Gluttons

Gluttons are nonsentient quadrupedal reptomammals, native to Imperium’s forests, jungles, swamps.

Physiology and Behaviour
Gluttons appear social and clumsy, but make no mistake; for many of Imperium's denizens, they are the stuff of nightmares, devouring crops, livestock, farmhands, and more. Female gluttons are the more common of the two sexes, and often grow to be larger. They are typically brown-skinned and hornless. Male gluttons have darker, more purplish skin, and can possess anywhere from one to three horns along the ridge from their snouts to the backs of their heads.

Scholars dispute which bit of nomenclature came first: the Glutton species, or the galaxy-wide condition of Gluttony, in which the affected exhibit vastly increased appetite, stomach capacity, metabolism, and flexibility. Gluttons as a species are populous and invasive; most major spaceports engage in thorough checks of docked ships in case of stowaway glutton infants, which are quite small and capable of hiding in tight spaces. The glutton species is highly explorative and playful, and discovering new lands is in their nature. They do not, however, stay small for long. Adolescent Gluttons are usually the size of large dogs, while fully grown adults often exceed the height of the average human due to their stilt-like legs. The purpose of these legs is no mystery: known for their insatiable appetites, gluttons will gorge themselves until their bellies prevent them from moving. With their uniquely shaped legs, they can haul around bellies larger than they are and still catch prey fairly consistently. This trait is not due solely to greed, as gluttons possess cruelly fast metabolism, and if not fed enormous quantities of food, will starve within hours. Because of this trait, domestication of Gluttons is near-impossible, and only a small handful of documented cases dot galactic history.

Gluttons prefer forested regions where they are granted cover in which to hunt. Though they appear unwieldy in shape, gluttons are an agile species and can hunt stealthily. The same is not true of any glutton unlucky enough to find itself in grasslands or otherwise flat areas, as with their great height, they can be spotted from miles away. Once a glutton catches its prey, its method of trapping it depends on the size of its belly: if it is empty, the glutton will pin the prey beneath one foot and slurp it up by the legs or tail, swallowing it whole; if the glutton already possesses a sizeable gut, it will simply pin its prey beneath its weight and devour it headfirst. Gluttons possess maws so stretchy that they can easily swallow prey larger than themselves. Furthermore, they are largely fearless creatures, and tales of gluttons taking down and swallowing ogres are not uncommon.

Though they will not eat their own, gluttons are nevertheless solitary creatures; so great is their need for nourishment that hunting in packs does not provide enough sustenance for everyone.