Gelivox Stalker
Kela ice feline
The Gelivox Stalker is a large feline predator of Kela's icy drifts and polar shelves, named after the Kelan colony Gelivox. It measures 3 to 4 meters long and weighs 400 to 600 kg. Muted color patterns and a light-reactive dermis make it nearly invisible against snow, and it can see in near pitch-black conditions, which lets it stalk prey unseen for days.
It is territorial and solitary and hunts by rush ambush, slashing with forward-curving claws. It will follow a human party for days and attack when starvation overcomes its patience. The Kelan historically feared it and carved its image into warnings.
It also hates Smilohounds with an intensity that conditioning cannot change. The two species cannot coexist even when raised together in captivity from birth. The hostility appears to be innate, embedded so deeply in the Stalker's biology that no amount of socialization can override it. It therefore cannot be housed in any facility or household that also keeps Smilohounds, which is most of them, and its domestication is limited to isolated Kelan operations that do not use canid companions.
