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|nicknames = Hyppocampi, Riverwader, Taweret
|nicknames = Hyppocampi, Riverwader, Taweret
|classification = [[Mammal]]
|classification = [[Mammal]]
|habitat = [[Ashal Islands]], sparsely in [[Ithanian]] deserts where rivers flow
|habitat = [[Westwynd]]
|domesticated = Yes
|domesticated = Yes
|status = Common
|status = Common
|}}
|}}
The Maarhanet, one of many great beasts domesticated by the [[Asha]] people long ago during the golden years of the [[Dewamenet Empire]] while Asha technology was on the rise. During times of peace, the Maarhanet was used as a beast of burden, capable of transporting some of the heaviest pieces of equipment that were otherwise far too difficult to move. Some were used to house mobile cranes for construction or even as mobile homes as the Asha would construct beautiful technological howdahs on the backs of the Maarhanet. However during times of war, the perspective of the Maarhanet is vastly different, the seemingly gentle giants become terrifying beasts of destruction, chaos, and war and are amongst the most dangerous living siege engines known to Aloria. The Asha adorn them in [[Living Metal]] armor to make bringing down a rampaging Maarhanet very difficult.  
The Maarhanet is one of many animals domesticated by the [[Asha]] people long ago during the golden years of the [[Dewamenet Empire]] while Asha technology was at its peak. Still serving a value to their society after their technological ascension, the species carried on within their territory. Those within the [[Allorn Empire]] suffered a far wost fate, which was soon brought upon the Maarhanet of the Dewamenet as well. The species was rendered almost extinct, but survived, going on to thrive after the collapse of the Allorn Empire, and today, some even live reclaimed in Asha territory. Enormous, powerful, and aquatic, the Maarhanet is a fearsome living tool of war when wielded by the Asha, and a terrifying animal to cross while in the wild.


==History==
==History==
The true starting point of history revolving around the are unclear as many of the ancient texts documented by the Dewamenet Empire were lost when the war with the Allorn Empire was lost. Some scholars speculate that the Maarhanet may have been the first animal domesticated by the Asha since even before the rise of their Empire, that their tribal communities once built more primitive howdahs on the backs of the Maarhanet and used them as a sort of mobile home and as transportation across the Isles in the stead of boats. Aside from speculation on the origins of the Maarhanet, one thing is clear and that is their history stems back as far as before the formation of the Dewamenet Empire when the Asha still lived in smaller more tribal hunter-gatherer communities. The Maarhanet played a pivotal role in the progression of their society alongside the advent of living metal as their primary workhorse in construction and doing all the heavy lifting. While the primary use of the Maarhanet was as a beast of burden for their caravans or as transport across bodies of water, the other was as a very frightening weapon of war. The Maarhanet was one of the single most efficient and deadliest siege engines known to [[Aloria]] when the Asha had clad them in full plates of Living Metal armor to deflect blows from swords, arrows, and was capable of even resisting some of the magic used against them. A fully kitted Maarhanet was described as being a colossal metal behemoth armed with tubes that could spit large volumes of fire, enough to scorch an entire village or lay waste to a castle wall, while their heads were reinforced battering rams to break through most castle gates.
Unlike most creatures associated with the Asha, the Maarhanet was well known to the Allorn Empire, though not with positive connotations. They once roamed a significant ways south, and served as a river-born threat for transportation and fishing in the ancient, inland waterways of the [[Elves]], be that through direct attacks or blocking passage. Efforts to tame them failed, and early into the Allorn Empire, the southern variants were rendered extinct through aggressive hunting at the hands of the [[Fin’ullen]]. To the Asha, however, the Maarhanet was a respected being, largely left alone when encountered in rivers due to apparently being one of their first domesticated animals. They thus knew, and respected their strength, and even with the advent of [[Living Metal]], the rare domesticated members of the species were useful for hauling large loads. When the Allorn began their war with the Dewamenet Empire, the Elves learned very quickly just what sort of force an armored, well trained Maarhanet could be. Legends exist of their strength in this conflict, surprising Allorn river-crossings, and demolishing barricades with ease, even pushing through magical illusions or barriers, though such acts might be better attributed to their Asha controllers. Despite this advantage alongside many other things brought to bear by the Asha, the Allorn defeated this rival state, and enslaved the mammalian [[Race]].


