Devourers
Appearance
Devourers are extremely heavy bodied, similar to fighting dogs and bears. Their massive shoulders and horselike neck support a
bulbous head, wide chest, and strong front legs. Their front paws are tipped in retractable claws, much like a lion, with broad paws. The digits are long, enabling them to grasp tools and gesture effectively. Their rear legs are strong and well muscled, but the claws are fixed for better traction. Their tails are universally bobbed, their balance relies on their compact figures and agility. A large marsupium grows in front of the throat, which can be used to transport prey too big to carry in the mouth, pups, or gathering nesting material.
Devourers are sexually dimorphic. Males grow tusks, which curve upward from the upper jaw and permanently pull back the lips. These tusks may be singular, double where the second grows behind the first, or even tripled where all three grow in a fan like formation. These tusks are used in territorial battles, where two males will face off, interlock and do their best to push each other over. Use of their powerful jaws and claws seems to be prohibited.
Devourers come in many coat colors including self colors black, bays, grays, and palomino. They can also come in ticked, agouti, and roan shades. Common colors include white, black, grulla and bay. The rarest color is the golden champagne, which is seen in less than 2% of the population. Likewise patterns can range from ticked coats, dapples to pintos and overos. The rarest pattern is the brindle.
Females are smaller and more slightly built than males, and lack tusks. They are equipped with a larger marsupium, and are generally faster than the males. Older females will begin to grow crowns, or rings of bony protrusions around the backs of their skulls. Some thirty or forty year old females may sport quite impressive crowns. This may function as sexual signalling, indicating the female is old enough to breed successfully.
Devourers are sexually dimorphic. Males grow tusks, which curve upward from the upper jaw and permanently pull back the lips. These tusks may be singular, double where the second grows behind the first, or even tripled where all three grow in a fan like formation. These tusks are used in territorial battles, where two males will face off, interlock and do their best to push each other over. Use of their powerful jaws and claws seems to be prohibited.
Devourers come in many coat colors including self colors black, bays, grays, and palomino. They can also come in ticked, agouti, and roan shades. Common colors include white, black, grulla and bay. The rarest color is the golden champagne, which is seen in less than 2% of the population. Likewise patterns can range from ticked coats, dapples to pintos and overos. The rarest pattern is the brindle.
Females are smaller and more slightly built than males, and lack tusks. They are equipped with a larger marsupium, and are generally faster than the males. Older females will begin to grow crowns, or rings of bony protrusions around the backs of their skulls. Some thirty or forty year old females may sport quite impressive crowns. This may function as sexual signalling, indicating the female is old enough to breed successfully.
Habitat
Because their fur is short and dense, devourers avoid swampy locales lest they grow fung
us in their fur. They will likewise avoid snowy or alpine regions, as they are slightly more equipped than the average human wearing standard clothing to withstand the cold. Since their throat pouches function as a mobile den, they have little need for permanent homes and are inherently nomadic. They tend to move with the movments of prey, trailing large groups of elk or deer until it becomes too humid to follow them further south.
They are strangely drawn to sand pits in savannah locales, as it is believed bathing in dust can remove oils from their fur they would otherwise have to groom or bathe out. A devourer will bathe in water if it is available, but will shake him or herself to rid their fur of extra moisture.
Devourers may seek out columns of basalt for the extra salt, and can be seen chipping away at minerals to suck on them or store them in the pouch for later use. In temperate locales this comes in the form of digging up river mud for mineral consumption.
They are strangely drawn to sand pits in savannah locales, as it is believed bathing in dust can remove oils from their fur they would otherwise have to groom or bathe out. A devourer will bathe in water if it is available, but will shake him or herself to rid their fur of extra moisture.
Devourers may seek out columns of basalt for the extra salt, and can be seen chipping away at minerals to suck on them or store them in the pouch for later use. In temperate locales this comes in the form of digging up river mud for mineral consumption.
