| Class: | Beast |
| Hab: | Sand seas or other very loose earth or gravel |
| Fre: | Somewhat rare; oasis rays very rare |
| Num: | By species; solitary or pods of 10-60 each adult and half-grown young |
| Lair: | Migratory, but congregate in nesting territory one month each year |
| Size: | Small: 50-500' across; may be smaller species or half-grown young Giant: 700-1,200' width Legendary 1,000-10,000'; probably mythical |
| Move: | Swim through sand; carbuncle-enhanced faster |
| Def: | Shark-tough hide, dive deep in to sands when threatened |
| Att: | Focused earth quake, blade-tipped tail lash = gargantuan sword |
| Int: | Simple beast |
| Spec: | Superbly hidden under surface of sand, causes great earthquakes at will |
| Posns: | Meat, hides, special organ products (= whaling industry) |
In the caravansaries where sand-schooner sailors swap tales, leviathan sand rays several hundreds of foot in length and over a hundred tons in weight are described as ferocious man-eaters. In fact, leviathan sand rays both red and green (hosts of thermo and photosynthetic symbionts respectively, are quite placid. Only if provoked, such as by having a sand-schooner run over them, will leviathan rays strike with their long, strong, dexterous tails. SEE Sand rays, Various for more general information on "basker" class red and green sand rays.
Leviathan rays prefer to remain on the surface, unmoving, as burrowing their great bulk through the sand is tiring, even if the ray should be enhanced by a Sep Stone Sand Swimmer Symbiont, which SEE. Despite its lassitude, if the ray is injured for over half its damage capacity (health or "hit points"), it will dive, creating a minor earthquake as it burrows. This tremor effect shakes the ground as they burrow, making standing, let alone walking, impossible; sand schooners may be keeled over on to their sides when a school of leviathans swims by.
Purposely creating earthquakes is a common tactic of angered sand-swimmer leviathans. They are able to swim in banked curves and so aim their earthquake effect surprisingly accurately. Leviathan sand rays rarely need resort to using their tail lash attack, but when they do, the effect is like being struck by a sword with the mass of a building. Being as long as the ray is wide, the tail acts as a giant lever, resulting in super-sonic tip speeds, faster than a cracking whip.
Despite this, there are hunters, courageous or foolish, who hunt these great beasts. Harpoons are used to anchor drags, such as great logs, to the rays. When the ray tires, the anchors also serve to keep the ray from burrowing down too deep. Enough harpoons must be used to cause the great beast to bleed to death, as its vitals are buried too deep in its flesh for a killing strike. Once dead, the ray must be harvested quickly, before sand sharks (SEE Land Sharks entry) or overly impatient vultures start to swarm to the scent of blood.
Pouched rays recall their infant young within the shelter of specialized chambers behind their gill slits when danger threatens. Half-grown juveniles are often seen near adults, in about equal numbers.
Tales of arctic snow-swimming leviathan rays, clear as ice tinged blue-green, are assumed to be fabrications, but arctic explorers are warned to SEE Ice Beasts, General, just in case!
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