Beast Submission: Gharagool

[Sanjin Koukyu]

Name: Gharigool

Location: Anywhere Harkkan/orcs are found if tamed/any biome if wild

Size: Four feet at the shoulder, five to six feet from muzzle to hindquarters. A highly predatory creature that’s far more mouth than body, the gharigool (as named by their orcish handlers/breeders) is almost insect-like in its appearance, with a body type that’s analogous with mites, an ovoid/teardrop body with six legs. Its body is covered with large, overlapping scales of various hues (autumnal colors: red, orange, brown, and occasionally yellow, with black and white being rare mutations). These scales can indicate a gharigool’s mood; excited will have them almost vibrating and clattering, aggressive will have them stand on end (attempting to make the creature even larger in appearance), calm will have them flat, etc.

The fat end of the oval/teardrop opens up into a massive mouth filled with sharp teeth that are a variety of sizes, with there being two visible rows of teeth. The second row (and third) are slanted backwards, waiting for the time when the primary tooth is pulled free, knocked loose or otherwise, before sliding into place; a trait shared with many sharks. This is because the Gharigool was bred to eat to instill fear in their enemies, tearing through the ranks with it’s orcish rider, ravaging and consuming part or all of any potential victim unfortunate to get caught up in the trample.

The Gharigool is effectively blind, relying on a special bridle to be steered when being ridden by someone, but it isn’t without a means to sense. Surrounding the gharigool’s mouth are special sensory scales, akin to antenna. The broader, thicker scales are used for touch and sensing vibrations in both the air and in the ground (which explains why the beast frequently presses its mouth against the earth, searching for underground prey), while the thinner, longer, wispy hair-like filaments are more proper antenna and can sense chemical trails. Lastly, each gharigool has a pair of particularly large, immobile scales near the juncture of their jaws, allowing them a rudimentary sense of hearing as well as having very basic ocular cells to differentiate between light and dark.

Each of its six legs are tipped with a sharp point, with the front legs being larger and the points being thicker and sharper, for digging through earth and stone, scaling trees or tearing apart dead ones, as well as impaling prey to make sure it doesn’t get away. This makes gharigool ‘all-terrain steeds’ though easy to track as they tear clods of dirt out of the earth where they walk (splintering wood, crushing/shattering ice, etc

Abilities:

Almost All-Terrain: Gharigool can traverse almost any environment, though they have issues with softer landscapes, like mud, swamps, and sand (they will instantly destroy the layer of ice on a frozen body of water).

Senses: Tremor/Chemo: While being effectively blind, a gharigool has an incredibly tremor sense, as well as chemo receptors with their sensory scales surrounding their mouths when they’re not directed by a rider.

Disadvantages:

Senses: Sight/Hearing: Gharigool are blind, without any proper eyes to see, instead relying on their antenna to navigate the world around them when without a rider. If someone is able to avoid walking, they can easily evade the beast.

Bloodlust: Like sharks catching the faintest hint of blood on the open waters, gharigool are keenly aware of the scent of blood and, upon catching scent of it, will bee-line towards whatever was wounded, regardless of the danger. Only a skilled handler can redirect its course, though sometimes they’re used by those that can tend wounds as bloodhounds to find wounded… but not every search results in a life saved, especially if the handler is ill prepared.

Special:
Being a relatively unusual mount, gharagools don’t bond to their riders, but rather, through an almost ritualistic procedure that takes months, the gharahool becomes acclimated to the scent/sounds of their rider. They will not accept another rider, often times attacking without recourse and do not do well when ‘stabled’ with other animals, requiring their own unique barn/den. The best bet would be to allow them to live in a cave network on the property or a suitably large building as part of a keep, castle, or tower.

These creatures are only meant to be ridden and will not tolerate more weight than is absolutely necessary and may act as a replacement for a horse for races that are more bestial or warmongering, such as Harkkan/Orcs, Wolven, Ogres, Trolls, and the like. As such, the provide the same combat mechanics as a warhorse might, despite their massive mouths full of gnashing teeth. NPC gharagools, though, love to use their teeth and claw-legs to maim and harm as much as possible.