Ófrýni

Gargantuan brutes whom herald from the frigid northern ice realms. Dwelling within icy caverns, these creatures don't often take kindly towards trespassers

During the dawn of time, many creatures on Elysium came about through bouts of evolution similar to that of Earth. But unlike on Earth, mass-extinction events did not occur as often on Elysium as they did on earth; such as the falling of the meteor that wiped-out all the dinosaurs. Lack of events such as this, allowed many animals and creatures to evolve side by side that wouldn't naturally do so on Earth.
However this also made it harder for many species to evolve, having to grow and work-around those much larger and more dangerous than themselves. Those that did manage to overcome their prehistoric neighbors and the test of time, continued to evolve, allowing for the further advancement of many species which would eventually call the lands of Elysium and its Continents home.
Once such a creature that made a remarkable advancement, was the Giant Atumun or “Higher Ape”. Similar to how it is on earth, Higher Apes, are a group of animals that consist of creatures that, if on earth, would fall into the category of Hominidae, a taxonomic family of primates whose members are known as the Great Apes, consisting mostly of eight extant species in four genera:
Pongo (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan), Gorilla (the eastern and western gorilla), Pan (the chimpanzee and the bonobo), and Homo, of which only modern humans (Homo sapiens) remain.
Throughout the world of Elysium, Apes as well as Monkeys alike have done pretty well for themselves despite all the hardships facing them by both fellow beasts and as the years went on, Ner and Mer alike. Members of the Ponginae family, especially those of the more ancient variety such as those of the Gigantopithecus genus continued to evolve as the years went on.
But while many of the "Great Apes" would move on to the jungles and lowlands and eventually evolve to be smaller and soon establish themselves as the Elysium equivalent of Orangutans and Gorilla's, or for some keep evolving and turn into the Ner and Mer of modern times, others instead moved north, with one in particular continuing to grow into a much larger and more aggressive creature in an effort to compete with even larger predators.
These creatures would become known as the Ófrýni

Overview

Gigantic ape- like creatures that directly descend from an ancient stock of early Gigantopithecus, the Ófrýni, is set of specific Great Ape native to the colder-badlands of Arkael, while it's slightly smaller subspecies, the Ijū can be found half-way across the world in the Senko region in the continent of Gudeth. On Arkael, the Ófrýni is also sometimes often referred too as a Tröll or a Skrípi, from the Icelandic/Scandinavian word meaning Horror, Phantom, thought to be derived by the creatures shaggy white winter-coat and fearsome attitude.

Appearance

Ófrýni are one of the largest of the Great Ape's native to Elysium. An ultra-aggressive creature that is rarely sighted and seldom survived, appearance clarification is limited on this beast outside of remains as many are too afraid of this creature to go out and study it fully. The lack of confirmed sightings of these ultra-aggressive Beasts is a testament to their power, and also the reason why so little is known about their natural habitat and behavior.
Widely regarded as the pinnacle of physical prowess, survivors who witness encounters with this creature report it as such:

Ófrýni are colossal ape-like beasts which live deep in the snow mountains or any place where it is almost exclusively cold for much of the year. The animal is said to be a loner, and this isolated life has made it difficult to pin down its territorial leanings, however encounters seem to support the theory that they are mostly cave dwelling creatures, inhabiting deep caves either man or nature made. They stand about 25 feet tall with both males and females sporting massive canines. Ófrýni are lone creatures, very unlike most other primate-like species. They seem to want their own stretch of territory to themselves alone, and will fight each other to keep it-these fights often end with one of the animals eating the loser. They have no problems eating humans at all, and many seem to actively prefer humans to any other meat.

Having a scientific name that literally translates into Giant terrible ape, this creature lives up to its reputation as one of the most infamous of the Giant Apes, being both aggressive, highly territorial and down right vicious compared to many other Great Apes.

Distribution and Habitats

As an iceborn fauna, Ófrýni make their residence within the snow peaked mountains of the Northernmost Ice Realms of Arkael, inhabiting tundras & snow capped grassy plateaus. In the summer, the beasts are thought to leave the mountains and travel south to the low-lands, to fatten up before making the trek back north.

