Bestiary

Raanan Beasts

Baneclaw

Lifespan: Up to 50 years.
Height: 9'5".
Weight: 600 kg.
Native to Raana: Yes

Baneclaws are ferocious, bipedal predators native to Raana, with only charucks capable of challenging them in the wild. Found only as solitary hunters or in mated pairs, they continue to grow throughout their long lives and can reach truly gargantuan proportions. Their dung is unusually rich in nutrients and makes an exceptional fertilizer - though collecting it is extremely hazardous. As a result, it is rare, highly coveted and worth a small fortune on the open market.

Beryll Monkeys

Latin name: Inexor valacae
Lifespan: up to 80 years.
Height: 7'5" (males) 6'10" (females).
Weight: up to 240kg.
Native to Raana: Yes

Ape-like beings native to the Irendorian continent. Countless rumors surround them - some exaggerated, some malicious, many deliberately spread to portray them as monsters and justify clearing the forested lands they inhabit, which certain human factions covet for timber.

They are believed to be far more intelligent than the Earth gorillas they rival in size. Travelers report that they possess a structured language, live in communal villages, craft and use tools, practice rudimentary spiritual traditions and even trade gemstones with nearby human settlements.

More sensational tales, often whispered in border towns, speculate about their social customs, mating habits, and interactions with human females. Whether any of these lurid claims hold even a grain of truth is unknown; such stories are typically seen as propaganda, fearmongering or simple tavern gossip.

Believed to be the most likely creators of the “Beryll Pottery Culture,” as dated by associated artifacts to the brief period between 5,000 and 4,750 BHE.

Noxipedes

Latin name: Tenebricolus
Lifespan: up to 200 years.
Length: 8' 5".
Weight: up to 230kg.
Native to Raana: Yes.

The Noxipede is a colossal subterranean arthropod native to the cavern systems of Raana, known for its extreme aversion to light and its ability to hunt with precision in absolute darkness, preying on animals and unwary humans that enter its domain. They are armored with a thick, nearly impenetrable chitinous exoskeleton and strike their prey with powerful, serrated mandibles.

Chanoga Wasp

Lifespan: 3-5 years
Length: 30-40 centimeters (12-15")
Wingspan: 60-80 centimeters (25-30")
Weight:
Native to Raana: Yes

The chanoga wasp/chanugah hornet is one of Raana's few native flying creatures, dwelling mostly in regions of high altitude (3,000+ meters). It's extremely rare, thankfully, as its aggressiveness is a thing of legend.

Charuck

Lifespan:120-160 years.
Length:12-35 meters+ (40-100+ feet).
Weight: 6-30 tons or more.
Native to Raana: Yes.

A “charuck” is a class of massive, reptilian predators - rivals in scale to the greatest dinosaurs of old Earth. The Academy has identified more than twenty distinct species, each varying dramatically in size, shape and habitat. Some are amphibious leviathans that prowl coastal waters and raid shoreline settlements; others hunt through thick jungle canopies with terrifying stealth. They’re rarely encountered in mountains or broad open plains.

Charucks are believed to grow continuously throughout their lives, leaving their maximum size uncertain. Tales speak of truly colossal specimens… though eyewitnesses do have a tendency to exaggerate.

Devor Dragon

Lifespan: Up to 100 years.
Length: 12-20 meters.
Weight: 2-3 tons.
Native to Raana: Yes.

A colossal, dinosaur-like predator native to the dense, steaming expanses of the Corazon Jungles. Locals call it the Gorathun, though travelers and hunters simply refer to it as “that other thing as dangerous as a Charuck.” Encounters are rare but almost always fatal. Avoid at all costs.

Femmer beasts

Lifespan: Up to 40 years.
Height: 170 cm.
Weight: 450 kg (bulls) 350 kg (cows).
Native to Raana: Yes

The Femmer beasts are a rare example of Raanan wildlife that have adapted well to human domestication, these creatures are hardy omnivores - much like Earth-native boar. Large and powerful, they rely on their curved defensive horns and thick hide to fend off wrool cats and other mid-sized predators they cannot outrun. Their intimidating mouth appendages are in fact short, jointed feeding tentacles used to strip vegetation, dig up tubers and root out worms. Despite their appearance, they show no aggression toward farmers, whom they quickly learn to associate with easy meals. They are widely kept on rural homesteads and raised both for their meat and for their tough, durable leather.

