Leviathan Toads


Appearance

Leviathan Toads are one of the larger creatures in A’el, with adults able to reach lengths of up to sixty feet and sometimes beyond. They are red up to a certain point in their life and then the color dulls into brown or green and occasionally dark blue. Leviathan toads have very dense skin which provides protection from the larger predators in A’el. In addition they have sharp claws and extraordinary prehensile strength in their feet. Finally, their tongues are coated with a potent acid that has sticky properties allowing them to snatch prey like their smaller counterparts.

Habitat

A’el: Leviathan Toads spend time in nearly all the environments A’el has to offer. They do however avoid volcanic and arctic regions. In general they like to stay around large water systems and Ancient Forests, in which grow the only plants large enough to conceal their enormous size. Tower Trees can reach heights of several hundred feet with diameters of nearly 25 feet. With their sharp claws Leviathan Toads are able to scale these monstrous trees and leap from trunk to trunk. Within the lakes of A’el, which can reach more than a mile in depth, Leviathan Toads are usually the apex predator, though in a few select regions there are creatures even more deadly. And finally, Leviathan Toads will sometimes spend time in mountain ranges though they dislike doing so for long because of the colder temperatures.

Life, Hierarchy and Breeding

Despite their size Leviathan Toads only lay one egg and raise one young toad at a time. Leviathan Toads hatch from large eggs and are usually three to five feet long. They do not have a tadpole stage and this is one major difference between them and their smaller counterparts. During this time the young toad is often left alone in a safe location while the mother hunts to satisfy her hyperactive metabolism. As was mentioned before Leviathan Toads are a deep red color up through adolescence. This bright coloration is used to ward off predators that attempt to hunt them, if that alone doesn't work the young toad will fire its tongue at the predator slathering it in acid. This is usually an effective deterrent. Leviathan Toads themselves have skin which is nearly immune to the acids they produce making it ineffective against larger toads that may attack younger ones. In general young toads will wait in one location for their mother's to return with food, although some more adventurous toads will explore and attempt to catch their own prey, leaving them vulnerable to larger predators. Young toads require at least 65% of their body weight in food every day, but they grow at an extremely fast rate reaching twenty feet within a year. At this point they will have become formidable predators, able to fend off even the majority of the Raedra native to A’el. Females and males have relatively the same lifestyle, roaming throughout A’el’s Ancient Forests, mountains and lakes alone, hunting and seeking other members of the species with which to breed.

Diet

Leviathan Toads will eat nearly anything they can swallow sometimes using acid to break the body down before consuming it.

Those are huge toads.