Huenalek

Appearance
Huenalek has an elongated body with small limbs, toes are connected by grey webbings. The short fur is brownish grey and the underside of the torso as well as the legs are sometimes covered by algae. The monster's tail is flat and stiff but it can be turned 90° vertically and has a broad tip. The limbs end in a surprisingly wide paw with small claws at the end of the toes. At the base of the underside of the front legs are extendable, black spikes. While the Fanged Wyvern usually walks around on all fours, Huenalek is capable of standing on its two hind legs. The neck is quite long connecting the body to a rather stout head of spherical shape. The monster has round ears which it can close of completely by folding them in. The most prominent feature of the Fanged Beast are both the leathery beak-like jaws that juvenate slightly to still broad snout with small pointed teeth and the small sacs that dangle from its cheeks. The black eyes are of non-specialized size when compared to the whole body.

Habitat and Ecology
Huenalek inhabits different coastlines and rivers where it can swim and find its main prey, Lopylki. Apart from this preference the monster is an omnivore and feeds on other small monsters as well as seeds, berries and underwater plants. The Fanged Beast can be found equally on land as in both fresh and salt water. Huenalek lives in caves in the mud of ponds and lakes, sometimes even coastlines with underwater entrance for protection against terrestrial predators. The monster is found in areas such as Submerged Boneyard, Relentless Stream and Frantic Bay.

Roaming around the area Huenalek searches for food while swimming or burrowing. It prefers aquatic monsters and most of its carnivorous endeavours are made in the water. To catch its prey the Fanged Beast uses its black spike at the root of its front feet which injects a paralyzing venom. After that the monster feeds on the victim as is. Huenalek possesses electric organs inside its beak that can register electric impulses from other monsters or hunters, with which it finds prey. This organ is the monster's only means of orientation underwater, eyes and ears are only used on dry ground. On land Huenalek usually goes for vegetarian nutrition but it also eats bugs and their larvae if it gets them.

The Fanged Beast is very curious and playful, following other monsters and hunters around from a distance to observe then and then imitating the behaviors it saw after the observed is gone. Depending on how interesting and useful Huenalek finds these actions it may keep on using them and shows them to other members of its species or drops them and never repeat them again. This caused different cultures in separate populations to emerge. Members of different cultures seem to be attracted to each other, probably due to their curiousity towards the new and unknown.

Huenaleks live in groups of a few, closely related members but aren't territorial. Different families often come into contact and play around with each other. They may live in close proximity, sometimes even connecting their caves. Neighbors often support each other by helping searching for food or caring for the youngs when the parents are out to hunt. In groups with interconnected caves the youngs often get cared for together in a room in between the families. In form of a social interaction two Huenaleks help each other remove the algae that often sticks to their pelt on their belly.

When mating season begins the males leave the family searching for mates outside the area they inhabit. Within each population that regularly interact with each other males from other regions fight for the right to get a female. The battles revolve around pressing their tails together and trying to push the opponent to the side. This gets repeated for each female until every one of them has a partner. Mostly younger individuals participate in the battle as Huenaleks are monogameous and stay to their partner until they've died which can also lead to the death of the left behind mate due to shock. After the pairs have found each other the male brings back the female to his birth place and they build their own nest in the mud. The female births on average 4-5 live youngs which it provides with milk until they are old enough to leave the nest on their own.

Huenaleks are known as thieves, as, by virtue of their strong curiousity, their observation of new behaviors and objects leads them to steal things to have a closer look at them and to imitate what it saw done with the stolen good. This makes the monster unpopular with farmers, merchants and practitioners of other outdoor professions. As the Fanged Beasts live in oceanic areas near the coasts as well, smaller ships may be entered and robbed as well. This caused especially merchants to hire new hunters to protect their charge when they transport their goods in the areas the monster inhabits. In other areas the pelt of Huenalek was in high course which lead to the extinction of some remote populations but the sale of the pelts got regulated by the guild to protect the smaller populations. Densely inhabited areas usually have a high enough reproduction rate to withstand being targeted by hunters.

Interactions with other Monsters

 * Prey:
 * Main prey of Huenalek are Lopylki, but it also feeds on different kinds of small Fish, Mollusks and other monsters.
 * Predators:
 * The Fanged Beast has quite a few predators, most notably Tukolpyk, the adult form of its main prey.
 * Turf wars:
 * Huenalek was reported to have turf wars with Tukolpyk.