Diet

Ófrýni are large, dominant predators outmatched only by the Apex's of their snowy Kingdom. With great strength, they can easily toss large boulders or massive ice chunks with ease. This strength allows them to dig rapidly into deep arctic snow, which is an excellent position to ambush prey. With thick, sharp fangs allowing the creature a heavy, deadly bite, strength helps them to hold prey while they make a killing blow with a single fist-swing. These massive ape's are surprisingly fast and nimble, which enable them to run and leap great distances. This agility helps them to quickly scale or descend mountains with ease in search of prey.
These creatures often reign at the top of the Snowy Mountain food chain as the area's most violent alpha predator. With their strong sense of smell, coat of thick white/gray fur, which blends in perfectly with the icy landscape of their homeland, and brute strength, Ófrýni make excellent natural hunters. A single powerful blow from a forearm is enough to neutralize the largest prey, while the creature's bite is just as deadly. Primarily solitary hunters, these creatures often prefer to ambush their prey from the camouflage of the snow banks and blizzards.

Prey for this creature varies between seasons. As well as attacking anyone or anything they encounter that might seem to be a source of food if particularly hungry, an Ófrýni's main prey base usually consists of fellow mountain animals. Thors Hammer Goats, also known as Mjölnir, often make up most of their diet due to the goat species sharing a territory with the massive predators. However, various ungulate prey such as Mountain Deer, Caribou, Ibex, moose and Musk-Ox also make up a decent part of their diet. They have been recorded preying on larger vertebrates such as juvenile/baby mammoths. Such prey is killed with a bite to the head resulting in devastating trauma to the brain, followed by pulling off the hind limbs and tearing open the belly.
Individuals may cooperate during hunting and share kills though this is very rare and only warranted under the most specific of circumstances. Stunned wounded victims if not eaten right away are eventually carried back to the creatures' lairs, typically large ice caves, where the creature would then eat at their leisure, even if the victim was still alive.

Breeding

The breeding habits of Ófrýni are practically unheard of. Ófrýni are extremely territorial creatures, fiercely guarding their hunting grounds against any invaders to their domain, and often engaging in bouts to the death with other Ófrýni encroaching on their land. The scarcity of mountain wildlife means that a single Ófrýni requires a large hunting ground in order to survive, which was believed to be the primary reason why the creatures live alone or in small family-based groups. Because of the substantial amounts of food required to sustain a creature, they often extended their territory over enormous areas, and similar to tigers in a way, these territories are often guarded fiercely by larger males, due to the potential for females to encroach giving the creature higher breeding chances.
Breeding is thought to happen when prey is plentiful, which normally happens around early-late spring in certain places. Females typically give birth after a six-month gestation, usually to a single infant; twin's are rare and often do not survive. Mothers are extremely protective of their offspring, and during the nursing period even males looking for a second chance to mate didn't risk the consequences of coming between a mother and her offspring. Upon reaching maturity, younger offspring will set out to claim territory of their own, competing with others of their kind, including members of their own family, for territorial control, which contributes to keeping the species relatively scarce. This is often because family groups, in particular, required a substantial supply of meat, since a pregnant female can consume twice her body-weight in meat in order to birth healthy young. However, the competition among Ófrýni for the mountain's relatively small number of prey animals formed a limit to the total number of the creatures existing at a time, allowing the Ófrýni to stay relatively scarce but not entirely close to extinction.

Predation

Very rarely are Ófrýni themselves the victims of predation—in fact, for much of their lives, the creatures tend to have no natural enemies except for other members of their kind. However this does not mean they are invulnerable to being attacked by anything. Young, despite the protection of volatile mothers, can still find themselves in the jaw's of some of the mountains most vicious wildcats such as Sabres. Arctic vultures despite being universally hated, will often also take their chances hunting young or injuried/sick individuals. Migrating species of Dragon and Wyvern are often more then a match for adult's. However most apex predators are also not willing to engage in fights with Ófrýni, as a fight can guarantee serious injuries. Furthermore, with such brute strength in its enraged state, paired with its deadly canines and huge fists liable to pummel anything into paste, the fight is just not worth it.

