Labaya

The labaya are the long legged predators that live along the rivers in the southern jungles where they nowadays are the main mean of transportation for the people here.

Appearance

These creatures are immediately recognised by their long legs, they walk through the waters with little care for currents or how the bottom looks. They are covered in short, water-resistant fur that ranges in colour from green to brown to blue to resemble the sky and trees above the water, while their long legs are usually dark.
Labaya have very wide, soft feet with two agile toes, giving them excellent footing in the water. Their body is oblong, with a pretty sharp chest that they use to plough through deep water.
They also have a very long neck to be able to reach down to the bottom of the river to feed. Their mouths are very big, both in length and width, which they use to scoop up the general area where a prey, mostly fish, is so it doesn't have a chance to escape.

Uses

Labayas have been domesticated for thousand of years which has resulted in several different breeds of the animal that can be found in different areas of work, as well as places. Especially the Depavatan labaya and the Axarsú labaya are very different. The breeds of labaya are usually divided up into two groups because of this, the eastern and the western.
These creatures are one of the most useful domesticated animals of the south. They are used for transportation everywhere along the rivers. They are built to traverse the water without any trouble and their size, although increased since domestication, make them well suited to carry both people and their goods up and down the river without having to worry about currents and which way the rivers flow.
For people you can ride them as they are, although not very comfortable. The most common way however is to use a kind of platform that is mounted onto the back of the animal and that can carry up to a family, or a person and luggage.
They are also used to move larger objects and hauls, in this case they are usually used as pulling animals, pulling the objects themselves on the water, or in a boat.