Laghairt

Laghairt are a monsterous species of lizard that reside on the fringes of the desert Shuna. They are wide backed and very strong and grow to be almost 10m long from tail to nose and about 2m tall at the shoulder. They have thick armoured scales which have slight chameleon properties, though are normally the sandy brown of scrub at a desert's edge.

In the wild

Laghairt are an efficient and widely feared predators that hunt in packs of 2-6, their favoured prey are the lumbering sand bison and giant sand weevils. But, with bad hunting or with young to rear they will not hesitate to attack small merchant caravans traversing the sands; they are intelligent enough to distinguish between well armoured dangerous groups and the easily preyed upon.
They live in family groups in dens usually underneath a rocky outcropping, using a natural cleft to widen in to a suitable space for them. Like wolves there is a strict pack order with an alpha male and female who are they only ones to breed, with the extended family protecting the eggs providing for the young once hatched. Once a pack gets too large they will split and the betas will form a new pack, becoming its alphas.

Domestication

whilst in the wild, these are savage beasts, they have long ago been domesticated primarily as a pack animal but occasionally as a mount or even as a beast of war. They are highly sought after as they incredible weights they can carry reflects exactly into profit for traders plying their wares, or less risk to those trailblazing and seeking fortune in the deep desert, with gallons of extra water and rations.
Laghair do not breed in captivity giving rise to an annual ritual amongst the indigenous peoples of Shuna, part coming of age, part necessity, part profit. Whilst the adults of the clan draw out the Laghair, children ready to be seen as adults make their way deep into the lair to steal the eggs. Only Laghair raised from hatching can ever have the temperament to be a pack animal. This is an exceptionally dangerous undertaking and youngsters are often lost deep underground.