Klahgean ((Klah-gain))
The first time I had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon the dreadful figure of the Klahgean it was from hundreds of feet away, sheltered behind the crest of a dune. I watched it stalk amongst the sands, its skull swiveling methodically in its search, its rattling barbs weaving through the sand. It was when I became arrogant enough to attempt to begin sketching its horrible figure that the sands shifted and we locked eyes. I saw in those red eyes my own mortality, the meaninglessness of my existence, the fruitlessness of my life's work, every fear and pain that I'd ever been graced with. I fled with my heart in my throat as the cacophony of screams echoed behind me.
-Magna Moribus
The Klahgean are monstrosities by every metric and definition of the word, stalking the towering dunes of The Cosancoga Desert in search of fresh blood.
The form of the Klahgean are the constructs of nightmares, its piercing red eyes glaring from twenty feet above the sands, its seventy-foot-long body writhing behind it. Its head is flesh-less, the skull -highly resembling that of a coyote- is entirely exposed except for the blood vessels and tendrils of throbbing muscle that retreat into the black wiry mane coating its unnaturally long neck. Two meaty, grey-skinned arms end in ivory-white talons that dig into the sands and drag the creature forward. The rest of its body is serpentine, twining and writhing amongst the dunes, its skin dull grey in color. For the last forty feet of its grotesquely muscled tail, however, it is plated in a black keratin-like shell that condenses at the tip of the tail into a bristling ball of barbs surrounding a long singular, bone-white, barb.
The Klahgean is horrifying even from a distance with the way they move, like a serpent with the upper body of a deranged man dragging themselves forward with startling speed, jaws opened to an unnerving degree. The scream that comes from somewhere deep in its throat that echoes over the dunes upon spotting prey sounds like twenty different animalistic screeches overlapped and intertwined. These declarations of a hunt travel miles over the empty desert, making those who hear it freeze in an instinctual terror. Its arms serve as both its mode of movement and the method by which it burrows into the sand to form its dens, pits that can extend far beneath the dunes, often filled with the regurgitated bones of old meals.
Feeding upon whatever it can catch between its jaws, the Klahgean feasts indiscriminately on both the tiny morsels of humans and the large flanks of the other monsters that stalk the sands. Once a Klahgaen has locked its gaze on a meal it will pursue its target until either the prey's blood has dribbled down its gullet or somehow escapes its sight, not an easy feat to do with the Klahgaens peculiar speed.
The barbs on the tails of the Klahgean are not used for hunting, but for the gory battles for food or mates that occur when two of the monsters encounter each other.
Fighting these beasts is an endeavor not to be undertaken by those of weak constitutions. The grey flesh is thick and dense, like layer upon layer of woven wool. Its skull is resilient to impact and resists the forces of the magical elements. Its tail is plated with armor-like keratin over thick layers of muscle. The Klahgean seem insurmountable in combat to any who have not been briefed on its weaknesses.
The first weakness is the monster's arms, as its only form of locomotion if they can be immobilized the other weakness can be more easily exploited. The other is a small notch at the back of the skull that is far weaker than the rest of the bone. When struck with sufficient force, the skull surrounding the notch that protects the brain shatters.
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