History with Humans

The history Ófrýni has with humans is one made on blood. With legends trailing back thousands of years since the first interaction with this beast, people have had a healthy fear of this creature, and for good reason. Ófrýni are known man-killers and in some cases are even thought to be man-eaters, with some indivduals seeming to even enjoy the taste of human/mer flesh to their typical prey. In addition, knowledge of the Ófrýni throughout the country is limited. Of those aware of the creatures' existence, understanding typically came by way of overhearing big-game hunters speak of what they considered legendary quarry on account of the Ófrýni's violence and formidable claws and teeth.
Indeed, hyperbole and rumors of the fearsomeness abounded. When more explorers/adventurers began mapping out the more mountainous area's of the regions, the true terror of the Ape became well known. When Realm-walkers first traversed the planet, the term Troll was often used to describe their vicious nature and human like qualities, the term became popular and thus the Ófrýni are known as Trolls in many parts of Elysium. For more specific nomenclature, a male Ófrýni, when referred to as a troll, is called a tröllkarl, and a female troll is called a skessa or occasionally tröllskessa.
Despite their horrid personalities and myriad of threats, Ófrýni were once highly valued among big-game hunters for the challenge that came with hunting the creatures, as well as for their pelts, stuffed heads, and other miscellaneous souvenirs that commanded high prices on the black market. However, when numbers already low began to dwindled to almost single digits, they were later protected under legislation to prevent endangered species from falling into extinction.
They were also one of several "trophy" animals smuggled into various territories for the pleasure of its citizenry. As with their smuggled counterparts, these creatures were quickly discovered to be too dangerous to handle and were either released into the environment or escaped on their own, labeled from that point as "fugitive animals." These renegade animals instinctively migrated to cooler polar regions to eke out an existence, and as a result, Arkael Ófrýni can be found in a multitude of regions throughout the planet outside of their natural home-range, though they are not as abundant as on Arkael.

Trivia

• Ófrýni are capable of emitting a terrifying hunting roar that could compete with the howling winds of the north. Their howl was one of their greatest natural gifts, for it could blend in almost imperceptibly with the winds. Only the creatures themselves could tell the two sounds apart. Because of this in many cultures they are referred to as The Wind Makers, with legend stating that they are the creators of the the winds that buffet the mountain, while Hammer Goats produce the thunder.

• Despite being incredibly cut-throat, it has been discovered by researchers that Ófrýni are very protective of their own and mourn their dead with great intensity, if the animal happens to be attached to the other. In the instance one was slain, the creatures have the possibility too fly into incrediably destructive rages. In one instance, a mother Ófrýni who had lost a baby to illness reportedly flew into such a violent and mournful rage, she had caused a cave-in and her cries could be heard from miles. She then reportedly buried her dead in the snow, keeping guard over it for several days to make sure nothing ate the remains before reluctently moving on. She succesfully raised a new baby the following year.

• Research into Ófrýni is guarded. Because of the animals hostility and the remote desolation of its native range, expeditions require special permission in order to engage.

• The Senko subspecies of Ófrýni, the Ijū, is often known as the swamp Ófrýni, because of the species habit of doing what Arkael Trolls refuse to do, which is swim. In comparison, the Swamp Troll has much lighter fur coats due to their native warm climate and can often be found in the swamps and marshes, where they actively swim in search for food. Swamp Trolls are identical to the Arkael in almost every way, prompting scientists to theorize that they were directly descended from them. Though the exact nature of the swamp troll's development is unclear, their ability to swim nevertheless indicates a strong adaptability of the species, as long coated Trolls risk drowning due to their coats weighing them down.

Behavior: Easily agitated and aggressive
Habitat: Areas where they can find adequate cover, adaptable for all regions, but mainly can be found in cold snowy biomes
Senses: Excellent hearing and smell but poor vision
Social: Solitary, Pair
Active: During late evening and early morning
Measurements: Males range from 16-18 feet (4.8-5.5 m) tall bipedal and weigh as much as 4,200 pounds (1,900 kg); females reach 14-16 feet (4.3-4.8 m) tall and weigh up to 2,600 pounds (1,180 kg). Sexual Dimorphism often places males as the largest of the two sexes, but certain females may tend to weigh more.
Ranking: Megafauna (beast type)

Glossary

Ófrýni: Icelandic. Meaning "something unsightly or ugly" or "monstrosity"
Gigantopithecus: An extinct genus of ape from roughly 2 million to 350,000 years ago during the Early to Middle Pleistocene of southern China, represented by one species, Gigantopithecus blacki. Potential identifications have also been made in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Gudeth: The largest continent of Elysium, home to the Senko region (Elysiums "Japan"), and the country of Evrunia (Europe).