Muursamul
Also known as 'Star Hunter', 'Fowl Dog'
Public sentientologic record
Property of the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís, Eörpe
The muursamul is the largest land-bound predator of Biegjun, and one of three animals iconic to the Bieggjan mythos.
Etymology & Definition
Similarly to tjaetsiimaj, the muursamul’s name is old and originates from a long-extinct gjevasudit language.
Based on recursive studies, the modern ‘muur’ (v. ‘to hunt/gather’), ‘asja’ (n. (neg.) ‘eye/light’), ‘remul’ (n. ‘winter/dark/shadow’), and ‘asjamul’ (n. ‘star’) respectively are likely descended from of the same words originally used to form ‘muursamul’. Taking the species' behavior and its place in the bieggjan mythos into account, likely candidates for translation is ‘star hunter’ or ‘winter hunter’.
Modern gjevasudit has two separate words for ‘eye’ and ‘light’. ‘Asja’ carry strong negative connotations, referring to light or eyes that are bad, ominous, or menacing. In reverse ‘vojsa’ carry strong positive connotations, referring to light or eyes that are good, warm, safe, or inspiring.
History
Origin
The muursamul, pafahayja, and tikkunni all descend from the giant, carnivorous macropod kaapajani, an apex predator that used to hunt in packs across Biegjun’s temperate plains and savannahs. Fossil findings suggest they and numerous other species died en masse close to the same decade the ancient humans arrived. The likely explanation is that the crash landing of Yggdrasil D-44 at Gaaijvla Kilmpakki triggered an extinction event on Biegjun, leading to an initial loss of circa 35% of all species within the following decade, and a total loss of up to 80% of all species over the course of 3500-5000 years.Habitat & Population
Though the population is healthy and stable, the muursamul's distant habitats mean they're rarely seen by the native population. They're found close to or within the mountainous regions found in the two surbarctic bands, with roaming individuals on are occassions crossing into the temperate zone. Due to each family group's territory being fairly large, and always include at least once entrance to a subterrain ecosystem, the distance between dens can be several kilometers. They coexist more or less peacefully most other species. The related tikkunni, the tursatjek, and their primary prey, the tjaetsiimaj, are notable exceptions.Galactic Distribution
The muursamul is found exclusively on the planet Biegjun. As a part of the Suszukoro Reserve Zone policies it’s illegal to export them from their homeworld, alive or dead.Taxological Data
Many Muursamul
Biological Data
Quadraped - Walking
Hilly/Mountainous Terrain
The Rosepetal
Biology
Morphology
Muursamul are large and heavy theropods with a quadruped gait as their primary method of locomotion. Scouting, jumping, and sprinting is done bipedally by utilizing their powerful hind legs and standing up at ~45-90° angle. The body is vaguely triangular; the thorax is slimmer than the hips and during quadruped gait rests much closer to the ground. A long, triangular head with a square snout sits on a short and powerful neck. A ridge of cartilage run from the base of the eyebrow and down to the jaw’s underside, giving their faces a distinct, framed look - especially together with the fan-like plumage that lines it in adult specimens. Elongated, pointed ears sit relatively low and far back on the head. While the ears can be raised upward to a near 90° alignment with the head, the ability to rotate them forward and backward is limited. Muursamul have four limbs, with the hind pair significantly larger and more powerful but unable to pronate. All four paws feature three forward-facing toes with non-retractable, broad, and scoop-like claws that are useful for digging but not very effective as weapons. The front paws feature pseudo-opposable thumbs that give them limited ability to grasp and manipulate objects. This digit is vestigial in the hind paws, often not visible as more than a small, blunt hook. The tail is muscular and rigid at the base, with significantly more thickness on the lateral plane than it has on the dorsal one. It tapers off into a point, and in its entirety typically match the length of the muursamul’s body measured from nose to hips. While it become is increasingly motile and flexible the farther from the base, it only has vertical mobility. The tail’s end features a large, fan-like plume of feathers.Anatomy & Physiology
Skeleton
Much of the muursamul’s weight is attributed to its skeleton and the muscle mass needed to support it. The extra sturdiness helps offset the planet's higher than average gravity and is accomplished by the incorporation of an iron-like element in the bone mineral. A side effect is a notable thickening of the bone walls that protect them against bone fractures, but in return they loose out on speed and agility.Tissue & Blood
A layer of vascularized fat, not too different from blubber observed in some marine animals, is found between the skin and the muscles below and also line many of their organs. This tissue serve as insulation against the cold. Newly hatched cubs start off with a very minimal amount and have to quickly build it up over the course of their first two years. For the rest of their lives, it remains important for them to keep a healthy diet in order to ingest enough fats that can be processed and stored in this specialized tissue.Repellation Glands
The muursamul are well-known for exhibiting a foul stench that most animals with a functional olfactory organ will find repulsive. The smell originates from an oil-like substance coating their skin and fur, produced from specialized glands lining the cartilage ridge running from the base of the brow to the underside of the jaw.
