World: Alfheim
Diet: Any Organic Material
Height: 9’1″
Lifespan: 3 months
Habitat: Desert
Activity Cycle: Diurnal
There are no summer and winter in Alfheim, just wet and dry seasons. In the driest deserts, the wet season is usually extremely brief and extremely violent, with massive storms dropping enough water to turn the sand into mud flats, bringing dead rivers and lakes back to life. These great storms are necessary for the cycle of life in these dry lands, but powered by the natural magics of Alfheim, they also spawn deadly living storms. Until the rains pass, hungry tornados whirl across the land.
A vortoxen is initially sustained by its mother storm, but once separated fully, it must feed itself. Its swirling winds are fueled by an internal furnace, expressed in its licking tongue-beard of flame. Their “mustache” of twirling winds is used to snatch up anything organic and shove it into their maw. The lightning that courses through them paralyzes prey captured in their tendrils and stomach until it burns away. They would use their lightning in self-defense as well, but they nearly entirely lack self-defense instincts, only feeling a desire to devour all they can find. While they start small and average 9 feet tall, those who manage to continue feeding themselves long enough can grow twice that size.
Some mages have found ways to create vortoxen, but none have ever discovered any way to actually control them. This makes them deadly wild cards, and one feeding on the abundant resources of a city can grow larger and more terrifying than any known in the wild.
