The World Of Khoras - Fauna and Flora - Fauna - Arctic

Behemoth

Physical Description

These huge, shaggy beasts roam the frozen tundra of Borrell in great herds. Behemoths are massive, fur covered quadruped herbivores. A full grown bull can stand 20 feet at the shoulder or more and weigh over 12 tons. They are somewhat the size and shape of elephants, but more closely resemble a distant relative of sheep. Each behemoth male is crowned with two great horns that curve up and over the head. They are covered with long, shaggy, white fur and have short tusks which sprout forward from the mouth. Females have no horns or tusks. Beneath the coarse shaggy fur is a thick layer of fat which insulates the colossal creature and allows it to withstand the icy winter winds of the extreme north. Behemoths drool a great deal, especially after meals. In the frigid winds of the north, their saliva often freezes before it hits the ground... droplets turn it to icy chunks which hit the snow.

Combat

Behemoths are herbivores and generally peaceful unless provoked. Getting too close to a herd, especially the calves, will provoke the bulls to charge. These great animals can easily trample most other creatures. Behemoths use their great size to their advantage. They are capable of a slow trot (which is about as fast as a man can run through deep snow). In addition to trampling, behemoths are capable of goring, head butting and kicking. A kick from one of those huge hooves can easily kill a man.

Habitat

Behemoths travel in small herds in the extreme north. They can be found in the remote northern stretched of the Northern Tusks, the Dragonclaw Mountains and Borrell.

Ecology

The borrellians hunt (and occasionally domesticate) these giants and use them much like enormous, fur-covered arctic cattle – for milk, meat, leather and as pack animals. Behemoths are the largest grazing herbivores on the planet. They typically will eat whole trees - bark, wood, branches, fruit, leaves, roots and all. On average, a behemoth will consume 10 small trees each day.

This page last updated Saturday, July 01, 2006. Copyright 1990-2006 David M. Roomes.

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