The Great Lacerta is a large herbivorous lizard native to the
Depths in the region around
Understone. It was once raised as a source of meat by the inhabitants of that city, but over the milennia has become feral.
Anatomy
The Great Lacerta grows throughout its life, standing at about 2 feet tall at the shoulder at age of maturity and slowly growing; most specimens seen were less than 3 feet tall. Their bodies typically have a body about 3 times their height from forelegs to rear legs, then stretching a little more than twice that distance in an enormous tail. Their powerful legs are splayed out wide to the sides, with legs maybe half the length of their bodies. Their bodies are covered in a natural looking pattern of brown and grey scales, allowing them to blend into the terrain quite well.
Their heads project forward about 2 feet from their forward legs, and sport large eyes, nostrils and ear holes. This gives them an excellent array of senses to detect predators. They have very wide mouths with bone ridges instead of teeth, which allow them to chew into the wide range of fungi they feed upon, as well as being capable of crushing hands or arms of people unwary enough to not keep their hands free.
Capabilities
The Great Lacerta moves surprisingly quickly for a creature its size, and can climb across rough terrain or straight up a wall without being slowed significantly, its claws and tail both being capable of finding a grip on even tiny protrusions of rock. For all that, it has a very simple instinct when excaping - fleeing in a straight line in an attempt to outpace a perceived threat, deviating in course only to avoid obstacles in its path. This is thanks to the poisonous spores of many species of fungus it feeds upon, which dulls the mind of the fearful, limiting their ability to execute more complex methods of evasion. This, along with their substantial size, makes it fairly easy for intelligent species to herd them, which eventually led to their domestication by the people of Understone.
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