Traits
Eyeless Sight: Devourers have a natural magic that concentrates around their heads. This magic enables them to see, in a similar fashion to an elf or human, with a similar 180 degree range. They have better than average night vision, but tend to rely on their oversized lips and sensitive noses to feel out the world around them. Additionally, focusing any sort of spell around their heads causes interference with their unique sight, and may cause them to go temporarily blind.
Natural Chainmail: Devourers are equipped with natural osteoliths under the skin that interlock in a webbed pattern. These osteoliths function as a natural chainmail under the first few layers of skin, meaning that while a blade may glance across the fur and slit it open, it is extremely difficult to reach muscles or organs. Around their genital areas and inside of the mouth are the only areas where this chainmail is either weak or non-existent.
Smarter than the Average Dog: While these creatures appear to be similar to dogs or lions, one may assume they are similar in intelligence as well. However, devourers are intelligent enough to use basic logic. They can learn to read, write, and develop close bonds with other sentient races. These bonds have become close enough to warrant riding into battle, and a demonstrated commitment to the person they have chosen as a companion.
Marsupium: Both males and females possess a marsupium, or brooding pouch. This pouch is accessed through the mouth and under the tongue, and is primarily used for the rearing of young. This pouch is visible from the outside in the form of accordion-like slits in the throat of the devourer. Males can fit one human-sized person in their pouch, with a maximum of two. A female can fit two humans comfortably, or one larger race such as an orc. The pouch is comfortable and dry, and lined with a downy fur similar to the fuzz found on their newborns. The pouch is cleaned by regurgitating mucus from the sinuses into the pouch, and swallowing the resultant mixture of dead skin cells and detritus.
Lore
Reproduction: Devourers are serially monogamous, and generally stay with a mate until either dies or differences become inconsolable. Fertilization is internal, and the female will gestate 2-4 pups for a period of twelve months. Once she is ready to give birth, the pups will crawl from her hind to her mouth, and enter the pouch. Any pups not strong enough to reach the pouch will be assisted by the mother or eaten depending on the individual. Once inside, the pups will attach to a nipple and nurse for the next three weeks. Once old enough to crawl out of the pouch, the pups will be transient for up to six months. They will hop in and out of the pouch until they are too large to fit inside. The mother will often force weaning, refusing to open her mouth for her young and providing them small prey and berries instead. Young will begin hunting at around a year of age, and are fully independent at two years.
Hunting: Devourers eat their prey whole. Osteoliths inside the throat pull the prey down and crush it. In the case of consuming things too wide to fit down the throat such as humans, this will crush down the head, ribcage and shoulders in order to help fit. Devourers use their soft lips to ferret out roots and tubers from the ground, though they are preoccupied with washing their food and will carry "dirty" food for miles in their pouches to find a stream to wash it in. This is thought to help teach the young how to properly source food and use their lips. Devourers, much like bears, are overpowering hunters. They may not be as fast as a deer or rabbit, but they have the stamina to run their prey to exhaustion and pick them off easily.
Hunting: Devourers eat their prey whole. Osteoliths inside the throat pull the prey down and crush it. In the case of consuming things too wide to fit down the throat such as humans, this will crush down the head, ribcage and shoulders in order to help fit. Devourers use their soft lips to ferret out roots and tubers from the ground, though they are preoccupied with washing their food and will carry "dirty" food for miles in their pouches to find a stream to wash it in. This is thought to help teach the young how to properly source food and use their lips. Devourers, much like bears, are overpowering hunters. They may not be as fast as a deer or rabbit, but they have the stamina to run their prey to exhaustion and pick them off easily.
History
Devourers are mentioned in the following threads:
The Butterfly
Thirst For More
A Fancy Type of Monster
Bloodied Sword
The Attack on Fort Endurance
The Butterfly
Thirst For More
A Fancy Type of Monster
Bloodied Sword
The Attack on Fort Endurance