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Primal Cerberus — Description

The Age of Eitr is long over, the Godly Fluid and its children fading away. The petrifying dragons are a clear sign of the end, and to some, it cannot come fast enough. The people of the Church despise the dragons and their profane fluid, bitter from the betrayal that brought flame to their holy city. This anger has led to the dragon hunts, with golden warriors eager to hurry the dying of Eitr. Let these loathsome beasts perish and their beloved Eitr dry to dust. Let the Primal Flame at last go out. But fate enjoys itself some cruel irony, and the efforts of these hunters would be twisted. Indeed, they killed many dragons and spilled their Eitr upon the earth, but this would expose more of the world to this fading fluid. Pools of Eitr that formed around the defiled corpses, the mountains of primordial flesh left for the wildlife. Eitr is dying, yes, but this would be its violent death throes that would inflict many of misery upon those who usurped it.
The Primal Beasts feel like one final curse from Eitr, an act of spite towards the Ichor and its golden faith. Abominations born from the spilled fluid of dragons, creating the very monsters the hunters had sought to extinguish. The Primal Cerberus is one such blight, no doubt one of the most vicious to be born from this primordial soup. No one is happy to see a Primal Beast (save for the Academy), but there is at least a bit of relief when this mutation creates a Primal Carcolh or Chimera. Anything but a Primal Cerberus. There has been a prayer of thanks to the wondrous Ichor for the fact that this particular Primal Beast is incredibly rare. These abominations are by no means plentiful or easy to make, but this mutant has an extra hurdle to it. Because the Primal Cerberus is not just born from a Legion Shrew, but of multiples. It is a group of these shrews that have been tainted by the Eitr and warped into a terrible amalgam. Born from this act is a horrid creature of three heads (or more), clawed tails and twisted maws. Many turned into one, which may seem like a blessing. They lose the advantage of numbers, leaving only a singular beast to slay. But this is not a good thing, for a Primal Cerberus is a terrible foe. Another reason why this mutation is so rare is because the Primal Cerberus' lifespan is rather short, but every moment of it is filled with violence and hunger.
Shrews are known for their incredible metabolism, granting them speed at the price of rabid hunger. The Primal Cerberus has this very same trait, but cranked up to the extreme. The Eitr pumping through its veins causes them to run hot, folks can feel it just by getting close. But this grants them incredible vigor and energeiai, a fierce drive that lets them hunt and kill with little rest. Such butchery is necessary, though, as their Eitr-fueled metabolism means that they are practically on the brink of starvation for their entire existence. They must feed, and to do that, they must kill. The Primal Cerberus is a relentless predator that sees any flesh as viable prey. No matter how big or small, they will devour it. Their internal flame means they move with astounding speed, and for long periods too. These Primal Beasts never seem to tire, as they will only rest when dead. If prey tries to flee, they will give chase until one of the parties is dead, or something bigger and tastier draws its attention. Thus, it would be wise to fight instead, no? Well, good luck with that...
The attack of a Primal Cerberus is incredibly brutal and fast, wasting no time in ripping prey to shreds. Their many heads sport cruel fangs that tear through flesh, and even their numerous tails end in wicked claws. They unleash their fury with a storm of razors, even though a singular bite or cut is enough to end a life. On top of their speed, strength and sharps is the venom of the shrew. Once used to paralyze prey for easy eating or storing, now it is even worse. With Eitr within it, it targets the nervous system and sets it ablaze, inflicting incredible agony on prey. The slightest cut can wind up being lethal, as victims are immobilized by pain, which means an easy feast for the Primal Cerberus. When food is slowed down enough, its heads rush in to devour it. Every scrap is gobbled up, the fangs ripping through armor and hide as if it were soft fat. Victims practically vanish into thin air, as even the fluid stains left are eagerly slurped up by its hand mouths. Everything is food, and their potent digestive system lets them take in even the most inedible Rot. They must eat to survive, but it appears to be a losing battle.
