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THE ECOLOGY OF THE GRAY RENDER (unpublished Dragon article)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 4068453" data-attributes="member: 508"><p>It was really big. I remember Lizzie always said you should tell about an animal from the front to the back or from the top to the bottom so you don't forget about anything, so that's what I'm gonna do. At the top of its head there were six eyes. There were three eyes on each side of its head all lined up in a row. The eyes were all yellow and they seemed kinda small for such a really big monster. They also looked like a bug's eyes, because they didn't have any eyelids or anything.<strong>[6]</strong> It was hard to tell if the gray render was awake or asleep except it was breathing funny like it hurt to breathe.</p><p></p><p>Between its eyes on its forehead were a bunch of bony plates. Lizzie said they're probably for protection.<strong>[7]</strong> If the gray render had a nose or any ears I didn't see them.<strong>[8]</strong> But it had a mouth all right. All of its teeth were black, and there were lots of teeth. Lizzie said the teeth were like a shark's teeth because they grew in different rows and she said she thought maybe they always grew all the time like a shark's did, too.<strong>[9]</strong> There was blood coming from the gray render's mouth. It was black like the teeth so I said, "Maybe it's oil," but Lizzie said "No, Vrak, it's blood. I think it's hurt real bad." I said "Maybe if it's got black blood in its mouth that's what made its teeth all black," and Lizzie said "Maybe."</p><p></p><p>The gray render didn't have any neck. Its head just kind of stuck out from its shoulders.<strong>[10]</strong> It had really big shoulders too, and big thick arms, even way bigger than mine. I knew it was really strong then. I wish we would have killed it then, but we didn't. If we did, I know Lizzie would be alive today.</p><p></p><p>The gray render's skin was all gray all over but with no hair or fur and it was real thick, too.<strong>[11]</strong> There were four fingers and a thumb on each hand and it had claws and they were black too like the teeth.<strong>[12]</strong> Its feet were kinda the same, except for no thumbs, and there were only three toes, except there was also a little toe that pointed backwards, and it had a claw on it, and it was black, too. I mean the claw was black, not the toe, it was gray. It was kinda like a bird's feet, but only bigger. It looked like one of its legs was maybe broken.</p><p></p><p>The gray render had a little tail, too, but it was really little. And it was laying on its back, so I couldn't see the tail at first until Lizzie showed it to me. She said it was probably vestigial but I didn't know what that was. Sometimes I didn't ask Lizzie what she meant because I liked it when she thought I already knew something. She was a lot smarter than me, but even so she never made me feel dumb. I don't like feeling dumb, so sometimes I don't talk so much out loud. Especially around people.</p><p></p><p>The gray render was laying on its back and making wheezy noises like it was hard to breathe and its black blood kept coming out of its mouth. Lizzie said, "I'm going to heal the poor thing," and I said, "Don't, Lizzie, it might try to attack us again when it isn't hurt," but again Lizzie said, "Don't worry, Vrak, my god will protect me." And she went over to the monster and put her hands on its chest and on its head and said some prayers to her god and helped the monster feel better. I said, "Why don't you use your spell that makes monsters fall asleep, just in case?" and she said, "I think this one's too big for that spell, but look, I think it's asleep now anyway."<strong>[13]</strong> And she was right, because the gray render wasn't making that noise in its mouth that sounded like it was hurting to breathe, it just made a sound like snoring. Lizzie said, "Let's just let him sleep here for awhile." I said, "Is it all better now?" and Lizzie said, "No, but I think the worst of it is over. I'll have to fix its leg in the morning."</p><p></p><p>Then Lizzie looked around in the sky to see if the wyvern was coming back but it wasn't. I said, "Don't worry, Lizzie, I'll protect you," and she just smiled and said "I know you will, Vrak." Then the fighters finally came back by us again after running away when they saw the wyvern and they wanted to kill the gray render but Lizzie said, "No." They also said they had found a dead rabbit with its head bitten off,<strong>[14]</strong> but Lizzie didn't want to hear about it, I think because she really liked bunnies.