Lesser Species
the minor species and fauna of orrison
pl. archtrites - alt. trite, trites
Fysa | ASH - can completely silence their own sounds |
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Height | 10 ft / 3.05 m |
Weight | 1,000 lbs / 453.6 kg |
Lifespan | 60-80 years |
Larger versions of Trites, though 'trite' can refer to both a trite or an archtrite; the term archtrite refers to the larger breed specifically (like direwolf vs wolf). They were bred to be larger in order to carry the larger species of Orrison-- most notably the rrex. Archtrites are even more difficult to handle due to their size and are relatively rare outside of areas with a high concentration of rrex.
alt. beri - pl. beries - by patchnotes
Fysa | BLOOD - offer a calming resilience against pain for themselves and to others through touch |
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Height | 4 ft / 1.22 m - 9 ft / 2.74 m |
Weight | max 900 lbs / 408 kg |
Lifespan | 20-30 years |
Great Berinath are loyal, clever companions that excel at search and rescue work. Their large paws are able to grapple with rocks and debris, and their rough paw pads and thick skin protect them from the elements. They serve as good long-term mounts for smaller species and can be short-term mounts for larger species. However, their versatility doesn't change their lazy natures. They love nothing more than to burrow in the snow or ground and sleep their time away.
Domesticated from bear-like creatures by humans and rrex centuries ago, Berinaths are a working creature who have long been cherished and highly valued due to their temperaments. Being omnivorous and opportunistic feeders, they aren't as purely aggressive as, say, vexmyths, and easily form pack with any other creatures much like how scavengers form connections with other hunters. The wild equivalent to berinaths have not been seen ever since the Senescence.
pl. chimicawa - alt. chimia-bird - semiferal - by taka
Fysa | ASH - can mimic sounds and voices |
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Height | 1 ft - 3.25 ft / .3 m - 1 m |
Weight | .8 - 3 lbs / .38 - 1.5 kg |
Lifespan | 30-180 years |
Chimicawa are a gregarious, medium-sized avian species capable of mimicking sounds and voices. While not truly domesticated, their intelligence, vibrant personalities, and colorful plumage makes them popular as pets, especially among the Chimia they traditionally nest alongside. They can be trained to do fairly complex tasks with patience and understanding, though without proper stimulation they will become destructive and irritable.
In the wild, they live in flocks as small as six to greater than sixty individuals. They tend to be very noisy by nature, though without the use of their fysa they are only capable of clicks and hisses.
They have tough beaks for breaking open the tough hulls of seeds and nuts and the thick carapaces of insects and other small creatures; they are well-known for using their beaks to chomp down on a finger or two whenever they get moody! Chimicawa are omnivorous and opportunistic eaters, willing to steal food from others if they think it is a more attractive option.
pl. corinorhi - semiferal - by kamikins
Fysa | MURK - stores fysa in throat pouch |
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Height | 1 in - 10 in / 2.5 - 25 cm |
Weight | .2 - 10 oz / 5 - 200 g |
Lifespan | 10-15 years |
Small bat-like creatures that can be found anywhere in the wilds. Colonies live in hollow trees or caves. They're omnivourous and use their long tongues to catch bugs and slurp nectar from flowers. These creatures also drink from fysa-tainted water sources. They store this fysa in their bodies, causing their throat pouch to swell as they consume more. Overtime their bodies process the fysa and it's broken down to be used as energy.
Their fysa-tainted bile is very useful for apothecaries, and following them can lead one to useful flora as well. As highly social creatures, they can be tamed.
