zakai (zahk-EYE)

Stories of "god lizards" and "swamp dragons" have been told in the Glÿfen frontier for centuries. Believed to be little more than myth until recent, these enormous beasts are the terror of the Deep.

DISCOVERY

Zakai were first officially documented by Huntmaster Ungashi of the Wushatti. During an ill-fated hunt for marsh stalkers, he lost his arm and most of his hunting party to a "massive shadow with teeth as long as swords" and turned his focus to tracking and documenting all he could of the massive beast. His notes and sketches were turned over to the zultana, and demand for more information led to a surge in zakai hunts. Researchers and trophy hunters offered handsome rewards to anyone who could get them close to a zakai. Despite this, the zakai's elusiveness and ferocity have proved a dangerous obstacle, and most who sought them out paid for their enthusiam with their lives. Official records remain sparse even decades later, and all but the most experienced - or reckless - hunters seek the creatures out.
The most monumental discovery was a nearly-complete zakai skeleton found in the Ash Fields six years ago. After careful study and extraction, the skeleton was transported to the capital and puton display in the Hall of Antiquities.

DESCRIPTION

While official documentation is still limited, there are many consistencies across tribal stories and reported sightings that have led to an "official" description. Comparable in size to dragons, zakai are bipedal apex predators with huge heads and long, thick tails.

BODY SHAPE

A zakai's hinged, triangular mouth can supposedly open wide enough to swallow a cattle whole and contains two rows of deadly teeth. Two serrated "tusks" protrude from the back of their lower jaw, extending forward to points just short of their snout. Other facial features seem to vary. Some reports describe fin-like protrusions behind the eyes while others depict horned crests. The skeleton in the Hall of Antiquities sports two conical horns protruding from the back of the skull.
A zakai's body bears a similar shape to the region's larger raptors, with more muscle mass and shorter forelimbs. Their hind legs have been reported as thicker than a horse's whole body, with powerful three-toed feet capable of propelling them through the thick mud of the Deep. Their forelimbs end in hand-like claws with three longer fingers and one shorter one similar in shape and function to a human thumb. Witnesses have reported seeing them use these appendages to easily grab prey or lift fallen trees out of their path. Their tails are roughly half as thick at the base as their hind legs and sometimes twice as long as their body from shoulder to rump.

SIZE

The smallest zakai seen, according to an unconfirmed description in a traveler's journal, was described as "taller than two men at the shoulder, with horns and tusks longer than my arm". Researchers believe this description to be of a juvenile zakai, as most other sightings detail heights between three to four men tall. A half-mad survivor of a tribal hunting party claimed the breast they saw stood taller than the trees of the swamp, but his claim is considered fanciful at best.

COLOR

Recent sightings of zakai all describe them as having dark scales ranging from gray to murky green, with darker stripes slong their backs. However, many tribal stories tell of red or blue zakai, and one story claims the Aspect of Zefrak wanders the swamp as a gigantic golden beast with blood-red eyes.

Geographic Distribution

• The Deep