Koyuxerus

Appearance
Koyuxerus possesses a flat, broad olive green shell with a trough filled with earth on its back, the underside is brown and partly covered in earth. The Carapaceon has four stable, brown legs that end in a stub and have small spikes on the upper sections. A fairly wide, light-brown tail grows from the abdomen with a barely rolled-in, darker end that stays at the same width. Koyuxerus' claws have a massive grey upper part and a tiny green lower claw which it holds sideways. The back, tail and upper legs as well as its claws have moss and lichen growing all over them. The Carapaceon has stalk eyes which can be covered in a protective skin layer.

Habitat and Ecology
Koyuxerus inhabits areas with trees and lots of shadows as it likes to bury itself halfways into the ground in the shade. The monster is herbivorous and feeds on certain fruits and seeds which enhance the nature element of the Carapaceon. Rarely Koyuxerus on small Neopterons to complement its diet or feed on larvae of bigger Neopterons inside the hive. Sometimes they feed on smaller Carapaceons in need of calcium to form its shell. Known locations of inhabitation are the Unseen Boscage, Relentless Stream and the Dark Hain.

The Carapaceon usually stays at a chosen space after becoming adult and rarely distance itself from its core territory which it also defends from intruders. In the outskirts of its territory it is much more lenient and lets other herbivores and conspecifics pass. The core is often located in a shady place where Koyuxerus sleeps for several days half-buried until it's time to search for food again. Confirmed reports state that individuals may rest for the length of weeks and even a month. How long the rest takes seems to correlate with the size of the monster, a larger individual sleeping longer but taking more time searching for food and eating in return.

Koyuxerus grows its whole life and how long it lives depends on the abundance or scarceness of its preferred food. It seems the nature element the Carapaceon amplifies with the consumption of those seeds and fruits also keeps it healthy, thus a sufficient nutrition reduces death by illnesses and prolongs the life expectancy. How this works and if it is possible to apply to humans is still unknown. Smaller individuals are a bit more agile than bigger ones but have less power. Huge individuals can be encountered from time to time, much larger in comparison to the regular size Koyuxerus are sighted and even growing even bigger in size then some Wyverns and even smaller Elder Dragons. Most smaller individuals are at the beginning of their adulthood and recently finished the maturity ecdysis, which is set for males at the age of two years and for females at four years approximately. The age of these Carapaceons can be determined by the tail which separates from the main body with the maturity ecdysis as a small bit of each exuvia gets stuck at the end of the tail as a seemingly darker colored shell. Those remains have visible age rings which are akin to the number of ecdysises after maturity that happen about every nine months. So each individual's can be calculated by counting the number times nine months plus two years for males or four years for females.

Cleanliness seems to be quite important for the Carapaceon. While moss and lichen grows on its body freely, other plants get removed from it and relocated outside its core territory. The monster also keeps its sleeping place clean and cuts too long blades of grass and removes plants it doesn't want. Still in the core but a bit apart from its resting spot, a male Koyuxerus builds an arch out of branches and grass, which it decorates with different flowers. These archs are called "marriage archway" as they get used as a mating ritual. The flowers on the arch are the only color elements that deviate from the green, brown and grey of the rest of the core territory.

When the mating season begins, the smaller males, that hold the territory, try to persuade females, who leave their territory wandering aimlessly inside another part of the forest they live in, to come with them by hitting their claws rhythmically at the ground. If the female resonates with the rhythm she will join in, otherwise she will roam further. Then the male leads the female to the marriage archway. When she goes through the two of them will mate, but when the female Carapaceon doesn't like the arrangement of the arch, she abandons the male in search for another partner. AFter mating, the eggs are kept on the tail which gets curled up a bit more to keep them in place. After hatching the nymphs live on the back of their mother for a short period of time and then leave her to live alone. Sometimes a male gets persuaded to go through the marriage arch and mate.

As Koyuxerus sheds from time to time it feeds on the exuvia it slipped out of mainly to gain calcium back for the next shell that forms. Sometimes the Carapaceon gets interrupted by a threat and leaves the shed behind. But these exuviae are also quite popular with collectors who sometimes have several of these sheds in different sizes and even request hunters to get new ones for them. Otherwise they are also used as material for armors and new hunters often go out to search for exuviae that got left behind because of a disturbance.

