Hellen

hellens (pl)

Basic Information

Anatomy

Hellens are reptiles with rounded torsos and large scales. They are four limbed, able to run on their two back legs as well as on all four, with five toes on each. The scales under their toes are modified to form adhesive pads. All of their joints have the ability for hyperextension, with the most dramatic display being their toes. Hellens' tails are long - nearly as big around as the torso for most of its length - and can grow back if removed, over the process of a year.
Their heads are elevated on short necks. Hellens do not have eyelids, and their four eyes (two on either side of their head) are kept clean by their own tongue, which can extend to the length of their own torso. Their teeth are small and a hellen can have up to 100 of them, which can be replaced every year.
An elemental bladder takes in pieces of a hellen's diet and forms that into elemental energy.

Biological Traits

When born, it is unknown if a hellen is likely to hit old age under a century or in three. While taking good care of oneself helps them reach old age, it appears to be determined by some sort of genetics as to how quickly the hellen's body is unable to repair itself and begins showing signs of slowing down.

Genetics and Reproduction

Clutches of eggs, usually 3 to 9 are laid by a hellen and can often be left to their own devices until hatching 12 months later.

Growth Rate & Stages

A hellen grows consistently until reaching adult size within four years. However, until the hellen reaches ten years of age, they are still considered adolescent and requiring "education".

Ecology and Habitats

One will only find the most adventurous of hellens in a cold climate.

Dietary Needs and Habits

A hellen can subsist entirely on a steady stream of insects, however most do not. Depending on what their diet mainly consists of is what they can expel from their mouths from their elemental bladder.

Biological Cycle

Hellens shed scales as other species might skin or hair, yet it comes off in patches, starting from the head and working down to the tail. The process to refresh the entire body usually takes 14 months, but whatever the individual period of time, it continues to be very consistent into adulthood. If not, there is usually an underlying factor which needs to be addressed, whether physical or mental.

Additional Information

Social Structure

To describe the hellen class structure would require a book that no other species has bothered to write. As for the hellens, it comes so naturally to them that describing it feels more or less redundant.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

There are those who find the meat of a hellen a delicacy and will pay a fine price for one's tail.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Hellens see better in dim to no light than they do in daylight. Most of the imaging is handled by the lower set of eyes, as the top two are better focused on changes of light to dark, as well as detecting movement. The lower set of eyes can move independently of each other, though in such cases one must stay forward while the other is steered in another direction.
They have no external ears, but a groove starting at one side of the head, heading around the back, to end at the other side. Under the flap of scales there is the eardrum.
Hellens can also "breathe" fire, water, venom, or earth, depending upon their diet. In the cases of fire and earth, both are still a form of liquid, though not necessarily wet when considering what has been consumed.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Hellens spend a lot of social time philosophizing about the world and, to an outsider's viewpoint, about things they haven't bothered to learn the basics of in the first place. It isn't strange for a hellen to tell another species how they would live better, without actually understanding how that species lives in the first place. Most hellens are very patient - though mostly with other hellens.
They also place a lot of importance on material possessions.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Every hellen comes with a pair of shaded lenses for their eyes - whether they like to sleep during the night or not.

Common Taboos

A hellen does not shed their tail for monetary gain. Shedding it to feed another who is starving is another issue, which can be taboo or not depending on the geopolitical culture the hellen belongs to.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Hellens tend to be very wary of other races that they live segregated from. When joined in a community with other species, they tend to be cautious, but just as involved as they might be within communities of solely hellens.

Lifespan

85 - 310 years

Average Height

3'5''-4'2'' (when standing on hind legs)

Average Weight

140-190 lbs

Average Length

9'7''-11'8'' (half generally is length of tail, half torso to head)