Kynou (K-eye-noo)
Think of something covered in an armored hide, stares ice storms into submission, and runs like an avalanche. But if it likes you, has the disposition of a sweet puppy... that weighs as much as a boulder. That's a kynou.
Face of Patience by Creative Commons
The kynou is a herd animal found in the Illurian midland regions, such as the Trollway Forest, Coffer Hills, or the southern edge of the Great Swamp. Many are domesticated, prized as highly as the chunga lizard or the gryemox, as a sturdy beast of burden. They are also rumored to be second only to a donkey in being stubborn.
Horse? No thank you, and bright stars on your way. Better to ride an obstinate kynou than get tossed off a horse any sure day of a week.
Still Waters Run Deep
This reputation of being stubborn is born from a misunderstanding of kynou behavior. What many consider stubborn behavior is in fact the animal showing superior ability to analyze a troublesome situation than its owner.
Kynou are not naturally a 'flight animal'. Instead, they are a cautious species, preferring to study a situation before deciding to run, fight, or proceed onward. To find the reason for this, look no farther than 2nd Age of Illuria that mentions the kynou in the arid Badlands of Non in the south.
Rangers who studied the kynou remarked about the species tendency to study a situation or location carefully. Because of the arid climate, this was essential for the animal's survival when finding water, food, or shelter for itself or the herd. Many centuries later, despite having moved into different climates, this behavior remains ingrained in the kynou and keeps the 'stubborn' myth alive.
An Offensive Defense
This quiet contemplation suggests that the kynou doesn't defend itself or isn't intelligent enough to recognize danger. Neither is true. The patience of a kynou to stare down a dire swamp cobra or bramble leopard is as much assessing the threat as it is showing silent defiance. After all, a silent stare from an animal that weighs in close to a metric ton can be a convincing deterrent.
Ever startle a kynou at night? I did once. Big thing went as still as ice and stared at me. Just stared. Those dark eyes glittered like a polished promise of intense pain while steam curled out its snout like smoke from a furnace. Yep. By Raven, I found other places to be real quick!
That isn't to say they cannot fight if the need arises. From their armored plates, retractable foreclaws, to spiked tail-whip they can quite hold off all but the most determined, and clever, predators. But their best offense is their calculating stare combined with their size.
Basic Information
Anatomy
There's an old saying ... 'horses run from a storm, chunga lizards will turn to face it, but a kynou? They just stomp it into the ground'. Trust me. There's some truth to that...
Kynou bear some resemblance to other species but only in passing. Their massive size is no different from a gryemox, yak, or chunga lizard. Their gently shaped triangular head bears a startling resemblance to the common armadillo. Their armor plating? Similar to a rhinoceros. But the similarities stop there.
This massive beast stands on six muscular legs that all end in three-toed feet. Of those, the front two have a sturdy set of retractable claws. The body is barrel-shaped with an even distribution of muscle along its length.
A kynou's head has a triangular shape with two erect ears and a blunt snout. Thick jointed plates form natural armor across the animal's entire head, outside of its ears, and along most of its body including the whip-like tail.
You look at one and wonder about the whip-tail. You'll stop wondering when a kynou sees a giant swamp cobra, pops out those tail spikes and goes nuts all over that cobra and its sudden, yet inevitable bad life choice.
But the entire animal is more than armor and foreclaws. Kynou have a mane dow the ridge of their neck that is a thick wool that comes in shades from dark brown to silver white. This same shade of wool fur covers its underside.
This fur provides a much needed ability for the animal to regulate and control its temperature. In hotter seasons, the kynou shed much of their wool on their underside until it is a fine, downy fur. Their mane remains the same. This allows better ventilation and cooling with the air.
In winter, they grow a thick coat of wool. The fibers are strong and slightly resistant to the elements. This provides insulation against the cold, keeping the animal warm.
The last, and unexpected to most new kynou owners, is how the beast will change when threatened. Most especially how it changes in appearance.