Ancient history aside and in recent years, the Maarhanet suffered greatly by overhunting and poaching after the fall of the Dewamenet Empire and subsequent enslavement of the Asha people. Many Maarhanets died during the war with the [[Allorn Empire]] and were torn asunder by [[Altalar]] [[Magic]] or speared to death with magical weapons that could pierce through their armor and rupture vital organs. By the end of the war, the native lands of the Maarhanet were practically a graveyard of carrion and skeletons of the deceased, some bones charred and burned from being scorched with magical fire. Any surviving Maarhanet left in the wake of the war were hunted close to extinction for a variety of reasons, their tusks were used in ivory trinkets prized by Altalar nobility. While their meat was used to feed the population of now Asha slaves, to ridicule them and remind them of the fall of their Empire, to add only more insult to injury. Their great beasts of burden and war were no more, or so many thought.
The Maarhanet was subsequently hunted across the lands of [[Westwynd]], though never truly wiped out. Lighter Allorn settlement in the north of their territories, focused on vast cities, allowed the animal to thrive at the fringes for generations, low in number. Some were also tended to by the free Asha, who hid from the Elves that had broken their Empire long ago. As the Allorn Empire weakened though, individual regions turned to improving internal aspects of their local area, or crafting narratives to better exalt their leadership. Hunting and killing these creatures, with their ties to the Asha, was at the top of the list for principalities with Maarhanet populations. Fortunately, internal squabbling often cut the effectiveness of these hunts, and the [[Cataclysm]] ultimately changed everything. The [[Wildering]] which rocked the Elven lands saw huge, dense wilderness spring up, and newly restored biomes granted the Maarhanet tremendous breathing room. Other Maarhanet populations moved with the Asha on The Great Journey, tamed, and then transported, to the [[Ashal Islands]]. Today, these domesticated Maarhanet thrive, semi-feral overall and not nearly as hostile as their mainland counterparts who lurk in the deep vegetation and rivers of scattered corners of Westwynd.  
 
Just before the [[Cataclysm]] some of the last still living Maarhanet were hunted and killed, the species had been declared and thought extinct until the harrowing events of the [[Wildering]] and Cataclysm that caused much destruction. Out of nowhere hope returned for the Maarhanet as the Asha people along their great exodus found an entire herd that had been hidden away in a small isolated pocket close to the Ashal Isles. The Asha people reunited and rekindled their bond with the still surviving Maarhanet and took them with them across the sea to their Ashal Isles where they began to make a recovery. Now in today’s world, the Maarhanet are numerous once more, owing to their salvation to the Asha who domesticated them so long ago. The Maarhanet return to their ancestral homes of the Ashal Isles and the winding rivers through the deserts of [[Ithania]]. Some herds are even said to exist in isolated jungles across [[Daen]].  


