Core Salamanders

Although they are called Core Salamanders, they are actually a type of lizard. Their smooth hide made it hard to differentiate and the name stuck even after the error was found.

In Suliss, these are an ingrained part of the culture.

Appearance and features

A medium creature of 5-8ft length with a smooth hide. They have two smaller forelegs and two rather large hindlegs used for both momentum and for carrying most of the body when it stands on on its hindlegs. Each leg has 4 clawed toes, but it mainly uses its tail in fights. It has two big eyes on the sides of its and nostrils for smelling as well as heat vision holes both on the sides and the front of the upper lip. Its hide is white or light blue resembling snow and it has small teeth lining its mouth as well as a long tongue often blue in color.

They have normal vision and infrared vision making it easier to hunt rabbits and hunting for eggs as the eggs themselves are buried deep underground but they emit a warmth, so even though the lizard cannot see in the tunnels of another core salamander's home, they can find the eggs anyway.

In the eggs, the first thing to develop is the core, although while still in egg form, they are rather soft and the ability to keeping the heat in is miniscule as it is meant to distribute the heat across the eggs interior.

The core is a specially made rock-like object which keeps the salamanders warm in the tundras. They are, in an adult salamander, about 5 inches in diameter and oval is shape. It lies in the middle of the chest behind the rib cage and is flanked on both sides by the two hearts of the salamander.

The flaps, or core folds as they are called, are controlled by muscles on the rib cage cramping and retracting the folds making the core salamander easier to spot as this also flashes a light from the center of the cage as well as emanating a bigger amount of heat visible from short distances (15ft) to creatures with infrared vision.

It eats mostly rabbits and other small critters as well as fish, penguin babies, and rivals' eggs if found.

The sound it emanates is mainly gutteral humming of content, grunts of wariness, protest, and warning, and the occasional arf of excitement.

Behavior:

Core Salamanders normally live in small families until they are ready to mate, and even then, they are social animals. They live in nests buried deep underground in families of a pair with their hatchlings.

When the hatchlings are ready to mate, they seek out a mate in the mating season, but if they find none, they return to their family until the next season strikes.

Mating rituals include standing on its hindlegs in nighttime and opening a flap located on the chest which reveals their core. The creature can then illuminate the core by magical means and use it as a beacon to find other lizards.

Core Salamanders are mainly diurnal and crepuscular though in mating season, they switch out diurnal for nocturnal as their light reaches much farther in the night.

The revealing of their core is both a mating signal and a sign of trust and affection, and in some cases it would seem that it is also a sign of power showing bravery and fearlessness to an enemy.

Mating fights are thus both swift and filled with bright flashes.

Core salamanders are matriarchal in nature and thus mating fights are mainly between females. A winning female gets to mate with the mate whom she has won and they stay together their whole lives or until one of them dies early.

If one should die early, the other, in case it is still fertile, will go back out the next mating season, and in case of infertility due to age, they will stay alone until they die. This behavior is due to sorrow, and should the other die in the cave where they lived, the survivor will cover the entrance to the cave and leave it, never to return.

A singular core salamander is often more feral and antisocial than others due to grief and its compromised situation. They tend to die rather quickly in this state if not from hunting then from loneliness.

Usage:

Their hide is used for heat, their cores are easily warmed rocks and keep the heat for a long time, and their slender bodies and quick movement make them ideal for sledding which is the ideal way of moving around on Suliss.

Salamander Sledding

Salamander Sledding is normally done using a family of Salamanders as they have a standing hierarchy and loyalty beyond measure. 2-5 salamanders are usually used and the matriarch is always in front.

The salamanders know a few commands which are used, and even Speak with Animals is less effective than well-trained salamanders.

Burrowing is a salamander's way of getting out of trouble and even using a sled, they can burrow remarkably fast and deep. They burrow downwards in the snow and then away from whatever they are fleeing from, and they can stay very patient in this situation.