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Exotics of the Seanchan Military

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The social order among the handlers of exotics

To become an animal master, and earn the prefix 'der', requires a certain level of seniority. This seniority counts within each specific discipline and the overall social ranking.
For example: the most senior der'morat'corlm will never be the social equal of a morat'lopar.
Handlers of the more ordinary beasts, such as s'redit or horses, rank below those for exotics.
Note how the handlers of damane are also listed in this group, once again indicating that damane are not human.

Ranking order in descending order:

  • der'sul'dam
  • sul'dam
  • der'morat'raken
  • der'morat'to'raken
  • morat'raken
  • der'morat'torm
  • morat to'raken
  • der'morat'lopar
  • morat'torm
  • der'morat'grolm
  • morat'lopar
  • der'morat'corlm
  • morat'grolm
  • morat'corlm

Torm

Torm are the most intelligent of the exotics, except for damane. Their intelligence is well above that of a very smart dog. They are good in problem solving, such as maze tests.
They are excellent hunters, but will only hunt what they choose, regardless of what their handler picks for them to hunt. So they are no longer used in the hunt.
They look like a cross between a horse-sized cat and a lizard and have brown scales, six-clawed feet and three eyes.
They bear live young and nurse them in single births at a time.
The Torm are not widely available partly due to their tendency to fight (often to the death) for dominance before they are trained. This usually happens before they reach adulthood.
Torm are carnivores but can survive up to three to four days on plants.

Controlling a torm is done by riding it, much like a horse, and using the legs and rein pressure to communicate commands. Torms are very particular on which handler they accept and so there are only a limited number of people that can become a morat'torm. The animal will turn on handler after handler, before finally accepting one. Once the Torm has found it's rider, it will not allow anyone else to mount it. If the rider dies, it takes a long time for the Torm to accept another.

Torms are primarily used to scout, even though they are ferocious fighters. One of the reasons they are not used in battle is because they are prone to get into a fighting frenzy, turning on anyone and anything in range. When a fighting frenzy occurs, the rider can do nothing else but hang on and ride it out. Strangely, the beast will rarely turn against it's own rider during those frenzies. The frenzy can go on for hours after the battle is over, for it takes a Torm a long time to calm down sufficiently to snap out of it.

A Torm will always strike at any corlm in reach, though the morats can usually prevent them from actually attacking. For this reason, these two are never used together.

 

Corlm

Looking like a wingless bird, this animal has fur (usually gray, black or brown) instead of feathers and stands erect up to eight feet on strong hind legs that have feet with four small-clawed toes. It's front legs are small and usually retracted to the chest, much like a kangaroo, and only used for feeding and nest building. It's tail flattens out widely, like a duck's, for stability when running. The beak is long and hooked like a bird of prey and, like a bird of prey, the corlm uses it to kill it's prey.
Corlm are carnivores and are extremely efficient predators.
Corlm are unmatched trackers, using both ears and smell to track their prey, and can outrun a man on the short sprints and match him on the long ones.
They are controlled by voice command and high pitched whistles above human hearing.
Solitary creatures, except during mating season, corlm are always used singly as they are known to turn on each other.
The females lay one egg at a time, though often the eggs do not hatch.

They are never used with Torm as the latter will always strike at the corlm and both are too rare and valuable to risk in this way.

 

 

 

Lopar

Lopar have a very high intelligence, coming close to that of a torm.
The lopar is a very big, bulky animal, weighing between fifteen hundred and two thousand pounds when full grown.
It has only two eyes, set into a large round head with no external ears.
It's legs are longer than those of a bear but they still look short because of their thickness and the size of the rest of the animal.
The lopar has a leathery, hairless hide, in colors that range from dark brown to a pale reddish hue.
It has six toes on all four feet, each with very large retractable claws.

Lopar, while having a fearsome appearance, can be handled by anyone properly trained and are usually placid, even friendly, unless commanded to fight.
They are used as guard animals as well as ferocious fighters in battle.
Due to their placid and friendly nature, the Blood often use lopar to guard their children. Lopar that are used as bodyguards often become very attached to their charges and display a fierce protectiveness. Animals that form this type of attachment are usually reluctant to leave the one they serve and frequently refuse to eat for some time afterward.

 

 

Grolm

Grolm are the size of large bears, weighing between three to five hundred pounds. They have a gray-green colored skin with the texture of tough frogs.
They have three eyes, small and fierce that lack the intelligence of a torm.
Their beaks are horny and used for tearing and ripping flesh.
Grolm appear awkward and wobbly when walking but that changes the moment they start to run, using their muscular hind legs to leaped and bound forward at great speed.

