Shoogan

Is that a Shoogan trying to eat the lava conduct? Hey, Xirth, bring a Lavimal to take that Shoogan away!

— Maintenance worker of the heat station in Dhalgron

These creatures are one of the deadliest species in Axysk lake and Knikis source, two lava lakes of Branul.
The Shoogan are quadrupedal omnivorous creatures. They live in lava and are considered the apex predator of them. Shoogan are usually not interested in species outside their habitats, and thus are inoffensive unless provoked.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Shoogan has a quadrupedal body covered in specials scales that allow them to live inside lava. It seems that, through natural selection, Shoogan scales are lava-coloured to blend in with their environment. Their scale colour is the only way to differentiate specimens from Axysk lake and Knikis source, Axysk lake specimens being darker than the ones from Knikis source.
They are similar to Earth salamanders but bigger, one of the main difference between them is that Shoogan have a second stomach (called Igoran) that allows them to eat crystals and use them to create energy for their bodies.
One thing that needs to be clarified is that they do not spit lava or fire at will like the dragons from legends. What people think to be them spitting lava, it is their way to empty their stomach of lava so they can walk freely on earth.
Shoogan females are usually bigger, more aggressive and live longer. These differences are to compensate for the fact that males are more common than females.

Genetics and Reproduction

Shoogan mate yearly, females change partner almost every eight years, while males one has a mate during all its life. The prefered season is one to two, a couple of months before the reproduction season of Lapez, their principal food source.
Females lay 15 to 25 eggs near the lava pool but never inside it, usually near rocks where they are slightly hidden. These eggs will be protected by the male for two months while the female hunts for them, and the hatchling when born.
Males main job is to protect the eggs and will die for them if it is needed, as if a male loses all the eggs, the female will probably kill it and then search for another mate.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Hatchling: Shoogan are called hatchlings from born until one-month-old. The hatchling does not see or hear and have to be protected.
• Sub-adults: Shoogan are called sub-adults from one-month-old to three-months-old. It has developed sight and hearing, and it learns how to hunt. When they learn to hunt, males leave their parents to live on their own while females stay with their parents, so it can be protected until they are adults, when they start reproducing.
• Adult: fully grown, full size. They already have experience hunting and are dangerous. Females are allowed to live on their own, and they will probably seek a partner as soon as possible, but they will start hunting on their own and became the deadliest predator in the lava pool. Females are known to like playing with their food before killing it, and sometimes they are seen hunting for fun. Males only hunt if it is for food.

Habitat and diet

Shoogan live in lava lakes, but they have only found in two of them, in Axysk lake and Knikis source. It is supposed that underground tunnels are connecting these two lava lakes.
Shoogan eat mostly Lapez of all type. They sometimes eat other predators that tried killing them or their hatchlings, and sometimes even eat Firava.

Prompt 4: Write about an apex predator in your world. How does it hunt and survive?

Lifespan

8 years (males), 40 years (females)

Average Weight

100 kg (220 lbs)

Average Length

3.5 meters (11,4 feet)

Geographic Distribution

• Axysk lake
• Knikis source

Related Myths

• The goddess crystal

The Igoran

The second stomach of the Shoogan that allows them to eat crystals as if it was food. The process that the igoran does to get energy from the crystal is painful for the Shoogan, and it makes the Shoogan throw up the remnants of the crystal.

Why are they the Apex predator?

Shoogan are not the only animal living in lava lakes, neither the only predators. The other predators of the lava lakes are smaller than Shoogan, and they usually die when trying to attack or steal food from Shoogan. Sometimes they manage to kill a male Shoogan (smaller than females), but it is a rare occasion.

The dangers for the eggs

• Lava: if it moves towards the egg, the male will have to move them.
• Other predators: the male will need to hide them or kill the predator, whatever will ensure more eggs to survive
• The weather: the eggs can die if the temperature drops too much, this is the most common egg's death