Weregrat

As they searched for food, young blind warverines would occasionally crawl out of the Envious Eye to the surface world. While a good portion of these would perish either to starvation, predation, or the elements, a few would manage to eke out a living and breed. Overtime, these vagrants would adapt to living outside of the caves and become a new taxon that split off from their cave-dwelling ancestors, known as the weregrat.

In many ways, the anatomy of the Weregrat is actually quite similar to their cave-dwelling ancestors, as they translated quite well to life on the surface world. The extreme musculature of the Weregrat, once used for navigating dark caves, serves it just as well for living on the ice with the large sickle claws on the forelimbs hooking easily into both ice and flesh. The species has also regained their vision, since they no longer live within a dark cave system and thus can use the natural light of their world to navigate. Of course, living out in a frigid tundra or upon a massive glacier means it gets pretty cold, which in turn meant the Weregrat’s ancestors had to develop adaptations to tolerate said cold. One such change appeared not too long after they emerged, with the development of dark pigmentation, resulting in the skin becoming dark gray to black in coloration. This dark coloration allows the Weregrat to soak up as much sunlight as possible so it can then warm up.

To retain this heat, the Weregrat possesses a fine coat of trichomes that cover its body. These trichomes originated from the small tufts that grew on the ear tips of their direct ancestor. One major difference seen in these trichomes from their ancestor, however, is that they are now hollow. This adaptation means light will be reflected back through the trichomes and in turn allow for better heat absorption. The reflection of light is also what causes the Weregrat to appear light gray in general appearance or sometimes even completely white, though the sparser amount of trichomes on the faces means the head often looks darker in comparison to the rest of the body.

The light coloration resulting from the hollow trichomes plays into its own advantages, as it provides the Weregrat camouflage when hunting for prey. Said prey contains pretty much any large creature in its range, a result of its ancestor’s naturally opportunistic diet. To further aid with camouflage, the Weregrat will often hunt at night, where the cover of darkness means prey will be less likely to see it coming. If it gets close enough, the Weregrat will begin to sprint to its prey, their powerful forelimbs pulling it forward with great speed. Still, the Weregrat will tire quickly in a prolonged chase, and thus if it does not catch the target within the first thirty seconds the Weregrat will often give up the pursuit. If it does catch up, however, the Weregrat will use their powerful forelimbs and sheer bulk to quickly restrain the prey and pin it down. Once it’s in position, the nodent will then deploy its pair of saber teeth to deliver a killing bite to either the skull or neck. Every part of a carcass is eaten by a Weregrat, as living in a tundra or on a glacier means nothing can be wasted.

While Weregrats are no longer actively cannibalistic, they are highly territorial, with individuals often having territories that can be over a hundred square miles in total size. While a male will share parts of his territory with several females, neither sex will tolerate other Weregrats of the same sex and will immediately fight if they encounter one another. The severity of these fights varies upon how far the two Weregrats are into one’s territory, with fights at the edges usually being minor skirmishes that last only about a minute before one of them backs down and retreats. If the pair meet deep within one’s territory, however, then it's clear the intruder wants to take over and expand its current range. In this case, the fight becomes brutal, with both individuals willing to fight to the death over the territory. If one kills the other, the victor will happily feed upon the carcass as it's a meal already there and it can provide energy while the victor recovers from their own injuries.

If a male encounters a female, meanwhile, the fight is usually more of an auditory one, with the two letting out a series of whistles and clicks from their butt nostril until one eventually retreats. This behavior changes with the arrival of spring, however, as during this time a male will actively seek out a female. At first the female will react like normal, but the male will begin to prance around her and rub his teeth together to make a loud scraping sound. If the female is impressed by the display, she will begin to also let out a series of low rumbles. Once this happens, the two will proceed to copulate and then go their separate ways.

Much like their ancestor, Weregrat embryos exhibit intrauterine cannibalism, with only one or two young out of several dozen being born. By the time these young are born, they are well developed enough to technically be able to fend for themselves. Unlike their ancestors and cousins, however, the youngsters will actually stick with their mother for about six months, as she teaches them the skills needed to navigate their frozen domain and find where prey likes to gather. By the six month mark, the youngster will have learned all the necessary skills to truly live on their own, which in turn sparks their instinct to move on and establish their own territory.