A Bestiary of Ivras

This thread is meant to be a casual place for recording the creatures of Ivras and any associated lore that people may choose to build around them! It's very likely it may be entirely me just shouting into the void for my own benefit, but if anyone else would like to use creatures here for their own in-universe stories or art (or share some from your own works) please feel free-- it's nice to have some details and specifics of the world to help ground things in a collaborative setting :)

 I'll try and keep this top post updated if anyone else does happen to make additions! Clickable names will jump to any available posted visuals.

BESTIARY (A to Z)

Crocodilian: Ivras is a land crisscrossed by waterways and low-lying wallows, and as such it's perhaps fitting that these ancient predators do so well here. Crocodilians are about what you'd expect, and most commonly range from four to seven feet long but are capable of growing far, far larger. They're patient ambush predators who will wait at the water's edge for a chance to lunge out at their prey, and can reach a surprising distance up the shoreline very quickly; they're opportunistic, and don't much care whether their intended prey is animal or hooved.  Some enterprising individuals will farm smaller crocodilians for their prized leather, but it's much more common to hunt them for this valuable resource due to the inherent dangers of keeping them around.

Crowned Badgerbear: The great solitary beasts of the far Southern Wilds, crowned badgerbears make their home far from hooved settlements and are a consequently rare sight. They make their homes in the densely forested ridgelands at the southern edge of the Sunless Jungle, living in hereditary warrens excavated over generations of habitation; despite their immense size and fearsome appearance they're only opportunistically carnivorous, and generally forage through the summer and sleep through the worst ravages of winter.  Travelers through known badgerbear ranges in the early summer should exercise extra caution, as males of the species will leave their territories in search of a mate and are far more aggressive in anticipation of encounters with other competing males. As a general rule they pose little threat to hooved strangers who might stumble across them--so long as they're not antagonized--but those who 'poke the badgerbear' quickly learn that these shambling giants are a great deal quicker than their usual ambling walk might suggest.

Dairy Capybara: Friendly domesticates who are best raised in groups, the dairy capybara provides a key element of the Ivratian diet that has few other sources. Raised primarily for their milk and--less commonly--for their meat and hide, these gregarious creatures are endearing enough that many in rural areas consider them pets as much as they are livestock. They bond easily with others of their kind and also their hooved handlers.
(by abigailboazarthart)

Diver: Also referred to by the somewhat misleading  name of 'dive-rats', divers are closer to an otter than a rat; they're  long, sleek beasts who live a semi-aquatic lifestyle preying on  shellfish in the southern oceans. Their fur is thick and luxurious, with  a water-resistant quality that makes it especially prized, but divers  are clever and social enough that most hooved feel some reluctance  hunting them; their natural curiosity often draws them to investigate  and interact with beachgoers who they see regularly enough to deem 'not a  threat'. Divers are traditionally used in Moon Shell fishing among  certain tribes of the Sunless Jungle but are otherwise rarely  domesticated.  

Fishers/Fisherfolk: Alternately referred to by the more respectful and historical term 'fisherfolk', fishers are relatively large wading birds that wander the waterways of Ivras.  Fishers hunt using their long, spearlike bills but also have remarkable dexterity with both feet and beak, and weave elaborate reed-and-stick weirs through the marshlands in a form of fish husbandry that makes it readily apparent just how capable they are.Thought to be significantly intelligent and having some sort of semi-coherent if largely solitary culture of their own--a fact confirmed by mages capable of speaking with animals--they prefer to keep their distance from the hooved and generally stick to the less populated areas of the wilds. Though they’re often only seen at a distance and will move away if approached, their plaintive but beautiful songs echoing over the grasslands at last light is a much-celebrated phenomenon in the parts of the country they tend to call home.
There's a longstanding bit of folklore among Ivratians that the fisherfolk go their whole lives without ever setting foot on dry land; that they are born, life, and die either wading the waters, sleeping adrift on the surface, or --when nesting--upon a floating nest of their own construction. While it's never been known whether this belief is true or not, their seemingly whole-hearted trust in the waters they live upon means that the fishers have long been seen as a symbol of Destiny and a trusting surrender to the inevitability of fate.

