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Hiraeth Creature #803 - Lagopede

Cosmopoliturtle

Published: Mar 25, 2018

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Description

A creepy-crawly that grows bulky and big, the Lagopedes march around with their many legs in a constant search for food. Being somewhat uncommon in the eastern and central ranges, they flourish in the western lands. Sniffing out where the biggest feasts are, they have been known to go up into mountainous woods as well as underground caverns, but they are most at home where the flora is overgrown and earthy. Almost any vegetation or fungi is game to be scarfed down their over zealous maw. Lagopedes have little fear of travellers, often too busy eating to notice them, but if they happen to, they watch them carefully, mistaking them for another animal looking to get in on their banquet. The strong teeth of the Lagopede are able to tear into roots and shells with ease, though not all these things end up in their sturdy gut.

The Lagopede has a special organ in their body that stores plant roughage and poisonous mushrooms, and as they stomp and waddle around the woods, the rubbish within them hardens together into large pellets. About the size of a common tree fruit, they can blast these pellets out their mouth with incredible force, pelting threats and predators until they flee. If a hunter manages to get the jump on a Lagopede, they often roll themselves up into a ball and bounce away at amazing speeds. They often leave behind tufts of fur when this happens, which are said to make for especially soft stuffing for cushions and other tailored crafts. Despite their brutish and slovenly nature, Lagopedes have a very soft and posh coat of fur that seems to deflect dirt and mud as they burrow around in filth. Special mushrooms that grow sparsely throughout the year make Lagopedes go into a frenzy, getting into ballistic duels and physical tussles over them. Derived from a common mushroom called a "Bugbear's Pillow", a special one occasionally emerges called a "Bugbear's Throne". If a Lagopede eats enough of these, they are said to grow longer and gain an extra pair of legs. Folktales tell of Lagopedes growing long and winding like a river of limbs, moving down into the Undercroft to pluck obscure flora and devour trees by the roots.
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Comments5

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ThePhantomCockatrice

May 2, 2019

Do herbivores in Hiraeth eat plant beasts?