Keesorok

Keesoroks are a species of amalgamated creature found in the land of Amalgia, the Together Kingdom. They were created by the wizard Splice in his attempt to create a perfect realm. They are a fairly common species, and can be found in many dungeons throughout the land. Their sister species is the Octokeese.

In order to stay aloft, each species of Keesorok flaps their leathery wings opposite the other pair — while one pair is spread out and preparing to flap, the other has just flapped and is closed up. There is therefore no downtime where a flap is not occurring, allowing them to stay airborne with relative ease.

Keesoroks produce projectiles called "stones" by scooping up dirt, rocks and other foreign matter into their large mouths and swallowing it into a special organ chamber known as the "pouch gut". From here the first portion of the organ (known as the forepouch) secretes a powerful glue-like biological substance to cause the material to stick together, while the gut begins to compact and compress the material into a spherical shape. Once it is in the right shape it will fit into the hindpouch where a number of these projectiles will be stored for later use. While not naturally malicious in their attacks, Keesoroks are wary of large creatures traveling near their nests, and spit these stones to protect their young. Unfortunately for adventurers, not only do Keesoroks breed year-round (thereby meaning there are always young to protect) but due to centuries of being targeted by humanoid beings, they now see any humanoid creature as a primary threat; should one enter their general nesting territory they will target these first, seeking to either drive the adventurer away or kill it before moving on to what they would consider lesser threats.

There are three subspecies of Keesorok known to exist: The Red, or Crimson Keesorok are certainly the most common species known, and often leave their dungeons to hunt in local forests. They are not particularly durable to weapon attack, often dying after a single strike to their unprotected bodies, yet to compensate they will spit their stones at the highest velocity of the three species. They seem to fly about at random when approached, spitting their stones occasionally before eventually settling onto a perch or a ceiling to rest briefly. Crimson Keesoroks often swallow more dirt into their pouch guts than their cousins, which leads to their stones being the least deadly to contend with. They subsist on a diet of Leev-Leevs and Bomboons.

The second breed is the Blue, or Lapis Keesorok. These are often less likely to leave their cavern or dungeon homes, being content to feed on wildlife that exists in these locations as well. Living in places like dungeons have made their skin tough and durable, and they take roughly twice as much damage to fell than their red cousins. Due to the natural erosion of their ecosystems, more rocks are found in their vicinity, leading to an overall heavier and ultimately more deadly stone. While the sheer heaviness of this projectile causes it to be fired much slower than those of a Crimson Keesorok, the weight of them not only does more damage to a target but will also often knock back an adventurer who blocks with a shield; this may lead to said adventurer possibly falling into a pit or other nearby hazard which Lapis Keesoroks often nest nearby for this specific purpose. A Lapis Keesorok has far more powerful wings than those of the Crimson Keesorok and as such they are able to fly far more erratically and rest significantly more briefly than their weaker cousins, making them harder to hit. They subsist on a diet of Moldmolas and Ropires.

The final known breed is the Gold, or Golden Keesorok. Due to overhunting in years past, their breed is critically endangered and faces extinction; this obviously makes them a very rare find. The species was overhunted specifically because of their stones — found in mountainous river regions, they swallow river silt that happens to contain large quantities of gold within. Their pouch gut is highly sophisticated and extracts all other foreign material so that their stones are of a pristine, golden manner. Naturally, these are used not only for defending their nests but also in mating rituals, where males will try to impress females with the largest and shiniest golden stone possible. Though their stones take longer to produce they do not have a problem with this as they will often swallow their gold stones again for later use after routing a potential foe. This act also makes it harder for those seeking them to locate their kind, as there is less evidence to work with. Golden Keesoroks are very fast and aggressive towards adventurers, but their coveted stone — their favorite stone that they plan in using in that year's mating ritual — can fetch a huge price on the open markets of Amalgia. Because there are so few left in the world and scientific studies on their kind has only relatively recently began, it is currently unknown what Golden Keesorok subsist upon.