Goline

Goline are four-legged animals primarily used as mounts by humanoids due to their speed, flexibility, and climbing ability. An average example stands just over five feet tall and nine feet long, with a thick covering of fur and a long, bushy tail used primarily for balance. Most wild goline have flexible spines that improve their speed over open ground, but domesticated variants have been bred out of the more rare static spined variants, allowing humanoids to ride safely on their backs.

Goline reproduce sexually, with a male and female partner. Once the female is fertilized, she will gestate for three months, and give live birth to a litter, typically between three and six pups. The pups are helpless at birth, and must drink milk from the mother for another month before they can begin to hunt. Within six month, the pups are near full size and independent.

Goline are primarily used as mounts for humanoids. While their legs are relatively short, a goline can easily outpace most humanoids in an open field, but their true use is in their ability to traverse uneven terrain. A goline can climb through jungle canopies and rocky surfaces nearly as fast as open ground, although true vertical climbing is uncomfortable for their riders, who tend to be strapped very securely to their saddles. In more open landscapes, goline are frequently used as scouting mounts or light pack animals, and their ability to both naturally float and swim gives them great utility in wet climates.   Goline can be eaten, and many poorly planned exploration parties have done so as a last means of survival, but they do not make good food due to their tough, lean meat. However, goline milk is a staple food in certain cultures, though it is less easily produced than alternative milk supplies due to the difficulty of forcing goline to lactate.