Kea-Atara

Kea-Atara (Zean: Great Cave Snake) is a large snake species native to Menas Mountains on the eastern shore of Zea continent. While endemic, they are widely known from their symbiotic relationship with the Nata-Kea tribe (Zean: People of The Serpent).

General information

Description:

Kea-Atara average at about 16 meters of length. Specimens smaller than 10 m are rarely observed and usually grow rapidly in size. Their diameter is approximately 1 meter in the center of the body. Tamed Kea-Atara tend to grow significantly larger, potentially due to their instinct to return to the depths at old age being staved off by increased safety and abundant food. Their bodies are covered by black scales, rarely with brown or white stripes and patches. Probably their most distinct characteristic are the 30-50 cm long spikes spread on their backs throughout the whole length, pointed at an acute angle towards the front of the body. They serve to repel predators and to fell the giant mushroom trees, the basis of Kea-Atara diet.

Distribution and habitat

The only known habitat of Kea-Atara is the cave system beneath Menas Mountains on Zea. They mostly populate the upper strata of the caves, where the giant mushroom forests can be found. With advancement of the taming techniques and mining operations, they are now more often seen deeper in the mines. It is hypothesized that the youngest and oldest Kea-Atara populate lower strata of the caves, however it has yet to be confirmed.

Behavior

Daily Cycle

Kea-Atara are nocturnal creatures, spending days in the cold of the mushroom caves in groups of five to ten, called herds. They are a migratory species, often moving between the forests and mining encampments. The reason for that is unknown, but with the human aid in forest cultivation, the intervals between migrations seem to grow, suggesting it’s a natural pattern allowing the vegetation to regrow. The key behavioral instinct of Kea-Atara is their daily journey to the exposed rocky plateaus on the surface, where they sleep and absorb the sun for several hours before returning below ground. This leaves them open to predator attacks, with Saj-Ataan, the Great Desert Hawk, being the most common aggressor.

Feeding

Kea-Atara are strictly herbivorous, and any attempt to feed them animal flesh was unsuccessful. They feed on the great mushroom trees growing in the caves they inhabit. The snakes seem to prefer fully grown trees, felling them by coiling around the trunk and shredding it with the back spikes. The mushrooms are then consumed entirely, while their spores cling to the snake scales and are being spread as they travel. A herd usually consumes a tree or two per day.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Kea-Atara lack any discernable external reproductive organs. Their reproduction is largely a mystery, but the prevailing theory is that it occurs deeper in the caves, in yet unexplored tunnels. It is known that older and larger snakes leave their herds and travel past the deepest mines, apparently able to ignore the sunning cycle. Similarly, small Kea-Atara have been observed to travel upward the same paths. Several attempts to follow the older specimens to their destination turned into tense standoffs, sometimes with several large snakes emerging from the tunnels ahead. To date, human expeditions always backed off, afraid of potential retribution to the tribe, divine or otherwise. This results in two, partially overlapping hypotheses being debated by Zean scholars. One is that the Kea-Atara only spend an initial phase of their life near the surface, and an unknown number of enormous snakes is residing deep under the mountains. The other one lends credence to the old tale of Kea-Atnan, the Grand Mother Snake, in whose lair all the young snakes come to be and where all the old ones come back to die. This is strangely enforced by the fact that the rare specimens found dead of natural causes are always dragged to the depths by their herd members.

Animal husbandry

Kea-Atara’s habitat of mushroom forests neighbors the abundant sefia mines, excavated for centuries by the Nata-Kea tribe. The giant snakes are employed as the transportation method of the raw ore to the surface. Carts and nets are fastened with thick ropes to the back spikes and woven braces looping around their bodies and carried out with strength and speed impossible for the miners themselves. When the snakes reach the surface, materials are taken off them and the snakes can sun uninterrupted and continue their cycle. Kea-Atara benefits from this arrangement in two ways. First is the human aid in cultivation of the mushroom forests. They now cover more ground and present more diversity, as the herds are prevented from unnecessary trampling of new saplings. Second, the surface plateaus are guarded by Nata-Kea’s Snakeguard, a military group consisting of sharpshooters armed with sefia-augmented bows and spears, protecting both the animals from predators and the mine entrances form intruders.

Trivia

Due to migratory nature of the Kea-Atara, the miners developed a system of paint symbols allowing them to recognize wild, trained and fully tamed animals. While the non-painted animals are allowed to carry only light, introductory loads, those with green stripes along their body can carry up to 400 kg of material to the surface. Red-painted snakes are fully cooperative and can be easily coaxed with treats to follow miners deeper into the tunnels to save the time it takes to bring the ore to the mushroom forest level.

Kea-Atara ate not only herbivorous, but also non-aggressive. While they will protect themselves from predators, mostly by coiling their body into a spiky ball, they accept additional weight of the ore loads with little to no objections, clearly recognizing their symbiotic relationship with humans. There are only two recorded incidents where the snake injured a miner, both fatal and both caused by the human party harming the snake first.