| Class: | Realistic Beast |
| Hab: | Sand, loose earth or gravel, above ground or troglodytic |
| Fre: | Uncommon; identical venomous pongee rays are rare |
| Num: | 10-1,000 |
| Lair: | 90% |
| Size: | 2'-4' |
| Move: | Swim through sand; 10% bound across surface like skipping stones Carbuncle-enhanced rays "fly" through sand at 10 x speed |
| Def: | Shark-tough hide, stays buried just under surface of sand |
| Att: | Minimal bite, spines stud back and tail; some venomous |
| Int: | Simple beast |
| Spec: | Superbly hidden under surface of sand |
| Posns: | Carbuncle, hides valued for armor and sandpaper, stings for blades, possible |
While pongee rays are among the smallest and least dramatic of those rays not utterly harmless, these basking rays actually account for the most injuries, partly because they are fairly common. Only a yard in length, schools of 10-1,000 pongee rays bask just under the surface of the desert, gently baking the thermosynthetic algae that colors their dorsal skin; SEE Sand-Swimmer Rays, Various, for more description of red and green basking rays.
When pongee rays sense a large creature approaching, they dive deep into the sands, safe from harm. When they sense creatures of under a ton in weight, they simply rely on the spines studding their backs to drive away those who would disturb them.
The keen senses of the pongee ray ensure that any foot coming down on a pongee ray is sure to be met by a dagger-like spine. It has been suggested that the rays use an electromagnetic sense to aim their spines so accurately.
If a pongee ray is badly harmed, the rest of its school will come to its rescue. They will swim rapidly through the sand and leap, twisting to strike their attackers with their spine-studded backs, then fall back onto the sand into which they rapidly burrow. This sudden eruption from the ground gives the pongees a continual advantage of surprise, while quickly burrowing back in to the ground makes it very difficult to strike the rays. A Human-sized target can be struck by as many as a dozen rays per turn of attack.
One sixth of pongee ray schools have venomous stings. The rays' venoms vary by school. About half of venomous pongee rays inflict a very painful burning sting that is quite debilitating; usually, after 1-6 hours, the pain fades, but in a sixth of cases it increases, causing death in 4-24 hours.
The effect of the other half of the venomous pongee rays is an elephantiasis-like crippling swelling. The swelling may begin to decrease after 2-12 days, but in a sixth of cases it is permanent.
There are reports of pongee rays with deadly neurotoxin venoms, painless but causing nearly instant death. Such "assassin rays" are extremely rare; their venom sacs, collected intact, have some value on the black market, but it is live assassin rays, which can be milked for potent fresh venom, which are truly valuable.
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