Species:
There are 5 major species of Morlok that have been discovered and exist within The Astarian Empire.

Morlok, Guanok, Lardnok, Shrillok, Fanlok

Morlok:
The Morlok come in many different colors and patterns as their bodies are covered in thick scales. They evolved from the proto-Correlophus Ciliatus. They have triangular heads, which lack eyelids and instead flush their large beady black eyes by pushing fluids through the eyes through small pinholes in the retinas. They have a soft hair-like Setae on their toes for sensing and climbing. Their Setae is made of very stiff hair-like bristles which help the Morlock with their locomotion, sensory perception, and adhesion to many surfaces. They have semi-prehensile tails used for climbing which contain a small secretion of sticky liquids which allow the Morlok to crawl up walls and hide in corners to leap at their prey.

Guanok:
The Guanok come in many different colors with camouflaging patterns as their bodies are covered in a thin carapace. They evolved from the proto-Cyclura Cornuta. They have a bony-plated pseudo-horn or outgrowth which resembles a horn on the Morlok’s snout. They have a row of spines along their backs which are filled with a poisonous toxin and a long powerful barbed tail they use to hang from objects with and to whip things with. They originally evolved to have a large dewlap used as a throat fan for temperature regulation and mating display. However due to further generations the dewlap throat fan was replaced by the ability to generate and store a small amount of fluid which ignites as they blow, this has allowed them to develop a poisonous burning magical breath attack.

Lardnok:
The Lardnok come in all hues of light brown with camouflaging patterns. Their bodies are covered in thick dark brown bone plates which grow both inside and outside the scale covered skin. They evolved from the proto-Bathysaurus ferox. They have a long slender body with a flattened head with a long flattened tail used to spring them upwards when buried. Their mouths are large and pointed, filled with many small sharp needle-like teeth. They have long whip-like barbed tongues used to grip and hold their prey. They are quadrupeds with large developed legs allowing them to leap great distances to lock down their prey. They have 4 long arms with sharp striking talons. As they are generally ambush predators that often partially or almost fully bury themselves in sand or loose dirt with only their eyes exposed. They will sit lying in wait for their prey to wander on by before ambushing them and most of the time swiftly killing them. They burst from the sand as their long barbed tongue grabs the victim, injecting a light paralytic as the trap-like snap of their jaws come down on the victim.

Shrillok:
The Shrillok come in many different shades of browns and greys, their heads are covered in thick scales while the rest of their bodies are smooth. They evolved from the proto-Chlamydoselachus Anguineus. It has a long slender eel-like body with a short rounded snout, large long arms which go to the ground, and large powerful legs with webbed feet. They have wide mouths which open downward revealing their large maws filled with inward facing needle-like teeth formed as tridents which are arranged in rows to bite their prey and not leg go. They have an extra set of “eyes” which have enhanced sensors allowing them to detect and see the unseen and follow the small movements in the darkness. They can see through stealth and camouflage due to them possessing a thermal detecting vision. While their tail is very large and long it is used to support their body weight and they are seen resting and sitting on their hind legs and tail when not in motion. They tend to use a five-legged walking motion moving their hind legs forward while supporting their weight on their bone knuckles and tail. They walk on their knuckles by curling their clawed fingers inwards supporting the weight on their enlarged knuckles. They use their thick heavy tails for balance and steering while making large leaps to move and pounce on their prey.

Fanlok:
The Fanlok are massive decapods with a large flat head and their maw is always open. They burrow into the dirt or sand and open their double maws. The outer maw has towering tall inward curved spiked teeth which secrete a sticky fluid to allow sand and dirt to stick to them making semi-natural looking stalagmites. From the base of their teeth they have long delicate hair-like sensory filaments covering their maw used to detect vibrations. The inner maw remains closed until the prey is trapped and opens to reveal three long wispy bard tongues which grasp their prey and rows of sharp teeth to shred prey into chunks.

They have a long tall standing lure which pierces into a corpse, generally a Morlok, luring others to the center of its maw. The piercing tongue sends out small thin tendrils which can allow for some movement and simple slow moving actions. While they are called Corpse Lurers or Corpse Dancers, they are huge slow moving burrowing ambush predators that can get many prey at once.
Massive underground burrowing and bursting Maws. Burrows into the ground holding their lure which usually consists of a Merlok corpse which can be manipulated and acts very docile to lure other species and races into their large maws.