The Sabretoothed Beast is a commonly depicted creature in prehistoric art, alongside a number of more recognizable animals like aurochs, antelope, lions, and wolves, along with other extinct creatures. While many of the recognizable animals are depicted as much larger than reality, skeletal reconstructions of this beast suggest that it stood up to 7 feet tall at the shoulder, and may have weighed over a ton.
Depictions
Various ancient carvings and cave paintings depict the beast as something between a panther and a bear, with teeth extending from its head down towards its feet. This combined with the physical stature of the reconstructions based on fossils indicate this was an extremely large predator, easily large enough to take down aurochs and even mammoths. Most depictions of these creatures show it as a hunter of humans, with humans fleeing; this is in contrast to most other predators, which depict humans using spear and bow to drive off attacking predators. It is thought likely that these early weapons would have little chance against such a monumental creature. However, there are two contexts in which the Sabretoothed Beast appears that are unusual.
The first depicts the Sabretoohed Beast attacking a group of humans alongside another group of humans, with one riding the beast as a commanding general might ride a horse in modern times. This is strange as even tamer animals - animals we know to have been domesticated like goats and sheep are only shown being herded in carvings believed to be more recent - only dogs seem to predate these beast riders as domestic animals, and the general consensus on these creatures indicates they would be a force of destruction that early humans would not be able to contain.
Even rarer are the depictions of humans hunting a Beast. These appear much like depictions of hunts of other large creatures, but are always led by an unarmed figure with a wolf's head, and many depictions show other unarmed wolf-headed figures among the hunting group. These wolf-headed figures are not uncommon among paintings, sometimes depicted in honoured roles similar to those leading the hunt here, other times depicted as being scorned, hunted by normal humans, or even hunting other humans. This mix of depictions leads to confusion as to what this symbol represents; the most popular interpretation at present is that the wolf head indicates a high degree of skill in hunting, largely based on their being required to defeat these Sabretoothed Beasts
Assessment of the Hunter's Guild
The Sabretoothed Beast, as depicted, does not seem to act as a mere animal. Seeing depictions of its attacks on humans, one can almost feel the terror and destruction it left in its wake. This and its apparent willingness to support one group of humans attacking another group seem more befitting a creature of
The Carnage, the Power associated with war, destruction and chaos. These days, The Carnage tends to operate in subtler ways, poisoning the minds of leaders, possessing soldiers, and whipping up angry mobs; there are, fortunately, no records of Hunters encountering such a fearsome creature.
More relevant, perhaps, is the wolf-headed figures shown hunting this creature. These may be early Hunters, humans
bound to the Powers but using their gifts to protect humanity from greater threats as the Guild does today. The existence of a
knife made from the tooth of one of these beasts but clearly touched by
The Hunter would suggest a relationship between these two Powers.
Or perhaps the wolf-head is more broadly a symbol of anyone so bound, regardless of their stance towards normal humans. The depictions of wolf-headed figures hunting other humans or being driven out by large groups of humans might support this interpretation.
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