Name: Queen of the Lake
Quick Facts: The Queen of the Lake is the prize fish of nearly every pond and lake across Idalos' temperate regions. The females are large, predatory creatures with a voracious appetite and a unique hunting adaptation. They able shoot projectiles from their mouths to stun small mammals on the water's edge, or that hang over the water in trees' branches. This is their preferred method of hunting for the females. The males are significantly smaller and much more abundant. Nearly every pond will have a single queen and several princes. The size of the queen is controlled by the size of the lake, while princes tend to always remain the same size.
Height: Queens - 2 ft high at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 6 feet high. Princes 5 inches.
Width: Queens - 2 ft wide at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 6 feet wide. Princes 3 inches.
Length: Queens - 4 ft long at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 12 feet long. Princes 6 inches.
Native to: Temperate Ponds and Lakes, fresh water only, particularly with a lot of nearby plant and tree growth.
Locations: Temperate and forested areas of North, Central, Western, Eastern, and Southern Idalos
Appearance:
Female: The Queen of the Lake is a large, fat fish. She isn't particularly agile, though she is incredibly strong. Her skin is leathery in appearance and can come in a wide variety of colors so as to camouflage in with her lake, with earthy colors being most common. Bright colors are less common, but in ponds with colorful grown it may exist. She is about as wide as she is tall, and twice as long. She has several rows of very sharp, very strong teeth for ripping through flesh and bone.
Male: The Princes are much smaller and agile creatures, looking nothing like the Queens. They are almost exclusively bright colors, with yellow being the most common. They are skinnier in their proportions, nor as long as the Queen. They have large fins for maneuverability and big eyes to watch for threats, which is usually a hungry Usurper Queen.
Habitat: The Queen of the Lake live in temperate ponds and lakes, away from the brutal colds and extreme heats. Ponds with a lot of shore side growth and overhanging tree branches are almost certain to have a Queen in them. They do not live in areas with moving water such as rivers, nor can they survive in salt water.
Lifespan and Development: Queens and Princes alike are born from a vast laying of eggs the female lays once per arc. All of the eggs are identical, the size of a small marble, the color of mud, and laid all about on the lake bed. And among each laying is a single Usurper Queen, which is identical to all the rest of the Princes, an evolutionary necessity so the reigning Queen cannot eat the new possible usurper. The eggs take only about 20 trials to hatch. The Princes are tiny and bright, and will grow to full size in forty trials.. The Usurper starts off the same size as the infant Princes, but will grow to the base size for Queens in an arc, if she lives that long.
While the life of Princes is fairly standard, the Usurper Queens go into hiding, so to not be found by the reigning Queen, and feeding off of males until she is big enough to challenge the reigning Queen. Only then can she go surface hunting. Princes only live 2-3 arcs naturally, but Queens can live upward of 50 arcs.
Diet: Reigning Queens are surface feeders, using their ability to spit rocks and bone projectiles with extreme speed and accuracy to stun birds, squirrels, and other small creatures. Anything that she can stun, she will eat. At bigger lakes, a massive female has been known to eat deer who come to the water to drink, and there have been reports of people being eaten as well, particularly small children.
Usurper Queens almost exclusively eat Princes, but will eat other fish in the lake as well.
Princes are omnivorous. They eat algae, plant life, other smaller fish, really anything they can get a hold of that the Queen and Usurper Queens haven't eaten.
Temperament: Queens are extremely territorial, particularly of the shore line and surface area of their lakes. With their ravenous diet anything that moves in this area is a potential target to be attacked and eaten. Usurper Queens are more docile, until it is time for them to challenge the reigning Queen. Princes are skiddish, preferring to flee away from anything, and prefer to go after the easiest of food.
Abilities: The most notable feature of the Queen is the ability to shoot projectiles. These projectiles are sometimes smooth, round stones she finds in the lake. But more commonly used are the stones she makes herself within her stomach, formed from the partially digested bones of her prey. These bony projectiles seem to fly further and more accurately than stones, and are highly sought after by those looking for ammo for slings and slingshots.
The Queen has very thick, leathery skin, which only grows stronger with age to protect her from Usurpers. This skin when treated is waterproof and excellent at stopping attacks from piercing weapons.
Finally the queen's teeth are incredibly sharp and strong, able to cut through flesh and bone with ease. These teeth are often fashioned into daggers, arrow heads, and jewelry.
The Princes have no special abilities.
