Qennis

The qennis (pronounced /ˈkɛnɪs/) is a large predator that prowls the surface of Arianiga, hunting its prey by means of sonic blasts that can knock them to the ground, stun them, or both. Found mostly on plains and hillsides, qennis are a constant danger to the earth people, who take care where they dwell to avoid their path.

The qennis's bizarre appearance has led to doubt as to their natural provenance. In particular, even more so than its sonic powers, the qennis's odd pedisphere, or "ball foot", seems improbable as an evolutionary adaptation. This doesn't entirely rule out its being one; it's sometimes hard to determine exactly how a feature evolved, and in the case of the qennis there's been little serious work done on this matter anyway. Still, many magobiologists believe that the qennis is an artificial creation, though perhaps an accidental one, a relic maybe of an old war from the times before the earth people and the sky people were disunited.

Description

The qennis has a long body that tapers toward the back, from a wide head to a narrow abdomen. At the front, near the head, are two clawed feet, each with one upheld claw much larger than the others with which it can easily gut its prey. Behind these legs, its body arches so that its posterior end points straight downward. At this end is a muscular socket within which rolls a ball made of a shelly material, called the pedisphere. While in motion, the qennis keeps the pedisphere's socket shaped so as to allow the ball to freely move, essentially using it as a wheel to support its back part while it pulls itself forward with its claws.

The monster's head is taken up mostly by its yawning mouth, which gapes perpetually open in a rough triangle, lined on the inside with small but sharp teeth. Indeed, as the qennis doesn't have much of a distinguishable head, it appears more or less as if its body simply opens up in front into its hiant maw. Otherwise, the head is almost featureless; the qennis has no eyes, and no mane. It does, however, have prominent ears, four of them,shaped like cones attached at the sides to the head. It also has six nostrils, though they are unusually placed at the edges of its jaws and are covered with flaps of skin and easily missed.

Though from a distance qennis may appear to have bare skin, they actually do have very fine short hairs, though the hairs don't cover their entire bodies. Qennis are usually sandy brown in color, though some are slightly darker or lighter, and a few mottled individuals exist. One forest-dwelling subspecies bears a spotted pattern somewhat like that of a leopard.

Senses

Although the qennis has lost its eyes, it does retain small subcutaneous vestiges, one on each side of the head. These rudimentary eyes may still be able to sense the overall level of ambient light—the evidence regarding this question is conflicting—but they are certainly incapable of forming detailed images of the qennis's surroundings. The qennis compensates for this, however, by use of sonar; the animal's mouth constantly emits ultrasonic waves which it picks up with its sensitive ears and uses for echolocation. (This, along with the qennis's respiration, is made possible by a constant inflow of air through its nostrils.) By this means, the qennis, although blind, is able to formulate a detailed picture of its environment, and to accurately target its prey.

In addition to its acute hearing and its echolocative abilities, the qennis also has a fair sense of smell. While not as keen as that of a bloodhound's, the qennis's sense of smell is a match for that of the average cat, allowing the beast to track prey over considerable distances if necessary.

Diet and behavior

An obligate carnivore which gets nearly all its nutriment from meat, the qennis is an active hunter that can take down prey much larger than its own size. While not exceptionally fast, it can attack its prey at a distance, buying it time to catch up with them. In addition to the constant ultrasound its mouth emits for echolocation purposes, the qennis can also use it to produce a single powerful sonic blast, with enough force to potentially knock out prey as large as humans, or larger, from the sheer blunt trauma. Even organisms that resist being knocked out are likely to at least be knocked off their feet, slowing them down enough for the qennis to shorten the distance between them. Nor is the qennis limited to only one such blast; it takes little time for it to inhale enough air through its nostrils to generate a second blast. One good aspect of the qennis's sonic blasts is that they can be easily heard from a distance, giving other organisms in the vicinity warning that a qennis is on the hunt nearby. Of course, this does little good for whatever unfortunate the qennis is currently chasing after. When it does catch up with its prey, the qennis can easily disembowel them with its sharp claws.

If hard pressed, especially by opponents able to harm the qennis from a distance without getting in range of its claws, the qennis also has one last-ditch one-shot attack: it can fire its pedisphere at a foe with extreme force. While this can do a lot of damage to those it hits, it of course deprives the qennis of its pedisphere, cutting down its speed by forcing it to slowly drag its back half along. If possible, therefore, the qennis will attempt to retrieve its pedisphere after the fight is over. If that isn't possible, the qennis can grow a new pedisphere, but it may take a few weeks for it to grow to useful size.

Because it doesn't rely on vision, darkness poses no obstacle for the qennis, and it can hunt as effectively at night and at day. However, it doesn't follow a strict nocturnal schedule; the qennis's schedule is irregular, and it is equally likely to be seen hunting at any time of the day or night.

Reproduction

Like most vertebrates, qennis have two genders, male and female. Solitary organisms, qennis form no long-lasting attachments; the female is in estrus during a few weeks of the year, and during this time seeks out a male to mate. The male abandons the female shortly after the coupling, however, and the female digs a hidden nest to lay its clutch of four to eight eggs. While not spending all her time guarding the nest, the female does stay in their vicinity until they are hatched to provide them with some protection. After the young are born, however, the qennis abandons them. Relatively few of the young qennis survive their first few weeks, but once they do, and have fully grown their pedispheres, they become formidable enough that their chances of survival thereafter are much increased.