Part 2 – Mundane Herbivores

ARTMAL AND THE DIRE BEASTS (Doraddi)

In ancient times, Artmal came down from the moon to the lands of the Agimori, and commanded his followers, the Veldang, to build great cities, raise temples and push back the wilds. The animals of the land, which Pamalt and the other gods had made, were disturbed as their homes were laid waste and replaced with farmland or stone buildings. So angry did they become that they sent the largest and strongest among them, Brown Rhinoceros, to remonstrate with the Veldang and chase them away if he had to.

When Brown Rhinoceros arrived, the Veldang fled in fear and called upon their gods to save them. Artmal answered their summons, but he would not talk to Brown Rhinoceros either. Instead, he gazed upon him with his right eye and with his middle eye. From that day, Brown Rhinoceros changed, so that he was larger, stupider and hairier than he had been before, but not so aggressive, and he had only two blunt knobs on his nose instead of the two great horns he had borne before. Because he was not who he had been, he lost his name and was instead called Jitano. Because he was stupid, and because he was not violent, he left the Veldang alone from that day on.

Another time, the river Maytan became infested with mo’ems, who made all the water so filled with weeds that the Veldang in their cities could not drink it. Again they called upon Artmal, who gazed upon the mo’ems with his right eye and with his middle eye. From that day, the mo’ems changed, and became larger, with long floppy noses, while their sharp teeth grew huge and flat. The creatures which had been mo’ems began to scoop the weeds from the rivers, and ate them. These were the first shovel-tuskers.

Those mo’ems which were left feared that they too, would be turned into shovel-tuskers, so they fled from the rivers and hid in the open savannah. But Artmal found them there, too, and he gazed upon them with his right eye and with his middle eye. When this happened, the mo’ems became larger, but Artmal also made them look stupid, as punishment for trying to hide from him. Their noses grew long, like a snake, their ears became huge and flapping, and their sharp teeth grew long and spiky. The Veldang enslaved them, and named them ‘elephants’, and used them to help build more of their cities. That is why there are no mo’ems left in the world.

When the horned condies ate all the lagniappe in the city granaries, the Veldang called Artmal again. He looked at them with his left eye and with his middle eye, and made them ugly and cowardly. Now we call them uintals.

In this way, Artmal made many dire beasts, or changed those he had already made, such as when he made some of the elephant’s tusks grow backwards. All of the creatures he made in this way were big, much bigger than they had been before, but the biggest of all was the baluchum. When Artmal looked at the Running Rhinoceros with his left eye and with his middle eye, it grew and grew, until it was so big that a man could stand under it and still not brush his head on its stomach. Then Artmal told it to crush the land flat, so that the Veldang could build more cities upon it. But the baluchum just looked down at him, snorted, and wandered off, for it was so big that it did not need to do anyone’s bidding any more, not even a god’s.

BALUCHUM

(Baluchitherium chenoa)

Kick 15W, Very Tough Skin +5, Aloof 17, Large 15W2, Scent Intruder 2W, Strong 7W3

Distribution: Fonrit

Habitat: Woodland

Long legged and long necked, these colossal herbivores are avoided even by the Vangono’s horror. A full grown baluchum is larger even than most dinosaurs, standing five meters at the shoulder and nine feet in length. The Doraddi and Veldang regard them as sacred, and never hunt them, and the creatures generally ignore activity around them, knowing that little can threaten them.

Combat Tactics: In the unlikely event that they or their calves are threatened, baluchums will react with aggression, and will trample smaller foes (such as humans), or kick larger ones.

Image: Baluchum

ELEPHANT

There are four types of elephant common to Pamaltela, not including the shovel tuskers.

Gomphoth

(Gomphotherium angustidens)

Gore 10W+3, Thick Skin +3, Acute Hearing 5W, Cunning 17, Dig 17, Intimidate 2W, Large 18W, Run Fast 12W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 7W2

Distribution: Jolar, Kothar

Habitat: Savannah, hills

The gomphoth is a small elephant with bristly brown fur, a short trunk, and four tusks, two in each jaw. The people of the northern coasts trade with the Doraddi for captured gomphoths, because the animals can be trained as beasts of burden, and remain content in cooler climates.

