Treasure Tongued Snapping Dragon

Basic Information

Alternative name(s) Burping Dragons
Bellowing Titan
Cave-Gapper
The Shelled Death
Mud Dragons Threat Medium-High (ambush predator) Tactics Opens its mouth wide open to mimic a cave entrance, it lures in prey with its bright shining tongue that can resemble as piles of gold, pearls or other precious gemstones. Subspecies Pearl tongued Snapping Dragons Locations Marshes, swamps, bayous, coastal beaches and coral reefs.

Physical description

Size How large are they? Distinctive features Large spikey shell, rough and hard scales that resemble soil and rocks, massive and powerful jaw, eccentrically coloured tongue, small eyes, stubby thick legs, short and power tail and pairs of flint-like points erected from its gums.

Out-of-character information

Image source https://www.pinterest.com/pin/310255861831927187/

Imposing yet lazy, terrifying yet easy to miss. The Treasure Tongued Snapping Dragons are quite a formidable force of nature, laying in large caves or deep in swamps, mouth wide open and their beguiling tongues shining with excessive colours, only for the fool to dare to reach for it to meet a swift death.

Treasure Tongued Snapping Dragons are a formidable species of dragons, even more imposing of their kinds such as red or black dragons would think twice if they were to ever confront these behemoths.
Many other more imposing creatures or hellish brutes have faced a grizzling and anticlimactic end when they confronted the Snapping Dragons, as daring to enter their territory is a risk that many of the brave, or foolish, of people dare to travel though. For it is not easy to only be added onto the menu of the snapping dragons, nor their ire.

Treasure Tongued Snapping Dragons are large and bulky creatures. They have a similar appearance to snapping turtles that are also found close to where these drakes live. Their torso is occupied by a large, spiked shell, which gave the snapping dragons a powerful armour at the cost of their wings. Holding them up are four powerful legs, as thick as ancient oak trees.

Their most imposing feature is their head, that which has a similar beak structure to the more down-to-earth turtles. With small eyes, snapping dragons are not well known for spotting their prey, rather they instead sense with a vary of electro-sensing whiskers that helps them to detect prey. Their powerful jaws are the snapping dragons most dangerous equipment as they are capable of slicing though armour, flesh, scales and bone with great ease and at terrifyingly sudden speed.

The tongue of the snapping dragon is quite noticeable, and their best hunting tactic as snapping dragons are ambush predators, biding their time for quarry to come to their mouth rather than chase it down. While the scales of the snapping dragon are mostly more dull and muted colours; brown, moss green and sometimes grey. The tongue can show blazing colours of bright amethyst purple, gold, emerald green or any other eye-catching colour.

Depending on the species, inland treasure tongued snapping dragons are usually found in areas with high amounts of moisture, as these dragons prefer to either bury themselves in mud or lay on the bottom of lakes and ponds to score an easy meal. However, the costal subspecies of Snapping Dragons prefer shallow waters, again either buried under the sand or inhabiting large coral reefs.

1. Risky Tamers. Snapping Dragons are by far one of the hardest species of dragons to tame, even more so than the mighty Red Dragons, as Snapping Dragons mostly have a grumpy attitude to others, even to their own kind. As such, it is rare or even impossible to tame these creatures. However, it only takes the first of many, many people to change this fact. But it is to be expected that this same person might have a missing arm or leg.
   
   
2. Gassy Bellows. When confronted, Treasure Tongued Snapping Dragons have been known to expel a large stream of gas that they expel from their gullet. Misconceptions have been made that this gas is toxic, as many people who have been given firsthand experience are found soon after gasping for air or even delirious. But that isn't the case, the true reason for this is that the gas the Snapping Dragon expel is actually suffocating, as it saps the oxygen from the air and causing creatures who are targeted to become short of breath.
   
   
3. Explosive surprise. Additionally, for the snapping dragon's bellows of stomach gases, they are also capable of setting these torrents to ablaze with a swift clap of their jaws. This is due to a pair of large flint-like protrusions that sport out on the edge of their beaked mouths. So, whenever the dragon snaps it jaws, the flint scrap against each other, causing them to sprinkle sparks that would ignite the gas, turning into an explosive force that which can send grand creatures stumbling backwards from the shockwave.

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