by Nimin N.
Skin & Fur
Muursamul have thick, beige hides. Adults are covered with a short, fine pale yellow to yellow-brown coat of fur. The oil from the repellation glands give their fur a very healthy shine.Plumage
Adult muursamul have three fan-like plumes of feathers, two on their head and one at the end of their tail. Depending on regionality, the feathers are either green or blue, with exact tone being dependent on inheritance. Females feature less impressive plumage, both in terms of feather length and coloration. Both sexes have a bioluminescent magenta or violet stripe on each feather that’s easily observable in dim light, but only vivid enough in males to see in brighter lighting. Males also sport symmetrical circles of the same color on each side of the stripe.Sensory Capabilities
Sight
The muursamul have big, oval eyes that feature many of the evolutionary adaptions commonly found in crepuscular predators. The enlarged pupils can adapt its intake of light by contracting into thin vertical ovals or dilating wide enough to hide most of the iris. A tapetum lucidum behind the retina acts as a retroflector, further heightening their night vision. These adaptions make the muursamul extremely sensitive bright light, and exposing their eyes to it can quickly cause permanent damage or even blindness. To protect their eyes from the high levels of daytime sunlight the muursamul have a thin, opaque fold of skin that can be pulled vertically over the eye. Closing the fold render them essentially blind, but muursamul can typically rely well enough on their other senses to navigate their surroundings and forage.Smell
They have an excellent sense of smell and it serves as their primary means of navigation when the light levels are too high for their sensitive eyes. They’ll create pathfinding trails for themselves and other members of their den by rubbing against trees, undergrowth, or rocks as they pass by. The oil from their fur is resistant enough for the smell to last several days. Territorial boundaries, and entrances to subterrain ecosystems, are regularly marked with urine from the den’s patriarch.Dietary Needs & Habits
The muursamul are omnivores that primarily live off of foraged berries and roots, and complement their diet with meat to fulfill the need for certain fats and minerals. They’re the only predator known to deliberately target tjaetsiimaj.
The Annual Winter Hunt
Tjaetsiimaj is exclusively hunted during the winter season. Once a tjaetsiimaj swarm has cycled past its initial feeding frenzy, all adolescent and adult muursamul of a den will come out to hunt. They’ll focus on downing as many as they can during the period of time the tjaetsiimaj are busy infighting and mating. The goal is to get as big a haul as possible before the amphibians retreat back to their underground habitats again. The hunting tactic consist of using their powerful hind legs to leap high into the air, aiming to snap their jaws at the soft throat tissue located close to the base of the tjaetsiimaj's helmet. Given enough time to hone their technique, a muursamul will get skilled and precise enough to kill with a single bite. Once the hunt is over, the bodies of their felled prey are piled up. They’ll typically eat one or two on the spot, and then systematically behead the rest and leave the carcasses to bleed out while they return to the den to rest. Usually by the time the group is well rested, the carcasses are dry enough to be hauled to the den’s improvised ‘freezer’.Genetics
Life Cycle
Muursamul have fairly long life spans of 60 years, with a surprising high percentage dying from old age rather than external circumstance. Falling prey to tursatjek or tikkunni, or being victims to an accident or natural disaster, are the predominant reasons for a premature death. They’re considered cubs between the age of 0-8, adolescent between 8-12, adult between 13-45, and old at 46+.Reproduction
The muursamul female has a biennial cycle, coming into estrus during normal spring but not bright spring. The lower light levels of the normal seasons are typically more favorable for carrying, birthing and rearing young, and the two-year gap will also ensure the last cubs are old enough to not require their parents’ full-time attention by the time the new eggs are laid. A den matriarch will lay 1-3 eggs roughly 55-60 days after successful copulation and will spend most of her time for the coming 40-45 days in the nest while the eggs incubate. Other mature females or non-mature individuals of either sex living in the den will take turns to relieve her when necessary. Once an egg has begun to hatch, the female will usually help the cub to break out, making the process only last a few minutes. Other occupants in the den will help clean out the shells, while the female cleans the newly hatched until it’s colorful down is dry and fluffy.Growth Rate & Stages
