Vickpiit (wik-peet)

These oversized rabbits are good introduction to the madness below.
You often find one, and either kill it, or face the pack.
One of the fastest introduction to consequences one can find on Atocitera.

Description

Vikpiits are long descendants of rabbits. Reaching up to meter and half Two hands end up with paws with shovel-like claws which the Vickpiit use for digging their holes. The legs of the Vikpiits are similar to those of frogs and allow them to jump several meters into the air. Vikpiits use this to hunt birds and other small avians and also to counter their attacks.
Their fur's most common color is dark green and brown, serving as camouflage. Rare examples occasionally have silver-gray fur. This is due to their fur being adaptable to cold winters in the north parts of Atocitera.

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Diet

Vikpiits are omnivores, mainly focusing on bark and grass. But if they notice the presence of prey weaker than them, they won't hesitate to call for help and hunt it down for meat.
Their nature is cowardly, so they often attempt to hoard some food inside their holes to serve as reserves when they sense dangerous prey migrating through their territory.

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Behavior

The nests of Vikpiids are made of several holes, each housing a family. These families take care of their offspring until they mature and dig out their own holes. In case the old parents die, the holes are taken by the first one to move in the empty one.
The Vikpiits have a hierarchy based on the overall movement speed of the individual. In the pact of twelve Vikpiits the slowest members are often used as singular scouts while the pack follows behind. In case the scout dies, the pack escapes the dangerous situation.
Vikpiits pairs fight between themselves to determine who is the stronger individual, these then join the scouting and hunting packs while the weaker ones gather bark and grass.
One pack of hunters is mixed in the group of gatherers, ensuring protection in case of ambushes so the weakest could escape. After assuming they bought enough time, or all the time they could afford to buy against the threat, the full escape is announced via their squeaking cries. During such escapes, the slowest ones are left behind.
No matter the situation, the Vikpiits always run away for as long as necessary to get away from the chaser before they return back to their holes.
In the rare case that the nesting place of Vikpiits is compromised, they quickly carry away the offspring to a different area.
Such migration of Vikpiits is extremely dangerous, as the agitated Vikpiits will be able to overrun Raiders with numerous clawing and stomping.

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Habitats

Vikpiits are often found on plains bordering forests. Such a place is rich in grass and trees from which they can harvest the bark.
Holes of Vikpiits are often hidden with patches of grass, twigs, and other naturally occurring materials.
While this is often enough to confuse predators, Raiders can often stumble on the Vikpiit's nests.
Should Raider disturb the nesting place and agitate the Vikpiits, one of two situations occurs: 1) Vikpiits will believe they can deal with the intruder, attacking it in numbers until the intruder is overwhelmed and turned into food. 2) Vikpiits will start the migration, often trampling Raiders that stayed too close.

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Spreading

Vikpiits as mammals are birthing two to five offsprings, these then take half a year to get into a mature enough state to take part in gathering. Out of these, half are often killed by predators, resulting in only the fastest staying alive.
Overpopulation is rarely an issue, as the nests of Vikpiits are found by predators when the population of Vikpiits gets too big and careless. The result of such overpopulation is attacked by many predators, which trigger migration and only survival of the fittest Vikpiits in the pack.

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Relationship towards other species

Vickpiits are one of the lower species in the hierarchy of Atocitera. Resolving to pack strategies and sheers numbers over the quality of an individual.
They are however prey to many other species around Atocitera, making them excellent filler prey if carefully cared about.

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Relationship towards Raiders

Vikpiits are rather docile and nonaggressive towards a well-eguiped group of adult Raiders, but young Raiders on their first few raids can face aggression from the Vickpiits, especially as the young ones did not yet learn the danger of Raiders.
Vikpiits learn to respect Raiders as they age. Therefore only the young ones dare to attack the groups of Raiders.
The ones killed by Raiders count toward half of the offspring killed by predators.

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Dangers, risks, strategy, and loot

Vikpiits claws are accustomed to digging, as such, they are full of dirt and sometimes even skin and blood of other beasts.
Scratches and wounds caused by Vikpiits need to be quickly properly cleaned or they can cause infection, leading to fever and paralyzation of Raider for days to up to a whole week. Raider in such a state is advised to take a rest because their state will massively increase the risk of making mistakes, costing them their life.
When the whole hunting pack attacks, they encircle their prey and attack the blind spots. In case of Raider cover their backs, they will identify the weakest member and focus their attacks on them.
When encountering Vikpiits, it is advised to deal with the scout in one swift attack. Failure to do so would result in the scout calling the whole hunting pack.
Veteran raiders sometimes intentionally chose to trigger the call, while rookie and newbie Raiders trigger the attack of a whole pack by mistake. During the attack of the pack, staying together and covering each other's back is as important as quickly trimming their numbers to reduce the number of attacks.
After finishing the hunt, the Vikpiit legs are not only efficient in the ratio between weight and meat, but also a huge delicacy. Other than legs, a trace amount of Solid crystal dust is rarely formed between the teeth of the old Vikpiits.

Details card

Class: Beast
Element: Solid.
Material: Biological.
Region: Plains and forests.
Kind of damage: Slashing, bludgeoning.
Danger: Low/Medium.
Usage: Food source.
Hierarchy: Lower tiers.
Target priority:
Excellent at the beginning/middle of the raid.
Ignore near the end.