The throat can be extended by the norhi's choice, even when empty. They make chirping and croaking sounds similar to frogs. The fuller their throat pouch the deeper the resonation.
pl. kirks - semi-feral
Fysa | ASH - perfect geographical memory |
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Height | -- |
Weight | -- |
Lifespan | 15-30 years |
Large vulture like birds used for hunting or sending messages. They have bald heads, long trailing tails, shaggy feathers that cover their entire legs and feet, and two claws on each wing. Kirks are often used alongside mockhunds as the latter will flush prey from hiding for the former to more easily catch. In the wild kirks often flock to fellbrochs for a similar mutual benefit.
pl. enkhul - feral - by tamthing
Fysa | ASH - can pinpoint nearby movement vibrations |
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Height | 15 ft / 4.5 m |
Weight | 12,000 lbs / 5,400 kg |
Lifespan | 10-15 years |
A large ram-like beast covered in hard plating and sporting threatening tusks. An aggressively territorial, yet magnificent beast. The enkhul is a solitary emperor of an enormous stretch of territory that it patrols and grazes. Primarily herbivorous in nature, it will not shirk the opportunity to scavenge carrion in the absence of enough vegetation to sustain it. It lives in a sizable range of terrain from rocky mountainous slopes to densely forested jungles.
Monsters are too dangerous to be made into companions.
pl. farefowls - alt. fare, fares
Fysa | ASH - can flutter in the air for a few seconds... |
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Height | -- ft / -- m |
Weight | -- lbs / -- kg |
Lifespan | 8-12 years |
Fares are bred and kept for eggs and meat. They are semi-domesticated and rather intelligent, being more easily kept by those who treat them well. Their names come from a play on this behavior and their status as a core food item. Specimens sporting more extravagant plumage are said to be more bland in flavor and sometimes are better bred and sold as pets. Fares are technically Ash element, but can barely stir up a breeze to flutter around.
pl. fellbrochs - feral
Fysa | MURK - their spines channel fysa |
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Height | 6 ft / 1.83 m |
Weight | 300 lbs / 136.1 kg |
Lifespan | 30-40 years |
A large and dangerous creature, fellbrochs are large solitary predators that are distant cousins to the domesticated mockhund. Despite its size and power, it tends to shy away from large groups of people if it is not being actively threatened. A hungry fellbroch, however, will not hesitate to hunt a lone chimia, leyr, or human if it comes across one.
Feral creatures require the Speaker fysa to have as a companion.
alt. snowcat, plowhorn - pl. hyrcin - feral - by iroeth
Fysa | MURK- the stinger on the end of their tail is poisonous, with similar effects to Fysa poisoning |
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Height | 8 ft / 2.43 m - 10 ft / 3.05 m |
Weight | 700 lbs / 317 kg - 1050 lbs / 476 kg |
Lifespan | 80 - 100 years |
A massive, solitary predator native to the harsh arctic climates of the Egg. This feline creature has a split tail with a bioluminescent bulb and a venomous stinger, used to lure prey through the mazes they dig with their shovel-like antlers and lead them into a dead-end and ambush. The heat-sensitive pits on their muzzles and foreheads help them to track the heat given off by their prey across their frozen home.
Hyrcin usually come in some variation of white, off-white, or cream, but extremely rare melanistic specimens have been spotted on occasion.
Can be befriended as one would a person -- they may show a small amount of affection towards individuals with Speaker, but they are too proud to obey commands or serve as a beast of burden. They can be convinced to carry a rider by those with Speaker fysa, but it’s not a guarantee -- if they don’t feel like it, it’ll take some convincing or bribing.
Feral creatures require the Speaker fysa to have as a companion.
pl. kitterns - alt. nectarfiend - semiferal - by tamthing
Fysa | ASH - can sense the presence of liquids, and use this to find nectar |
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Height | 6 in / 15 cm |
Weight | 5 lbs / 2 kg |
Lifespan | 6-8 years |
A small, long, furred creature with an inquisitive nature. It’s long tongue allows it to reach insects hiding in hard to reach crevices and lap the nectar out of long necked flora. They are especially fond of sweet things and can be coaxed easily out of hiding with the temptation of a delicious treat. It is considered good luck and a good judge of character to be approached by a kittern, as it means they do not consider you a danger.
pl. lagopods - semi-feral - by lasombra
Fysa | ASH - filter and purify water |
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Height | .5 - 1 ft / .15 m - .3 m |
Weight | 3 lbs / 1.3 kg |
Lifespan | 2-12 years |
Lagopods are small, shelled aquatic creatures. They live on the banks of freshwater lakes and ponds, but store water in their shells to hunt terrestrial insects for up to 10 hours before they need to refill. Often used as pest control in gardens, they are a favored pet of horticulturists.
