Therracht

Therrachts, also known as "sand-flashers", "sand-screamers" or "bin-lizards" to locals, are a medium-sized, reptilian creature endemic to the arid scrub of Southern Sedia and the warm surrounding islands to the South of the mainland. Mischievous and fearless, they are highly adaptive and are often regarded as a pest or nuisance species.

Description

The therracht is a visibly reptilian creature, with a scaly body and a well-protected back littered with osteoderms. Average males weighing around 50-70kg and measuring in at over 2m in length including the tail. Females usually reach a size about half that of their male counterparts. They are mottled brown and yellow in colour, with some coastal variants appearing a little more grey and less saturated.
Probably their most striking feature, therrachts possess a reflective white crest affixed to their skull, comprised of thin, scale-covered bone stretched between two horns. This crest is present in both males and females, and is both a physical defense as well as a display used to startle predators and rivals. The reflective white scales are shimmery and catch light easily, and with a flick of their heads, the therracht can "flash" it toward a threat like a mirror in the sun to stun and startle. The tail is also impressive, being almost as long as the rest of the body combined and carrying another patch of white, reflective scales. This is used less as a threat display, and more as an attractor for predators. Therrachts can drop the distal half their tails similarly to skinks, allowing them to leave the shiny tail tip behind to confuse a predator while they escape. The tail will slowly regrow over the next year or two.
The therracht's scales, for the most part, are quite tiny and tubercular. They are connected with stretchy skin that allows for flexibility in movement. The osteoderms that protect the back only develop in subadults at around two years old and hatchlings are entirely smooth. Males tend to have more osteoderms than females, but this can vary from individual to individual. Some individuals seem to carry a mutation in which the osteoderms never develop, however, this is rare, presumably because these individuals are much less protected than their non-mutated littermates.
Another distinct feature of the therracht is their unique calls and vocalisations. Very birdlike, the therracht communicates with a series of chirps and trills. As well as sweet chirping, the therracht can let out a terrifying and high-pitched scream, that sounds very similar to that of a screaming woman or child.

Distribution and Habitat

Therrachts are native to Sedia, and primarily inhabit the warmer, scrubbier areas South of the Aurian mountains. They are just as happy rummaging through bins in townships as lounging on warm rocks by the seashore, or sliding between canyon rocks. Resilient to temperature changes, therrachts can live anywhere with a strict and cyclic dry/wet system; without it, their eggs are unable to develop properly.

Diet

Primarily a herbivore, therrachts naturally subsist almost entirely on cacti, succulents and washed-up seaweed on the seashore. Their hard beak easily cuts through cacti and their broad teeth, leathery inner mouths and tough tongues can easily handle spines. They do have a particular favouritism for cactus fruit and flowers, and can be seen skittering excitedly around the bush a day or two after rain, feasting on as many blooms as they can gather.
Despite their effective adaptation to feeding on aridland flora, they are highly opportunistic and following their strong sense of smell, will attempt to eat anything that smells like food. They have been spotted tearing scraps of meat off of bones, scavenging dead fish from the seashore, and stripping bark from trees when given the opportunity. More problematically, they are a well-known nuisance among townsfolk from settlements that fall in their habitat range for ravaging garden plots and rummaging through trash and refuse.

Social Behaviours and Reproduction

Therrachts, while not herd or pack animals specifically, will often wander as individuals before gathering in warm spots to sun themselves in large groups. They tend to have polygynandrous mating behaviours that take place during the dry season, so that eggs hatch during the wet season when food is more plentiful. With almost no maternal instinct, the therracht lays its eggs haphazardly between rocks in canyons and stony outcrops and then abandons them.
The shells of the therracht egg are incredibly unique. Incredibly hard and almost half a centimetre thick when laid, they are long and oval in shape with distinctive, round bumps across the mottled surface. The bumps cause the eggs to get caught between gaps in the rock, holding them securely in place. Those that fall between the rocks are out of reach of predators and can develop securely, whereas those that rest on the surface are less likely to hatch. The incredibly tough shell is highly effective at warding off predators, but is much too hard for a hatchling to break out of. Made up of a special, highly dissolvable form of calcium carbonate, the shells slowly erode with wind, sand and moisture, becoming thinner and thinner. The first few rains of the wet season usually weaken the shells to a point that they will crack, allowing a hatchling to make its way out.
The eggs are extremely resilient to temperature changes, dealing with massive temperature drops on summer nights and baking temperatures during the day. However, they are less resilient to changes in rain patterns, due to the specialised nature of their shells. Rainy summers can be incredibly debilitating to species numbers, as they can cause eggs to weaken too soon and undeveloped hatchlings become vulnerable to predation and disease. Similarly, rains coming too late in the wet season can cause a whole generation of hatchlings to perish inside their shells, waiting for the first downpour to unlock their egg prisons.

Threats and Predation

Even with their rows of protective osteoderms, droppable tails and impressive, flashing shield-like frills, therrachts are not immune to predation and are the favoured prey of many species. Death's Way and the Aurian Ranges are home to a multitude of ferocious predators. They are commonly preyed upon by miragewings, large birds and griffons, and their eggs are eaten by scrubdogs and birds if they can reach them and can manage to crack the very hard eggshells.
People are a significant threat to therrachts. With increasing cacti farming operations around Merton inadvertently luring the creatures into peoples' backyards, residents have a growing distain for the little lizards. The opportunistic creatures push over bins and rummage through compost heaps to find morsels of food, as well as take fruit and vegetables from gardens. In addition to this, their habit of screaming throughout the night can be unsettling to people and travellers. Utilising the therracht's instinct to follow their sense of smell, farmers and gardening hobbyists often trap them successfully by leaving out strong-smelling baits like cheese or cured meats as bait. They are often shot at if seen on farmland, but are rarely hunted for anything other than crop and property protection, as they are incredibly bony to eat and their skin doesn't make good leather.
Despite not being a hunting target, alchemists do highly value the eggshells of therrachts, and have been known to overcollect them. The special, slow-dissolving shell can be ground up and then re-pressed into a product known as therracht chalk. Denser and harder than regular chalk, it is formed into abrasive sticks and bricks and used to clean and polish metal alchemical instruments, as it can be easily washed off and has very little alchemical effect if residue is left behind.

by spooktacular

Schollarly name: Therracht sedianis
Common Name: Therracht, sand-flasher, sand-screamer, bin-lizard
Conservation: Least Concern
Range: Widespread across arid Southern Sedia, and surrounding islands