Liam Kincaid (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2020-01-22 10:14 pm
firstofitskind) wrote in fandomhigh2020-01-22 10:14 pm
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The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, Thursday, Period Two
Surprise surprise, class was in the Danger Shop yet again! Because while they might eventually trust you guys with real cryptids… it was still the first month of classes. Nobody was going out into the field until Verity and Liam could be sure that no-one was going to do something excessively foolhardy.
"A great deal of cryptozoology is about conservatism," Verity explained once the class had all arrived. "This unfortunately means trying to preserve the lives of a lot of cryptids that don't
have the same reservations about you. For example, we have the lindworm, which we're pretty sure Mother Nature invented while hung over, projecting all of her hatred and aggression at the world into one eighteen-foot-long, armor-plated, cold-blooded, reptilian, obligate carnivore."
With a wave of her hand, a lindworm appeared, frozen in place. It looked like a skink, only its length was measured in yards instead of inches and a series of sharp spines that started right between the eyes and followed the spine all the way down to the tip of its tail. Its belly and tail were bright, electric blue because lindworm were the apex predator in their habitats.
Liam, who rather looked as if he'd prefer to be anywhere but here (sorry, guys, it wasn't personal), picked up the lesson from there. "This," he gestured with one glove-clad hand, "is a male lindworm. Females are usually a few feet bigger and their hind legs are a little more formed, because they use them to dig out a den that the mated pair will hibernate in during the winter. That means that female lindworm might also use their hind legs to kick, which is one more thing to worry about, in case the claws, teeth, and size weren't enough for you. Lindworm eat their prey whole, including bones, hide, offal, and hair, as well as clothing, camping gear, firearms, and mining equipment. Their eyesight and sense of smell are both exceptionally keen, and they're also just plain nasty: aggressive, territorial, and mean. And to make matters worse- for you-" he smiled grimly, "lindworm hunt very close to their pair-bonded mate. You may only see one lindworm, but if it starts to make noises of pain or distress, its mate will come quickly to investigate, giving you not one but two lindworm to fight."
Which very rarely turned out well for the person fighting the lindworm. Though Verity was discovering that it was a handy tactic for humans, too.
"Their habitats range all over the world, from the desert to the sub-arctic, though many regions haven't had a lindworm sighting in centuries," Verity continued. "Any time a lindworm comes in contact with sapient species, there is almost immediately some kind of conflict, because more sapients take it poorly when their dogs, livestock, and small children start to go missing. This becomes more difficult when taking the lindworm's natural defenses and hardiness into account." She was careful not to say humans, though she wasn't running off to tell the class about sapient cryptids just yet. "Their armor is highly resistant to bullets and bladed weapons. Even prying some of the armor off, the lindworm's muscles and tissue are dense, requiring several bullets into vital points to take effect. The only guaranteed methods of death are decapitation or total destruction of the body, and there are reports of some lindworm surviving several days without a head, which is comforting to no one at all."
"A great deal of cryptozoology is about conservatism," Verity explained once the class had all arrived. "This unfortunately means trying to preserve the lives of a lot of cryptids that don't
have the same reservations about you. For example, we have the lindworm, which we're pretty sure Mother Nature invented while hung over, projecting all of her hatred and aggression at the world into one eighteen-foot-long, armor-plated, cold-blooded, reptilian, obligate carnivore."
With a wave of her hand, a lindworm appeared, frozen in place. It looked like a skink, only its length was measured in yards instead of inches and a series of sharp spines that started right between the eyes and followed the spine all the way down to the tip of its tail. Its belly and tail were bright, electric blue because lindworm were the apex predator in their habitats.
Liam, who rather looked as if he'd prefer to be anywhere but here (sorry, guys, it wasn't personal), picked up the lesson from there. "This," he gestured with one glove-clad hand, "is a male lindworm. Females are usually a few feet bigger and their hind legs are a little more formed, because they use them to dig out a den that the mated pair will hibernate in during the winter. That means that female lindworm might also use their hind legs to kick, which is one more thing to worry about, in case the claws, teeth, and size weren't enough for you. Lindworm eat their prey whole, including bones, hide, offal, and hair, as well as clothing, camping gear, firearms, and mining equipment. Their eyesight and sense of smell are both exceptionally keen, and they're also just plain nasty: aggressive, territorial, and mean. And to make matters worse- for you-" he smiled grimly, "lindworm hunt very close to their pair-bonded mate. You may only see one lindworm, but if it starts to make noises of pain or distress, its mate will come quickly to investigate, giving you not one but two lindworm to fight."
Which very rarely turned out well for the person fighting the lindworm. Though Verity was discovering that it was a handy tactic for humans, too.
"Their habitats range all over the world, from the desert to the sub-arctic, though many regions haven't had a lindworm sighting in centuries," Verity continued. "Any time a lindworm comes in contact with sapient species, there is almost immediately some kind of conflict, because more sapients take it poorly when their dogs, livestock, and small children start to go missing. This becomes more difficult when taking the lindworm's natural defenses and hardiness into account." She was careful not to say humans, though she wasn't running off to tell the class about sapient cryptids just yet. "Their armor is highly resistant to bullets and bladed weapons. Even prying some of the armor off, the lindworm's muscles and tissue are dense, requiring several bullets into vital points to take effect. The only guaranteed methods of death are decapitation or total destruction of the body, and there are reports of some lindworm surviving several days without a head, which is comforting to no one at all."
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Of course, her world's wildlife was also incredibly vicious.
"But, like, maaaaaaaaaaaybe something something ecosystem?????????????????"
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Because she wasn't wrong, actually.
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Nina frowned a little. "No, like, that doesn't make sense…………… they've got to have a slow breeding cycle, right??????????????? Because otherwise there'd be too many of them and it'd be off-balance in a different way…………… right????????????????"
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Lindworms were just generally awful, yes.
"Lindworms are territorial as hell, too," she added. "So even if the babies do make it from the den all right, they have to find new territory, away from their parents and their siblings, or they'll fight and eat each other. They keep their numbers down in an individual area. Good question."
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
"But, like, killing them all off is the worse option??????????" she said doubtfully.
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
Re: Discussion Question #1 [01/22]
"Ugh!!!!!!!!!! I guess it had to be useful someway but, like, I can't even complain about that one!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stopping diseases is good!!!!!!!!!"