Laughing Night

Pack predators with an alarming amount of teeth

Written by Barron

Dirt and fragments of old, brittle teeth crunched under my boots as I backed up to the cliff. I saw plainly the outline of my steps glowing faintly in the ground--my steps had reactivated the faint glow of their teeth.

One of them stepped forward, black coat glistening like oil by the moonlight. It's lips drew back over the splinters and shards of its uneven teeth, curling into a broad, unmistakeable grin.

"Heeee.... heee.... heeee...." it growl-giggled at me, pitch so low I felt it quaking in my bowels.

— Apex Destin

The Laughing Night are a family of predators and scavengers native to Jhoutai. They are fierce, intelligent, unrelenting, and social— a force to be reckoned with. Their name derives from their inky black coat, and the characteristic chatter they use to communicate and intimidate.

These nocturnal creatures ambush live prey at night utilizing their agility, numbers, and venomous fangs. Their lethal combination allows them to conquer prey ten times their size. During the day time, they will scavenge the area around their dens for small vermin and plot out the terrain of their upcoming hunt.

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Summary

Coat (Normal Light)

Laughing Night Fur is thick, and rough. The combination helps reflect the least amount of light possible. To the naked eye under normal light, the fur is an inky black.

Coat (UV Light)

The undercoat is biofluorescent, meaning that under the UV rays of Ansang, it refracts blue light. This glow appears as countless shifting striations underneath pitch black fur.

Height Range

4-5 Feet at the Shoulder

Weight Range

90-140 Pounds

Tooth Count

"Too Damn Many" - "Oh God Why."

Genetic Descendants

• Nictipagua

Many ways to Kill

Teeth

The basis of many nightmares, Laughing Nights have three to four rows of teeth. Only the inner row is permenantly affixed. The outer rows consist of overlapping needle-like teeth. The insides of these teeth contain hollow grooves, suitable for injecting prey with venom.

These teeth snap off in a Laughing Nights prey, ripping through flesh, rending muscle, and further envenoming whenever the prey struggles.

Venom

Laughing Nights host an ecosystem of tetrodotoxin-producing bacteria in their saliva glands. Utilizing their long tongues, they lick their chops and deposit their bacteria-laced cocktail in the hollow grooves of their teeth.

When bitten, the prey's nervous system rapidly degrades into nothing but paralysis and agony. Once their prey is sufficently cowed, they will go for the kill.

Intelligence

Laughing Nights are intelligent creatures, and have hands that allow them to grasp and manipulate. It is not unheard of for Laughing Nights to set up natural traps for their prey.

One favored trick is to leave their broken teeth along trails and paths, waiting for the unwary or panicked to hurt themselves.

Pack Tactics

Laughing Nights are capable of forming pack hunts and warn each other of incoming threats. Their communication is sharp and reverberating, capable of echoing for miles in their corralum tubes.

A lone Laughing Night can holler into a corralum cave and bring with them an entire pack of its kin.

Other Adaptations

Even a Sazakraht knows to turn away from those places where the night smiles back at them.

— Khirmagne Advice

Inky Black Death

The fur of a Laughing Night is frizzled, coarse, and completely black. The coat is specifically designed to absorb and refract the light that hits it. In the darkness of night, the creature can almost appear darker than the pitchest black.

Inside of the creature's mouth, the toxic bacteria produces a high-energy biolumiscent reaction. The entirety of the beasts mouth is coated with the glowing green tint of its venomous saliva.

Ansang Adaptations

When the moon of Ansang casts its ultraviolet rays onto the surface, a Laughing Nights deepest coat will emit a icy blue-green refraction. This refraction is broken up by the upper coat, giving the Laughing Night a striating and shifting glow.

Like many of Jhoutai native lifeforms, UV light can be an optimal method for seeing these creatures in the dark.

The Laughing Night is a terrible creature, the stuff of nightmares. Even under the glow of Ansang it takes the appearance of a malignant void of stars.

— Adventine Dana Chou

Interaction

When Under Threat

If you are being preyed upon by a Laughing Night, the best defense is a strong offense. Holding a numbers advantage is also a good way to defuse a Laughing Night attack.

If attacked remember that Laughing Nights are blazing fast, and remarkable trackers. Running is only a temporary repreive. If you have been bitten, you have no choice but to find help or fight to survive.

If Bitten

If you have suffered a bite from a Laughing Night and it punctured skin, you need to act quickly.

1. Remove any Teeth. The teeth will continue inject venom into a wound for minutes after penetration. After removal, seal the wound with whatever is available.
2. Tie off the wound. Use the visible spread of the glowing green venom to know where to apply a tourniquet. If you have any antibacteria injections, use them on the infected tissue.