Sandbox / Biology Rewrites

Kelet Kin'toni Clan

The Kelet Kin'toni Clan are adapted to the subarctic, rocky, tree covered Wyrra Taiga Hills. They are lean, highly muscled, and long limbed of build. The torso is longer then normal. They are adapted for high-speed endurance running across uneven terrain. This elongated, high-leverage body makes them prone to getting stuck in dense bush or other small spaces. The skin is charcoal-gray in color to blend in with the trees, and it is heavily reinforced using an matrix of cross-linked collagen fibers to lower the risk of tearing.

The hyper-dense, leathery hide lacks flexibility, making it even harder for them to fit into small spaces. The hair is steel grey and coarse in texture, and is an a long, shaggy mane going down their spines. It is adapted to shed freezing rain and heavy snowfall from their bodies. Their eyes are t emerald-green, and have an massive, horizontally elongated pupil in each eye. This gives them a wide view of the forest floor while running but also severely limits their vertical field of vision.

This leaves them vulnerable to foes dropping from the high canopy. Their ears are long, pointed and very mobile with specialized internal muscular rings to lock that ears in diffident positions to track prey. The nose has a specialized dual-valved vestibule for trapping and recycling exhaled moisture in order to keep the olfactory lining wet in the cold, dry air. The teeth are very long, slender and backward curved for sinking into and holding the thick furred taiga prey. These teeth are very brittle and prone to snapping if they hit bone.

Their claws are short, thick and wedge shaped. These non-retractable claws act as track spikes for gripping wet clay clay and slippery needles. The claws are blunt, and cannot be used as a weapon. The feet are digitigrade and with flexible, independent outer toes for stabilizing themselves on the gravel slopes. These toe joints are hyperflexable but lack rigid structural support, making their toes easy to dislocate on flat hard ground. Inside, the blood vessels have microscopic bypass valves that contain an thick, glucose-heavy protein fluid.

By moving this fluid to their limbs, it stops their muscles from freezing. Thest chests contain air filled multi chambered shock absorber sacs for cushioning their internal organs. These protect from violent impacts such as falling. The hepatic cell clots have adapted to rapidly extract dietary iron from prey blood as an adaption to deal with cold, sluggish prey blood. The extreme iron concentration is also a metabolic burden that leads to rapid, toxic organ failure, and this can only be stopped by flushing their system with fresh blood.

The rib cage is interlocked and overlapping like roof riles as to protect the thoracic cavity from impacts. Due to its interlocking structure, they have limited flexibility, and cannot bend or arch the upper body deeply. They are able to survive sudden, unexpected temperature drops such as during blizzards using an temporary reduction in cellular energy expenditure. The blood vessels have high-pressure, muscular contraction-points that can clamp shut to stop bleeding of fluids, but it also traps waste in the rest of the body. This leads to painful swelling and bruising.