Bulette

The massive burrowing beasts known as bulettes are fearsome predators that can attack from below. Called "landsharks" because of their fin-like plate and tendency to burrow just beneath the surface, they can quickly wipe a settlement off the map or deplete an area of prey. While these creatures emerged after the Great Cataclysm, it is unknown just how they came to be, as they don't resemble any ordinary animals that may have been mutated by the cataclysm's latent magic. This has led some to speculate that they may have been intentionally created by some mad magician or alchemist.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A bulette's body is long and slender, allowing them to efficiently move through the ground. They have long limbs and claws that curve to serve as shovels. Along their backs are segmented plates. The one behind their head is especially pronounced, resembling a dorsal fin as they burrow beneath the surface. Their heads are flat and squarish in the front, with large jaws.

Growth Rate & Stages

Bulettes grow at a similar rate to other creatures of the same size, but they only briefly care for their young. A mated pair of bulettes teach their single offspring to hunt, then drive it off after its first successful catch.

Ecology and Habitats

Bulettes claim territory mostly in wide plains, as large tree roots can interfere with their burrowing. Their territories can be as large as 500 square miles, however, so they often include small pieces of unfavorable terrain that the bulette will rarely patrol.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Bulettes are normally solitary, but when they mate, they do so for life, and the mated pair will share a territory and hunt together.

Average Intelligence

Bulettes aren't much more intelligent than most animals.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

As they spend much of their time in underground tunnels, bulettes' eyes are well adapted to the dark. They also have a sense of smell roughly as strong as a wolf's.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Gray