Name: Tauntamounts
Creator: –
Home Zone: —
Project Appearances: TBA
Species Development Thread: Species Development: Tauntamounts

Tauntamounts are a plastic species based on various types of fishing lures.

Tauntamounts originate from a currently unknown region where they were created by a currently unknown god.

Due to being made of inorganic materials, tauntamounts are not susceptible to typical diseases or illnesses- but they are unable to heal wounds or injuries, and must patch them up as best as they can.

Tauntamounts enjoy fishing as a way of life and often sit on docks in groups with their tails in the water, hooks cast to the best fishing spots.

Tauntamounts tend to sleep in tight quarters together and do not mind sharing spaces. Different kinds of hooks are valued highly by tauntamounts, and many dedicated to the craft of fishing have extensive collections.

Tauntamounts typically teach their children directly and do not employ formal education.

Typical tauntamount housing involves adequate room to store spoils from fishing trips and is often located within distance to some significant body of water.

Tauntamounts are both incredibly patient and incredibly fast-moving when need be and are known for being able to sit completely still and move faster than most of their prey can react to.

Tauntamounts are surprisingly effective in combat due to their strong jaw strength, durable bodies, and overall speed, and are often employed in fighting horror-related threats due to their complete immunity to radiation. Trinkets are highly valued to tauntamounts, and many consider finding trinkets for their prospective children to be one of the most important searches should they choose to pursue parenthood.

Due to trinkets being such a large factor in the life cycle, many tauntamount parents name their children in themes related to their trinkets.

Tauntamounts have varying shapes based on their morph, though they’re generally pretty chunky.

Tauntamounts have markings that vary hugely based on their personal trinket and morph.

Their voices consist of clacking and gonking.

Tauntamounts lack paw pads and hair.

Their tails vary based on morph, but typically have a place for fishing line to come out and a place to affix a hook.

Tauntamounts range from 4’0-6’0 at “normal” adult height.

Tauntamounts have digitigrade legs, with clawed feet and standard arms, with clawed hands.

Tauntamounts are made of various materials, dependent on their morph and in some cases, the individual.

Their internal cavity contains silk fishing line and a small trinket encased in a plastic capsule, selected by the tauntamount’s parent(s). This trinket helps determine what kinds of creatures are lured to the hooks attached to their lines and does not need to be organic. The exact reasoning for why a trinket attracts certain creatures is abstract and can be strange at times.

Their fishing line regenerates over time but slows as the tauntamount ages. A fishing line running out completely points to incoming death, albeit not an immediate one.

They have ack o’ lantern teeth and are omnivorous, with a strong preference for aquatic life and worms. No one knows where food goes once swallowed, but they do require it to survive.

Tauntamounts have high energy levels but are very patient when it comes to waiting for prey.

Tauntamounts are prone to wiggling with their body language

They have simple ears and round eyes with equally round, black pupils.

Tauntamounts are easily startled by loud noises and rapid movements.

Tauntamounts are amphibious but prefer terrestrial living due to aquatic predators being extremely attracted to their flashy appearances.

Tauntamounts reproduce asexually and have no sexual characteristics whatsoever.

Tauntamounts create eggs via species-specific magic, typically in clutches of 3-5, and children are referred to as guppies.

Tauntamounts are capable of fishing up “treasures”, which are seemingly pieces of unimportant junk that when whispered key phrases to by a tauntamount, can be turned into a cluster of eggs. Giving up these treasures to another person instead of keeping them for oneself is considered a perfectly charitable act, and is encouraged if the finder does not want children for themself.

Small trinkets are placed within these eggs before the guppies can begin to form and help determine the appearance of the individual guppies. Guppies do not take any traits from their parent(s), and morphs are entirely random.

Families are not blood-related at all, and can thus take practically any size and shape.

Tauntamounts value casual and committed relationships equally.

Leaving the family is considered a tearful affair even without direct blood relations, and if leaving on good terms, many stay in touch.

Morphs are inspired by different kinds of fishing lure, along with occasional inspiration by different kinds of fish.

Hybrids and mixed morph children do not exist.

The first morph described was the Segmented morph, though subsequent morphs emerged randomly, and without god intervention.

Tauntamounts are inorganic and completely immune to horror mutation.

The segmented morph is based on segmented, swimming lures. They are made of hard plastic. They are characterized by their jointed segmented body which wiggles as they move or swim, thick bodies, big eyes, varied markings, and hook at the base of their tail, below their fin. They have the ability to extend their tail hook into the water to act as a lure.

The jig morph is based on jig lures. They are made of hard, shiny plastic. They are characterized by their ribbed, rigid body, thin bodies, bright, varied markings, big eyes, and hook in the place of a tail fin. They have the ability to extend their tail hook into the water to act as a lure.

The bobber morph is based on bobbers and anglerfish. They are made of hard, buoyant plastic. They are characterized by their bobber shaped lure, round, thick body, a band around their waist, tiny eyes, thick tail fin, and lack of a hook. They have the ability to extend their bobber shaped lure into the water to act as a lure.

Data pending.