Sheola
| Sheola | |
|---|---|
| Base Information | |
| Classification | Carnivore/killer |
| Terrain | Ocean |
| Locomotion | Amphibian |
| Size | 400kg / 3.0m |
| Speed | Unknown |
| Strength | Unknown |
| Social Structure | Unknown |
| Weapons | Bite (Teeth) |
| Armor | Unknown |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Urduaan (Empty Quarter 2039) |
| Multi-world | No |
| Canon | No |
| Reference | Stellar Reaches 2 |
The Sheola is a pseudo-mammalian carnivore. The animal possesses a sleek, torpedo-shaped body and two pairs of muscular limbs that act primarily as paddle-like flippers, propelling it through the icy waters.
- It is native to the coastal regions of the arctic archipelagos of the waterworld of Urduaan (Empty Quarter 2039).
Physiology & Ecology
Massing approximately 400 kg and measuring almost 3 meters in length from snout to tail tip, the sheola's gray rubbery hide glistens with a blue-green sheen when it moves out of the water. The long tapering jaws of the beast contain several rows of shiny black teeth, a visual clue to the predatory nature of the sheola.
The sheola are relatively unique among the aquatic carnivores of Urduaan, in that they are amphibious. The sheola have evolved rudimentary lungs that allow them to exist for several hours out of the frigid arctic waters, out of reach of larger predators below the water's surface.
Life Cycle & Reproduction
Sheola will lay their eggs on the ice shelves and tundra-covered islands out of reach of aquatic predators. The simple insects and winged fish that ride the winds of Urduaan tend to avoid sheolan nests, as the leathery eggs of their young are quite odiferous and repel even the most curious of creatures.
Diet & Trophics
No information yet available.
History & Background
Strangely enough, sheola eggs, once they are properly treated and prepared, lose much of their odor and are considered a rare delicacy. They are often served in five-star restaurants on most worlds within ten parsecs of Urduaan, at relatively exorbitant rates. Hunters will sometimes mount expeditions to the frozen glaciers of the sheola in order to seek out nests, hoping to harvest the ten or so eggs found within each icy clutch. The vicious nature of the sheola mothers defending their nests does make egg hunts a dangerous undertaking. Young nobles in the Udusis Subsector sometimes organize such hunts as a rite of passage within the local noble subculture, the goal being to dine on a fresh sheola egg prepared at the base camp after the youths have faced the mother and survived.
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory
No information yet available.
References & Contributors
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- Jason Kemp. "Wildlife Encounters; Sheola." Stellar Reaches 02 (2005): 27.