Image: Gomphoth

Kumanku Elephant

(Loxodonta falconeri)

Gore 17+1, Thick Skin +4, Acute Hearing 2W, Cunning 2W, Dig 17, Grapple 2W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 17

Distribution: Kumanku

Habitat: Islands

The elephants of the Kumanku islands almost perfectly resemble their mainland Pamaltelan cousins, except for one fact: they are only about three feet tall at the shoulder. They were formerly found only on Tenenku and M’gokukchun, but the timinits ate the ones on the latter island, while the humans exported theirs to many of the islands where they live. The Kumankun humans domesticate the elephants as guard animals and beasts of burden, but do not eat them. They are more tolerant of cold than their tropical cousins, but would have difficulty surviving a snow-bound winter.

Pamaltelan Elephant

(Loxodonta pamaltensis)

Gore 10W+3, Thick Skin +4, Acute Hearing 5W, Cunning 2W, Dig 17, Grapple 5W, Intimidate 2W, Large 2W2, Run Fast 12W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 17W2

Distribution: Errinoru, Jolar, Kothar

Habitat: Savannah, jungle

These are the most common of the various types of elephant on the southern continent, and are a familiar sight on the plains. Slightly larger than its Genertelan counterpart, the Pamaltelan elephant has never been domesticated, but is often hunted for its ivory so that herds outside the Errinoru jungles (where such hunters rarely venture) are always wary of human intruders.

Maslo Elephant

(Deinotherium giganteum)

Body Slam 2W, Thick Skin +4, Acute Hearing 2W, Cunning 2W, Dig 7W, Grapple 2W, Intimidate 2W, Large 5W2, Run Fast 12W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 7W3

Distribution: Errinoru

Habitat: Jungle

The Maslo elephant is the largest of the various species, and stands over twelve feet high at the shoulder. They live in the jungle, only rarely visiting the coastal lands of Maslo proper. Their tusks project from the lower jaw, rather than the upper, and are short and recurved, pointing straight down. This unusual shape is ideal for digging up roots and for scraping the bark off trees to obtain food.

Image: Maslo Elephant

P’TUNGA

(Parahippus eopastus)

Kick 17, Hear Noise 2W, Jump 18, Large 12, Run Fast 5W, Strong 17

Distribution: Jolar, Kothar

Habitat: Savannah

The p’tunga is a horse-like animal common on the plains of central Pamaltela. In the God Time, the Viyorni brought true horses to the southern continent, but Pamalt and his tribe saw them for hulking mockeries of the p’tunga, and the clover of the plains turned against them, making them ill. Now, no true horses can survive for long in the Pamaltelan interior, although the native p’tungas live without difficulty.

The creatures are the size of a large deer, and have three hooved toes on each foot, but in other respects look much like typical horses. Their meat is somewhat stringy and tough, so that they are only rarely hunted by the local Doraddi and Veldang, although the local predators have no such compunction.

Image: P’tunga

RHINOCEROS

Pamalt made the rhinoceroses from his toenail clippings, and made them angry and belligerent so that they would fight any stranger that intruded on his lands. Wise people leave the rhinos alone, since they are too stupid to know foreign enemies from natives of the plains, and will attack anyone that disturbs them.

Black Rhinoceros

(Diceros bicornis)

Butt 12W+2, Armoured Hide +4, Belligerent 2W, Charge at Foe 13W, Hear Noise 2W, Intimidation 5W, Large 8W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 5W2, Tough 2W

Distribution: Errinoru, Kothar

Habitat: Jungle, scrubland

This dark-skinned, two-horned species is somewhat smaller than the Praxian version and prefers forested or scrubland terrain, where it browses from trees or woody shrubs. They are particularly aggressive and will launch unprovoked attacks on any perceived intruder.

White Rhinoceros

(Ceratotherium simum)

Butt 12W+2, Armoured Hide +4, Belligerent 17, Charge at Foe 13W, Hear Noise 2W, Intimidation 17, Large 10W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 5W2, Tough 2W

Distribution: Jolar, Kothar

Habitat: Savannah, hills

Another two-horned species, despite the name the white rhino is almost exactly the same colour as its ‘black’ counterpart, but is larger and has a muscular hump on its back. White rhinos are the least aggressive of the species, and sometimes gather together into small groups. They can thrive on relatively poor food if necessary.

