Male Hatchling
Name: unnamed
Species: Latifra Beast
Birthday: Thursday, January 26, 2017
Owner: HiddenMystic
Element: Earth
A young latifra is small enough when it hatches that you might hold it in your hands, though this is to be discouraged on account of the creature's already immense weight. They have the mass of stone, and often shuffle about as though weighed down by the world, giving them a somber, morose presence. Approach a youngster, or even an adult, bearing a gift of fresh vegetables, however, and the latifra will immediately lift its head and bumble over. Calves grow quickly, reaching their full size in only a few months, though they must rely on protection from their mothers and the rest of their herd until their own horns fully develop. Magi often befriend latifra calves, though they always remain somewhat wild, and even those raised at the Keep tend to be shy around humans.
Latifra beasts are a very old species of plains grazer, once thought to have roamed plains all around the world. Their numbers are much diminished from ancient times, but regions en route to their migration sites may welcome their annual presence, for they do much to maintain the grasslands by grazing fast-growing grasses and fertilizing the fields with their dung. Aside from their ability to withstand very hot, cold, and dry weather, depending on the season, latifra are perhaps best known for their magical attributes, borne in the two great horns atop their head. These horns grow in during adolescence, present on males and females alike, and come with the power to turn something to stone with a mere touch. It is said that the right horn will turn something to stone while the left horn turns it back, though this is mere superstition by most accounts. Occasionally latifra will tend to favor one horn or the other, but the ability is present for both, and depends entirely on whether the beast will something to turn to stone or not. A live animal, if petrified by the latifra's touch, can be revived even centuries later, as long as its statue has not been damaged.
Sprite art: Xenomorph/Tekla (hatchling) | Description: PKGriffin