Small, but deadly,
Winged with flame,
Smoldering with splendid aim,
Skin as thick as Dragon hide,
Leaves your team burnt, roasted, fried.

Fire Spitter

Splinter - Draykh Nahka

Set - Reward Edition

Class - Fire-Breathing Reptile

Size - Even the largest Fire Spitters are no bigger than a medium sized dog, but because of the thickness of their skins they are much heavier than most mammals. In the Draykh-Nahka desert where they roam freely, they are often mistaken for average sand lizards, but only until the wings come out. Their wings of fire are retractable like the claws of a cat, and whenever a Fire Spitter feels threatened or exposed, its wings shoot out from its back in a sudden blaze of light and the wings appear. It is unknown how the beasts use these wings to actually fly, since they are made of fire, but whenever one of the Spitters is summoned to combat, they fly as if their bodies are made of air. The wings of fire also make them surprisingly dextrous, able to dodge projectiles with ease.

Lifespan - Because of their resemblance to traditional Splinterlands reptiles, Fire Spitters are presumed to live longer lives than Humans. This has not been proven however, because the species has only existed in the Splinterlands for the last couple years. It has been noted that their eggs must be tended in a warm and dry nest of sand for nearly an entire year before hatching and that they newly born Spitters grow incredibly slowly. These observations by Draykh-Nahka scientists have led them to believe that the Spitters continue to age slowly for their entire lives. It is estimated that by the time they reach adulthood, they have lived for nearly 100 years.

Habitat - The entire population of Fire Spitters has settled on the Sands of Draykh Nahka in the Dragon Splinter. When they first came down from the sky, many of them were picked off by the wild Lightning Dragons of the north in a sudden but memorable sky battle that caught the attention of nearly every Centrum resident one night. The Spitters put up an incredible aerial fight, and eventually the Lightning Dragons relented after three of them were killed. After the arrival, the Gloridax High Council sent a welcome party to the place they seemed to have landed, and shortly after that, the Fire Spitters were being summoned to Moxian tournament battle in the name of the Dragon Splinter. Many mages of the Burning Lands were up in arms over the fact that these beasts, which were clearly born of fire, were so quickly given as a card to the Dragon Splinter without so much as a debate. But that is the way that Dragons tend to settle matters, quickly and without the consideration of the rest. Such is the way they have always run the great tournaments, and they wanted the Fire Spitter in their corner.

Weapon - The Fire Spitter is aptly named for its strongest (and only) weapon. Each Fire Spitter has an internal furnace that produces concentrated balls of flame that can be loosed with incredible accuracy toward an enemy. These fireballs can burn in a flash through the walls of most buildings and melt many metals to their molten form. A single blow from a Fire Spitter can knock a powerful armored warrior off his feet, but a good shield can deflect the flame and protect the warrior. Defensively while in flight, Fire Spitters are very difficult targets to hit, often staying out of range and moving continuously as if their own wings of fire are burning them and they’re trying to escape from the heat.

Diet - Scientists who have watched over the Fire Spitters have observed their eating habits diligently since their arrival little more than two years ago. Most animals that must maintain intense internal heat require huge amounts of food to survive, but Fire Spitters seem to live like small birds, on ground insects and rodents alone. They rarely need to leave the Sands because they can find all the sustenance they need there. It is estimated that they eat so little that it would take an entire year for a single Fire Spitter to consume its entire weight in food.

Allies - At first, Fire Spitters were very guarded against anyone who approached in the Splinterlands, especially since their first encounter was the sky battle with a herd of Lightning Dragons. Because of the Gloridax protection that was quickly then ordered around them, they came to trust others very easily. Some Human residents of Draykh-Nahka are able to visit them in the Sands near their homes (though they do not let anyone near their eggs), and a few brave souls have gone so far as to feed the beasts captive rata from their hands. Anyone who is able to get close enough to feed these small rodents to the Spitters has earned the highest degree of their affection. It has been noted by leaders from other Splinters however that the Gloridax may have some hidden plan for the Fire Spitters, without which they would have no reason to be so nice and protective of the species. This probably has to do with the powerful potential of genetic weaponization that the Dragons see in these small but mighty lizards.

Enemies - Because of the first unfortunate and violent encounter with the Lightning Dragons, a strong Fire Spitter enmity has developed for anything that sparks or flashes. They are triggered into a rage by flashing lights in arena battles, and they become furious at even the sight of a Lightning Dragon. There are many mages and monsters that call upon lightning as their attack of choice, and Fire Spitters seem to despise them all. It is difficult to say whether they have always hated lightning, or if it merely a result of the aerial battle with the Dragons. When storm clouds gather over the desert, they cover their eggs with sand and hide in caves.

Pastimes - Fire Spitters in the wild are strangely playful, especially when they think no one is watching. They spend the majority of their time simply protecting their eggs and waiting for them to hatch, but sometimes they participate in what look like games, always involving fireballs. From a distance, they will target a beehive and take organized turns shooting fire until one of the Spitters takes it down. Then they playfully hide as the bees irately try to find the one who destroyed their hive. They also have contests of distance sometimes at night, by taking turns lobbing fireballs out over the sand, then venturing out to see whose fireball flew the farthest.