Horizon's Edge Dragonnel

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AUTHOR : Petty Officer Liam Shoates, Ecology Assistant, Life Sustainer Section
ENCRYPTION LEVEL : Fuchsia
ADDRESSEE: Lord-Captain Victoris Cornelius Peregrinus

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Dread Captain, at your request I have begun compiling reports on the ship's ecological interdependencies. While actually you didn't request that I do it, Midshipman Gallagher has a hangover and said that if I didn't compile the report for him he'd give me a drubbing with his shock-baton, so here you are, your lordship.

To begin with, I decided to focus on the most noticeable animal on the ship, the dragonnel, which I'm sure you've noticed as a ubiquitous presence on every deck, and which I noticed stealing my lunch while I'm writing this.

Description The dragonnel is a six-legged reptile, thought to be from one of the moons of Cetarus IV (which one, nobody can agree on, largely because none of the moons exist any more, as I'm sure you know). Their shoulders and throat are protected by a spiked fringe that projects from their skulls, and their bodies are also heavily-armoured with articulated plates. Their gait is a low-slung waddle that can reach top speeds of about thirty kilometres per hour.

Physiology A number of interesting physiological quirks make the dragonnel perhaps one of the most useful creatures on board. They have an extremely robust digestion, their strong claws allow them to climb up sheer surfaces, and perhaps the most remarkable thing is that they can spew vast torrents of stomach acid at enemies. In order to digest some of the barely-organic things that they ingest, dragonnels accumulate excess acids which they store in sacs near their throats, which they release when digestion needs an additional 'kick'. Over time, they've also learned to expel them as a caustic torrent as a defensive or predatory reflex. Some species have even been known to deliberately ingest shrapnel and gravel to make the experience even more debilitating.

Of course, some of our dragonnel-jockeys have been known to feed bootleg promethium to their dragonnels and mount a pilot light under their jaws.

Behaviour One of the most interesting quirks about their behaviour is how they destroy their own eggs to ensure each generation stays strong. Whenever a dragonnel lays a clutch of eggs, she will wait till their shells seem sufficiently hard, and then she will fling the eggs at the nearest hard surface; only eggs strong enough to withstand the impact will hatch.

Role The dragonnel is used by crewmen all over the ship as transportation, a beast of burden, and they are also reared for their eggs: dragonnel-embryo is a well-loved delicacy, and Gammer Cordite on the macrobattery deck has an ancient family recipe for a stew using dragonnel-embryo that has been known to start brawls.

Attached below is a sketch one of the jockeys drew for me of his steed, "Hersha," chasing a Void Wasp. The creatures apparently consider them a delicacy.

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