#beasts of august

[gavinosbornedrors]

All of the creatures from this year’s end of summer/start of fall creature design thing!

This year’s theme was “grasslands and forest edges.” While not as strongly executed thematically as last year’s, I wanted to show a wider variety of creatures and ranges.

[gavinosbornedrors]

Monday Update

Yet more critters.

Gardener Fairies: Crab-like arthropods related to Prairie Shucklers with an insatiable need to tend to grasslands; sewing seeds, moving flowers and healthy patches of grass, as well as aerating soil. They have retractable wings that are strange by insect standards, being much thicker and flapping more like a butterfly than a bee. When not gardening, they burrow under the ground or take to extra shady patches of grass or under rocks, munching on seeds tubers and the like.

Prairie Pup: Corgi-sized omnivores, Prairie Pups are energetic oddities that seem as though they just stepped out of the Mesozoic. Like their smaller, shyer Pyrite Pup cousins, Prairie Pups are known to eat rocks and minerals, as well as use them to sharpen their beak-like mandibles. Their rocky back growths, claws and jaws are reinforced with minerals - often a mix of a common hard rock in the environment and - more strangely - always some amount of tungsten. Powerful burrowers, they typically dig deep two to three chambered nests - although they are not above taking abandoned prairie dog or ground squirrel burrows.

[gavinosbornedrors]

Monday Update.

More creatures.

Copper Hounds: Nought but whispers and theories cloak these mystifying creatures. Copper Hounds vary between the size of a coyote and a large wolf, and appear to be made out of naturally occurring metal and metal artifacts - with the amount of copper that makes up their bodies seen as an indicator for age. It is unknown if they die or merely incorporate new metal into their bodies. Spotted very rarely, their oldest known sightings come from natural copper sites found in the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes regions. However, since colonial times, Prairie farmers have told tall tales of Copper Hounds. Never overtly dangerous or aggressive, most witnesses claim that their presence felt “ominous yet calming”. They may have a relation to Barghests and other Black Dog spirits of the British Isles.

Gwatlans: Found along the Southern Prairies of Canada, these birds of prey are actually cunning shape-shifters. While they are believed to hunt as mundane owls do, most hunt by taking the form of their prey to move closer to them. This can mean pheasants, rabbits, even house cats - as their shape-shifting powers actually allow them to become slightly smaller or larger animals than their “true” forms. A rather amusing note of their range is that, despite their “true” form being nearly indistinguishable from Barn Owls, their ranges practically never overlap.

[gavinosbornedrors]

Friday Update.

Last creatures for this dealie.

These guys are found primarily in taiga, and the grasslands that edge it.

Taigantha: Commanding, regal, and wise, Taigantha are mammal-like animals found in the northern reaches of the Americas, and North-Eastern Siberia.  On the rare occasion one is spotted, they are most often seen “patrolling” their territories as they search for food. They are rarely attacked by predators - first because bulls have been recorded growing half again the size of a moose - and second because they can “speak” any tongue of any animal in their environments. There have been more than a few stories of a spate between two different animals being resolved by a Taigantha.

Rimeling: Not entirely properly named, Rimelings are creatures resembling a cross between a small dog and a pangolin with a snout ending in a bird-like beak. Typically friendly animals - though a force if pressed - Rimelings are particularly interesting because their appearance and abilities change with the seasons. Green in summer and spring with spit that spurts plant growth, to yellow in fall with a debilitating bite, to white-blue in winter and a freezing breath weapon. Every few years they will shed their scales and grow a larger, heavier coat over several weeks - typically at the start of spring or fall.

[gavinosbornedrors]

Wednesday Update.

Some creature designs - as I usually do this during August. Two per update for the next few updates. This year’s theme, fields and forest edges.

Field Linnorm: These draconic predators of the Americas are actually an older lineage, distinct from Europe’s linnorms and lindworms - their similar appearance due to convergent evolution. The key difference being that North American “linnorms” have “lost” their arms, while their Old World counterparts lost their legs. Weighing roughly the same as a large house cat, they run across prairie and pampas on two fast, though stout legs, using their ribbon-like tails as both balance and signal.

Mist Calf: Unique to North America, Mist Calves are medium sized creatures with fine control over vapor, mist and - in large enough groups (though this is rare) - the nearby weather. They resemble a cross between bison calf and a mountain goat, with a shaggy coat, long ears and blank blue eyes. They are reclusive and most often leave their forest abodes with the rains, the morning fog or night. If surprised or ambushed, they are said to melt into mist themselves.