Greal Goat
"It will test you not as a curiosity, but as a question it intends to answer with its teeth.” - Naturalist Peltyr Brambivich
"It will test you not as a curiosity, but as a question it intends to answer with its teeth.” - Naturalist Peltyr Brambivich
![[Image: Et3yvIu.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Et3yvIu.png)
Summary:
It stalks with impunity among the whole island of the Sangreal, a creature whose status among the field animals cannot be explicitly determined. Studied extensively, the Sangreal Goat, often shorted to Greal Goat is a goatlike cloven-hoofed animal whose preferred terrain is as varied as its diet. This goat much like its Westcontre counterpart can easily survive in most climates on the island, and is capable of greatly supplementing its food sources with flesh and bone. Whether this originated as a survival strategy for hard winters amongst the species of goat, it is presently unknown. Roughly sixty percent of the Greal's diet is suspected to consist of meat and carrion, including bone, cartilage and otherwise discarded elements of a prey-kill. Appearing very similar to a typical goat, barring heightened muscularity, quicker reflexes and forward-facing eyes, they can go unnoticed amongst a group of the typical domestic herd ungulates. Farmers in the periphery of settlement on Sangreal have suspected that some share of the nighttime losses of livestock are due to the Greal Goat and not wild canines or bears.
The Greal Goat forms small familial groups, often with one larger male and a pair of females with their offspring. These groups can reach in excess of twenty to thirty goats at times - and when such groups grow that large, they are capable of preying even on other herds of livestock or even villages of weaker fare. Like their herbivorous cousins, the Greal Goat is a master of breaking-and-entering, challenging even the most experienced farmers with keeping them contained against their will.
Basic Description:
Greal Goats are on average shoulder-high to a halfling, two to three feet at the horn and somewhat larger than the typical goat species on the island, possessing of much greater musculature. They also possess thicker jaws and heavier jaw musculature for the purpose of tearing flesh from carcasses. Front incisors are elongated and scissor-like, with developed canine-like teeth in place of the standard herbivore pre-molars. Fur can range from dark grey to mottled browns and whites, often possessing a darkened 'mane' of hair across the back of their neck and spine much like a horse. These goats possess narrow cloven hooves with pliable webbing, permitting extremely sure footing across a variety of terrain.
Rarity: Uncommon
Location:
Greal Goats are widespread across the island, appearing to be documented in every territory except for the adjacent island of Sol Pylece, where humidity and temperature would make it miserable for such a goat to exist. The animals prefer to live in the highlands, though are not particularly afraid of sapient life and take their common misidentification as an herbivore for an opportunity to infiltrate and thrive in areas free of the species that would otherwise prey on the goat.
Properties:
Special Properties:
The Greal Goat forms small familial groups, often with one larger male and a pair of females with their offspring. These groups can reach in excess of twenty to thirty goats at times - and when such groups grow that large, they are capable of preying even on other herds of livestock or even villages of weaker fare. Like their herbivorous cousins, the Greal Goat is a master of breaking-and-entering, challenging even the most experienced farmers with keeping them contained against their will.
Basic Description:
Greal Goats are on average shoulder-high to a halfling, two to three feet at the horn and somewhat larger than the typical goat species on the island, possessing of much greater musculature. They also possess thicker jaws and heavier jaw musculature for the purpose of tearing flesh from carcasses. Front incisors are elongated and scissor-like, with developed canine-like teeth in place of the standard herbivore pre-molars. Fur can range from dark grey to mottled browns and whites, often possessing a darkened 'mane' of hair across the back of their neck and spine much like a horse. These goats possess narrow cloven hooves with pliable webbing, permitting extremely sure footing across a variety of terrain.
Rarity: Uncommon
Location:
Greal Goats are widespread across the island, appearing to be documented in every territory except for the adjacent island of Sol Pylece, where humidity and temperature would make it miserable for such a goat to exist. The animals prefer to live in the highlands, though are not particularly afraid of sapient life and take their common misidentification as an herbivore for an opportunity to infiltrate and thrive in areas free of the species that would otherwise prey on the goat.
Properties:
- Obligate carnivore, consuming 60-70% of diet in meat and bone while supplementing with vegetable and plant-matter.
- Front-facing eyes, strategic group-based predator behavior. Known to stalk prey over long distances on occasion, and engage in ersatz tactics.
- Sharp, canine-like teeth and scissor-like incisors allow the tearing of flesh and cracking of bone.
Special Properties:
- The bones and horns of the Greal Goat are almost identical to brass in their density and durability due to the increased nutrient intake of the carnivorous goat. They cannot hold an edge.