==Physical Appearance==
==Physical Appearance==
The Maarhanet are large mammals which have body proportions similar to that of many other quadruped mammals, but are extremely stocky and bulky, by combination of both muscle and body fat. They are also excessively large, being at least three adult Ailor tall, and wider than that by another adult Ailor. Their legs and backs are covered in ribbed fins, while their feet have stubby short nails with webbed toes, thus making them semi-aquatic. Their head is large and bulbous, with large canines and incisors that usually stick out of their rounded mouth. In the water, they appear like a massive leviathan gracefully running along the bottom toward their destination or grazing along the sea or river floor-grazing upon seagrasses and kelp. Curiously, the Maarhanet are not one solid color and come in a wide array of different colors depending on their region or which bloat they come from. Some bloats are known to have dull dark blue skin with a lighter blue underbelly with more vibrant pale blue webbing along their fish-like fins. While some others appear with dull forest green or a dull red tone. Males of the species are known to have spots of lighter color along their rear with some patterning on the head that is unique to each male that can be compared to a sort of fingerprint. Male and female Maarhanet can be told apart by the vibrancy of their patterns, as males always tend to be much more vibrant in color, and females being duller, with the only significant coloration being on their fins. Maarhanet also all universally have striking green eyes that shine with an emerald quality.  
The Maarhanet are enormous creatures, standing at between ten and thirteen feet tall, and twelve to fourteen feet long, with a weight of up to three tons. Their head is large and bulbous, with a prominent set of four large, white tusks emerging from their mouth beneath a rounded muzzle which features two large sealable nostrils. Their pair of eyes are surprisingly small and dark, though their pair of ears are large and rounded, and are positioned on top of their head. They have a thick neck which connects to the rest of the body, which is similarly thick and bulky, almost unusually so for an animal so heavy. However, much of their bulk is surprisingly hollow, and any additional fat comes and goes from their body with each season in a healthy cycle, leaving behind only their powerful muscles. They are supported on four huge legs, which end in feet featuring three short nails and slightly webbed toes. Their aquatic traits do not stop there, as their broad backs feature ribbed fins, large vertical protrusions these animals can open and close, while smaller ones exist on their “shoulders” or closer to the first joint of their legs from the body. Their form then ends in a short vertically-finned tail. Maarhanet bodies are covered in porous skin, though it often feels far smoother thanks to routine dips in the water.
===Diversity===
===Diversity===
Vast sexual dimorphism exists among the Maarhanet wherein males are significantly larger than females and far more threatening in appearance owing to their violent and aggressive tendencies towards outsiders or those, not Asha. Males stand at a height of around eleven feet with very little variation and are eighteen feet in length while females of the species stand at around nine feet in height and sixteen feet in length. Males also weigh around four thousand to six thousand pounds while females are only three thousand to four thousand pounds. Differences in pattern and coloration also exist where males are more vibrant with rich patterns along their fins, around their eyes, and some splotches along their backs. The more vibrant and wild the display, the better the potential mate, a sign of a stronger male.  
The Maarhanet have a great deal of diversity in their species. For starters, their colorations are quite extensive, and there were likely far more before the hunting efforts of the Elves. Maarhanet palettes vary greatly, with dull hues of green, red, blue, purple and gray paired with pale undersides. Their fins are often far more colorful, and have deeper hues of coloration than the dull hues of the surrounding back or legs. This carries on into their stark gender dimorphism. Maarhanet males are universally larger than females, and often possess both sets of fins, with spots of bright red along the inside of each fin. Females, meanwhile, sometimes lack the leg fins, and if they do have them, they are often small. They also lack the red dots found on male fins. The Maarhanet population meanwhile, is skewed male by a small amount, at around three to two.
===Life Span and Development===
===Life Span and Development===
Maarhanet mothers give birth to a calf every other year and the calf will often stay with their mother until they are a year old in which case they take part in the bloat alongside their mother in the event they’re female, or if they’re male they are eventually exiled from the bloat once they reach adulthood. Curiously however the dominant males are capable of recognizing their sons and instead take a paternal role in caring for, teaching, and providing for their offspring until they reach adulthood in which case they are thrust from the bloat however not particularly violently. This behavior is very contradictory to the speculation of scholars and behaviors of most species and their close relatives, wherein dominant males will kill their own younger sons to eliminate competition, rather, males of the Maarhanet seek to ensure a stronger and more lasting legacy through mentoring their younger sons. This has caused some hereditary habits and even a vague semblance of ‘culture’ to form among some Maarhanet bloats. That being said, most female Maarhanet can live up to sixty years while males often only survive into thirty before being killed off by a younger male while some die much sooner.  
Maarhanet females give birth to a singular calf at an interval of two years. When they first emerge, plump and far more rotund than their parents, their skin is a pale shade of pink with speckles of their adult coloration along their flanks and lower back. Their mouths also lack the tusks of their parents. They slowly mature into juveniles over the course of a year, the stubs of their eventual sharper tusks coming in by this stage, and the adult coloring fully coming in, while their legs begin to lengthen. Another two years will see them reach the stage of young adults, at which point they will separate from their parents. Curiously, throughout this three-year maturation process males are largely raised by their father, while females are raised by their mother, creating a stark divide in gender within their bloats (the term for Maarhanet herds). This separation allows a more seamless transition into each respective gender group, as they will have been around them all of their lives. Maarhanet lifespans are sixty years both in the wild and for those domesticated by the Asha, but most wild males die earlier as a result of attacking predators, or due to injuries from mating competitions.


