Thorneck
A quadrupedal herbivore that lived in the Wolfpaw Forest. It used its long neck to grab the pine needles from the higher portions of the forest's magical trees. Thornecks could devour twice its body weight in needles everyday. A fully-grown thorneck could be as heavy as 940 kilograms. Fortunately, the fir trees of Wolfpaw Forest grew at an incredible rate and were able to deal with the voracious diet of thornecks with ease.
Thornecks were endothermic lizards--not true reptiles, yet they were scaled and laid eggs. They used the massive amounts of magical food they consumed to generate enough heat to let them survive in the freezing climates.
Thornecks got their name from the spiked scales around their necks. The scales curved and bended into spiky points, resembling hooked rose thorns. These thorny scales were also present along the thorneck’s back and on the outside of its four legs. Their colouration was white while the normal scales on the rest of the thorneck’s body were a light blue. Thornecks had 3 toes on each foot, each of which were splayed out in an equilateral pattern. This helped disperse the thorneck’s weight and prevented it from falling into deep snowdrifts. The eyes of these large creatures were also highly reflective--not magically, but even the slightest light from distant torches could cause their eyes flash a bright white. Ancient legends mistook this as magical power, and for a long time Corgathian funeral processions passing near the forest would be weary of the thornecks’ “deadly eye beams”.
Thornecks were also equipped with 3 tails[^1], which it could use in self defense by flailing them like whips. With predators like the Northwulf so prevalent in Wolfpaw Forest, it was only natural that a creature such as the thorneck had to have such effective protection. The creature’s long neck would have been a massive vulnerability if not for the spiked scales.
[^1]: Thornecks were thought to be related to frostoquads due to the similarities bone structure, biological processes, and physical traits, like their tri-tails.