</p><p></p><p>Oh, I almost forgot about its belly. On its belly Lizzie said, "Hey, look at this, Vrak," and it was a little slit. I said, "What is that?" and Lizzie said, "Look, it's a pocket." That made me laugh because what would a monster be doing with a pocket? But she felt inside and said, "Look, feel here, there's a nipple inside," and I thought that was funny too, because why would a monster carry its nipple in a pocket? But then I looked and it didn't have any nipples on its chest. I said, "How come there's only one nipple, not two?" and Lizzie said, "Maybe gray renders only have one baby at a time."<strong>[15]</strong> I guess that would make sense.</p><p></p><p>Lizzie explained that it was a pocket like on a possum, not like on an apron. Then I understood, because I've seen possums before and they have pockets on their bellies too. I like possum stew. I used to catch them all the time when I was little.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, Lizzie said we should back away and let the gray render sleep. One of the fighters said, "Fine, we've wasted enough time on the stupid monster anyway, let's get going," and Lizzie said, "No, we're gonna stay with it and make sure it's okay in the morning," and the fighter said, "That's stupid, come on, guys, let's go." And they went off by themselves without us, which was fine with me because I didn't like them anyway. One of them kept looking at Lizzie like he wished I wasn't there because then he'd try to make her be his woman. I think that's one of the reasons Lizzie liked me around, because I kept what she called the undesirables away. But I think she would of just liked me anyway, even if I wasn't as strong as I am. Lizzie was just nice that way. But she was real pretty too, which is how come the undesirables always wanted to be by her, even if she was kinda short.</p><p></p><p>So anyway, we went a little ways away and made a camp by some small trees where we could see the gray render, but we were far enough away from it that we wouldn't disturb it. The cattle was there again too, and they had calmed down from when the wyvern attacked, and they just ignored us and ate grass. Lizzie spent her time writing in her journal book about the gray render while I set up her tent. I didn't need a tent because I'm used to sleeping outside and I like it better when I can see the stars when I look up at night and not a tent. I slept right outside Lizzie's tent, though, in case she needed me because maybe the one fighter would come back when it was dark. I could hear her saying her prayers to her god in her tent when I went to sleep.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 4068453, member: 508"] It was really big. I remember Lizzie always said you should tell about an animal from the front to the back or from the top to the bottom so you don't forget about anything, so that's what I'm gonna do. At the top of its head there were six eyes. There were three eyes on each side of its head all lined up in a row. The eyes were all yellow and they seemed kinda small for such a really big monster. They also looked like a bug's eyes, because they didn't have any eyelids or anything.[b][6][/b] It was hard to tell if the gray render was awake or asleep except it was breathing funny like it hurt to breathe. Between its eyes on its forehead were a bunch of bony plates. Lizzie said they're probably for protection.[b][7][/b] If the gray render had a nose or any ears I didn't see them.[b][8][/b] But it had a mouth all right. All of its teeth were black, and there were lots of teeth. Lizzie said the teeth were like a shark's teeth because they grew in different rows and she said she thought maybe they always grew all the time like a shark's did, too.[b][9][/b] There was blood coming from the gray render's mouth. It was black like the teeth so I said, "Maybe it's oil," but Lizzie said "No, Vrak, it's blood. I think it's hurt real bad." I said "Maybe if it's got black blood in its mouth that's what made its teeth all black," and Lizzie said "Maybe." The gray render didn't have any neck. Its head just kind of stuck out from its shoulders.[b][10][/b] It had really big shoulders too, and big thick arms, even way bigger than mine. I knew it was really strong then. I wish we would have killed it then, but we didn't. If we did, I know Lizzie would be alive today. The gray render's skin was all gray all over but with no hair or fur and it was real thick, too.[b][11][/b] There were four fingers and a thumb on each hand and it had claws and they were black too like the teeth.