==Mental Overview==
==Mental Overview==
Maarhanet exist in both domesticated and wild form. While domesticated Maarhanet are much more friendly, approachable, and social, often allowing outsiders to live among their bloat or their bloat lives among the outsiders. Bloats of Maarhanet have been known to exist inside of Asha villages close to the coast or river and enjoy being fed things like watermelon. Domesticated Maarhanet are known to be very kind, gentle, loving, and very playful. They often enjoy swimming alongside their owners in the water and are also known to enjoy playing with large wooden balls that float along the surface of the water. Wild Maarhanet on the other hand are extremely aggressive and territorial and will relentlessly pursue any threat until they are either tired, dead, or the threat to their bloat is dead. While females aren’t nearly as aggressive as males, they are known to also attack or flip boats that come too close for comfort. Males on the other hand have been reported destroying small fishing vessels that stray into their territory. They do this entirely without warning, the second a wild male Maarhanet even remotely glances at an intruder, death soon follows. However, the Maarhanet are known to tolerate some other smaller animals and sometimes live alongside species of crocodilian who are entirely incapable of posing a threat to even a Maarhanet calf. Birds enjoy living along the backs of Maarhanet pecking at parasites or bugs that try to make their home there.  
The Maarhanet live in two different spheres, those of the Ashal Islands and those of the mainland, who dwell in Westwynd, often amidst the wilds raised by the Wildering or isolated river systems. These wild Maarhanet are often aggressive, and highly tribal in the way they conduct themselves. Males will frequently fight for mates during the mating season, but also to assert their dominance in their social group. They are also often the first line of defense to attack threats to the bloat. Females are less violent, but tussles among them are not unheard of, though they are rarely as damaging as the injuries inflicted by males against each other. Wild Maarhanet couples, meanwhile, live closest to the river, and will live together throughout the period of raising their offspring, separating again once the child has grown up. It is in these pairings that real care can be seen among the species, Maarhanet parents loving their children, and each other, with the uncommon occurrence of frequent mating producing a life-bonded pair. Threats to Maarhanet young are responded to harshly, and hunters or observers should outright flee if they cross a Maarhanet parent.
 
