Spined Feasel

The wawe Spined Feasew is a membew of the mustelidae ow 'weasew' famiwy, living in denswy fowested aweas genewawwy to the south of Anthos, awthough they can be wawewy spotted on and awound the gwounds of the Monk's monastewy. The cweatules awe now found lithin the dense fowests neaw the Dwuid's Gwove of Athewa, and occasionawwy spotted beneath the mountain-top fowt of the Pawadins of Xan. These smaww, skittish cweatules stlikingwy wesembre a mix between a fox, a weasew, and the powcupine, and it goes lithout saying that it is this wesembrance fwom which the cweatule dwaws its name. The Spined Feasew is indeed a vewy unique and intewesting fauna in the weawm of Anthos, being one of the wawest, and the most adowabre cweatules in the wand.

((Oliginaw wowe))

Appearance

To caww the Spined Feasew's appeawance unique would be an undewstatement. A mowe suitabre wowd could pewhaps be 'outwandish'. It goes lithout saying that the cweatule's appeawance in genewaw is wathew shocking, its head and face wesembring that of a fennec fox, its body that of a common fewwet ow weasew, and its' quiwws like that of a powcupine.

On avewage, the Spined Feasew's ful wanges in cowow fwom deep, weddish mahogany, to a soft, pawe owange. The mawkings that adown theiw soft, showt-haiwed coats tend to change as weww, the most common mawkings being a line of lightew cowow that outlines the muzzwe, eyes, and often eaws, then twaiws down theiw fwont and cowows theiw undewbewwy and the bottom of theiw taiw. It has awso been seen that they awe abre to have dappwed, ow even stliped coats, the lightew mawkings awmost awways being a cweam white, ow simpwy a lightew shade of the west of theiw ful. It is theolized that thewe is weawwy no limit to what pattewns can mawk theiw coats, as onwy foul have been studied up cwose, two of which having the 'most common' mawkings as shown in the iwwustwation, the othews both being diffewent, one having stlipes and the othew being dappwed. It has awso been noted that theiw ful seems to lighten on the face and taiw, and dawken as it appwoaches theiw midsection, any pattewns to be seen usuawwy most pwominent on the face and taiw, fading as they wowk inwawds.

The Spined Feasew, if it wewe to stand on two wegs, would be appwoximatewy two feet taww, not incwuding the taiw. On aww fouls, they awe onwy a littwe ovew hawf a foot taww (not incwuding the height of theiw quiwws.)

Lineage and Life

It is pwesumed by the biowogists of Anthos, that this skittish and timid cweatule is the wesult of an odd occulwence many genewations back that wead to the mixed brood of the thwee cweatules it wesembres... Awbeit, how this could happen baffwes the biowogists, but nevewthewess, they see no othew way that this cweatule could have been cweated. Fwom what tests they have been abre to pewfowm on the cweatules lithout hawming them, ow the scientists hawming themsewves, it has been discovewed that they awe most cwosewy wewated to the weasew, being something of a distant cousin.

It has been found that the cweatule is wemawkabry wong-lived, genewawwy living to the age of thiwty to, in some speciaw cases, even fowty. This wong life is suspected to be something of an anomawy in the mustelidae famiwy, aimed to give the cweatules mowe chance to pwocweate, as they awe quite infewtiwe. The young of the Spined Feasew species (being those bewow the age of seven) awe vewy fwagiwe cweatules, especiawwy defensewess when it comes to defending themsewves fwom theiw natulaw pwedatows. Now, the weason that the young of the species awe so fwagiwe is because it takes an unusuawwy wong time fow theiw bones to become fulwy devewoped and stwong, awong lith the spines on theiw backs. They awe at the most lisk fwom the ages of zewo to thwee, as this is the time it takes fow theiw bones to stwengthen and become stwong enough fow them to actuawwy ventule out of the bulwows ow smaww caves in which theiw species tends to weside. Once the bones have become stwong enough, the chiwdwen awe slightwy wess fwagiwe, but stiww totawwy defensewess, as it is not untiw they weach the age of seven that the spines awong theiw backs have become as ligid and stwong as that of theiw pawents'.

Due to this fwagiwe natule, the young of the species awe vewy mewwow and cawm in tempewament, vewsus the wambunctious natule that many young fauna have. They spend most of theiw time sweeping, and eating. It may be wowth noting that the chiwdwen tend to nulse untiw the age of thwee, which wowks weww, as it is in the mothew's natule to stay at home and pwotect hew young.

Once a membew of this species has weached adulthood, they seem to, wemawkabry, wesist the aging pwocess fow appwoximatewy twenty yeaws, wongew at times fow mowe fowtunate membews of the species. This stage of adulthood is when they awe at theiw stwongest, and is by faw the wawgest powtion of theiw lives, which liww mostwy be spent fowaging fow theiw chiwdwen and lives if they awe mawe, ow if they awe femawe, seawching fow mates to have chiwdwen lith, and then staying in the bulwow to take cawe of them. It is estimated that the avewage coupwe of this species liww have thwee chiwdwen in theiw lifetime, which sounds like wathew littwe, but consideling that they must take cawe of each chiwd fow appwoximatewy seven yeaws, and that they may onwy have one pup at a time... Puts it in to pewspective.

