Duneracer

Duneracers are a reptilian species native to the planet Torrna.

Often mistaken for dogs for their canine-esque build and pack behaviours, duneracers are in fact lizards. They have tough, scaled, armour-like hides, powerful bone horns and plates for fighting and self-defence, and dagger-like fangs for maiming and killing. They are about equal in size and weight to tigers. Their bodies produce intense heat through a natural, internal combustion process, which is released through small vents in their hides, causing them to look as if they are on fire, and on their breath.

They are extremely fast, capable of reaching top speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, and they are incredibly skilled at jumping, thanks to their strong legs. These attributes make duneracers highly fearsome predators in the sulphuric wastelands of Torrna, where they notoriously favour hunting in packs and rely on surprise ambushes and brutal takedowns.

Despite their ferocity and aggression, duneracers are generally a scavenging species that ambush stray soldiers and lost civilians, and feed off the many dead who litter Torrna’s battlefields. On any other planet, duneracers might have been apex predators, but there are plenty of bigger, more dangerous beasts lurking beneath Torrna’s surface which even they fear.

Breeding and importing duneracers is illegal throughout the Orion Corporation-controlled galaxy. Despite their illegality, there is nevertheless a roaring black market trade for these savage beasts, and the retired business tycoon Franz Goldsmith keeps two of them, named Grills and Crowns, in his Astradeian manor.