Despite their docile nature and delicious meat, femmer beasts require more than three times the feed of their Earth counterpart, the cow. As a result, they remain a relatively uncommon sight on the well-cultivated plains surrounding Ikaanos City.

Lurkmite

Lifespan: dozens of years
Length: 1m
Weight: 20kg+
Native to Raana: yes

Aquatic, crab-like arthropod the size of a dog. Hard-shelled and aggressive, they are ambush predators, with upward-pointing pincers used to grab and stab creatures swimming above. They also sometimes attack on land, lurking in the shallows to leap out at animals coming to the waterside to drink or forage. Hence they sometimes attack humans, and can cause serious injuries, though they won't stray far from water or stay out for long. Named after the arachnid mites from Earth that they resemble - though they are thousands of times bigger.

Tar snakes

Lifespan:
Length: 100m+
Weight: hundreds of tons?
Native to Raana: yes

Gigantic, elongate, burrowing, reptile-like creatures, far bigger than any animal ever evolved on Earth. Named after the geological deposits they are typically found in, they seem able to thrive in tar lakes and tar sands which are toxic to most creatures. Their presence renders these fossil fuel resources, scarce already on Raana, almost inaccessible to humans.

Capable of standing up to even large bodies of soldiers equipped with the best weapons; their defenses seem not merely physical. One was recently responsible for a recent incident on the Haalu Plateau which dealt a severe blow to the Chancellor's elite space marine force. Stay well away.

"The Degosa tar pit is famous for the Haalu incident in September 2488, when 120 space marines were sent to destroy a large tar snake dubbed "The Degosa Demon". They failed miserably, and the 500-foot serpent pulled over 70 marines into the depths of its dark abode. Those who survived, came back... changed. Most subsequently rejected the call to go back into service even though refusal to guard the Spheremasters equals a death sentence once you have taken the space marine oath."

Wrool Cats

Lifespan: 10-20 years
Length: 2-3 m, plus tail
Weight: up to 200-300kg
Native to Raana: Yes

A cat-like, tiger-sized predator native to Raana. Widespread, fierce, and bold enough to enter cities.

Earth fauna out-competes Raanan fauna, but since the human colonists brought mostly herbivores rather than carnivores, wrool cats are managing to survive, preying on deer and boar in the absence of wolves and lions. A rare example of Raanan native life surviving in the Great Biological Wipe.

They hunt in small family packs, though adolescent males can be encountered on their own. Tough, aggressive, and dangerous, attempts to tame them haven't gone well so far. They seem quite intelligent; maybe that is why.

Raanan Game

Dukkas

Lifespan:
Length:
Weight:
Native to Raana: Yes

A smallish Raanan game animal; a good source of pelts and meat. Dukkas are omnivores that live in burrows, in family groups of up to a dozen. Like badgers in some respects, but forage in packs. They aren't dangerous to humans.

Galdar

Lifespan:
Length:
Weight:
Native to Raana: Yes

Galdar are the Raanan equivalent of Earth deer. Hairy, hooved and horned herbivores, which can be heavier than a human, but tend to run away rather than fight. A useful source of hides and meat. Hunted in the forests, jungles and swamps outside the Great Biological Wipe.

Halodim

Lifespan:
Length:
Weight:
Native to Raana: Yes

Native, rodent-like animals found in the Corazon jungles. Similar to squirrels in some respects, but larger, and spending more of their time on the ground, where they hunt insects & grubs to supplement their fruit & nut diet. They move and forage in packs like monkeys. Harmless to humans; there's not much meat on them, but they are a good source of Pelts.

Reese skunks

Lifespan: 3-6 years in the wild
Length: 30-90cm
Weight: 1-8kg
Native to Raana: Yes

Native, skunk-like game animals found in the Corazon jungles. Harmless, except for the fact that they spray stinking fluid to deter predators (hence their name). Also like Earth skunks they are encountered singly or in small family groups, live in burrows, and forage for roots, tubers, worms and grubs. There's not much meat on them, but they are a good source of Pelts.

Smourn

Lifespan: 2-4 years in the wild
Length: 20-60cm
Weight: ½-2kg
Native to Raana: Yes

A red-striped marine fish-like creature that's popular for its salmon-like taste. You can catch these from the sea shore near Redhaven.