Great Cleaverbill: Despite their imposing appearance, great cleaverbills are generally harmless and instead put the crushing power of their oversized beaks to work in cutting down saplings in the Ivratian forests. They're also industrious builders, and will use the wood they harvest to construct massive, thick-walled nests that offer them protection from the elements and potential predators; these structures are sturdy enough that they often persist long after the mate-pair who built them have died or moved on, and more than one Ivratian fable has a lost hero taking shelter in an abandoned cleaverbill nest. They're sometimes called 'cleverbills' for their skill.
Cleaverbills are arboreal by nature, with muscular legs well-suited to climbing, and carefully prune and maintain the undergrowth of their chosen patch of forest from root to crown; though some of this diligent work can be attributed to nestbuilding, it's theorized that they actually manage the forest to help encourage the growth of the old, established trees that they need to safely live off of the jungle's floor.

Handfish: Small, glittering fish about the size of a hoofprint (what's a hand??) that school abundantly in shaded and semi-shaded bodies of water where their reflective scales help them blend in with dappled sunlight. Handfish are too insubstantial to provide much of a meal on their own, but those who do have a taste for fish can use nets to pull in vast quantities of them, and curing them in barrels of salt is not an uncommon way to add a little extra protein to the diet in the winter months among some of the country’s coastal communities. Their bodies are flat vertical discs, which gives them an almost coin-like appearance; as a result, they're symbolic of prosperity and wealth and are a common decorative motif.

Ivratian Colugo: Shy tree-dwellers widely distributed across the Ivratian peninsula, colugos--often known colloquially as blanketwings for their dramatic gliding membranes--come in several distinct variants depending on their geographical origin. They are uniformly nocturnal, taking advantage of the cover of darkness to forage and drink sap from their arboreal environment, and are fairly similar in behavior regardless of subspecies. However, their appearance varies widely in accordance with their environment; they can range from the dull brown of the Common Northern Colugo to the striking bioluminescence of the Star Pine Colugo, and each variant has several quirks of behavior and adaption to give them an edge in the forests they call home.
(by abigailboazarthart)

Jungle Crow: An offshoot of the typical Ivratian crow, primarily found in the reaches of the Sunless Jungle. Jungle crows retain the typical 'look' of a regular crow, but are larger and more inclined to a solitary or mated-pair existence rather than typical flock behavior. It's fairly common for them to have a few irregular white feathers in their plumage.

Magic-snapper: Nature's solution to magic-suckers,  magic-snappers are small drab birds who are unremarkable in every way except for two strange adaptions; they are seemingly immune to almost  any sort of magic, and they can track its presence like a physical  scent. Though these abilities almost certainly came about in order for  them to hunt their preferred prey of magic-suckers, they've long  confounded any attempts to study how they came about qualities that  aren't found anywhere else in nature.
Perhaps predictably, their  abilities have also been put to more practical use in an era where trust  in mages is an ever-fickle thing. Magic-snappers aren't particularly  bright, but can be given some basic training and are often used by  Witchfinders as a tracking tool when hunting errant wild-mages.

Magic-sucker: Thoroughly loathed by  almost all who've had the misfortune to encounter them, magic-suckers  are small biting insects who generally resemble mosquitos... except for  their overwhelming attraction to mages or those with latent magical  potential. For mages, this makes them a unique annoyance; for those who  aren't yet aware of their own magical abilities, the sudden attentions  of a swarm of magic-suckers can be anything from a source of curiosity  and concern to a sudden and terrifying indication that their life may be  taking an abrupt turn.
As if being a small magical nuisance wasn't  bad enough, a gorged magic-sucker will begin to discharge the abundance  of magical energy it's taken in. This discharge typically takes the form  of sudden, unpredictable bursts of electrical surge or bursts of flame,  which while small enough to not pose an threat outright can prove a  major hazard when it comes to igniting their surroundings. Magic-sucker  swarms are thankfully fairly rare, but their extermination is usually  considered a high priority when they do appear due to the dangers they  can pose.

Moon Shell: Found glittering beneath the waves off the  southern end of the Ivratian peninsula, Moon Shells are a moderately  uncommon type of bivalve that grows clustered around undersea vents.  Though they start out unremarkable, they draw in free-floating metal  particles put off by the vents and integrate the material into their  shell structure; upon reaching a hoofsbreadth in width, Moon Shells  begin to develop a sliver of iridescent gold along their outer edge  which continues to widen over the course of the shell's lifetime. Once  no longer living, this glittering crescent is more durable than the  non-reinforced parts of the shell and will frequently be left behind  after the rest has worn away.
Moon Shells have been a treasured  ornament since long before metalworking became widespread across Ivras,  and are prized for their resilient beauty. In the distant past they  could only be obtained when washed up on beaches, but some of the  southernmost tribes of the Sunless Jungle have long-since learned to  harvest the shells by semi-domesticating the dive-rats who have always  fished for them naturally. Though they're a lucrative source of wealth,  Moon Shell harvesting is carefully managed for sustainability and the  locations of productive beds are often a secret passed down among  certain villages.

