Monster Teeth Material in Scarterra | World Anvil

Monster Teeth

"A dragon's lair is a very dangerous place for a knight to enter into, but tis far more dangerous for a knight to enter a dragon's mouth."   -Sir Pie Eater, satyr faun Kantoc court jester
by Me using Hero Forge
 
  A lot of hunters in Scarterra and Scaraqua alike make a practice of making trophies out of powerful beasts and monsters, and the teeth are the most showcaseable part of most beasts and monsters. In a lot of cases, necklaces of teeth are worn by warriors or nobles.

History & Usage

History

In the Red Era, there were more magical beasts and more powerful non-magical beasts and much less cultivated lands. Nearly all barbarian nomads had some sort of warrior culture that valued displaying the teeth of powerful beasts slain. This tradition carried over in watered down forms in most civilized lands of the Feudal Era.   Originally bone shaping was popular in making ceremonial trophy weapons but the practice is rare in the feudal era.
Silver Nine symbol #1 by Me adapting work from Pendrake via Nightcafe
 
Scaraqua has a bigger culture of monster teeth trophies than Scarterra does. While the seas have their own farms and civilized nation, Scaraqua has more wild open spaces and proportionally more nomads.   Also, Scaraqua has far less access to metal goods than Scarterra and has fewer equivalents to timberland, so bone shaping is not a novelty, it is a practical means of making weapons.

Everyday use

In Scarterra, monster teeth necklaces are a popular status symbol for many warriors and more rustic nobility. A few ceremonial weapons are made partially out of monster teeth.   In Scaraqua, teeth necklaces are a popular adornment for people in a wide variety of social classes and professions. They are used in both ceremonial and practical weapons. With bone shaping, many giant shark teeth and other monstrous teeth arguably make sharper, stronger weapons than those made of Virdilut. As mentioned before, metal is hard to come by under the sea so Scaraquans have to make due with other materials.   Long ago, teeth of undersea beasts were used as a sort of currency in many parts of Scarqua but this traditional currency has mostly been supplanted by the use of pearls as currency.

Refinement

Anyone can tie a sharp tooth on a stick and call it a spear, or embed some teeth into a piece of wood to make a terrifying spiked club, but to make a sword or an axe made out of teeth requires magical bone shaping.

Environmental Impact

Very few Scarterrans hunt down magical beasts or potent mundane beasts ONLY because to collect their teeth as trophies, but it is common for adventurers or hunters to collect the teeth as an afterthought after killing a beast.   Scaraquans are more likely to see the teeth of mighty beasts as a resource and a status symbol worth seeking on it's own. A few priests and priestesses of Mubete have warned against excessive hunting potentially driving some species to extinction but few paid them much heed as the depths seem to have an endless supply of terrifying aquatic monsters.

But What About DRAGONS?!?

  Dragon teeth make great trophies and can be utilized to make great weapons. However, dragons very much take offense at "lesser mortals" doing this, even if the dead dragon in question was an enemy of theirs. Given that some dragons walk the world disguised as humans, merfolk, elves, or whatever else, any person prominently displaying one or more dragon teeth put a large target on themselves.   Very few people choose to make jewelry or weapons out of dragon teeth. Some places such as Swynfaredia have laws against the practice, but most princes and potentates let dragons enforce their own prohibition against dragon teeth trophies.
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Cover image: Photo of Megladon Shark Teeth by Museums Victoria

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