She cocked her head at the treeline. “A blood ape or a skinnster could come out of there any minute….”
- Chapter 22, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Simia Rufus
Habitat: Sea-adjacent jungle
Diet: Multivore (Carnivore + Emotivore)
Average Lifespan: 60-70 years
Species Density: Uncommon
Range: Stratigent Jep, Hyperion Jungle, Mirandara Jungle
Found throughout the jungles of Paralex, the blood ape is named for the dark red colouration of its fur. They prefer to stay high among the trees, spending up to ten hours per day asleep. But even in this dormant state, their ability to sense movement remains acutely active. The moment they detect viable prey in their vicinity, they descend from their hiding place with fearsome physical strength and savagery. They tear and smash at their prey to such an extent that when they’re finished the remains are all but unidentifiable. Part of the reason for this excessive viciousness is to instil great terror in their prey, with the blood ape further nourishing itself on the emotion.
Solitary hunters, the only time they mix with their own kind is during mating season, where males and females battle over comparatively smaller hales. Offspring swiftly learn how to catch prey and leave their mother within a few months.
A blood ape’s territory can be discerned by areas bare of vegetation, the ground and surrounding trees marked by deep gouges. Upon seeing this the aspiring zoologist had best tread softly or better yet, turn tail at once.
Finally turning himself upside down, Sam’s gaze landed on the ducks gathered on the cobbles below. Though white as the snowy street around them, there was nothing innocent about these feathered hoodlums. Ten pairs of soulless black eyes were locked on Sam, using their telekinetic powers to hold him aloft.
- Chapter 1, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Anas Attollimus
Habitat: Woodlands / rural environments
Diet: Multivore (Carnivore + Herbivore)
Average Lifespan: 12-14 years
Species Density: Critically Endangered
Range: Exclusive to Besfen
Leading zoologists agree that most all waterfowl are naturally bad-tempered, with a certain predilection to terrorising anyone who crosses their path. The infamous menzian ducks are of course no exception.
Their primary offensive power is telekinesis, which all individual ducks possess in some form, but which is also amplified in accordance with how many ducks are gathered in one place. For example, a lone duck can telekinetically shove someone aside or snatch something from their hands, but it would take several ducks working together to levitate a person or pull a door from its hinges.
As already noted, the menzian ducks, like so many of their feathered kin, would go out of their way to cause trouble in populated environments. In times past, flocks would hold small villages to ransom, attacking stores without reason or else levitating people until they were given sufficient food. So troublesome were they that hunters came from all over (often with a cross-bow and a healthy distance) to exterminate the ducks plaguing the Wandrums. Though at the urging of the Norton Zoological Society they were spared total extinction. Thus it was decided that when the people of Besfen wished to live independently from Paralex, that request was granted - as long as they agreed to take and nurture the world’s last flock of menzian ducks.
“Two lit Mergenic candles, one enkiran eggshell, something learnt – OK now you just need the incantation.”
- Chapter 6, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Gallus Eruditus
Habitat: Snowy forests
Diet: Herbivore
Average Lifespan: 10-12 Years
Species Density: Common
Range: Mostly the Hubris Peaks, but found anywhere sufficiently cold.
First found in the icy forests of the Hubris Peaks, the enkirans have since been brought to all of Paralex’s sufficiently chilly regions. The main reasoning for this is their remarkable capacity to be trained by even the most novice handler. Experienced trainers can produce yet greater results, so much so that enkiran circus acts and not uncommon in the mountains. So renowned is their natural malleability that many zoologists speculated the enkirans must have been bred by the Beastmasters of distant Karmune and Vasane. Though the Beastmasters have vehemently denied this.
Arguably the only reason the enkirans have not superseded the common chicken as the main source of white meat, is that they can only thrive in cold climates. Their dense, fluffy plumage provides excellent protection against harsh winds and their long, multi-jointed legs allow them to anchor themselves in place. They are also able to generate intense elastic potential energy and thus spring up to 5 feet in the air, to reach food or escape predators.