Abilities
Most of the Fanged Beast's attacks are of physical nature, either using its tail or the paws and claws. When it extends its spikes at its forelimbs Huenalek can inject paralyzing venom into its target. Usually the monster only extends them for certain attacks but in Rage Mode the spikes are out all the time. Underwater the currents caused by its movements can inflict waterblight and damage as well and blow a smaller opponent away. The Fanged Beast also uses the ink in its pouches at the cheeks to spit it at enemies either blinding them or causing the pollution status effect. The supply of ink can be used up making the monster unable to spit it. While it is quite agile on land, Huenalek is even faster underwater.

On land

 * 1) Tail whip: Huenalek stands up and takes a swing with its vertically rotated tail and strikes it to the other side while turning slightly. In shallow water this splashes water up as well extending the hitbox. May be repeated once.
 * 2) Tail slam: The monster raises its tail jumps towards a close target with its back first and slams down its tail on the opponent.
 * 3) Strike attack: Similar to Arzuros, the Fanged Beast stands up strikes at a target two or three times. In Rage Mode this attack may paralyze due to the extended spikes.
 * 4) Turning paw strike: Huenalek aligns its paws with underside to the direction it wants to swing and turns around while striking its paws in that direction. In Rage Mode this is able to inflict paralysis.
 * 5) Pounce attack: If it isn't in Rage Mode, the Fanged Beast extends its spikes and leaps towards a target pouncing with one paw and repeating it consecutively with its other paw causing paralysis when hit successfully.
 * 6) Charge: Huenalek charges forward to strike down an opponent with its paw. In Rage Mode this inflicts paralysis and it may repeat this or chain another attack to it.
 * 7) Bite: The monster leans forward and bites an opponent.
 * 8) Ink spit: The Fanged Beast lifts its head a bit while sucking up a small amount of ink from its sacs and then spits a glob at the target inflicting pollution.
 * 9) Triple ink spit: Similar to the regular ink spit but it charges up more ink and spits three globs towards its target sometimes procrastinating to surprise the opponent. Sometimes it feints the third spit only to strike with another attack instead and then spits the third glob.
 * 10) Ink beam: In Rage Mode Huenalek may takes out all of its ink supply similar to the other ink attacks to spit out an ink beam lasting for a few seconds following the movement of one target. After this it exits the Rage Mode and searches for a resupply of ink.

Underwater

 * 1) Tail whip: Similar to the land equivalent but causes currents around its tail that may inflict waterblight.
 * 2) Tail slam: Like Royal Ludroth, Huenalek rotates vertically to slam down with its tail, causing currents around its broad tail.
 * 3) Charge: At a distance it aligns its sight to an opponent and charges at full speed at it. This causes a water current around it that can inflict waterblight. In Rage Mode the monster may make a u-turn either to a side, upwards or downwards depending on the water level and the target's position.
 * 4) Charge tail strike: Like the regular charge attack the Fanged Beast charges towards a target and strikes its tail at it from the side.
 * 5) Paw strike: While turning to an enemy it strikes its paw at it. May be done twice. Causes paralysis when enraged.
 * 6) 3D paw strike: Huenalek swims over or under an opponent and strikes its paw down from above or below. In Rage Mode a hit inflicts paralysis.
 * 7) Turning paw strike: Identical to Royal Ludroth's turn underwater.
 * 8) Punch pounce: Similar to the pounce attack on land the Fanged Beast extends its spikes and thrusts one forelimb like a punch forward, doing the same with the other front limb right after.
 * 9) Ink spit: Like on land Huenalek gathers the ink from its pouches and spits a small ink glob towards the target. After some meters the glob diffuses and leaves behind a small cloud of ink for a few seconds that can inflict pollution when swum into.
 * 10) Triple spit: Just like the land version, it spits three globs of ink. Sometimes it procrastinates the third spit and after a feint the monster can also attack with a physical attack before it spits its third shot.
 * 11) Ink beam: The same as the land version but the ink leaves small clouds behind.
 * 12) Ink cloud: When it gets injured and wants to escape or its beak gets damaged Huenalek, willingly with the former, unwillingly with the latter, releases all of the ink it stored up at once leaving a big cloud behind which impedes the sight and tries to get to land as fast as possible. After some time to calm down it then searches for a resupply or for its sleeping place depending on its health.

Materials
Huenalek Hide, Huenalek Pelt, Huenalek Beak (when damaged), Huenalek Spike (only when front limbs damaged), Ink Sac, Huenalek Tail (when damaged), Huenalek Webbing (when front limbs damaged)

Trivia

 * Similar to Lopylki and Tukolpyk Huenalek's name comes from the Icelandish word bleksprautuhylki or more exactly blek, which translates to ink adding parts from the words Ornithorhynchus anatinus (scientific name of the platypus) and aihue (Hawaiian), meaning to steal.
 * Huenalek's design is mainly inspired by the platypus but takes in parts of otters, hamsters and beavers as well.