Hard Viper

A 3-meter venomous serpent, covered with interlocking armored plates and capable of delivering a painfully fatal bite, the Hard Viper is a hidden threat of the jungle floor in the lowlands of Brunivard. Hard vipers come in several color combinations, in shades of brown, red, green, and yellow, breaking up their silhouettes and allowing them to blend in with the floor of the jungle. They have red nodules growing in rows down their sides that generate a sound suppression field, allowing them to stalk their prey with utmost silence.
Hard vipers hunt at night, when their nocturnal prey is active. They use infravision and a keen sense of smell for hunting. Though sensitive to heavy vibrations, they do not appear to have a sense of hearing in the traditional sense. (This may be due to their natural sound suppression effect.)
Vipers will nest in hollowed out trees or in burrows left by other animals, but will not dig their own burrows. Females are about 30% larger than the males. Vipers begin to breed in their third year, but do not reach their full size until ten or twelve years of age. They lay a clutch of 2-3 eggs every year. The eggs are proportional to the size of the mother, so as she grows with age, her young will also have a size advantage when they hatch.
Hard vipers molt each year as they grow. They will eat well during the week prior to molting, then hole up in their lair flexing and writhing to shed their old armor. The new armor takes another week to fully harden. During that time, the viper must eat to grow, but is also most vulnerable to other predators. The abandoned shells are often used for decorative crafts by the giant tribes, with whole pieces being used as bracelets and armbands, or broken up into fragments to use as beads or mosaic tiles.