Catoblepas/Catoblepones

General Information

Catoblepones are massive bovines that travel the southern plains in large herds, feeding off the tall grasses. Males catoblepones have three horns and are larger than females. Females only have one horn protruding from their nose.

They are the primary prey to the vargar of the plains. The vargar aren’t your average predator, with their powerful aura and heightened intelligence. This put a lot of evolutionary stress on the catoblepones. They are bulky and powerful, with a tough hide that is difficult to penetrate. They also evolved ways to neutralize aura attacks. Because they were always hunted down by predators as crafty as the vargar, the catoblepones gained higher intelligence than the average bovine.

Early Contact

The old races that settled the plains tried to tame these wild beasts. They were much stronger and smarter than any horse or other pack animal. Being able to use a catoblepas was an opportunity that many beings weren’t willing to disregard. Though the catoblepones were too smart for their own good in this regard. They were also stubborn and fearless. While they couldn’t control any aura of their own, they could neutralize any outsourced aura and block their minds from being swayed. All tactics these races used previously to sway animals under their control didn’t work on the catoblepones.

Not only was trying to tame these animals an impossible feat, but just getting their hand on one was difficult. Catoblepones shared close bonds with their herd, and they weren’t the type to sit idly as one of their own was taken away. They fought to defend each other. If one of these races managed to escape with a catoblepas in toe, the herd would follow after and track down the one that was missing. They struck at every chance to attack these races that were trying to control them.

It didn’t take long for these races to see that taming the catoblepones to be a lost cause. Still, some beings tried to settle in the southern planes to live out of the reach of any major kingdom. The catoblepones realized these beings weren’t a threat to their kind. They shared their lands with the beings that wanted to call the plains their home. As long as these beings didn’t attack the catoblepones, these animals left them alone.

Catoblepones and the Jötun

The jötun didn’t know the stories about how untamable the catoblepones were when they landed in the southern plains. They saw these massive beasts roaming around and thought the other races foolish for not trying to cultivate them. Many would expect the jötun to fail in taming these creatures as so many did before them. Instead, they succeeded in fully domesticating the catoblepones. The modern races that found out about the jötun’s success were awe stuck and wondered how they did it. The jötun don’t share what tactics they used or how they differed from the races of old.

The jötun domesticated the catoblepones into three distinct breeds. The first is the one they use for food. Every part of the animal is used to respect the life they led. These catoblepones don’t have horns. Their hide and flesh is much softer than the wild catoblepones. They are also more docile and smaller. Even a child jötun can lead a full grown catoblepas of this breed.

The second breed of catoblepones the jötun use as pack animals. Like the first breed of catoblepas, these ones also have no horns, though they are a bit more bulky and sturdy. This breed provides a bit more of a challenge to lead, but nothing the jötun can’t handle.

The third breed maintains all the same features, sturdiness, and personality traits of the wild catoblepones. The numbers of the third breed are kept low and are only raised in the sacred city of Jötunheim. Only jötun Kreenae and Kremae are allowed access to the third breed. A jötun Kreen keeps one male catoblepas of the third breed and a Krem keeps one female. These catoblepones are fiercely loyal to the jötun that rides them. If they're Kreen or Krem dies, their catoblepas is killed along with them.

Lifespan

45-55 years

Average Height

2.3-2.4 meters

Average Length

4.2-4.4 meters

Related Ethnicities

• Jötun

Catoblepones From Ethiopian Lore

The catoblepas great beast with the body of a Cape buffalo. It’s head is always turned down because of the weight of it. It’s stare is said to turn one into stone. It’s breath is so toxic that it can turn grassy fields into dust.