Lagopods are sometimes treated like living canteens by travelers, serving as both water filtration and emergency rations. These lagopods must be closely guarded, however, as they are the primary prey of several species, especially molms. The water from their shells can be emptied without harming the lagopod, and the taste of the water is a very light balance of bitter and sweet like tea.
pl. larchkeys - semiferal - by cuppedsunshine
Fysa | CLEAR - mucousy coating on their body negates fysa in the water and air and keeps skin moist |
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Length | 1 ft - 2 ft / 30 cm - 60 cm |
Diameter | 2 in - 3 in / 5 cm - 7.6 cm |
Weight | 8 - 14 lbs / 3.6 - 6.3 kg |
Lifespan | 2-5 years |
A parasitic creature that evolved to feed off of the larger creatures of Orrison, Larchkeys are long semi-aquatic animals that cannot process fysa themselves. Instead, they drink other creatures’ blood in order to consume their already-processed fysa. As they are not intelligent enough to discern processed from dangerous fysa, some doctors use them in order to reverse the effects of fysa poisoning. However, feeding them unprocessed fysa will kill them. They are considered a delicacy in some areas, but this is mostly due to the novelty factor as their meat is tough and rubbery even when cooked carefully. Some people also keep them as pets, and when kept fed they are generally docile.
While naturally dark and mottled in color, certain rare variants may have yellow or orange ‘racing’ stripes along their sides. Some have also begun to selectively breed them, resulting in bright and chaotic coloring.
While they are largely silent, when particularly agitated they are capable of squealing. They also sometimes gnash their teeth together, making a sound like nails on a chalkboard.
They have four toes on each foot, with their feet having a pad much like a gecko’s. These pads allow them to stick to ceilings or walls, and sometimes in residential areas they will climb in through open windows and onto ceilings before dropping on something they can bite.
They are very slow on land, but in the water they can reach frightening speeds. They often swim half submerged, but can also close their double pair of nostrils in order to dive.
pl. mirelures - semiferal - by tamthing
Fysa | ASH - capable of seeing through even the cloudiest water |
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Height | 2.5 ft / .75 m |
Weight | 1,400 lbs / 635 kg |
Lifespan | 70-90 years |
A semi-aquatic ambush predator that earned its name from it’s habit of lurking in the murky waters of swamps, rivers, and estuaries. While it is primarily a freshwater dweller, it occasionally ventures into the ocean along coastlines near to shore in search of prey.
Monsters are too dangerous to be made into companions.
pl. mockhunds - alt. mutt, mutter
Fysa | BLOOD - match their rhythms to pack or prey |
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Height | varies, max 5 ft / 1.52 m |
Weight | varies, max 200 lbs / 90.7 kg |
Lifespan | 30-40 years |
Mockhunds come in many sizes and shapes according to different needs. They fill the niche of both housecat and dog on Orrison. Smaller mockhunds are kept in the house or in towns and cities to control pets while larger mockhunds are utilized for livestock control or protection. Mockhunds are exceptionally loyal and protective of their pack, whether it be other mockhunds or their owner’s family and friends.
pl. molms - semi-feral - by malkavian
Fysa | ASH - dowse for things nearby underground |
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Height | .5 - 1 ft / 15.24 cm - 30.5 cm |
Weight | 11 lbs - 20 lbs / 5 kg - 9 kg |
Lifespan | ~69 years years |
Long mole-like creatures that live in holes dug in the earth. Largely a pest animal to crop farmers and chimoraa ranchers alike, these creatures are sometimes domesticated as pets or as working animals for prospectors or those aiming to keep certain pests away. They have a keen sense of smell and are most easily won over by food.