Serina: Blue Devil (Patreon)

At the apex of the hothouse age there roam herds of the largest animals that have ever tread upon Serina’s surface, mountains of flesh and bone unmatched in scale by any terrestrial vertebrates since the Mesozoic Era on Earth. This has resulted in the evolution of truly massive carnivores to take on such immense prey; during this period, the two dominant predator groups at the top of the Serinarctan food chain are the tribbetherian cutthroats, and the metamorph vultrorcs, multi-ton carnivores with bone-crushing jaws built to tear apart and dismember the sauropod-like skuorc behemoths that roam the northern continent. Compared to the intelligent and social sawjaws, the devils are more solitary, but saying they are loners is a gross simplification, for their brute strength is often enough to bring down prey with fewer hunters required. Much of this is a result of their life cycle; rather than growing up under the protective care of adults, vultrorcs become independent at a young age and have a prolonged immature stage with very different habits from adults, a pattern common amongst skuorcs. Juveniles start out lithe and slender, but grow into a monster several thousand pounds heavy.

The blue devil is a major predator of gantuans and skulossi, for such gigantic prey are the only large animals of sufficient numbers to sustain it. Its body is honed to tackle these behemoths, with massively-built forelimbs ending in large, hooked claws for grappling and pinning animals larger than elephants. The species is easily recognizable by its recurved horns and bright blue facial colouration, which would, in other predators, be a hinderance for hunting, but since its prey is much slower than it, sneaking up on it and catching it isn’t a big issue. Adult gantuans and skulossi are formidable, but vital to the hunt is cooperation, a strategy practiced as far back as Jurassic times, with carnosaurs mobbing the great sauropods. An adult blue devil can weigh up to eight-thousand pounds, and this is added on with is pack living; the species is often found in same-sex associations, generally of siblings or cousins, but those with no surviving siblings/cousins of the same sex may pair up with another solitary animal or join a group. Pairs and trios are most common, but up to five animals is not unheard of in especially productive areas. Prey is brought down by a combination of savage bites and pinning the animal under their combined weight, an effort which may be preceded by hours of stalking and false attacks to tire the animal for the actual coordinated strike. Although one good bite can be enough to bring the victim to its knees, the hunt occurs at a scale that one strike from its intended quarry, which can defend itself from all sides with neck bashing, kicking, and tail swipes, can inflict crippling or fatal injuries in turn, necessitating extreme caution.

Although they can hunt adults of certain giant skuorc species, adolescent and subadults are much more common choices. A particularly popular target are juvenile skulossi; these are heavily-built animals with thick armour plates and bony spikes covering their bodies, but the vultrorcs have jaws capable of piercing even this. Few other animals target such defensively ornamented prey, but the devil is able to consume and digest even the keratinous dermal growths, leaving nothing behind. A large carcass at any stage of decomposition is a prime devil target, as they will even consume a skeleton stripped bare, crushing even the giant bones of gantuans and skulossi. Part of this ability to consume any part of a carcass is because they are commonly displaced by cutthroat packs at a kill due to their greater size and sociality. Due to their size and slowness, smaller land animals are hunted much less commonly, although monstrocorns are a regular secondary choice. Undiscerning feeders, smaller predators are another common choice; although their taste is often substandard compared to herbivores, the blue devil, capable of eating hair, bones, nails, and feathers, will devour anything that it can catch. They are also surprisingly adept fishers, wading bear-like into shallows after aquatic prey, since this sort of hunting does not require it chase its quarry. The lakes and river ways of Serinarcta during this period are inhabited by swimming animals of great sizes, making it more than worthwhile; aside from large fish, freshwater porplets, calacarnas, river dragons, and spikerays are regular potential menu items. Their territories therefore tend to centre towards some large body of water, with the territories of less successful individuals lacking any substantial fishing locations.

Young devils are independent within a few weeks of birth, usually born in litters of eight to fifteen animals that are about twelve pounds each. Similar to other devils, young avoid larger predators by concentrating their range to more heavily forested regions, including adult devils, which will eat young if they can catch them, with their thinner banding and darker colour helping them camouflage in the shadowy undergrowth. Catching them is of course the important factor here, as young have proportionately longer legs that allow them to sprint for great distances at rapid speed, as opposed to the adults, which are capable of only a short burst of speed before tiring. Juveniles live in natal packs, although they would more accurately be described as "hordes", since they rely primarily on their speed and numbers to overwhelm prey, consisting of smaller and faster animals they can dispatch in a single bite or pounce. They are much more generalist hunters at this age, going after anything they can catch, from wumpos, loopalopes, giraffowl, and even bite-sized animals like smols and mowerbirds, if they get the opportunity. Their tails are also proportionately longer, for greater turning assistance while running, but also for use as a flailing weapon. Long spines on its tail are used against one another, for maintaining a pecking order or in ritual territorial fights, as a single bite can be fatal, so they fight with one another by clawing and tail slashes, avoiding bites. The group size is naturally whittled down by natural causes, with males and females splitting off at around seven or eight years old, as they get close to adulthood. Sexual maturity occurs at around ten, although they will continue growing until around fifteen.

The horns possessed by the species are largely ornamental, used as a signal of physical health and age, but may be used in shoving competitions between adults in territorial disputes; as the tips curve quite far back, they are not used for stabbing, unless incidentally. Both males and females can communicate over great distances with powerful bellows and screams, and in close range territorial disputes. Many different aspects of their behaviour and anatomy have been adapted to avoid unnecessary physical confrontations with one another whenever possible. Because females and males form groups of their own sex, when groups encounter one another and successfully complete courtship, usually multiple copulations between members of each pack occur (although generally one individual in each group is dominant), resulting in all females in the group birthing at about the same time.

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To reiterate, this was a sponsored commission for the blue devil, showing an adult confronting two adolescents over a skulossus carcass.