The hourglass is genus of (mostly large) arthropod species that live in the
Kowashian Desert and surrounding areas. Its name either comes from the way it burrows and slips out of the sand like sand through an hourglass, or from what it's called in one of the Malen languages. In most Malen languages, an hourglass is called a "sand slider", "sand walker", or something along the lines.
Appearance
The hourglass has an elongated body with six long legs whose knees stand up vertically. This gives the hourglass the ability to jump far distances. It has quite a large head with strong jaws that have been known to rip off human arms and legs. The head sits on a strangely long neck. It also has a long tail with a stinger on it that, if you are not killed by being gutted with a 20 cm stinger, will kill you with a fast-acting neurotoxin. Lastly, it has two rehooked claws like a mantis with which it grabs its prey. The Hourglass can range in size. Some species are the size of spiders, growing not more than thirty cm. While others can grow up to the size of horses, with a height of 2 meters. There are even stories of larger hourglasses, who could swallow a cow whole.
Behaviour
The Hourglasses hunt either alone, or in packs of four to seven. Small unprepared merc groups have been taken unaware by these creatures, often not living to tell the tale. Like scorpions, the ones with smaller claws are more dangerous. This means they use their stinger more. Although the ones with large claws are also very dangerous. They can easily burrow underground, which they do to preserve water often. They don't need much water, but when they find any, they will stock up on it with special water holding stomachs in their abdomen. This is also one of the places you should concentrate your attack on if you are put face to face with an hourglass. When these stomachs or the surrounding area is hit with, say an arrow, they will get usually realize you're not worth the fight. Water is everything in these parts, and even the creatures known that.
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