Neta
From ElanVital
The tank of the Goldsea, the neta is a unique animal, living mainly on the plains of the Titania Plateau. A herbivore, it is nonetheless considered to be one of the more dangerous creatures living on Voltumnus today.
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Physical Description
The neta is a massive beast, nine feet tall and weighing anywhere from eight to ten tons. It has six, trunk-like legs, a bullet-shaped head with a prehensile tongue it uses for taking in food. The most distinctive feature of the neta, however, is its armor.
Some long time ago, the neta developed a symbiosis with a Voltumnan plant. This plant grows just within the epidermis of the animal, and secretes series of hard, spiked shells made up of a form of cellulose. This bark-like substance protects the beast from attack by predators, and bull neta often use the spikes in combat.
Magical Properties
There is nothing sufficiently proven to be magical about the neta, but it is suspected by many that their ability to grow the scales they do is in part aided by a form of biomancy.
Habitat
The primary habitat of the neta is the Goldsea, on the eastern side of the Titania Plateau. They make up a very important part of the ecology there, eating much of the whispergrass that grows rampant there and preventing it from overgrowing. Because of them, a few other plants can grow in the freed space and the ground is replenished through their droppings.
They serve one other very important function - without them, the Goldsea would be impassible. Because they eat the whispergrass, shifting paths are opened up through the plains on their permanent migrations.
Neta do, however, sometimes leave the Goldsea behind for other areas. A few small herds have been seen as far west as the Muadhnait, and it is believed that some have made their way through to the other side of the mountains. At least one herd has been witnessed near the edge of the Goldsea, hugging the sealine in an area deviod of anything but whispergrass just prior to birthing.
Social Behavior
Herds
Much like big grazers on Earth, the neta live in herds that travel through the massive plains. These are typically anywhere from ten to twenty individuals in size, led by a matriarch.
Though there are no limits to the number of males in any one herd, herds do tend to be predominantly female. This is partly due to the fact that once a male neta reaches sexual maturity, he is driven away from the family, and is forced to join another herd.
Mating
In a neta herd, the alpha male or female is not the only one permitted to mate - the one who mates is the one the female chooses. However, there is an interesting thing about neta sex life. Due to the scales on a female neta, it would be difficult to copulate without special measures being taken.
These special measures include, for the male neta, a hard cap on the tip of their penis coupled with loin muscles capable of generating several hundred pounds of force. Through this, the neta males break through their partners' shell and thus copulate.
A side-effect to this is that, yes, male neta have been caught fighting off each other or taking out enemies by having sex with them.
Just prior to giving birth, a neta female shakes her body violently to dislodge the broken scales from her body while the other members of the herd circle defensively around her and hum. Once the birth has occurred, they have been witnessed singing in a manner that has been described as joyous.
They have displayed a heightened aggression towards even the smallest of things that nears the herd during the birthing process. In the only filmed occurrence of a birth, a Dragonfly micro-UAV was attacked and chased!
Young
Young neta are born without the symbiotic plants that produce their scales, and for the first year of their life have no scales whatsoever. In this time, one can see what the neta itself looks like - a bulky, pale pink animal. As they grow, the young are encouraged to eat flowers that grow out of the spikes on their parents' backs, much like how a mammal's young on earth would drink mother's milk. In addition to providing the child with the nutrients it needs, these flowers dust the skin of the young with spores, allowing the plants to grow.
Danger Level
High. They are herbivores, but they are /big/.