Newly hatched muursamul cubs have brittle bones and are covered with a thick and fluffy blue- or green-toned down that helps to keep them warm. The cubs are dependent on their parents and older siblings in the den to keep them fed, clean, healthy, and safe during their first two years. Around the age of three they’ve accumulated enough vascular fat for insulation to shed the down and replace it with a short, fine pale yellow to yellow-brown fur instead. Their bones will also have hardened enough for them to safely begin exploring their immediate surroundings, but are kept from straying outside of the den. It takes 4-6 months to shed all down, and the cubs will remain featherless up until hitting puberty around the age of 8. By the time they hit sexual maturity around the age of 10-11, they’ve finished growing the plumes sported by adults and will also begin to secrete the oil-like substance that gives off the infamous smell protecting them against the tjaetsiimaj and other predators.Hybridization
Hybridization between muursamul and its two cousin-species is possible, though so far only muursamul/tikkunni cross-breeding have been observed naturally in the wild. Tikkunni appear to be as strongly drawn to muursamul as they are to their own species, though it’s not fully clear why.
The most common cause for hybridization is a roaming tikkunni male trespassing into muursamul territories in search for females in heat. A partnerless muursamul male coming across an alone tikkunni female may take the opportunity if invited. Since a muursamul won’t stand a chance against its much more ferocious cousin in most one-to-one scenarios, they avoid guarded females.
Biological Variation
Muursamul see some regional variation, which includes a slight tone difference in their fur coloration based on what elevation they live at, and a more obvious difference in plumage color based on which of the two subarctic bands they inhabit. When necessary to distinguish between the two, they tend to be referred to as blue and green muursamul respectively.Blue Muursamul
In the upper subarctic band, the muursamul observe blue-toned plumage with vivid magenta to pink patterns on the males.Green Muursamul
In the lower subarctic band, the muursamul observe green-toned plumage with bright violet to purple patterns on the males.Behavior
Muursamul are mellow and social pack animals that exhibit very mild territorial behavior in comparison to other Biegjun predators. Confrontations are typically avoided if possible and aggressive responses only elicited if an individual is cornered or the safety of their den is threatened.
Muursamul mate for life and both sexes appear to put a lot of effort into finding ‘the right one’. They’ll stay wholeheartedly loyal to them for the rest of their life, and even if a mate dies prematurely, they appear to have no interest in getting a new one. Several widowed muursamul have been observed to eventually abandon their dens and wander off aimlessly until either dying of starvation, hypothermia, or falling prey to another predator.
A particular case of note describes the behavior of a young muursamul female that lost her mate only three years after they had dug out their den. The female was seen carrying her two cubs over to her birth home, to leave them in the care of her parents and siblings there, before wandering off into the mountains.
Social Structure
The muursamul live in family groups consisting of a breeding adult pair (referred to as matriarch and patriarch) and their offspring. Since young are hatched normally every two years and will stay with their parents for at least twelve years, a den tends to usually peak at population of 14-15 individuals on average.
Responsibilities are cascaded downward in age, with the breeding pair leading their den and any adults still at home expected to help them with foraging, patrolling, defense, and rearing young. Adolescents are afforded a bit more slack but are still expected to learn from the adults practically by following them around.
Family bonds are kept strong through a high amount of social interaction between its individuals, utilizing chatter, body language and physical touch, as well as play and grooming. Muursamul, regardless of age, prefer to sleep together in a large pile for shared warmth and comfort.
The Den
A family group’s territory will be centralized around a large den dug out into a hillside or the foot of a mountain. Two long and wide tunnels connect to an entrance chamber, that in turn connect with at minimum two additional chambers. The first is placed at a higher elevation if possible and furnished with at least two nests: the one placed farthest back is always reserved for any unhatched eggs and the individual currently on duty incubating them, and the other(s) are free-for-all sleeping spots. The second is tunneled a significant distance down into the earth and serve the purpose of a primitive freezer. Tjaetsiimaj carcasses and any excess roots and berries foraged is stored down there and the hole is continually replenished with snow and ice gathered from the surrounding mountains.Communication
The muursamul are, similar to their cousin species pafahayja, very reliant on aural communication, and researchers have primarily been able to locate dens for study by listening for the incessant, noisy chatter of their inhabitants.
