Gnashers

Giant, murderous rats known to carry many dangeous diseases.

Appearance

At birth, most gnashers already reach sizes of at least 1m (when on all fours), some even up to 1.5m. Because of this, mothers die during childbirth, as litters are usually between 3 and 5 children. During pregnancy, the body of a gnasher expands grotesquely, the children slowly consuming the body of their parent. Once they are ready to emerge, they eat through their mothers flesh and skin, destroying her body to get out into the world.

Once they reach maturity, an average gnasher reaches 2m in height at the very least with larger specimen reaching between 3 and 4m in height. As they already carry many diseases from birth, being passed down from their mother, and easily infect themselves from other gnashers or even their prey, during their lifetime, they slowly succumb to their various sicknesses.

The older a gnasher, the more decayed their bodies become, often growing large ulcers all over their bodies, that also often burst, covering them in pus and various other liquids. In addition, due to their hunting practices, their bodies are also covered in many different injuries that barely heal at all, and very often carry their own infections, slowly destroying their bodies and covering them in blood and other excretions.

Because of this, they usually don't get very old and if they don't die during a hunt or childbirth, they will die to some disease or illness they carry, with the oldest ones reaching 5 years in captivity and with medical care. It is estimated that the average gnasher lives at most 3 years, usually dying shortly after mating.

Behaviour

Gnashers can be found anywhere they can find ample prey, usually near large sweet-water lakes in swamps or underground. They live in large packs, the size of which is usually determined by the available prey. The more and the larger they prey the hunt, the larger theiir packs as well.

This prey can be almost any other animal, regardless of its size, not even Higher Beings are safe as gnashers like hunting in large groups, usually only leaving pregnant and dying members behind. Their hunting style is extremely aggressive, throwing themselves at their prey and damaging it with their large claws and sharp teeth. They never let up even in death, and it is very common for many to die when hunting larger prey. But the rest of the pack never lets up until their target has been brought down, regardless on how much damage it does to them.

Even when escaping a gnasher attack, not many people manage to escape and survive for long. Already after they first make conact, many of their diseases spread to their target, often killing them after only a few hours. Thus, when some prey manages to escape the onslaught of gnashers throwing themselves at them, it is only a matter of time until they are weakened enough that any gnashers continuing to follow can simply finish them off. And even after fully getting away with immediate medical attention, the chances of survival after a gnasher attack are very slim. It is often unclear what diseases one has actually contracted and how they will interact.

As both their hunting and lifestyle takes heavy toll on their numbers, gnashers have to reproduce extremely fast in order to keep their numbers up. Usually, gnashers mate almost immediately after a large hunt, when all members of a pack have been satisfied. This means most female gnashers are impregnated only shortly after they have reached maturity, producing a new litter before dying off again.

In order to keep this up, gnashers require large amounts of food, hunting anything from small Kynophis to large Dunebacks and even Dragons and other higher beings. As they are so ravenous and dangerous to just about any creature they can find, there are not many places that can actually sustain a large population of gnashers. Often times, when gnashers expand their territory, they erase entire populations, before starving themselves after having hunted anything they might eat.