Credit: Qit'ria
Quick Facts: The Queen of the Lake is the prize fish of nearly every pond and lake across Idalos' temperate regions. The females are large, predatory creatures with a voracious appetite and a unique hunting adaptation. They able shoot projectiles from their mouths to stun small mammals on the water's edge, or that hang over the water in trees' branches. This is their preferred method of hunting for the females. The males are significantly smaller and much more abundant. Nearly every pond will have a single queen and several princes. The size of the queen is controlled by the size of the lake, while princes tend to always remain the same size.
Height: Queens - 2 ft high at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 6 feet high. Princes 5 inches.
Width: Queens - 2 ft wide at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 6 feet wide. Princes 3 inches.
Length: Queens - 4 ft long at a minimum, others have been found to be upwards of 12 feet long. Princes 6 inches.
Native to: Temperate Ponds and Lakes, fresh water only, particularly with a lot of nearby plant and tree growth.
Locations: Temperate and forested areas of North, Central, Western, Eastern, and Southern Idalos
Appearance:
Female: The Queen of the Lake is a large, fat fish. She isn't particularly agile, though she is incredibly strong. Her skin is leathery in appearance and can come in a wide variety of colors so as to camouflage in with her lake, with earthy colors being most common. Bright colors are less common, but in ponds with colorful grown it may exist. She is about as wide as she is tall, and twice as long. She has several rows of very sharp, very strong teeth for ripping through flesh and bone.
Male: The Princes are much smaller and agile creatures, looking nothing like the Queens. They are almost exclusively bright colors, with yellow being the most common. They are skinnier in their proportions, nor as long as the Queen. They have large fins for maneuverability and big eyes to watch for threats, which is usually a hungry Usurper Queen.
Habitat: The Queen of the Lake live in temperate ponds and lakes, away from the brutal colds and extreme heats. Ponds with a lot of shore side growth and overhanging tree branches are almost certain to have a Queen in them. They do not live in areas with moving water such as rivers, nor can they survive in salt water.
Lifespan and Development: Queens and Princes alike are born from a vast laying of eggs the female lays once per arc. All of the eggs are identical, the size of a small marble, the color of mud, and laid all about on the lake bed. And among each laying is a single Usurper Queen, which is identical to all the rest of the Princes, an evolutionary necessity so the reigning Queen cannot eat the new possible usurper. The eggs take only about 20 trials to hatch. The Princes are tiny and bright, and will grow to full size in forty trials.. The Usurper starts off the same size as the infant Princes, but will grow to the base size for Queens in an arc, if she lives that long.
While the life of Princes is fairly standard, the Usurper Queens go into hiding, so to not be found by the reigning Queen, and feeding off of males until she is big enough to challenge the reigning Queen. Only then can she go surface hunting. Princes only live 2-3 arcs naturally, but Queens can live upward of 50 arcs.
Diet: Reigning Queens are surface feeders, using their ability to spit rocks and bone projectiles with extreme speed and accuracy to stun birds, squirrels, and other small creatures. Anything that she can stun, she will eat. At bigger lakes, a massive female has been known to eat deer who come to the water to drink, and there have been reports of people being eaten as well, particularly small children.
Usurper Queens almost exclusively eat Princes, but will eat other fish in the lake as well.
Princes are omnivorous. They eat algae, plant life, other smaller fish, really anything they can get a hold of that the Queen and Usurper Queens haven't eaten.
Temperament: Queens are extremely territorial, particularly of the shore line and surface area of their lakes. With their ravenous diet anything that moves in this area is a potential target to be attacked and eaten. Usurper Queens are more docile, until it is time for them to challenge the reigning Queen. Princes are skiddish, preferring to flee away from anything, and prefer to go after the easiest of food.
Abilities: The most notable feature of the Queen is the ability to shoot projectiles. These projectiles are sometimes smooth, round stones she finds in the lake. But more commonly used are the stones she makes herself within her stomach, formed from the partially digested bones of her prey. These bony projectiles seem to fly further and more accurately than stones, and are highly sought after by those looking for ammo for slings and slingshots.
The Queen has very thick, leathery skin, which only grows stronger with age to protect her from Usurpers. This skin when treated is waterproof and excellent at stopping attacks from piercing weapons.
Finally the queen's teeth are incredibly sharp and strong, able to cut through flesh and bone with ease. These teeth are often fashioned into daggers, arrow heads, and jewelry.
The Princes have no special abilities.
Credit: Qit'ria
