SLUGINE
Male Slugine
Female SlugineAppearance:
The appearance of these stout, dwarfish creatures varies greatly between the sexes. The male stands upright on two legs, possesses a distinct, almost humanoid upper and lower half, and has a think slimy tail protruding from its lower back. The female is much more slug-like in structure, possessing a more slender equine head. Her body is tubular with three sets of arms protruding from her front side. This seemingly more primitive body structure does not hinder her mobility; keeping her six arms firmly tucked to her side, she can make her way much as a serpent does, and at an impressive pace.
Temperament and Social Behaviour:
Slugines live in secluded mating couplets in dense swamp-like terrain. They are slow moving and rather docile creatures, but that is not to say they are dim-witted or overly vulnerable to attack from predators. When threatened, the slugine secretes a white mucus from four openings on its body: one behind each of its ears, one above its genitalia, and one roughly half-way down the underside of its tail. This mucus forms a toxic barrier around its entire body which repels most enemies.
Diet:
Slugines spend much of their day gorging on whatever they can find or catch, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, medium-sized mammals, carrion, non-poisonous fungi, moss, shrubbery, small trees, scorpions, crickets, non-poisonous insects, crustaceans, berries, various herbs, tree bark, low-flying birds, and bananas.
Mating habits:
Slugines pair up at an early age and mate for life. They will produce between 1 to 3 offspring. Both parents play an equal part in caring for and raising the young. The children will usually live with the parents as a family unit for up to 15 years, at which point they leave to find mates of their own. Notably, the youngest child will always remain with their parents to tend to them in their old age.
Life Cycle:
After a gestation period of just 6 to 8 days, the female slugine births a small moist larva. This creature, in no way displaying any horse-like qualities, suckles from the mucus glands of both its mother and father. It will molt several times during this stage in its development, growing quite large and fat. The sex of the larva at this state is indeterminable. After about 6 months it will nestle itself into a crevice or burrow, spin a cocoon and enter the pupa stage of its life. The chemistry of the fibers of this cocoon contains the same toxins the poisonous mucus that the adults secrete . Thus the pupa is quite safe from predators and parasites during this time. The pupa period lasts for exactly 28 months . Knowing that their child is perfectly safe, the parents will sometimes leave the nest for weeks on end and visit other nearby slugine families. When the offspring emerges from its cocoon, it does so as a fully-formed slugine, but roughly a quarter the size of an adult .
Political Affiliations:
No slugines have been known to make any public political alliances, although an orphaned brother and sister were once adopted by the acclaimed war veteran of the Queen's Navy, the HMS Minotaur.