[b][12][/b] Its feet were kinda the same, except for no thumbs, and there were only three toes, except there was also a little toe that pointed backwards, and it had a claw on it, and it was black, too. I mean the claw was black, not the toe, it was gray. It was kinda like a bird's feet, but only bigger. It looked like one of its legs was maybe broken. The gray render had a little tail, too, but it was really little. And it was laying on its back, so I couldn't see the tail at first until Lizzie showed it to me. She said it was probably vestigial but I didn't know what that was. Sometimes I didn't ask Lizzie what she meant because I liked it when she thought I already knew something. She was a lot smarter than me, but even so she never made me feel dumb. I don't like feeling dumb, so sometimes I don't talk so much out loud. Especially around people. The gray render was laying on its back and making wheezy noises like it was hard to breathe and its black blood kept coming out of its mouth. Lizzie said, "I'm going to heal the poor thing," and I said, "Don't, Lizzie, it might try to attack us again when it isn't hurt," but again Lizzie said, "Don't worry, Vrak, my god will protect me." And she went over to the monster and put her hands on its chest and on its head and said some prayers to her god and helped the monster feel better. I said, "Why don't you use your spell that makes monsters fall asleep, just in case?" and she said, "I think this one's too big for that spell, but look, I think it's asleep now anyway."[b][13][/b] And she was right, because the gray render wasn't making that noise in its mouth that sounded like it was hurting to breathe, it just made a sound like snoring. Lizzie said, "Let's just let him sleep here for awhile." I said, "Is it all better now?" and Lizzie said, "No, but I think the worst of it is over. I'll have to fix its leg in the morning." Then Lizzie looked around in the sky to see if the wyvern was coming back but it wasn't. I said, "Don't worry, Lizzie, I'll protect you," and she just smiled and said "I know you will, Vrak." Then the fighters finally came back by us again after running away when they saw the wyvern and they wanted to kill the gray render but Lizzie said, "No." They also said they had found a dead rabbit with its head bitten off,[b][14][/b] but Lizzie didn't want to hear about it, I think because she really liked bunnies. Oh, I almost forgot about its belly. On its belly Lizzie said, "Hey, look at this, Vrak," and it was a little slit. I said, "What is that?" and Lizzie said, "Look, it's a pocket." That made me laugh because what would a monster be doing with a pocket? But she felt inside and said, "Look, feel here, there's a nipple inside," and I thought that was funny too, because why would a monster carry its nipple in a pocket? But then I looked and it didn't have any nipples on its chest. I said, "How come there's only one nipple, not two?" and Lizzie said, "Maybe gray renders only have one baby at a time."[b][15][/b] I guess that would make sense. Lizzie explained that it was a pocket like on a possum, not like on an apron. Then I understood, because I've seen possums before and they have pockets on their bellies too. I like possum stew. I used to catch them all the time when I was little. Anyway, Lizzie said we should back away and let the gray render sleep. One of the fighters said, "Fine, we've wasted enough time on the stupid monster anyway, let's get going," and Lizzie said, "No, we're gonna stay with it and make sure it's okay in the morning," and the fighter said, "That's stupid, come on, guys, let's go." And they went off by themselves without us, which was fine with me because I didn't like them anyway. One of them kept looking at Lizzie like he wished I wasn't there because then he'd try to make her be his woman. I think that's one of the reasons Lizzie liked me around, because I kept what she called the undesirables away. But I think she would of just liked me anyway, even if I wasn't as strong as I am. Lizzie was just nice that way. But she was real pretty too, which is how come the undesirables always wanted to be by her, even if she was kinda short. So anyway, we went a little ways away and made a camp by some small trees where we could see the gray render, but we were far enough away from it that we wouldn't disturb it. The cattle was there again too, and they had calmed down from when the wyvern attacked, and they just ignored us and ate grass. Lizzie spent her time writing in her journal book about the gray render while I set up her tent. I didn't need a tent because I'm used to sleeping outside and I like it better when I can see the stars when I look up at night and not a tent. I slept right outside Lizzie's tent, though, in case she needed me because maybe the one fighter would come back when it was dark. I could hear her saying her prayers to her god in her tent when I went to sleep. [/QUOTE]
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