Addyl

The Addyl is a large creature unique to Southern Sedia. A symbol of the South Sedian scrub, the large creatures are notorious for being "easy keepers" and make a unique livestock opportunity for ranchers of Death's Way and the surrounding harsh landscape.

Description

Addyl are very large animals. At around 3 to 3.5m long and about 2m tall at the shoulders, these huge animals dwarf any other herbivorous wildlife in the scrubland South of the Aurian Ranges. While small compared to some of the mammals further North, such a as mammoths, they are incredibly large considering the lack of available food in their habitat. Despite the lack of grazing opportunities, they usually weigh around 850kg, particularly old individuals weighing well over 1000kg. Their tough armoured shell contributes a considerable portion of this weight, but they are still well-known as one of the best meat-to-grazing ratio livestock. With virtually no sexual dimorphism between males and females, it is very hard to tell an addyl's sex without checking for genitalia. Addyl have four sturdy legs covered with leathery skin and wiry hair. The front feet have three toes with curved claw-like hooves which act as digging shovels to help locate roots and tubers. It uses two of these toes to walk on, and the third side-toe aids in digging. The back feet have two toes acting as a cloven hoof. The most striking feature of the Addyl is undoubtedly its armour. The large, round shape of the creature is defined by its three large and distinctive armour plates, which it uses for protection as well as temperature management. The centre plate is firmly attached to and very much part of the spine, much like a turtle's shell. It is surrounded by muscle and immobile relative to the rest of the animal. The two large plates in front and behind, known as the "sliders", are attached differently. Fixed only to soft tissue and separated structurally from the skeleton, it has tendon attachments to the vertebrae, allowing for movement with the animal's locomotion. These tendons also anchor to large muscles beside the spine, allowing the addyl to "tense" them and hold the sliders firmly in place for protection. There is a fourth protective plate attached to the spine on the neck, as well as two plates on the front of the face. Some addyls appear to have 2 to 4 small plates on the topline of the tail, but this is not universal to all individuals. Also for protection, the addyl sports three bony horns on the front of their face. The horn on the nose is usually short and is used predominantly for digging for roots. The horns on the head are highly unique in shape between individuals. It is thought that addyl use the horns for identification within their herd. Both males and females carry the same horns and are very rarely used to fight amongst their own species. The horns begin to form when the addyl is around a year old but become an unreliable marker of age past this time, as the growth of the horns is so unique to the individual. Beneath the armour is a rounded, muscular body covered with long, oily hair. This hair starts at the jaw and continues along the entire length of the body, including the tail. The hair protects the rest of the body from biting insects, snakes and other small bothersome creatures, as well as fending off attacks from smaller predators that are quick or small enough to evade its armour. The oil on the hair is foul-tasting, causes excess salivation and a harmless but surprising tingling sensation in the mouth or eyes. This oil, known as "addyl musk" is a popular alchemical ingredient for these properties, as well as often being desirable in the perfume trade for a "musky" or "animalistic" scent. They are brown to dark grey in colouration, sporting dark markings on the face. These markings are thought to both fend of flies and reduce glare from the sun. The shell sports similarly mottled, bar-like markings, thought to help break up the animal's outline and make isolating individuals in a herd more difficult. The hair on the underside is usually paler than the overall colouration, which helps youngsters find the protective underside of their mothers. Addyl have a poor sense of smell and rely mostly on hearing and keen sight to survey their surroundings.

Diet

Addyl are entirely herbivorous, with very hardy, grinding teeth. They happily graze on the tough grasses and thorny cacti found in their scrubland habitat, but their dietary specialty is digging for tubers and roots. As well as being defensive weapons, their horns and slides are strong and very useful for moving large amounts of rock and soil. Their front claws are also fantastic digging tools. Due to the tough nature of their food, addyl are also known to find stones to swallow and use as gastroliths to aid in grinding their food beyond the mouth. Because of their specialised diet, Addyl can be quite picky, posing a problem when kept in captivity during particularly harsh years with little available grazing. Unless they were raised on it at a young age, addyl will usually refuse supplemental hay, oats or similar grains when offered. When grazing has been exhausted in times of drought or other hardship, they need to be fed carrots or other root vegetables, or cacti imported from elsewhere if local food can't be sourced. It is thought that the addyl has a very limited sense of taste. Their tongue is incredibly tough and leathery, and seems to be almost barren of tastebuds; likely to protect the tongue from cacti spines, sharp grasses and dirt that it processes during eating. There are more tastebuds present in the entry to the throat where food passes after it has been thoroughly chewed and made safer- but this delayed tasting process means that it takes a lot of coaxing to teach an addyl that new foods taste good if it was not taught to eat them at a young age by its parents.

Defensive behaviour

The addyl is not a skittish animal and when threatened it will try to fend off smaller predators, appearing large and threatening by rattling its armour plates and bellowing loudly. If this doesn't work, or if faced with a more significant threat, the addyl will drop to the ground rapidly, curl its back upwards in an arch, and "tense" the muscles of its sliding plates, digging the ridged edges into the ground beneath it and forming a domed shell. Its head retracts inward, and though not entirely protected, its vulnerable spots are very well covered, while still retaining its sense of vision and smell. This is called "locking down", and once it occurs it can be hours before the addyl feels comfortable to stand again. This behaviour is used to protect the individual but also used to protect their young. Addyl under a year old have no horns and under-developed shells that are incapable of properly locking down. Because of this, they will run to their mother's bellies and hide beneath their dome-like shell when threatened.

by Spooktacular

A "locked down" addyl in its defensive position. Addyl also use their horns as a defensive weapon if pressured, but are usually reluctant to do so. The horns protrude out at a roughly 90 degree angle to protect the head when locked down, and the head can be flicked up easily to fend predators away from the more vulnerable head.

As Livestock

Addyl herds are a unique ranching opportunity for Southern Sedians, offering a steady meat-producing industry for those in the infertile band of land South of the Aurian Ranges. Though farming addyl is much more tedious, labour-intensive and dangerous than cattle or sheep herding, they produce a huge quantity of meat, especially considering the poor grazing they can achieve it with. Addyl meat has a strong goat or sheep-like flavour, with a texture more similar to beef. It is low in fat, and high in protein. While appealing nutritionally, most cuts of addyl meat are very tough and stringy without proper preparation and where possible most people prefer alternatives. A surprising further use of Addyl is as riding mounts. Addyl herds are usually worked by ranchers on horses, but some prefer to saddle and ride the addyl themselves. Their hardiness makes them easier to keep than horses in the harsh scrub. However, due to their size, lack of motivation and ornery temperament many still choose more traditional mounts. Addyl herds do not seem to have distinct leaders, matriarchs or dominant members. The group seems to wander and follow the "majority vote"; if the majority of the herd wanders one way in favour of one pasture over another, the rest will follow. If the group gets caught up in a "hung vote" situation, where half of the group is headed in one direction and half is headed in the other, they will abruptly stop and begin bellowing in frustration, until members from one side or another give in. This makes herding them particularly difficult, and cattle or sheep herders find it very difficult to transition to herding addyl.