Verant
| Verant | |
|---|---|
| Base Information | |
| Classification | Carnivore-chaser |
| Terrain | Clear |
| Locomotion | Walker (motile) |
| Size | 3.5m (600kg) |
| Speed | 80kph |
| Strength | Strong |
| Social Structure | Pack |
| Weapons | Peds |
| Armor | Fine scales |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Dhon/Velous (Far Home 1511) |
| Multi-world | Yes |
| Canon | No |
| Extinct | Extant |
| Reference | |
The Verant is a riding animal found throughout the Distant Fringe. The species, descended from swift predators native to Dhon (1511 Far Home), are loyal, hardy and aggressive. Verants are a popular choice of mount for specialist cavalry and scouting forces, particularly among units deployed to poorly developed or technologically backward areas.
Physiology & Ecology
The Verant is a carnivore native to Forest terrain on Dhon (1511 Far Home) but raised on worlds across the Distant Fringe. The Verant is a large standard chaser. It is a bilateral walker classified HS-TB-AN-LL-T: Verants have a beaked axe-shaped head, a long flexible neck with the brain case at its base, a torso with a pair of long grooming arms at the front and two pairs of motile legs at the rear, and a long flexible tail. Their primary weapons are their legs, which terminate in clawed three-toed feet, and their beak. The body is characterised by a cartilage interior and is covered by fine dark shiny scales: the neck and rear of the head are covered by a mane of blue fleshy tissues that help to regulate internal temperature. Interior fluids are ichor. The Verant is a forest terrain walker. Based on its Profile: typical, standard and large, the Verant is typically 3.5m long, roughly 0.6 cubic meters, weighs approximately 600kg, and stands around 2m tall at the shoulder – the neck and head, when held upright, add another meter to its height. The Verant's speed is rated as standard: maximum speed is 80kph (Sprinting). A typical Verant has an Endurance of 8.
Verants live in small packs consisting of servile hunters dominated by a single powerful baron and serving a single queen. The pack spends much of its time patrolling a fixed territory in search of prey and seeing off intruders and rivals. When something of interest is discovered a Verant's primary instinct is to stalk it in order to assess it, and then to launch a surprise attack – an attack is not usually begun until stalking has placed members of the pack in suitable positions. Verants signal to one another using loud clicks. A Verant attacks by matching pace with its target, anchoring itself onto the victim with a bite from its powerful beak, then raking with its claws to do as much damage as possible. Verants flee only if they are in direct danger, preferring instead to retreat and observe from a safe distance. A hunter Verant is trainable: barons and queens are not.
Life Cycle & Reproduction
There are three genders: male (barons, 5%), female (queens, 5%) and neuters (hunters, 90%). Both barons and queens are noticeably larger and stronger than hunters, typically weighing around 800kg. Queens lay leathery foetal sacs in camouflaged nests soon after fertilisation: the nesting area is called the court. Whelps hatch after an incubation period of approximately 5 months and remain helpless for a further two months, relying on the baron and queen to see to all of their needs during their development. Queens remain within the court at all times, though barons will occasionally move away to deal with threats and challenges.
Whelps hatch as either females or neuters. As the neuters grow into adolescents over the course of their first year they test and fight one another constantly. The strongest member of the litter becomes a new baron while the remainder become hunters. Queens may choose to kill male and female whelps in order to avoid challenges for dominance within the pack. The whelps continue to strengthen and develop until they reach sexual maturity at around 3 years of age. Hunters protect territories and hunt for food, returning a large part of their kill to the court. Hunter Verants typically live for 15–20 years: barons and queens may reach 40 years.
Diet & Trophics
Verants are carnivores, preferring to consume fresh meat from a large kill. The beak is used to tear lumps of flesh from the body, which are swallowed whole. They are not particularly fussy, however, and will happily consume smaller animals if they can be caught, and if they are desperate they will also eat carrion. Verants are also partial to sweet morsels: in the wild they will supplement their diet with fruits and berries when they find them. Domesticated Verants have a reputation for getting into supplies, splitting and tearing through cases and packaging with their beaks to get to candy or other treats.
The beak is the Verants main manipulator. It is sharp and can exert considerable pressure – large barons have been shown to have a bite force in excess of 4000 newtons, enough to shear through armoured hides and large bones. The tip of the beak is hooked and the edges are sharp, allowing the Verant to slice deeply into the body of a prey animal and hold itself in place while it disembowels its victim by raking it with its rear legs. The beak is also capable of incredible dexterity: a Verant is able to pick up an item as delicate as an egg without damaging it.
History & Background
The Verant is marginally edible by humans; its flesh, though nutritious, tastes bad. Strips of heavily seasoned dried meat are considered palatable. Consuming Verant meat can cause severe gastric distress in some humans.
Verants were first domesticated sometime after 2256AD, when Dhon (1511 Far Home) was initially settled by humans. A formation of Verant riders became de rigeur for planetary armed forces during the Second Confederation. There are now only a few thousand wild Verants remaining on their homeworld, all living within large forest reserves in the southern hemisphere, though millions of domesticated creatures are employed throughout the Distant Fringe as riding animals. Small populations of Verants became feral during the Dark Age – on a few worlds their descendants still roam wild.
Trained Verants
Only hunter Verants can be trained - barons and queens are too independent-minded. Hunter Verants are difficult pupils and are generally surly and bad-tempered. Once the trainer has established themselves as the hunter's court, however, the hunter Verant becomes compliant and loyal to members of that sophont species, though it may threaten and snap at unfamiliar individuals. Temperament and cooperativeness varies with individual creatures.
- Pack animal: a Verant can be comfortably loaded with up to 200kgs and can carry its burden at a speed of around 5kph for up to 8 hours.
- Draft animal: a Verant suitably harnessed to a wagon can pull a load of up to 600kg for up to 8 hours. Teams of 2, 4, 8 or more Verants hitched together can pull correspondingly greater loads. A wagon-hitched Verant is capable of a burst of speed (up to 40kph) for around 8 minutes.
- Riding animal: the Verant can carry a rider and their personal equipment (to a maximum of 200kg) at a speed of 5kph for up to 8 hours. A ridden Verant is capable of a burst of speed (sprinting, at up to 80kph) for around 8 minutes, or may be trotted (at around 20kph) for up to an hour. They can be trained to attack with their beak whilst trotting or sprinting. Verants are poor jumpers but may scramble over obstacles of less than their height. A ridden Verant requires an appropriate saddle and tack. The saddle is positioned on the shoulders of the grooming arms, just behind the brain case.
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory
The Travellers' Aid Society (TAS) classifies The Verant as dangerous to most sophonts. Caution is advised regarding this creature.
References & Contributors / Sources
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science