Raanan Pests

Bitter Bugs

Lifespan: 2 years.
Length: 6-10cm, plus sting.
Weight: -
Native to Raana: yes.

Small, insectoid, Raanan creatures that can survive inside the Great Biological Wipe and can be encountered when gardening or farm working. They are notorious for their venomous sting, which is extremely painful, and potentially lethal for infants or the old & frail. Reason to wear gloves when gardening!

Cikko flies

Lifespan: months
Length: 10cm
Weight:
Native to Raana: yes

Locust-like creatures which reproduce very quickly when food is abundant, to form swarms that can devastate crops and stored food. They can survive well on a diet of the plant species imported from Earth, eating stems, leaves and fruit. They spend most of their lives in larval forms like caterpillars, which can reproduce asexually like aphids, budding out little versions of themselves. If food starts growing scarce they molt into a more complex adult form which has wings and can fly weakly, and lays batches of eggs rather than giving birth to individual live young.

Cikko flies' yellow coloration is a warning to potential predators that they are bad tasting and mildly toxic to eat.

Dungah crawlers

Lifespan: several years
Length: 3mm to 10cm
Weight:
Native to Raana: yes

A beetle-like Raanan invertebrate, flightless and burrowing, which can survive well on a diet of the plant species introduced from Earth. They breed very quickly and can form plagues which devastate crops in fields (where they eat the roots) and also grains in storage if they make it into warehouses or food silos. They reach sexual maturity when still tiny but keep on growing bigger with age. Their eggs are just a millimeter across, and when small they can produce just one at a time, but as they grow bigger they can make more and more eggs, and the mouse-sized individuals are mobile egg factories, turning a large proportion of the food they eat into eggs and dropping a constant stream wherever they go.

Dungah crawlers are nutritionally poor, and if finding that they have infested your stored flour or rice, it is best not to view them as an added source of protein, because the faeces they deposit in the food, and the bacteria these contain, render it unfit for human consumption.

Narlet

Lifespan: 6-12 years.
Length: 15-40 centimeters (10-15")
Weight:
Native to Raana: Yes

A narlet is a small rodent-like creature common in all of Irendoria. It's ragged fur and bony structure make the creature uninteresting for most hunters - only a handful of destitute tribalists are known to frequently hunt the animal

Rodar vermin

Lifespan:
Length:
Weight:
Native to Raana: yes

Raanan creatures that occasionally boom in numbers to form plagues which devastate human crops and food stores.

Vermer rats

Lifespan:
Length:
Weight:
Native to Raana: yes

Pests that occasionally boom in numbers to form plagues which devastate human crops and food stores.

Earth Invasives & Livestock

Boars

Lifespan: 10-14 years
Length: 1.5-1.8 m
Weight: 60-200 kg
Native to Raana: No

Introduced from Earth, and now plentiful in the wetlands within Ikaanos City and some other areas in and around human habitation (within the growing area of the Great Biological Wipe). These fierce omnivores can be hunted safely as long as you are better armed than they are, and keep an eye out for bandits. People concerned about the replacement of native Raanan flora & fauna with invasive Earth species encourage the culling of boar as pests.

Chickens

Lifespan: 5-10 years
Length: 25-70 cm
Weight: 1-5 kg
Native to Raana: No

Brought from Earth and surviving fine on Raana in farms, as a source of eggs, meat, and feathers for bedding. They can fend for themselves on farms, eating any small animal they find as well as seeds and some plant matter, but this active lifestyle make them eventually too tough for eating so just useful for the occasional egg. So they are kept indoors, provided with food and killed young if wanted for meat.

Deer

Lifespan: 10-13 years
Length: 2m
Weight: 100-200 kg
Native to Raana: No

Introduced from Earth, and now plentiful in undeveloped areas around Ikaanos and some other human settlements (within the growing area of the Great Biological Wipe). These gentle herbivores can be hunted safely as long as you keep an eye out for bandits. People concerned about the replacement of native Raanan flora & fauna with invasive Earth species encourage the culling of deer as pests.

Dogs

Lifespan: 6-14 years
Length: 25-100 cm
Weight: 1-100 kg
Native to Raana: No

Brought from Earth as companion animals, guard dogs, and some for work on farms. They come in a wild variety of shapes, sizes & colors.