The ravenous hunger of a Primal Cerberus is always its undoing, but that doesn't just mean starving to death. In fact, they rarely perish to a lack of food. Instead, this endless buffet inevitably draws the attention of armed factions. Those who notice a terrible trail being carved through their territory. A Primal Cerberus can devour an entire village, and bring incredible ruin to everything around it, thus folks are quick to notice and take action. A legion of hunters is needed to face this beast, for it is not an easy foe. The mere sight of an attacking force whips them into a feeding frenzy, as they see a marching horde of flesh heading right for their maws. They launch into their rampage, trying to kill and devour every last soldier. And with their many fangs, claws and whipping tails, they inevitably claim a few souls. Solid defense and strategy is needed to win, one must form an impenetrable wall for this beast to endlessly crash upon. Try to sever as many tail tendrils as possible, and aim at the heads to deplete its arsenal. Unfortunately, the Primal Cerberus is a hardy creature that refuses to die. Its body born from countless mutated shrews means it has many redundant organa within, letting it fight on despite missing heads and grievous wounds. And to top it all off, the mutated shrew gets very worked up when it is denied its meal and driven to the edge. Folks may think the battle won when the Primal Cerberus is horribly mangled and running out of energeiai. They couldn't be more wrong....
Those with the misfortune of clashing with a Primal Cerberus will not notice it at first, as it is easy to miss amongst the bloody chaos. The guttural hisses and screams of allies can distract you, but as the fight drags on, you begin to feel that heat. It isn't just the adrenaline and exhaustion, it is getting hotter and hotter. Because as the Primal Cerberus gets agitated, its metabolism starts to ramp up, and its body warms up too. The horrible mutant will begin to emit a sweltering heat, one that makes it feel like standing next to an inferno. Yet it just keeps getting hotter and hotter, until the overload happens.
When a Primal Cerberus is driven to the edge, its fury and hunger at its peak, it enters its final state. Its body heat will grow so incredibly hot that its armored plates will open at the seams to vent Primal Flame, and its own fur catches on fire. The shrew is suddenly turned into a living inferno, its flaming fur black and its eyes burning like beacons. Its organa are in overdrive, and thus its speed, strength and ferocity is multiplied. It barrels through foes like a burning siege weapon, ripping open opponents with white hot fangs. Its maws spit flaming venom and its horrid screeches pain the ears. No bindings will contain it, as it will melt through Amber and Tears with ease. It unleashes an incredible fury that few can withstand, killing and eating in one last blaze of glory. When a Primal Cerberus is driven to this point, there really isn't a return. It will go like this til its body gives out, or until some lucky warrior can strike the killing blow. At that point, the fire will claim the beast, and it is reduced to a charred corpse. Even in death, its flames are insanely hot, with folks having to wait days til the body cools down enough to approach.
As one can see, a Primal Cerberus is a cause for panic, as they can devour entire villages or caravans. They exist in a violent state of starvation, meaning there is zero chance for peace. This mutation is a broken one, dooming the abomination the moment it is born. Some feel that slaying them is a mercy, putting them out of their misery before they can kill others. For the Academy, they are a frustration, as they are a Primal Beast that cannot be contained. No doubt there would be incredible research to glean from this mutant, but keeping one alive is impossible. If not given a constant source of food, it will starve to death, and it sees any living thing as a meal. Holding it in a cage means unbridled rage and a burning body, the Primal Cerberus lashing out til it breaks free or kills itself. No amount of tranquilizer seems to calm it, frankly, it seems to make it even angrier. And to top it all off, you can't even study the corpse, as it catches on fire and wards all away with its incredible heat. The current idea is to prepare a vast amount of freezing Tears to immerse the corpse in, hopefully flash freezing it in a somewhat intact state. However, this calls for a lot of planning and preparation that is centered around a living ball of flaming chaos. But when has that ever stopped the Academy?
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So lets get ourselves to the modern day! I imagine there be a couple of folks happy to see this return!