They are used as guard animals because of their very good vision, keen sense of smell and tendency to be extremely territorial. They learn quickly who is allowed in a given area and will use their sense of smell to distinguish anyone who is nervous or afraid.

They are also used in battle, but only against lightly armored opponents. To break holes in an enemy line which will be quickly exploited by human soldiers. They can also be used against cavalry, as horses often panic in their presence unless they are trained to tolerate them. Grolm are very hard to kill, fortunately as their hides are thick enough to turn most blows from swords, axes or spears away and arrows fail to penetrate their hide unless aimed at a vulnerable spot such as an eye. They have fantastic endurance and will keep going even when injured and it takes seriously  ferocious wounds to even slow them down significantly. They also heal very rapidly.

Grolm give birth to litters of young at a time, though usually only one from each litter survives.

They are kept separate in captivity as they show aggression to their own kind if unchecked. They will often rip apart and eat one of their own that is injured and they even consume their own dead.

Grolm are controlled by spoken commands, hand signals and the use of a small, piercing whistle-like flute. It is a matter of pride among morat'grolm to use only the hand signals and the flute, probably in distant imitation of the way the Blood communicate.

 

 

Raken

Raken are large flying creatures that have a body larger than a horse, leathery gray skin and large, bat-like wings. They have a long horny snout and powerful jaws that can easily shear through a branch or an arm. Two eyes sit at the front of the head which is supported by a long, graceful neck. A very long and thin tail that wrongly appears fragile but is instead quite strong and used in flight for balance and control.
They have two legs, rather thin compared to the rest of the body, with feet that have six long, and very strong, taloned toes arranged four in front and two behind.
Their intelligence is roughly that of a horse.

On the ground the Raken usually crouch, raising their head on their necks to look about. In their crouched positions, a rider can easily swing a leg over the saddle.
Awkward and slow on the ground, Raken become extremely graceful when airborne. They can launch themselves up in the air from where they stand, without the need to run to gain momentum.

It's maximum flight speed is three to four times that of a horse and it can maintain this speed over short distances, but can fly fairly long distances (three to four hundred miles) at lower speeds without rest.

Raken are primarily used for scouting and carrying messages and can carry two, small, people. They are controlled by leg pressure and reins, attached to rings permanently fixed in the animal's horny nostrils.

The riders, morat'raken, are sometimes called 'fliers' and are all either women or smaller than average men and often ride double, one behind the other in lightweight saddles. Paired morat are used in situations where extra eyes are wanted, as on most scouting missions. When speed or long distances are required, only one morat will ride the animal.

Raken will fly even when injured or ill, though not as fast or far as usual, and can (like some horses) be ridden to the point of its death.

It can perch comfortably even on vertical surfaces so long as there is a purchase for its claws. In some cases when perching on such precipices, it will spread its wings across the surface, in effect clutching with them.

Raken will perch in large trees where the branches can support it, but it prefers open ground or cliffs.

It is an omnivore though it will be perfectly content with an all-plant diet. Raken are egg layers and the females lay one egg at a time.

Morat'Raken are considered superior to Morat'To'Raken in standing and both can ride both Raken and To'Raken.

 

 

To'Raken

It looks rather like a Raken except that it is larger and is mottled brown instead of gray. Crouched back, the To'Raken can be nine feet or more above the ground.
The To'Raken has the intelligence level of a horse.
The female lays her eggs one at a time.
They are herbivores.

They need a running start of at least one hundred paces in order to launch themselves into the air and are neither as agile or as fast in the air as the raken.
It's maximum flight speed is a little more than twice that of a horse.

To'Raken are valued for their strength and endurance, being able to fly much further than raken without rest (up to a thousand miles at moderate speed while carrying only one morat). They can also carry large loads. With one morat, a to'raken can carry an additional one thousand pounds or more of cargo as far as two hundred miles.

They are used primarily for transporting people who must be moved quickly or urgent cargo. While they occasionally are used in battle, this is not preferred, as they must come in range of enemy archers before the archers riding on them can do any damage themselves.

An injured to'raken does not fly well. Unlike the raken, when injured they often refuse to fly farther than a safe landing point. Safe for the to'raken, but not necessarily for it's rider. Therefore this extremely valuable animal is seldom used in battle.

A morat who can handle to'raken can also handle raken (and vice versa), but morat'raken are considered superior to morat'to'raken. To order a morat'raken to fly a to'raken would mean a loss of face for the flier. A fact that even the Blood recognizes.  

 

 

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