Bone Eater

The Bone Eater is a bog-dwelling scavenger, feeding exclusively on carcasses, whether they be the remnants of someone else's dinner or simply creatures that drowned after going too far out into the water and getting stuck. It grows throughout its whole life, and can reach a length exceeding the height of a grown man, but is ultimately a peaceful animal that will only fight if disturbed, and then only for long enough to get away. As Bone Eaters digest their food, bone is compressed into a smooth, off-white material with properties resembling horn or pearl. Nodules of this material are used for luxury goods such as jewelry by the well-off, who remain unaware of the "stones'" exact origin.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Bone Eater is covered with pebbly scales, and has a pointed head with whiskers protruding from the sides of its snout. Its mouth is long, appearing to all but split its head in half when opened, and its neck is thick and covered in loose skin, folding into wrinkles when not fully extended. Its four legs are short and stout, with four webbed toes on each stubby foot. It is an overall well-muscled creature, sporting a thick, strong tail with a horizontal fin down either side of its tail to join at the tip.

Genetics and Reproduction

After a gestation period of four months, a small clutch of 3-5 eggs is laid in a wet, muddy area a small distance outside the female's territory, where she'll give them a cursory covering of mud or decomposing plant matter before leaving them to sink into the mud and hatch on their own time - usually no more than a week. Typically, only the first one or two voracious young Bone Eaters to hatch survive, as they, after ingesting the remains of their own eggs, will often turn to their siblings' eggs as a convenient source of further sustenance. This life stage is the only one where Bone Eaters are not exclusively carrion feeders, as newly-hatched young will gladly eat insects, molluscs, or small fish if they can catch them.
Fresh out of the shell, the newly-hatched Bone Eater is only the length of a palm from nose to tailtip. Its front feet have proportionally longer toes than what is seen in adults, assisting them in swimming. As they grow, their feet start taking on adult proportions, and by the time they reach the length of a man's forearm they will properly resemble miniature adults. At this time, they no longer show interest in live prey.

Ecology and Habitats

The Bone Eater thrives in the Wildlands' wetlands; the more treacherous the better. It spends most of its time submerged under the surface, and though it breathes air it can go remarkably long between breaths. Half swimming, half walking along the bottom of the bog, swamp, or marsh it's made its home, it has a knack for managing to traverse terrain where most creatures get stuck. While they maintain territories in the sense that they will have a particular area they have made their home, they are not territorial by nature, and the territories of multiple Bone Eaters can overlap without resulting in significant conflict.
As a scavenger, it keeps its home clear of carcasses, consuming them all the way down to the bone.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

As the Bone Eater consumes bone, horn, and hooves, the material is compressed into solid lumps that are stored in their stomach, often resembling smooth, off-white rocks. These will build up in layers much like pearls, with the largest one found approaching the size of a fist. The material, sold as "Wild Ivory," has become an appreciated luxury product by those who don't realize it came out of the stomach of a carrion feeder, incorporated into accessories as ornamentation.
Its flesh, aside from the magic contamination of any foodstuffs obtained in the Wildlands, has an unpleasant taste and doesn't usually agree with the stomach of the few that have tried it, nor is its hide suitable for leather. Neither will all of the chunks in a given animal's stomach be of saleable size or quality. With this in mind, Wildlanders who trap the beasts have worked out their own ways of obtaining the "ivory" without killing their source of income.

Geographic Distribution

• Wildlands