace

Pellucidar, South America, Earth

Sex

Male

Eyes

Yellow with orange irises

Hair

White feathers with black tips

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Red scales with paler countershading

Height

80ft

Related Historical Events

• 1925 CE
  The Discovery of Pellucidar
• 130,000 BCE
  Megafauna Extinction
• 66 Million BCE
  The KT Extinction Event