At first glance, a kynou looks rather docile despite its armored hide. It is a quiet deception the kynou play upon the world. When threatened, kynou will stare at what thinks is being threatening. Often the kynou isn't impressed.
But if the kynou decides the newcomer is a threat, the beast changes. From on either side of its head, the kynou extends a cobra-like armored hood. At the same time, it extends a series of four tail spikes, each 15 cm (6 inches) long, and foreclaws that are a little shorter at 10 cm (4 inches) long. Ample to deliver a wealth of injury to the offender.
This is, at first, for show. As mentioned before, the kynou rely on an offensive defense. Naturally, looking larger than its usual 1 kilogram size and displaying claws falls in that definition.
If the threat or predator feels that determined, or lucky, and attacks, the kynou will defend itself and what it considers its herd. This is done through a succession of claw, stomp, and tail whip attacks. Unlike before, while it patiently contemplates the danger, an attacking kynou is not unlike a small, ferocious stampede in a small location centered on the predator.
Down in Shark's Shanty and Bilgemire in the Bucc Cove area, they've got a dance called the 'kynou stomp'. Really popular with the locals. Not so much with the cantina owners.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Kynou are herbivores, preferring water rice, grasses, fruits, red wheat and similar plants. The juicy blood-spike cactus is a particular favorite.
They can eat basic grains and cornmeal but it sits poorly on their digestion. Many kynou owners discover this the hard way. But the animal recovers quickly once it is on its simpler diet with a little water.
To locate the reason, look no farther than the unforgiving area of the Bandlands of Nod. There, the species developed a unique ability to extract water and nutrition from an and all meals since food is not in easy supply there. Blood-spike cactus grows wild in the badlands, and the wild kynou herds follow the cactus migrations as the cactus seek out new and special opportunities to commit violence for their own meals.
Kynou drink less water than most other domesticated animals. The same reason applies here, too. Water is often in short supply in the badlands, which forced the kynou to adapt. As a result, they dervive much of the water they need from their food.
Contents
Scientific Name
daspur ankyl cingulata
Lifespan
18 - 22 years
Average Height
111–138 centimeters (44–54 in) high at the withers, with females tending to be shorter than the males by 5 to 10 centimeters
Average Weight
544 - 1,000 kilograms (1,200 - 2,200 lb), with the females weighing less than makes by 200 kg on the average
Average Length
2.5 - 3.4 meters ( 8.2 - 11 ft ) without tail. The tail whip averages between 0.9 - 1.2 meters ( 3.2 - 4.1 ft )
Geographic Distribution
A Herd by Any Other Name
If you've ever been around kynou running... you'll understand...
A herd of kynou are called a 'landslide of kynou'. The reason is simple. Their legs. Many say that the sound of a herd of kynou running is so irregular and stomp-ridden, it bears a remarkable likeness to a rocky landslide.
No one knows who coined the phrase and no records preserve it. But a story persists that it was a cattle rustler who invented the phrase. As the story goes, forgetting his common sense, the aspiring thief slipped into a corral of kynou one night. In the process, he accidentally made himself seem like a threat. It's rumored that the word 'landslide' was the last anyone heard from him, or at least the loudest last word.
A Fine Coat of Kynou
Wool by Creative Commons
Kynou wool, while strong, is shed seasonally by the animal. In the wild, this is caught up by tumbleweeds, eventually becoming fertilizer for the badlands environment.
In a domestic setting, most kynou owners shear the underside of their kynou when they start to shed. It helps the animal's health and temperature as the seasons shift from winter to spring. Likewise, the wool is a much sought after item.
Kynou wool is often spun into jackets and other garments to wear against cold weather. It also is used to fashion rope that is used as line and rigging on most lightning ships. This is due to the wool's resistance to heat and lightning when used as rope.
"A landslide of Kynou" I like that phrase. :D
I giggled a lot when I wrote that. And it just makes so much sense for them, too! :D