Ashal Maarhanet, meanwhile, are far more docile and relaxed. Their climate is virtually void of predators, and they have become highly used to the Asha and other animal-life of the region. As a result, those in this part of the wild are best described as semi-feral, easily tamed, and equal to those fully domesticated by the Asha. Some are even playful with the Asha. Much like in ancient times, few Maarhanet have been directly domesticated, and instead the species often lazes about in waterways, Living Metal machinery skillfully arching itself around or over them. Some are still trained as beasts of war though, and the world should pity those having to face the wrath of an armored Maarhanet.
===Territory and Groupings===
===Territory and Groupings===
The Maarhanet are primarily native to the waters of the Ashal Isles and feed mostly off of things like seagrass, kelp, fruits, nuts, and any other herbivorous things that they can find. They’re known to also greatly enjoy melons, particularly watermelons. As far as their numbers go, the Maarhanet prefer to live in herds or bloats as groups of Maarhanet are called, with up to around ten to twenty females and their calves with a single dominant male as the head of the bloat. Males of the species are extremely aggressive and territorial towards other males, predators, or trespassers and are known to chase them for miles until eventually tiring out and returning to their bloat. Very few people are accepted by the wild Maarhanet, or allowed to be near their bloat and only Asha can go near wild Maarhanet without being attacked or chased due to their proximity for millennia.  
As mentioned earlier, the Maarhanet are divided into two groups. Those on the mainland live in the wilds and isolated rivers of Westwynd, often hidden from sight and in bloats which number between thirty to fifty. Those on the Ashal Islands live across the region, also keeping to the rivers, with bloats that can reach up to sixty members. Maarhanet bloats are often led by a prime male and a prime female, the respective leaders of their gender half of the bloat by benefit of size, seniority, number of children, or a combination of all three. The rarest kind of leadership is a prime family, which occurs when a prime male and prime female form a lifebond.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*In ancient times, there was a rumor in circulation that one obscure yet brilliant Asha inventor managed to engineer a means to fly using the same tubes of fire that they used as weapons. Enabling one armored Maarhanet to ‘fly’. Vague accounts of the Allorn Empire report seeing an armored ‘flying’ Maarhanet overhead raining down death and destruction upon a neighboring village yet no evidence exists to back this claim and the full report had been burned. Scholars speculate that the Altalar didn’t want such a revelation to come to the public as it would cause a modicum of doubt or renew the spirit of the Asha people. Whatever the cause, the truth has yet to be determined and may never truly come to light.
*The Maarhanet are omnivorous, and are very partial to melons, especially watermelons. The Asha often enjoy watching them crush the huge, solid fruits in one smash of their great big mouths when feeding a bloat in a particular region.
*[[Allar]], especially [[Mai-Allar]] get along surprisingly well with the Maarhanet whenever the two come into contact. Beyond the Asha, they’re the only other Race that wild Maarhanet won’t outright attack. Primarily due to the fact of their reptilian appearance and resemblance to the crocodiles that some bloats of Maarhanet are known to live with.  
*Maarhanet pudges, as their babies are called, are often highly buoyant, and can be found in the adorable act of spinning in the water, unable to right themselves, half confused but also half enjoying themselves.
*There are some rumors in circulation that the Asha are working alongside the [[Regalian Government]] to try developing a new type of armor for their Maarhanet siege engines that are capable of negating the effects of Magic in the event that the Altalar or [[Kathar]] ever decide to attack their isles again, or that the Asha might be preparing for war. However, the rumor remains yet to be proven. For now, it might just be a load of hot air, but a frightening one at that.
*Maarhanet-headed Asha were apparently once a feature in the past, their ancient wall art showing such beings. However, in the modern day, it is unheard of.
{{fauna}}
{{fauna}}
{{Accreditation
{{Accreditation
|Writers = Caelamus
|Writers = HydraLana
|Processors = HydraLana, Woodwork, Antimreoir
|Processors = WaterDruppel
}}
}}
[[category:Fauna]] [[category:Mammals]] [[category:Ithania Fauna]] [[category:Ashal Isles Fauna]]
[[category:Fauna]] [[category:Mammals]] [[category:Westwynd Fauna]]

Latest revision as of 16:01, 6 May 2023

Maarhanet
Noimg.png
Fauna
Official Name Maarhanet
Common Nicknames Hyppocampi, Riverwader, Taweret
Classification Mammal
Habitat Westwynd
Domesticated Yes
Current Status Common

The Maarhanet is one of many animals domesticated by the Asha people long ago during the golden years of the Dewamenet Empire while Asha technology was at its peak. Still serving a value to their society after their technological ascension, the species carried on within their territory. Those within the Allorn Empire suffered a far wost fate, which was soon brought upon the Maarhanet of the Dewamenet as well. The species was rendered almost extinct, but survived, going on to thrive after the collapse of the Allorn Empire, and today, some even live reclaimed in Asha territory. Enormous, powerful, and aquatic, the Maarhanet is a fearsome living tool of war when wielded by the Asha, and a terrifying animal to cross while in the wild.