Mudfish: One of the most successful fish in a country that mixes swamps and grasslands, mudfish are nonetheless a bit of an acquired taste due to having a slimy skin in lieu of more typical scales. They're prolific breeders and  their small wriggling spawn are a foundational block of the bottom of the foodchain, but the successful individuals who make it past this stage can grow to significant sizes over the span of several years; these adult mudfish become much more palatable, with a tender and mildly flavored inner flesh that even otherwise-herbivorous Ivratians will sometime add to their diets for a bit of variety. They're especially popular among the Wild Clans of the country's southern jungles where the lack of good grazing land forces many to turn to more varied fare.

Lagomorph: Lean, clever, and fleet of foot, lagomorphs live in small groups that range across the hillsides and grasslands of northern Ivras. Though they're smaller than striders or tufflers and are lower on the food chain as a result, their high reproductive rate and nomadic tendencies help them straddle the line between being threatened by predation or overgrazing the landscape around them. Unfortunately for Ivratian farmers, lagomorphs are also bright enough to realize that agricultural land means a steady food source; while they're a roaming species in the wild, it's not uncommon for them to dig warrens close to hooved settlements in order to raid fields as a potential food source. Some farming villages stage periodic lagomorph 'hunts' during the growing season, with the goal not to kill but rather discourage any would-be squatters from taking up residence nearby.

Pard: Relatively rare but much renowned in story and song, pards are the top of the warm-blooded food chain in the Ivratian wilds. They're not dissimilar in appearance to the Ivratian lion but are bigger and more slenderly built while retaining a crested mane, 'beard', and a long, tufted tail; a pard's coat tends to be a mottled or brindled red-brown, making them a better fit for rocky terrain than the Whispering Sea and other grasslands where big cats are more typically found. It's not precisely known whether pards are truly a separate species or a strange repeated mutation of lions, as all known examples have been male and they seem to form mated relationships with lionesses. Though they pose a significant threat to the hooved they cross paths with, pards don't seem any more aggressive than other big cats and many Ivratians will go out of their way to avoid conflict with them due to the pard's near-mythical status.

Sailshark: A danger that's thankfully scarce outside  of the tropical waters of the northern seas, sailsharks are oceanic  predators who primarily hunt large fish like tuna and sailfish. They can  grow to lengths rivaling small boats, skimming just below the surface  of the ocean with surprising stealth despite their massive size; often  the only giveaway of their presence is the long 'sail' that runs the  length of their body, which absorbs sunlight to help generate warmth and  energy for such a large creature.  Though larger vessels are generally  safe, the small fishing boats of the upper Mirror Bay and Rithan Ocean  have long learned to keep a wary eye for a sail breaking the surface.  Hungry sailsharks have been known to use their sheer mass to slam up  against boats in hopes of knocking a potential meal overboard... whether  that meal be an unsecured catch of fish, or something four-legged.

Sanguine Cleaverbill: It's not entirely clear whether sanguine cleaverbills are a distinct species or rather some strange, persistent mutation of the great cleaverbill. Indistinguishable from a great cleaverbill in everything but their deep red color and inexplicable lust for blood, sanguine cleaverbills are distinctly predatory. They act as ambush predators, moving through the treetops in a similar manner to their docile kin and dropping on unexpecting prey. They'll attack anything that they reasonably think they can kill, even prey far too large for them to consume in a single sitting, which suggests that they act out of malice as much as hunger. Sanguine cleaverbills are reasonably considered a menace, and are typically hunted down and killed when sighted.

Scalehound: Formidable hounds that are primarily used when hunting dangerous game like crocodilians, swampwyrms, or monstrous beasts. They're occasionally also used as guard animals, but the fact that meat isn't a typical part of the  Ivratian diet means that they're most often kept only by the rich or those who have more reason to hunt than your average hooved. Scalehounds are tough and tenacious. They're good swimmers and have great stamina and lung capacity, allowing them to take the fight right into the water when need be; combined with the natural keratin plating that armors their brows and underbellies they make for nasty fighters who can more than hold their own against much larger foes.