SHOVEL TUSKER

(Ambeladon palus)

Body Slam 5W, Thick Skin +3, Dig 5W, Large 18W, Scent Food 2W, Strong 5W2, Swim 13

Distribution: Fonrit, Jolar

Habitat: Near freshwater

The shovel-tusker is a large marsh and river-dwelling animal that somewhat resembles an elephant. It has two pairs of tusks, with those in the upper jaw being little more than short spikes. The lower tusks, however, are flattened and lie together, together forming a large shovel. The trunk is about the same length as the shovel and is also flattened. Shovel-tuskers spend most of their time in the water, scooping up vegetation from the bottom with their shovels and trunks, but they are clumsy swimmers, and prefer to remain in the shallows. Herds are generally small and led by a large matriarch.

Image: Shovel Tusker

TANUKU

(Thoatherium lacogustus)

Dodge Attack 2W, Jump 17, Run Fast 7W, Scent Predator 3W

Distribution: Jolar

Habitat: Domestic

The tanuku is a common domestic animal among the Doraddi of Jolar. Mistakenly named a ‘milk antelope’ by the God Learners, the animal actually bears no more than a passing resemblance to the antelopes of Genertela. A tanuku is about the size of a goat, with a sleek, gazelle-like body, a horse-like head and short brown fur with black spots. They have a single hoof on each foot, like a horse, and browse on soft clover. The females supply the Doraddi with milk, while most of the males are slaughtered for meat and only the best kept for breeding.

Image: Tanuku

JITANO

(Brontops campesta)

Butt 8W+2, Thick Skin +3, Charge at Foe 12W, Hear Noise 17, Large 15W, Strong 5W2

Distribution: Fonrit

Habitat: Open terrain, woodland

Jitanos are the commonest large herbivores of the Fonrit lowlands. They are solitary creatures, with a rhinoceros-like build and short, blackish-brown fur. The two rounded, bony knobs on their nose are their most distinctive feature. They are not at all intelligent, and a clever hunter can easily outmanoeuvre them. Females are smaller, with Large 12W, and Strong 2W2.

Combat Tactics: Fortunately, jitanos are not especially aggressive, although they will fight fiercely when cornered or when protecting young. When enraged, they charge at any opponents in sight, and butt with their nose-horns. They may augment their Butt skill with Charge at Foe when appropriate.

Image: Jitano

Arsinutu

(Arsinotherium foliphagus)

Butt 5W+2, Thick Skin +3, Charge at Foe 13W, Hear Noise 17, Large 10W, Strong 18W

Distribution: Fonrit

Habitat: Forest

Although unrelated to jitanos, arsinutus appear somewhat similar. They have two huge, conical horns on their snouts with two much smaller bony knobs on the forehead. They are similar in habits to the jitano.

Image: Arsinutu

Kitondo

(Brontotherium gigas)

Butt 7W+2, Thick Skin +3, Charge at Foe 13W, Hear Noise 17, Large 15W, Strong 5W2

Distribution: Fonrit

Habitat: Hills

Similar in size, appearance, and habits to their lowland cousins, these animals can be distinguished by the blunt Y-shaped horn on the snout.

Image: Kitondo

UINTAL

(Uintatherium acinodonta)

Butt 2W+1, Thick Skin +3, Intimidate 2W, Large 10W, Listen for Intruder 2W, Scent Food 17, Short Temper 17, Strong 2W2

Distribution: Umathela

Habitat: Open terrain

These clumsy, rhino-sized creatures are amongst the ugliest non-chaotic animals in Pamaltela. They are hairless, with greyish-brown skin and stubby toes. The long head has three pairs of bony lumps resembling rounded horns. Unlike most other herbivores, they also have a pair of stabbing canines projecting from their upper jaw. They are generally solitary animals, with the single calf staying with the mother only until it is replaced by a younger sibling. They prefer not to travel too far from rivers or other large sources of water.

Combat Tactics: Uintals are bad tempered beasts, and will lash out at any other creature which approaches them, especially if they are protecting a calf. However, their bravery does not match their temper, and they will lumber away from any serious threat. If cornered, or if their calf is threatened, they will react with fury, and first try to frighten away the predator with loud grunts and by stomping the ground with their feet. If this fails, they will butt the attacker to knock it to the ground so that they can trample over it. Although their tusks look formidable, they are rarely used in combat.

Image: Uintal