Montrerilonkeu

The Montrerilonkeu, commonly known as monkeu for shortness, is a dangerously aggressive herbivorous douji inhabiting Doujate's hills. It has a heavy tail-club and powerful muscles to swing it against predators and a hard spiky shell on its back. Once a herd has settled in a region and marked its territory, it tolerates no intrusions.  

Etimology

Its full name means "the one armed with the deadly tail", whereas the short one is a contraction of "mondelonkeu", which means "the one with the deadly weapon". While scholars reconstructed the correct uncontracted form through documents and research, people associated its name to its characteristic calling cry, since "monkeu" means "pitch" in modern Doujatar.  

Basic Information

Anatomy

The monkeu is the largest herbivorous douji with an average eight meters of length, tail included, and two of height, shell spikes excluded. Measures were taken on adult dead specimens, since hunting them for research purposes is way too risky. Juvenile monkeun are smaller and steadily grow in size until the age of 20 years.   The two main physical characteristics of this douji are its heavy tail and its hard shell.   Knobs and bones form hard plaques on its back, embedded in the skin. They vary in shape and size, usually being larger in the centre and smaller close to the head and tail. In some specimen the plaques grow more irregular spikes, making the back not only resistant to bites but also able to directly hurt those attackers that, like the irkys stenu, hunt by leaping on preys from afar.   All monkeun have a tail, usually about two meters long, ending with a heavy club weighting around six kilos. The tail itself is not very flexible, with a swing only sweeping around 100 degrees. To defence themselves in case of an attack, monkeun face the enemy and turn around spinning, letting the club acquire velocity before striking. Given its weight, the tail can break bones of unprotected targets and smash osseous plaques (and metal armours) of armoured intruders.   If an isolated specimen is attacked, it emits a characteristic cry for help, and the whole herd will reach out within minutes, depending on how far they are from each other. Since they are slow, because of the heavy plaques, they try to remain close enough to help.  

Dietary Needs and Habits

Monkeun are herbivore and graze peacefully on Doujatar hills until someone enters their territory. They attack large intruders without warnings, without caring whether they are predators, non-hostile or generally dangerous. They usually let in birds, small mammals or reptiles like rabbits and lizards. In particular, they attack people.   When they spot intruders, they shout a highly-pitched cry to let the whole herd know where to hurry and run towards the trespassers. Their strategy changes depending on the height of the target, and in particular the position of its head and vital organs. In any case, the goal is to kill. If they can reach its head with their tail, they will try to smash its skull. If they can't, they aim to break the legs to make it fall and then break its head. Trampling is also an option with immobilised small intruders.   Since monkeun are slow, authorities advice to flee whenever one is spotted. Even an untrained person can outrun the danger.  
Lifespan
80 years
Average Height
1.80 meters
Average Weight
2000 kg
Average Length
8 meters (with tail)
Geographic Distribution


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