History

Unlike most creatures associated with the Asha, the Maarhanet was well known to the Allorn Empire, though not with positive connotations. They once roamed a significant ways south, and served as a river-born threat for transportation and fishing in the ancient, inland waterways of the Elves, be that through direct attacks or blocking passage. Efforts to tame them failed, and early into the Allorn Empire, the southern variants were rendered extinct through aggressive hunting at the hands of the Fin’ullen. To the Asha, however, the Maarhanet was a respected being, largely left alone when encountered in rivers due to apparently being one of their first domesticated animals. They thus knew, and respected their strength, and even with the advent of Living Metal, the rare domesticated members of the species were useful for hauling large loads. When the Allorn began their war with the Dewamenet Empire, the Elves learned very quickly just what sort of force an armored, well trained Maarhanet could be. Legends exist of their strength in this conflict, surprising Allorn river-crossings, and demolishing barricades with ease, even pushing through magical illusions or barriers, though such acts might be better attributed to their Asha controllers. Despite this advantage alongside many other things brought to bear by the Asha, the Allorn defeated this rival state, and enslaved the mammalian Race.

The Maarhanet was subsequently hunted across the lands of Westwynd, though never truly wiped out. Lighter Allorn settlement in the north of their territories, focused on vast cities, allowed the animal to thrive at the fringes for generations, low in number. Some were also tended to by the free Asha, who hid from the Elves that had broken their Empire long ago. As the Allorn Empire weakened though, individual regions turned to improving internal aspects of their local area, or crafting narratives to better exalt their leadership. Hunting and killing these creatures, with their ties to the Asha, was at the top of the list for principalities with Maarhanet populations. Fortunately, internal squabbling often cut the effectiveness of these hunts, and the Cataclysm ultimately changed everything. The Wildering which rocked the Elven lands saw huge, dense wilderness spring up, and newly restored biomes granted the Maarhanet tremendous breathing room. Other Maarhanet populations moved with the Asha on The Great Journey, tamed, and then transported, to the Ashal Islands. Today, these domesticated Maarhanet thrive, semi-feral overall and not nearly as hostile as their mainland counterparts who lurk in the deep vegetation and rivers of scattered corners of Westwynd.

Physical Appearance

The Maarhanet are enormous creatures, standing at between ten and thirteen feet tall, and twelve to fourteen feet long, with a weight of up to three tons. Their head is large and bulbous, with a prominent set of four large, white tusks emerging from their mouth beneath a rounded muzzle which features two large sealable nostrils. Their pair of eyes are surprisingly small and dark, though their pair of ears are large and rounded, and are positioned on top of their head. They have a thick neck which connects to the rest of the body, which is similarly thick and bulky, almost unusually so for an animal so heavy. However, much of their bulk is surprisingly hollow, and any additional fat comes and goes from their body with each season in a healthy cycle, leaving behind only their powerful muscles. They are supported on four huge legs, which end in feet featuring three short nails and slightly webbed toes. Their aquatic traits do not stop there, as their broad backs feature ribbed fins, large vertical protrusions these animals can open and close, while smaller ones exist on their “shoulders” or closer to the first joint of their legs from the body. Their form then ends in a short vertically-finned tail. Maarhanet bodies are covered in porous skin, though it often feels far smoother thanks to routine dips in the water.

Diversity

The Maarhanet have a great deal of diversity in their species. For starters, their colorations are quite extensive, and there were likely far more before the hunting efforts of the Elves. Maarhanet palettes vary greatly, with dull hues of green, red, blue, purple and gray paired with pale undersides. Their fins are often far more colorful, and have deeper hues of coloration than the dull hues of the surrounding back or legs. This carries on into their stark gender dimorphism. Maarhanet males are universally larger than females, and often possess both sets of fins, with spots of bright red along the inside of each fin. Females, meanwhile, sometimes lack the leg fins, and if they do have them, they are often small. They also lack the red dots found on male fins. The Maarhanet population meanwhile, is skewed male by a small amount, at around three to two.