Interactions with other Monsters

 * Predators:
 * The bigger the monster the fewer predators it has, but smaller Koyuxerus can be preyed upon by big monsters like Tukolpyk and Voluron.
 * Turf Wars:

Abilities
Koyuxerus mostly attacks with its claws by slamming them down to the ground. Other means of attacks are tail slams and swipes as well as nature element fluids it foams up to bubbles and spits towards opponents. Rarely the Carapaceon uses its claw fingers to try to pinch a threat or grab a smaller opponent.

When enraged the monster's claws emit nature energy and each hit may inflict natureblight, also the bubble launcher attack increases in range. Koyuxerus' attacks always adapt to a rhythm and slams and strikes are usually performed multiple times to make this apparent.

Attacks

 * 1) Claw slams: The Carapaceon lifts one claw and strikes it down, lifting the other and turning to the side of the second claw attack. Altogether it strikes down four times, so it turns about 90° to the side. Inflicts nature blight in Rage Mode.
 * 2) Claw swipes: Koyuxerus sets its claw on the ground on the side ahead of it and drags it over to the other side, and then does the same with the other claw and then steps back. Can be chained with other attacks and causes nature blight when enraged.
 * 3) Claw drums: The monster aligns its claws in front of it and hits the ground three times alternately, then moves to a different spot close to its original position, sometimes turning. The Carapaceon repeats this up to five times and causes small tremors. Inflicts nature blight when enraged.
 * 4) Claw strikes: Koyuxerus holds up both claws and strikes them down alternately while moving forward. Up to six strikes can be chained with this. May cause nature blight in Rage Mode.
 * 5) Claw smash: The Carapaceon puts both claws together, lifts them up and smashes them into the ground which causes strong tremors. Usually gets used at the end of an attack chain or at certain moments in the theme. May inflict nature blight with a direct hit in Rage Mode. Either inflicts water or earth blight depending if the attack is performed on ground or in shallow water from the chunks that get scattered from the attack.
 * 6) Pinching attack: The monster stretches out its arms and uses its claw finger to pinch the opponent. Deals nature blight when enraged.
 * 7) Pincer attack: Similar to the pinching attack but Koyuxerus takes a swing and then reaches forward to grab a hunter. It then proceeds with a claw drum attack with the victim in its claw. Then it tosses the caught hunter away. Inflicts nature blight in Rage Mode.
 * 8) Tail slams: The monster lifts up the tail and slams it towards the ground three times, first in the middle, then to one side and then the other one. Causes small tremors.
 * 9) Tail swipe: Koyuxerus sets its tail on the ground and swipes it on the ground while turning 360°.
 * 10) Jump smash: Similar to Daimyo Hermitaur it jumps up and falls onto an opponent.
 * 11) Charge: The Carapaceon faces its target and runs towards it while holding its claws together in front of it striking them down alternately to the rhythm of the theme. At the end it usually chains a claw slams attack. Inflicts nature blight in Rage Mode.
 * 12) Bubble launcher: Koyuxerus lifts the front of its body upwards and starts to foam green bubbles at the mouth and then starts to launch them in a beam towards a target. Causes nature blight. In Rage Mode the beam has a longer range.
 * 13) Moving bubble launcher: Similar to the regular bubble launcher, but it moves sideways as well. In return for the mobility the beam doesn't reach as far as the other form.
 * 14) Bubble bomb: In contrast to the bubble launcher it lowers the front and launches bubbles at a spot in front of it forming a shape of bubbles similar to Gigginox eggs a little bigger than a hunter. After some time the bubble shape bursts in every direction inflicting nature blight to hit hunters.

Materials
Koyuxerus Claw (when broken), Koyuxerus Shell, Koyuxerus Tail (when carved), Koyuxerus Leg (when damaged), Koyuxerus Jaw (when head damaged), Nature Sac, Koyuxerus Mossshell (when back damaged), Koyulichen (shiny)

Trivia

 * Koyuxerus is inspired by Picrocerus Armatus