The muursamul ‘language’ consists of pitched whines, yips, barks, and yowls in combination with extensive body language. It appears to be complex enough to have capacity for regional dialects. This was especially obvious when studying interaction between rare meetings between individuals from different subarctic bands, where both sounds and use of body language differentiated enough for babel of tongues to arise.
Courting Ritual
Upon reaching sexual maturity, male muursamul normally leave their home within the following year in order to find a mate to form a new den with. This usually occur during early spring, late autumn, or winter of both seasonal cycles. As their search can take several years if unlucky its not unusual for them to periodically return home to sit out the brightest months, getting a needed fill of socialization and food at the same time. Once the male finds a female they feel attracted to, they’ll initiate a three-step courting ritual that can take anything from a day to several weeks.First Step
The ritual begins with the male making contact at a distance by trying to draw the female’s attention with improvised dance and song. Their plumage appears to play an important role in the attempts to gain attention and impress. If the female shows no interest within roughly a day, the male gives up and moves on.Second Step
If the female shows interest, he’ll double up his efforts in the hope she’ll soon reciprocate by joining in on the dance and song number. This typically escalates rather quickly as the female’s siblings and parents are drawn to the noise, and soon enough most of the den’s inhabitants will have joined in. The den’s patriarch, and/or matriarch if present, will signal when it’s time to stop – the length at which they allow the ‘party’ to go on may indicate what their opinion of the visiting suitor is.Third Step
At this point, the male is typically invited in and will stay at the den for up to a month. During this period, they’re more or less treated as part of the family and will spend most of their wake time hard at work to show off their capabilities. They’ll have to impress both their potential mate and her parents, proving they’re fit for the role as a future den patriarch. If everything goes well, the male and female will eventually leave together to find a suitable location to set up their own den at.Interspecies Relations
The muursamul hold a peculiar place in Biegjun’s fauna as omnivorous predators that, unless given no other choice, will only hunt the tjaetsiimaj to satisfy their needs for meat-based proteins. This has led to many other species, even otherwise aggressive herbivores such as the lejipolma, to not consider them a threat and to largely ignore their presence. Their characteristic smell repels most predators, with exception of the related tikkunni and the aquatic tursatjek.Muursamul & the Bieggjan
The muursamul is a revered animal among the bieggjan and carries a similar demi-deitific status as the vojjsakka and tjaetsiimaj.
Seeing a muursamul is always considered an omen. Capturing and/or harming one is an evil act. Even just mentioning an intent of doing so, regardless of context, is enough to make you suspect of nesting an Oniijavat. Harming or killing a muursamul, or being attacked by one, is considered a clear sign of being possessed.
The myth ‘Soha Oppalil Amatolja’ is the only one found to date that make mention of what was likely tame muursamul – or a murni based on descriptions provided throughout the saga. The Ljuuhovii name it as their deity Liehlej, who helped Amatolja to defend their tribe against a swarm of oniijavat. It remained their steadfast companion until it was time for them to walk across Soha Hyssna.
Ancestral Avatars
A pervasive belief is that the muursamul are the reborn souls of prominent ancestors. It’s not uncommon for exceptional individuals of a tribe to be heightened to the status of a local deity after their death and are in these cases always depicted as a muursamul.
Most tribes have at least one story of a spirit that displayed exceptional bravery and altruism in life and were offered Juoyl Haarni, 'Juoyl’s Gift', at the top of Soha Hyssna. If accepted, they’d be reborn to Biegjun as an incarnation of their virtues: the muursamul. Juoyl would give them the strength and hardiness to hunt oniijavat and their nests even when the world is at its coldest and darkest. Their retained wisdom would let them guide and protect Jeemjis and Eesli both.
Suhsohaar Dloyanann, a former tribe elder of Gjugrenn, is another example of an individual now worshipped as a local muursamul deity. Any sightings of the animal is attributed to being them keeping watch over and protecting their former family.
I love these stinky babies. <3 The courtship ritual was my favourite part. I love that the whole family gets involved. XD
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Stinky babies like to party!