Siregalese Sandrunner: Found primarily in the arid  region of Eastern Siregal along the border with the Whispering Sea,  sandrunners are a type of mid-sized lizard thought to be a distant  relative of the Ivratian swampywyrm. Fortunately, the relationship seems  to be quite distant, and sandrunners are a far cry from their vicious  cousins; growing no larger than a hound, sandrunners sustain themselves  largely on the sparse desert grasses and succulents with the occasional  bit of carrion when they can get it. Their wide splayed feet let them  move surprisingly nimbly on shifting terrain, and their primary means of  survival in the face of harsh conditions involves fleeing before  burying themselves loosely in the sand through a rapid, side-to-side  burrowing motion.
Unfortunately for the sandrunner, their  surprisingly fatty flesh is considered something of a delicacy within  the more carnivorous side of Siregalese cuisine. They're hunted both for  the table and for export as curiosities to Ivras as novelty pets.

Skitter: An unfortunate creature that seems to exist  almost entirely as a drawback to city living, 'skitter' is a gentle way  to refer to a very large, very leggy spider that likes to make its home  in the high places and eaves of close-packed houses. Seemingly related  to the much smaller rock spiders found in mountainous areas of northern  Ivras, skitters have taken to the close-packed streets of large cities  like Faline and grown to truly remarkable sizes; their bodies can reach  up to two or three hooves across, with their webs often stretching from  one side of a street to the other and capable of catching prey as large  as small birds.
Though they're considered repulsive by most and are  aggressively cleared away when spotted, skitters are thankfully  non-venemous and threaten nothing more than a nasty bite if provoked.  Some contrary hooved express a certain fondness for them and will keep  them as pets while citing their efficiency in removing other pests from  the household, though the general opinion understandably tends to run  that no pest is worse than potentially waking up with a large skitter on  your pillow.

Strider: Striders are the default mid-sized grazer of the Ivratian grasslands, filling the ecological role that hooved animals would normally occupy. Living in flocks of fifteen to thirty, these flightless birds depend on their speed and endurance to outrun most things that would make a meal of them and resort to defending themselves with vicious kicks only as a last resort. Despite how widespread across the continent they are, striders have never been a serious consideration for domestication simply because they are well and truly stupid. Though they have some limited use for leather or a source of meat (for the rare few who consume it), they're large enough and obstinate enough that raising them is widely considered more trouble than it's worth. Striders are often considered the more primitive wild ancestor of the much-beloved domesticate, tufflers.

Swampwyrm: Though they're not true dragons by any stretch of the imagination, swampwyrms are dangerous enough to have earned the comparison to their mythical counterpart. Living mostly in the mixed swamplands in and around the Sunless Jungle, these large reptiles pose a real threat whenever they cross paths with hooved travelers; they're aggressive and more than willing to take a pass at anything that they consider a potential food source, even attacking small groups without hesitation. Their hides are tough enough to shrug off a surprising amount of damage from weapons, and with their longer legs they are fast and agile on land in a way that crocodilians aren't. When attacking, a swampwyrm's primary intent is to injure. They'll bite and tear at their target but quickly let go, preferring to inflict as much damage as possible to let blood loss do much of their work for them.
Swampwyrm hides are a highly prized material, being both flexible and famously tough, but the trouble of acquiring it means it's a rare commodity.

Trip Rat: An unfortunately common pest in some parts of Ivras, so-called 'trip rats' are small spurred rodents who secrete a mildly hallucinogenic toxin. Cold winters tend to drive them to seek shelter in buildings, uninhabited or otherwise, and once they've established a nest in some undisturbed corner they reproduce at a truly astonishing rate; though they're small, a combination of poor eyesight and a tendency to lash out at the slightest provocation can make them a real nuisance once they've infested a building. Though potions to counteract their toxins are widely available, it's not unheard of for youth of a certain age to let themselves be 'accidentally' stung to experience the effects.

Tuffler: Larger, brighter, and generally more well-liked than their smaller strider cousins, the flightless birds known as tufflers are the large herbivores of the Ivratian plains and thrive across most of the continent's varied climates. Though it's generally thought that they may share a common ancestor with striders, their high rate of reproduction and the effects have domestication have evolved tufflers into a number of distinct variants that benefit from the increased specialization and often outcompete their more primitive ancestor. Tufflers are much more integrated into hooved society and fill roles from pack animal to warbeast to pet.
(by abigailboazarthart)

(Accounting of initial, pre-edited post:
Word count 759 (7) + milestone (2) + world specific (1) + expansion of lore (2) = 12g)