Horses

Lifespan: 25-50+ years
Length: 2.4 m
Weight: average 400-600 kg (absolute 26kg - 1,500kg)
Native to Raana: No

Another Earth import, used in agriculture and for pulling carts as well as a self-fueling human transport. Well-suited to Ikaanos' unsurfaced, muddy tracks. You can enroll your slaves in one of Ikaanos' riding schools, or build a Stables in your Yard and buy your own horses. Depending on fitness, horses can comfortably carry a rider and saddle totaling 15-25% of their own body weight or less (e.g. a 500kg horse can be expected to carry a rider, saddle, rug, bridle, bags etc totaling 100kg).

Mules

Lifespan: 35-50+ years
Length: 2 m
Weight: 300-700 kg
Native to Raana: No

Another Earth import, these hardy, willful & characterful creatures rarely roam wild - they are used as beasts of burden, well-suited to Ikaanos' unsurfaced, muddy tracks. Doubly convenient, as they self-fuel by eating the familiar Earth plants of the great biological wipe rather than needing rare fossil fuels or scarce biofuels, irreplaceable Energy Cells, or a connection to a fusion power module. You will likely acquire a couple to haul camping equipment around if you want to explore beyond Ikaanos City itself; they come included in the price of a "Camp Level 2".

Cattle

Lifespan: 25-30, but usually slaughtered after 5 years (dairy) or 18 months (beef).
Length: 1.5-2.5 m
Weight: 400-1,200 kg
Native to Raana: No.

Another livestock species transported in from Earth in hopes it might be able to survive on Raana. Raised for use as beasts of burden as well as for their meat, milk and leather. Female cattle are called cows when mature and heifers when young. Male cattle raised for their meat are castrated to make them docile, and called steers. If uncastrated for use in breeding, male cattle are called bulls when mature and bullocks when young. Cattle used for pulling carts or ploughs, or even for riding, are usually male, usually castrated, and known as oxen; their laboring makes them big and strong but their meat becomes too tough for easy eating.

Raanan Flora

Denaar trees

Famous for the addictive, destructive, mind-altering drug easily extracted from resin in its bark, which is currently reckoned to be ruining the lives of over 12% of Ikaanos' population. The Raana-native plant is common in the foothills of the Beryll mountains, brightening up the forests with its red flowers.

Dungah moss

A plant that's almost as much a threat to Ikaanos as the monstrous, jungle-roaming lizards outside the Great Biological Wipe which keeps most other Raanan species at bay. This fast-growing moss-like thing turns brick, mortar, concrete and soft rock into soil enough for it to grow on - fast destroying buildings in the process. Growing so fast that some of the poorest of the poor are employed as "dungah pickers" to control it, it is inedible to Earth fauna, but sometimes used as an ingredient in antibiotic paste.

Haal trees

A tall, long-lived, Raanan evergreen tree, one of the few able to survive in the Great Biological Wipe around human settlements. Haal wood is useful for furniture, wood paneling, and weapons manufacture, and has a pleasant aroma when freshly cut. Its sap is also a source of syrup, and useful oils can be extracted from the plant too.

Rembar vines

One of the few species of native flora able to survive in the Great Biological Wipe inadvertently introduced to Rana by humans. It's a fast growing plant that spreads over buildings, with roots that break masonry apart. Along with dungah moss, working to return human coloniser constructions back to the verdant chaos of Raanan nature.

Ternyl Grass

Ternyl grass is a calorie-rich plant indigenous to Raana. Unlike Earth grass defended by sharp silica, it is soft and easy to eat and digest by humans. So it is commonly grown in Ikaanan garden vegetable patches and farms.

Abominations

Rumors are spreading of things arising from the interaction of Raanan and Earth life beyond the bounds of what's normally considered "natural". For example, survivors of the Haalu incident seem behaviorally and physically altered - cold and pale, no longer speaking, disconnecting from their prior lives. Suspected to be maybe diseased or infected by something, plus assuredly having sustained psychological damage or even alteration from whatever it was that they experienced... They are unnerving to be around, with people worrying if whatever is wrong with them might be infectious. Though others worry it's even worse than that, calling them "Prowlers", and muttering about "zombies" and "aberrations".