Thãloc
The Shattered | The Siege Breaker

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This amazing piece was done for me by the equally amazing  Aira_Klebold

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Tl;dr - Thãloc is a Quetzalcoatl. He can change forms between flesh and stone.

In more detail.
Thãloc is a member of the Quetzalcoatl species, a semi custom species for my own uses and design. The following will detail his species as a whole and his particular designs. The use of the name Quetzalcoatl will now refer to my custom idea for the rest of the text.


Blood and Stone.
The base form of the Quetzalcoatl is of flesh and bone, and with quite some effort they are able to transform into a body of stone. This stone form has much higher durability and strength, while also imposing some downsides. The stone form limits their eyesight, making everything duller and harder to see things that are further away, their hearing and sense of touch is also lessened. They are also not able to speak in this form, the lack of a tongue in the stone form reference is no mistake and also is related to another ability that'll get explained later. The use of the stone form is very powerful, but its use will easily leave the Quetzalcoatl exhausted upon their return to flesh.
In the stone form they are not able to fly, stone wings are not very aerodynamic, but can instead be used as shields.
In present times (of my story/universe) not much is known of the Quetzalcoatls, the ability to change forms being used so little paired with the relative rarity of meeting one has led to this knowledge fading away, which leads to the next point.


Blood Magic
In its simplest form; Empowered by sacrifice. Quetzalcoatls are able to take empowerment - the enhancement of strength, the durability of the stone and even allowing them to use certain ‘magic’ - by the sacrifice, in times long gone this would literally mean the sacrifice of another, but with the blooming of more modern times and the death of a certain Quetzalcoatl tyrant figure that practice became labeled as barbaric and since then mostly abandoned. Presently the common way to take sacrifice is through blood, e.g. the cutting of a hand. This has led to the stigma that Quetzalcoatls drink blood for their power, ‘if those powers even exist’. The Quetzalcoatls are not too happy with this misconception, but it is easier to manage than being known as selfish killers. Even so, Quetzalcoatls are not a common sight.

Soaring the Heavens
The natural habitat of the Quetzalcoatl can be found upon the Floating Mountains, high up in the canopy of giant forests, locations that require flight to get to and from. This reliance on flight has led to them never having developed limbs other than their wings, as it would impede their flight. But far from being just dumb vicious creatures, they saw the worth of dexterous limbs that the other creatures had access to. So with the now forgotten history of the discovery of magic, they made their own limbs. These limbs would be quite similar to that of dragons, positioned at where the wing connects to the body, these magic arms are transparent, becoming brighter with the more stress imparted on the limb and dissipating when not in use to not interfere with flying capabilities. This magic is taught to Quetzalcoatls at a young age and by its regular use becomes a near natural part of them, requiring no thought or concentration, as if they were born with the arms. (This was left unpictured in the reference sheet as the arms are only present when in use, and even with the arms, Thãloc uses them almost solely for utility, gesturing with his wings instead of the arms for example).

Flashes of Steel
Fighting and weaponry. If you were to see Thãloc in battle, you would most likely see him weilding a suitably sized spear or bow and arrows. There is a far more deadly weapon available to Quetzalcoatls, though its use is extremely rare, almost bordering on myth. When in stone form, and only then, the Quetzalcoatl is able to reach into their own mouth, and rip out a colossal sword, blade made of obsidian, and a hilt that is their own tongue, solidified into metal. The use of this weapon causes great pain, hence why it is so very rare for it to be used, relying more on traditional weaponry until dire circumstances declare otherwise. The blade is extremely sharp, and held durable by the Quetzalcoatl’s own life force, becoming as brittle as natural obsidian on death. This blade can be wielded in a telekinetic like manner and the blade's design can differ greatly between individuals. The formation of this blade within the stone form and the Quetzalcoatls first use of the stone form stems from the gruesome coming of age ritual performed by the Quetzalcoatls, which could quite possibly be the reason for the relative rarity of these serpents.

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Go for your life if you want to make a character around this idea of mine, Thãloc belongs to me and I believe that closed species are a massive joke, your designs will not be considered part of my story's canon unless explicitly stated by myself.