Image here due to size
The marble lizard is a large, rare beast that hatches out looking like a normal lizard (scales, no marble), but as it ages, gets injured, and heals, it slowly starts to become covered in marble. The large glowing red gem embedded in its chest absorbs magic from the lizards food and surroundings, and even from direct magical attacks (which also makes the lizard immune to such attacks), and stores the energy. Whenever the lizard gets an injury, the magic will heal it, but the regrown scales, flesh or hide will grow back as living marble. Most young lizards have very little marble on their skin, but great elders will be almost entirely marble, due to the adults habit of fighting at the drop of a hat.
Apearance: Hatchlings are born an orangish/brownish color with green markings. As they become marbled, they begin to get white, black or grey marble coloring. An elder male might be entirely white marble with almost no trace of its original coloring. When their gem is empty their dewlap is a pale yellow color. When their gem is full their dewlap is a deep blood red.
Size: Newborn hatchlings are about the size of a cat. When they reach adulthood, both genders are around 4 ft tall at the shoulder. A really old adult male can grow to over 8ft tall.
Fingers: Their front feet have highly dexterus fingers and an aposable thumb. Hatchlings can use this to climb trees in emergencies, while adults usually use them when feeding, nest making and covering themselves for an ambush.
Lifecycle: In summer the breeding season starts, and all the marble lizards travel to their breeding grounds. The males are first to arrive, and fight among themselves to be in the center of the group. The females arrive next, and will inspect the males. They always choose a male who has the brightest throat coloring, as this is an indication that he has a very large amount of magic stored in his gem. If more than one female chooses the same male, they will fight for the right to have him as their mate. The pair will then leave the group and find somewhere quieter to mate. After mating, the pair will travel back to the female's usual territory.
Two months later, as autumn starts, the pair begins to construct a nest. They dig a large pit in the centre of a thicket or thick group of trees, and then pile leaves and moss on top into it. A full three months after mating, the female lays a single large egg in the nest, and fallen autumn leaves, moss, sicks and dirt are piled on top. The egg incubates in the pile for an entire year, and the parents watch over it for the entire time, but stay hidden nearby under their own piles of leaves, moss or snow.
The little orange and brown hatchling digs its way out of the nest, and its parents raise it. The first few weeks are when it is most venerable, as it has not got enough magic to heal itself from even minor cuts and bruises. It hides in leaf litter and only comes out when its parents bring it back food.
Both parents continue to raise the hatchling together till the next summer, when the male leaves. The mother continues to care for the hatchling until it is three years old, and a little over half grown. After that, she abandons it and will be ready to breed again. The hatchling will cry for days after its mother leaves it, possibly even weeks, before it's hunger causes it to move on.
Hunting: The Marble Lizard is an ambush hunter. It will find game trails used by its favored prey, and bury itself in leaves, branches, soil, snow or whatever else is available. It will lie in wait till its prey passes it, then lunges in for the kill. They also supplement their diet will plants and rocks, and are particularly attracted to materials containing magic. Although they can not exist on such materials alone, eating enough of them means that each lizard may only need to eat four or five deer a year.
When raised by a Magi: When it first hatches, a marble lizard hatchling will be highly reluctant to leave the safety of it's magi's chambers. They will often be found curled up in blankets, or deep in a pile or dirty laundry. When they become more active they will follow their magi around everywhere, and will cry loudly if left alone. They eventually do become more independent, especially when they meet others of their own kind, and although their attachment to their magi will always be strong, they will eventually leave on their migration to their breeding grounds, where they will find their own mates.
Poaching: In the past these creatures have been hunted for their gems, which hold huge amounts of magical power. The only way to kill a Marble lizard while retaining it's gems power is to cut the gem out of it's chest while it is still alive. The only other way to kill it drains all the power from the gem, by injuring it badly and waiting for it to heal, then continuing to injure it until it has run out of power and can not heal.
Even emptied gems are worth a small fortune, as a magi can store spare power in it to be used in emergencies or for a spell that requires more power than they have at any one time.
Example Coloring
