Trapjaw *Parvus Insidiae*

Basic Information

Anatomy

Trapjaws are a Bellataur that are described as being the smallest Bellataur in Jotunheim. Trapjaws are a gray or brown coloration. Trapjaws have many spines on their back, these protrusions are barbed which helps the Trapjaw to stay on its target. Their claws are also lined with the spines, but they also have a single large spine on the end of their arm to also ensure grappling. But the most prominent part on these Bellataurs is their jaws which are specially structured to where it is hinged when opened, this builds a large amount of tension thanks to its powerful muscles in the jaw. This makes the bite severly powerful, the bite has enough force to rend flesh and the strongest of individuals are able to fracture bone!

Behaviour

Trapjaws are a commnual species that rely on pack tatics in order to thrive. Communes of Trapjaws usually range from 20-80, but there are some recorded communes that are in the 250-500 individual range.

Land of a Thousnad Mouths

Communes of Trapjaws will first go to a section of land and will "trap" it. They have multiple methods like:

• Hiding in obsucre corners of the land and will pounce
• Burrow themselves underground and will then expose their opened mouths until something steps on it.
• Burrow themselves underground ane will expose thier spiny backs above ground until something steps on it.
• Lurk in the water and will jump out when needed.
• The biggest and most dangerous trap is called the "Mouth Spiral" where the individuals will dig out a hole that is similar to an antlions trap, where the prey will fall down in the trap and will be constantly bitten and attacked until the expiration of the prey.

These are the methods that have been recorded there are more than likely more methods out there
Communes of Trapjaws have a singular leader dubbed "Big Maw" that is generally appointed due to it having the best strategies. Big maws are the main force that determines where and how many Trapjaws will occupy an area and what methods they will do. A commune is able to appoint a Big Maw by making a type of contest to see which leadership will yield the greatest food. Whenever prey enters a communes territory, individuals within the commune will begin to make calls alerting the others. These calls are difficult to discern from other calls like insect calls or even bird calls. Once the prey triggers a singular trap, a frenzy will start where all of the individuals will swarm the prey, attacking it until the prey expires. The food is then shared equally among individuals, except for the Big Maw where it will eat slightly more which will help it be discernable by it being bigger than the others.

Miniature Warfare

Territories of Trapjaw communes often overlap, causing many territorial disputes. These disputes derive from 3 things; competition of food, competition of space, and differing methods. These disputes can last either an hour or even a year! If these disputes last for a long time, each commune will divert a part of thier forces to create a small sub-commune to gather food. The biggest way that these disputes win is the tatics each Big Maw uses which varry wildly between each commune from hit and run to full frontal assault. If a commune is victorious, the winning commune will take the other commune's Big Maw and will force it to be a "Lesser Maw" which is a lower position than Big Maw making the commune much more powerful for the new strategies have been added to its arsenal. There are some rare instances where communes will actually consolodate to make a much larger commune where each Big Maw will collaborate and make even more complex plans.

Interactions

Civilizations

For civilizations, Trapjaws by themselves are considered a pest since they will try and steal food. But if ever a commune were to form in a city, they can quickly be a threat to civilians even to the point where mercenaries can find quick work by being hired to exterminate a Trapjaw commune, though these communes are usually small. There have even been accounts where some mercenaries will purposefully introduce Trapjaws within a township in order to artificially get business for an easy job. The Skalis have tried to befriend a Trapjaw commune, but it is almost impossible. But taming and befriending an individual Trapjaw is a easy feat, some wizards within Skalis have a Trapjaw as their familiar. Though civilians are advsie against having Trapjaws as pets since they have powerful bites that can harm people and they could potentially attract other Trapjaws.

A Tool for Torture

Skalis researchers have recently made an interesting revalation about Trapjaws and having a symbiotic relationship with Crestbills! If a commune of Trapjaws is within the territory of a Crestbill, they will utilize the Crestbill's sticky webs in their strategies by either making sticky traps, or even a way to blind the prey target. Being in the Crestbill's territory also gives the Trapjaw commune less competition since predators are likely to avoid the Crestbill's territory. In return, the Crestbill will ocassionally give out a special warble that will notify Trapjaw commune(s) that the next time prey is within the territory, do not kill it but instead, to pin it down. If this happens and a Trapjaw commune captures a prey, the Crestbill will be notified via calls and said Crestbill will go to the prey and will proceed to kill it. Due to the Crestbill's cruel nature, it will torture the prey and the Crestbill will even use Trapjaws as tools while it tortures the prey like using a Trapjaw's spines to gouge out eyes of a target. The target is pinned down by the swarm of Trapjaws, making escape even further from being possible. Another interaction is if a Lanced Harbincer or a Bounding Blade is within a Trapjaw commune that is in a Crestbill's territory, the Trapjaws will try and inflict as much pain as possible without outright killing their enemy while pinning it until the Crestbill is called in to finish the job. The Crestbill is especially cruel if either or is captured by employing the same tatics as before, but the Crestbill nor Trapjaws will not consume the Lanced Harbinger nor Bounding Blade, but will instead use thier corpses as trophies. Groups of Trapjaws will even be used to celan theses corpses as much as possible by shooing away and scavengers and even cleaning any visible rot on these corpses.

Origin/Ancestry

Bellataurs

Conservation Status

Trapjaws are not endangered at all