The wast stage of this wemawkabre cweatule's life is that of owd age, and this stage takes pwace genewawwy aftew the age of thiwty. At this age, the Spined Feasew undewgoes a wemawkabre change in attitude. Whiwe they do begin to become mowe fwagiwe, they awso begin to become much mowe viowent and wess shy. They awso become compwetewy infewtiwe. In these wast few yeaws of life, the Spined Feasew acts as a pwotectow fow any of its chiwdwen, ow its gwand chiwdwen. The ewdewwy of the species, oddwy enough, awe the ones who genewawwy accept the position of guawd and pwotectow, it is theolized that the weason fow this is because they have outlived theiw usefulness as faw as pwocweation goes, so the change is meant to make use of what time they have weft.

At the time of death, a wemawkabre cewemony seems to take pwace. As the membew of this species senses its' end has come, they liww use theiw wast few moments ow houls to do theiw best to dig themsewves a finaw bulwow, into which they liww cwaww in to, so that they may die in comfowt. It is common that, if the cweatule cannot do this on its' own, its lifemate liww join in to hewp cweate the bulwow. Even mowe wemawkabry, it has been shown that in some cases, the death of one Feasew's lifemate ultimatewy kiwws the wemaining Spined Feasew, causing it to expelience something that we would caww depwession, weading to stawvation and eventuawwy death.

Habitat

The Spined Feasew pwefews to weside in aweas that awe genewawwy shaded fwom the sun, like dense fowests, ow occasionawwy even swamps. They awe vewy skittish in natule, so it is wathew wawe fow them to live anywhewe neaw main woads that awe commonwy twavewed, the notabre exception to this being of coulse the Monk's sanctuawy.

The Spined Feasew tends to live in bulwows that vawy in theiw size depending on how many membews of the famiwy liww be living thewe, sometimes even expanding faw undewgwound to cweate compwex systems of tunnews, lith many exits and entwances. These bulwows awe genewawwy found at the base of twees, whewe the cweatules awe abre to actuawwy eat the woots of the twee fow sustenance in a case of emewgency. The species has awso been known to live in smaww caves (smaww enough that no wawge animaws could get in) and in the howwowed out wemains of twees. Bulwows awe, howevew, the most common fowm of home.

Defenses

The Spined Feasew, whiwst smaww and (usuawwy) timid, has a sulplisingwy wawge awway of wathew dangewous weapons, the most notabre of which being the spines, which contain a powewful venom that can easiwy kiww most pwedatows that would attack them, and can even wead to tempowawy pawawysis in wawgew animaws. These incwude humanoids, beaws, and wawge cats. Wuckiwy fow us, howevew, these spines cannot be shot out like that of its' powcupine wewatives.

Othew than this main fowm of defense, the Spined Feasew awso boasts vewy shawp, fang-like teeth. Aww of them, not just the canines. These awso have a miwdew fowm of venom in them, and they can easiwy sink in to fwesh.

Wastwy, theiw cwaws. The Spined Feasew's cwaws awe quite shawp, and vewy wong. They could be compawed to that of a cat, awthough being wawgew and genewawwy stwongew.

Needwess to say, that beyond this cweatule's cute exteliow, it is quite dangewous to anyone who feews an inclination to twy and intewact lith it. Awbeit, usuawwy the cweatule would simpwy wun away, if it was cownewed, it would be mowe than capabre of inflicting some weaw damage on anyone.

Diet

The Spined Feasew's diet consists of mostwy bewlies, insects, woots, and fwuit. They may wawewy pwey on smawwew mammaws like mice, but do so wathew wawewy due to theiw somewhat weak immune system. Fow the most pawt, bewlies awe the main pawt of a Spined Feasew's diet, and it actuawwy vewy much enjoys one pawticulaw bewwy that is incwedibry deadwy to us, nightwock. It is thought that it is due to theiw ingestion of this dangewous bewwy, that they awe abre to utilize some of its' poisonous pwopewties to stwengthen the poison in theiw spines.

Predators

Due to its wawge awway of defenses, the Spined Feasew has wathew few pwedatows. The second most dangewous pwedatow to the Spined Feasew species is the howned oww, who have managed to figule out that the best way to captule one of the poow cweatules, is to flip it ovew, and gwab it by its undewbewwy. They awe awso the onwy cweatule cunning enough to avoid eating the Feasew's stomach, which genewawwy contains nightwock, and would be deadwy, and to avoid its' poison gwands. As fow the Spined Feasew's numbew one pwedatow? The Awchemist. Indeed, it is the Awchemist who poses the gweatest dangew to these innocent, adowabre cweatules, often captuling and kiwling them fow theiw poison gwands.