Sau’du is the name given to their homeworld by the Sauk, a bipedal foxlike species with hawk wings who live in and above the forests. The other sentient species, a bipedal mountain lion species bearing an extra pair of small, delicate arms and hands beneath their stronger upper arms are known as the Pardu, who choose to name their world Par’uk. It is a savage and dangerous world, filled with dangerous predators and even more dangerous prey.Whether meat eater or herbivore, the creatures of the world all have two things in mind: Eat. And keep from being eaten.
All the mammalian species have six limbs. This can take the form of four legs and wings; four legs and clubbing or lashing arms at the fore shoulders; two legs, two arms and wings or simply two legs and four arms. Birds are six-limbed as well with two legs and four wings that beat in a manner not dissimilar to a dragonfly. Even the sea creatures are dangerous. Nearly everything is carnivorous or at the minimum omnivorous. They can be as large as Earth’s Blue whales or as tiny as shrimp or even plankton. Some eat live meat, others scavenge.
Every species has its predator except for the largest, even the sentient ones. On land these predators are the Gryffin, a huge, scaled creature vaguely similar to the mythological griffin but about the physical size of an elephant; and the Cave Worm, an equally large creature something like the Sandworms of Dune. But that is pretty much where the similarities end.
The Gryffin typically feeds on large ruminants about the size of a bison and the disposition of a wild boar. This beast would be relatively easy prey for a flying predator of that size except for the shoulder spears jointed in a somewhat insectoid manner and capable of thrusting with incredible strength, tipped with points of hardened keratin, essentially horn-like growths hard and sharp enough to penetrate the scaly feathers of the Gryffin.
The Gryffin is difficult to kill. Its body feathers are hard and layered much like dragon’s scales, nearly impervious to arrows and thrown spears. Its wings extend each about twice the Gryffin’s length making a very imposing and fearful sight. All four legs are bird-like, thin, bony shanks ending in broad, four-toed feet tipped with hooked claws like a raptor’s (eagle or hawk, not dinosaur) capable of grasping and holding whatever they close upon. The head, somewhat vulture-like bears a hooked beak perfect for cutting into flesh and ripping it free in a single massive bite. The only weak spots are its eyes and mouth.
To kill a Gryffin the hunter must attract its attention and wait until the last possible moment before loosing her arrow into either eye or preferably into its mouth, hoping to strike the brain at the back of the skull. The hunter usually sacrifices herself in the attempt since if the shot fails she is most certainly the Gryffin’s next meal.
The Cave Worm feeds on anything it finds within caves and tunnels, mostly in mountainous country. It can grow to 10 feet or more in diameter and can be 80 feet long. The Pardu live in villages built in mountain caves or on overhung ledges similar to the missing cave-dwelling Native Americans of the American southwest now known as the Anasazi. Here they are protected from the predations of the Gryffin, but vulnerable to the stealthy attacks of the Cave Worm, which slowly and quietly bores through solid rock seeking anything that lives and that stays still long enough for it to attack.
You would think that boring through rock would make them easy to hear, but their method is similar to oozing acid from their rounded nose then digesting the dissolved stone, excreting it in such a way as to completely plug the tunnel it makes with only slightly softer material behind. This method of locomotion is slow, but silent enough that a large example could be within two feet of its prey before that prey would hear anything if she’s on guard.
It attacks by bursting through the final foot or so of stone and quickly gathering anything and everything within reach, living, dead or otherwise inert matter.A Cave Worm that makes a successful attack could wipe out an entire village of Pardu if they all slept within a single cave and has been known to catch four or more unawares in a single sleeping chamber. However, the Pardu are aware of the threat and build their dwellings with many smaller chambers and only sleep one or two to the chamber normally.The sound of a Worm bursting into a cave is usually enough to alert the entire clan who will fight to protect their young and then flee until the Worm has left.
A Cave Worm that makes a successful attack could wipe out an entire village of Pardu if they all slept within a single cave and has been known to catch four or more unawares in a single sleeping chamber. However, the Pardu are aware of the threat and build their dwellings with many smaller chambers and only sleep one or two to the chamber normally.The sound of a Worm bursting into a cave is usually enough to alert the entire clan who will fight to protect their young and then flee until the Worm has left.
The Cave Worm, too, is difficult to kill. Its size makes getting a single lethal attack next to impossible and most weapons just sink into the flesh without doing much real harm. A worm must either be literally hacked to death or one must enter its maw and seek to attack its brain, more like a spinal cord rather than a single or multiple node mass like most other creatures. Because of the acid, any Pardu who attempts this attack is likely to be digested before she can succeed in her attack. Fire has been known to injure and drive off a Cave Worm, but as yet none have been able to kill one with fire alone.
