Sigh
Tall purple pulsing fins rush through the dunes. They chase, they hunt, beneath the grainy sea. The Sigh have long plagued the The Sigh Dunes , hence the name. Pushed back by the Perisian Empire and then nearly wiped out by Thánatos "The Destroyer" now they stick to the night and Dawn Mountain Range - Fotgral Kegbrand shadows. The weaker Hazfen Empire and Dawn Empire have been unable to contain the roaving beasts who now seek to re-expand across all the southern deserts.
Sigh Variants and Exampels
Basic Information
Anatomy
The creature's basic form is a long snake-like creature with two forearms near the head. Covered in purple and grey hardened scales they have no eyes and long sharp claws. They have a weak skeletal structure that is extremely thin and agile, relying on their exoskeleton to hold the form of the creature.
Biological Traits
Sigh start at around 4 feet long and grow up to their adult length of eight to fifteen feet long. The largest recorded Sigh, the ancients known as titans, have been recorded at an estimated forty feet long. Without forearms supporting them, adults are usually only two to three feet thick, forearms adding another four or so feet.
Genetics and Reproduction
A second remarkable note in the species. While they are extraplanar in nature, as they are from the Abyss, an unknown layer, their reproduction is very nonorganic. Sigh are of one gender, a neutral one. When any given Sigh manages to reach adulthood it is able to hunker down in specific locations and begin the reproduction phase. The location must be infested by Sigh for a unknown period of time for this to work as it has never been observed outside of a hive nest. The sort of gestation period for a Sigh takes about one year. After this the Sigh will have morphed into a sort of exoskeleton dome.
This dome will open at the zenith and tear, instead of revealing the inside of the Sigh, it reveals a portal. This portal expands to the width of the dome. Usually, one to five hatchlings will slide out of the portal over the next one to ten minutes. After this is done the dome and portal tear apart in a gory mess, killing the original Sigh. Larger, resilient Sigh produce more offspring. It is noted offspring are often genetically different from their parent.
theory suggests the Sigh, just like all demons, manifest in the abyss on their own. The danger of the Sigh is that through this method they can consistently cross back into any given plain. Hatchlings though are weak and unable to burrow like their teenage and adult counterparts.
Growth Rate & Stages
Hatchlings after being born, or plane shifted, will uncurl, and mostly aimlessly wander. They are autonomous as long as the food is brought to them, or made present. They are about the size of a large dog so they are still dangerous. Their claws are already sharp, and their tail fast as well. Though their senses seem addled like many newborns of any species.
Over the course of one to two years they are brought along on hunts of the species and left to hunt down wounded or weak prey on their own, learning to sense movement and what movements mean meat and others that could just be a falling stone.
After this period they grow to their equivalent teenage period in which their senses sharpen. This period marks when they begin to be able to enter the sensory mode. Their tales harden and sharpen further, allowing them to sense longer distances. Once they are seen doing this consistently and accurately they are seen as an adult.
True adults will hit a special period of time where their exoskeleton bulges with strain under the large body. They will shed their initial shell and create a new one in a magical process. The exposed Sigh will roll in the sand and enter the sensory state, seeming to adhesive the material to it. The innate magic, or vibration, it is still unknown, fuses the sand into their rocky outer carapace. After a month or two it is more bug-like than rock-like.
A last more rare stage is ancient Sigh. Due to their molting process, it is possible to grow indefinitely and without aid. Most large Sigh either birth more Sigh, fight the The Queen SIgh or die in battle before this period though. Several famous ancient sighs, such as the sensory sigh, titans, and bedrock smashers, make great contributions to the hive through their unique exoskeletons that they developed over the one hundred twenty to three hundred years of life cycle. No known sigh is older than Three hundred.
Ecology and Habitats
Due to their molting needs Sigh have lived in the Hazfen exclusively in their three hundred year history. Some have reached into the Dawn Mountains with little success. A small colony lived on a sandy shore of the Sea of Poison Fire but were quickly destroyed by local adventurers. They often create large underground networks beneath dunes or in ravines to hide from others and safely portal or molt.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The Sigh seems to survive on an entirely carnivorous diet. Though they have a strong preference for Burgeonend for unknown reasons. Some High Elves, Tieflings, and other innate spellcasting races have reported increased attention from the Sigh as well.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Hives of Sigh form around Ancient Sigh of about one to two dozen adult Sigh who support a quarter their population in Hatchlings and teenage Sigh. The Sigh Dungeon houses their The Queen SIgh who rules a hive of several hundred Sigh with multiple ancients within it. The Sigh follows the ancient who acts as an alpha in leading hunts.
Domestication
Sigh has proven undomesticatable without the use of mind-altering magic. No long term cases have succeeded.
Average Intelligence
Sigh give off a bestial intelligence that has never been proven to be above that. Though their senses are sharp enough, and reaction quick enough to make it seem as though they predict behaviors.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The Sigh species are noted for their long-range tremor sense abilities. It is well documented that hundreds of species on Potestatem sense their surroundings through vibration and the sensing of it passing through the ground. The Sigh are the pinnacle of this ability.
In a relaxed state, they sense only within several dozen feet of themself. The creatures are able to enter a sort of listening state to extend this range. This is observable to outside viewers. Sigh in this state will stab their long tale into the earth and relax their scaled armor around their heads and along their tail. A soft purple glow will emit from the new gaps in the exoskeleton. It is noted that for some reason the longer a Sigh's tail, the farther it can sense. The average for this being around a half-mile, though elder Sigh, or the rare sensory Sigh have reacted to armies, caravans, and other large groups, from up to two miles away.
Beyond this Sigh has reacted to loud noises, and most odors at close range as well. Light-based senses appear completely absent in the entire species.
Scientific Name
Demon
Origin/Ancestry
The Abyss
Lifespan
40 years
Conservation Status
This species is extremely dangerous and harmful to the environment and all who live in it. Their complete destruction is sought out by all native denizens to Potestatem.
Average Height
3ft
Average Weight
500lbs
Average Length
11ft
Geographic Distribution
Discovered by
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