Life Span and Development

Maarhanet females give birth to a singular calf at an interval of two years. When they first emerge, plump and far more rotund than their parents, their skin is a pale shade of pink with speckles of their adult coloration along their flanks and lower back. Their mouths also lack the tusks of their parents. They slowly mature into juveniles over the course of a year, the stubs of their eventual sharper tusks coming in by this stage, and the adult coloring fully coming in, while their legs begin to lengthen. Another two years will see them reach the stage of young adults, at which point they will separate from their parents. Curiously, throughout this three-year maturation process males are largely raised by their father, while females are raised by their mother, creating a stark divide in gender within their bloats (the term for Maarhanet herds). This separation allows a more seamless transition into each respective gender group, as they will have been around them all of their lives. Maarhanet lifespans are sixty years both in the wild and for those domesticated by the Asha, but most wild males die earlier as a result of attacking predators, or due to injuries from mating competitions.

Mental Overview

The Maarhanet live in two different spheres, those of the Ashal Islands and those of the mainland, who dwell in Westwynd, often amidst the wilds raised by the Wildering or isolated river systems. These wild Maarhanet are often aggressive, and highly tribal in the way they conduct themselves. Males will frequently fight for mates during the mating season, but also to assert their dominance in their social group. They are also often the first line of defense to attack threats to the bloat. Females are less violent, but tussles among them are not unheard of, though they are rarely as damaging as the injuries inflicted by males against each other. Wild Maarhanet couples, meanwhile, live closest to the river, and will live together throughout the period of raising their offspring, separating again once the child has grown up. It is in these pairings that real care can be seen among the species, Maarhanet parents loving their children, and each other, with the uncommon occurrence of frequent mating producing a life-bonded pair. Threats to Maarhanet young are responded to harshly, and hunters or observers should outright flee if they cross a Maarhanet parent.

Ashal Maarhanet, meanwhile, are far more docile and relaxed. Their climate is virtually void of predators, and they have become highly used to the Asha and other animal-life of the region. As a result, those in this part of the wild are best described as semi-feral, easily tamed, and equal to those fully domesticated by the Asha. Some are even playful with the Asha. Much like in ancient times, few Maarhanet have been directly domesticated, and instead the species often lazes about in waterways, Living Metal machinery skillfully arching itself around or over them. Some are still trained as beasts of war though, and the world should pity those having to face the wrath of an armored Maarhanet.

Territory and Groupings

As mentioned earlier, the Maarhanet are divided into two groups. Those on the mainland live in the wilds and isolated rivers of Westwynd, often hidden from sight and in bloats which number between thirty to fifty. Those on the Ashal Islands live across the region, also keeping to the rivers, with bloats that can reach up to sixty members. Maarhanet bloats are often led by a prime male and a prime female, the respective leaders of their gender half of the bloat by benefit of size, seniority, number of children, or a combination of all three. The rarest kind of leadership is a prime family, which occurs when a prime male and prime female form a lifebond.

Trivia

  • The Maarhanet are omnivorous, and are very partial to melons, especially watermelons. The Asha often enjoy watching them crush the huge, solid fruits in one smash of their great big mouths when feeding a bloat in a particular region.
  • Maarhanet pudges, as their babies are called, are often highly buoyant, and can be found in the adorable act of spinning in the water, unable to right themselves, half confused but also half enjoying themselves.
  • Maarhanet-headed Asha were apparently once a feature in the past, their ancient wall art showing such beings. However, in the modern day, it is unheard of.

Accreditation
Writers HydraLana
Processors WaterDruppel
Last Editor HydraLana on 05/6/2023.

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