Lindrake

An umbrella term for animals tainted by the Titanite plague, lindrakes are a viscious threat in the wild.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Lindrakes are animals mutated by the Titanite plague, seemingly undergoing some minor draconification with them developing the stone-like scales of the ancient beasts.
For example, a wolf lindrake will still have its usual limbs and overal shape, but in place of patches of fur, stone-like scales will grow from their flesh on their head and along their back.
The scaling often makes lindrakes more resistant to physical attacks, leading to mages being included in hunting parties sent to deal with packs that are reported.

Biological Traits

Lindrakes are carriers of the Titanite plague, making them a major factor of infection and spread of the disease.

Genetics and Reproduction

The Titanite plague has no apparent impact on reproductive functions for the infected beyond passing their mutation down to their offspring.

Growth Rate & Stages

Lindrakes appear to grow and age at the typical rates for their base species.
However, the extent of their mutuations are not so uniform. Lindrakes in the wild have been noted to have much more extensive scaling along their bodies then their counterparts in captivity. It is believed that as wild lindrakes seem to infect their prey with the plague, the resultant meal re-infects the predator and causes the mutations to progress even further.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Lindrakes are carnivores. 
Notably, they rarely eat their prey immediately. Once they incapacitate and capture their prey, they seem to wait until the Titanite their bites infect them with takes hold. It is then that they devour their meal.

Behaviour

Compared to their non-infected counterparts, lindrakes exhibit increased aggression and territorial behavior. A lindrake in the wild will rarely hesitate to attack any prey it encounters.
More troubling, however, is the behavior exhibited after they subdues their victims. Instead of simply devouring their prey, they keep the victim alive just long enough for the Titanite infection to take hold so that their mutation can progress. 
There is debate on how much intelligence is behind this behavior as more heavily mutated lindrakes are noted to act even more aggressive to the point of being feral ad turning on their packmates.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Because of their close association with the Titanite plague, lindrakes are often captured and studied by the Enclave in the hopes of gleaning new information about the illness and how it might be eradicated once and for all.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

It is believed that lindrkes possess an awareness for mana around them. The theory is derived from observations of lindrake encounters in the wild where the beasts seem to prioritize attacking the amges in the unfortunate group.

Conservation Status

Invasive Species

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Thankfully, it's quite easy to pick out a lindrake from the non-infected.
The illness causes patches of skin to develop scaling. In its early stages, the infected resemble mangy animals or molting birds. Once the mutation progresses, the scaling becomes more pronounced, portruding out from the flesh.