Their eggshells are a key ingredient in the Athena Summoning Ritual.
Grim grabbed him by the shoulders and redirected him to the other staircase. “Up there, second left, through the aquariums, past the memorial chambers, fifth door in the corridor with the stuffed giraffe.”
- Chapter 11, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Giraffa Potestas
Habitat: Savannahs
Diet: Herbivore
Average Lifespan: 30-35 years
Species Density: Rare
Range: Southern Reot and southern Dalloran
Most everyone knows - you must NEVER mess with a giraffe.
Though they possess no outwardly obvious means to defend themselves, a person needs only approach a giraffe to feel the immense magical energies flowing from their bodies. Magicians in particular report that magic cast in the presence of a giraffe is markedly more powerful.
Even lesser beasts know to be wary of giraffes, for though they are herbivores with no natural defences, they are avoided by all potential predators. When giraffes succumb to old age or disease, other creatures typically feel more at ease approaching their remains. However even then nothing will dare feed from them or disturb their bodies. This extends to higher-thinking beings too; throughout history no one is known to have ever performed an autopsy on a giraffe’s corpse to determine the source of their powers.
When Sam went to sleep that night, it was with thoughts of ‘delicious’ honey-roast loamhog tenderloins….
- Chapter 17, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Sus Taediosus
Habitat: Forests
Diet: Herbivore
Average Lifespan: 15-20 Years
Species Density: Common
Range: Throughout the forests of the Whistlemoors and the Wandrums
The much-discussed loamhog native to Dalloran's northern ranges, has been the subject of thousands of academic papers, countless lectures, and more than one lifetime of study. For the one remarkable fact which has confounded zoologists for centuries - is that the loamhog is utterly unremarkable.
It broadly resembles the domestic pig, though being slightly larger, hairier, and armed with tusks for defence. It is a minor delicacy in northern Dalloran, but besides this, there is little else to remark on the painfully mundane loamhog.
Even a creature so minute as a fruit-fly is notable for something (namely that they mould their food into the shape of various fruits before eating, hence their name) but the loamhog remains resolutely uninspiring. It boasts no notable abilities and magical experimentation has found no resonant reaction with any part of its body. Such has led to the collective conclusion that the zoologists of the world must surely be missing something.
Famously, Professor Zoanne McCabe spent 60 years of perpetual study, across dozens of loamhogs, observing them continually from birth to death, in the wild and in captivity. Yet even this seems to have been for nought. One need only look upon the epitaph on her grave, supposedly her last, dying words:
I have wasted my life.
The light shifted and Sam darted away as a creature emerged from the glowing doorway. With the horned head of a bull and a muscular body covered all over in short brown fur, the creature was easily twice Sam’s size. Powerful hooved feet stomped upon the stone floor like thunderclaps.
The minotaur looked down on him, snorted once, and charged.
- Chapter 15, Spirit Rider: The Royal Problem
~~~
Zoological Name: Taurus Praestes
Habitat: (Formerly) Mild climates
Diet: Herbivore
Average Lifespan: 50-60 years
Species Density: EXTINCT
Range: NA (Guardian Beast)
First created by the Beastmasters of distant Karmune and Vasane in the Age of War, the minotaur proved a popular Guardian Beast. With their great strength, meagre herbivorous diet, and exceptional capacity for intelligence, it’s easy to see why the legendary Credo Pasiphae ordered 100 of them to protect his island home.
However this being the Age of War, conflicts of the world left the Beastmasters loosely watched, with yet fewer restrictions than in the modern day. When it was discovered what inhumane means led to the creation of the minotaurs and the other more sapient Guardian Beasts, it was ordered they all be destroyed.
Whilst officially extinct, rumours persist that in the sealed and forgotten parts of Paralex, horned monsters still tread the earth, protecting vaults and tombs of masters who’ve been dead a millennium or more.