Drakeboar

{
  "aliases": [],
  "content": {
    "behavior": {
      "activity_patterns": "Crepuscular and nocturnal. Most active at dusk and in the hours before dawn.",
      "intelligence": "High relative to Hjemland fauna. Demonstrated long-term spatial memory \u2014 known to avoid locations where it has previously been threatened or trapped. Adapts quickly to new predator behavior.",
      "senses": "Excellent scent detection. Moderate vision. Good hearing.",
      "social_structure": "Mostly solitary. Sows travel with young for the first year. Males are territorial and will charge perceived threats without provocation.",
      "symbiosis_and_threats": "Primary predator: Cragstalker Wyrm packs, which take young or isolated animals. Adults are formidable and typically avoided unless prey is scarce. The armored dorsal ridge makes standard wyrm attack patterns less effective."
    },
    "biological_data": {
      "growth_stages": "Piglets born without the keratin ridge \u2014 it develops over the first 6 months. Fully developed by 2 years.",
      "lifespan": "15\u201320 years.",
      "reproduction": "Sows give birth to litters of 2\u20134. Young are weaned at around 4 months and become solitary by the end of their first year."
    },
    "domestication": "Never successfully domesticated. Attempts by early Hjemland communities consistently failed due to persistent aggression and poor breeding in captivity. The Kaetijul made no sustained effort to domesticate them, treating Drakeboar hunts instead as a test of skill. Tjastad tradition inherited this framing \u2014 a solo Drakeboar hunt is still considered a marker of serious capability among Tjastad warriors.",
    "ecology_and_habitats": {
      "diet": "Omnivore. Roots, tubers, fungi, fallen fruit, small animals, eggs, and carrion. Uses tusks to break open rotting logs and dig for buried food.",
      "ecological_role": "Mid-to-upper tier omnivore. Competes with smaller predators for carrion and small prey. Forms part of the Cragstalker Wyrm\u0027s prey base, though it is difficult and dangerous prey \u2014 wyrm packs typically target young, injured, or isolated animals.",
      "geographic_distribution": "Hjemland\u0027s northern highland zone, primarily the Sigkolz\u00fbl foothills and adjacent forested valleys.",
      "habitats": "Rocky valley margins, highland forest edges, and the lower slopes of the Sigkolz\u00fbl range. Prefers terrain with dense undergrowth and rocky outcrops for cover."
    },
    "etymology": "The \u0027drako\u0027 prefix refers to the distinctive ridge of hardened, scale-like dermal plates along the creature\u0027s back and shoulders. Early Hjemland peoples \u2014 encountering draconic remnants in the northern range during the Second Age \u2014 associated the look with draconic scale. The \u0027boar\u0027 element is functional: the body plan, aggression profile, and tusked snout read unmistakably as boar.",
    "local_name": "No established local name. Referred to as \u0027Sigdrak\u0027 in some Tjastad usage.",
    "overview": "The Drakeboar is the most dangerous non-wyrm animal of Hjemland\u0027s highland zones \u2014 barrel-chested, armored, and with a temperament that makes it actively dangerous rather than merely defensive. It occupies the rocky valley margins and lower Sigkolz\u00fbl slopes, largely overlapping with Cragstalker Wyrm territory, though wyrm packs prefer easier prey when available. The Kaetijul considered killing a Drakeboar a significant demonstration of skill \u2014 accounts from the Third Age describe it as a benchmark hunt among dwarven communities of the range.",
    "physical_traits": {
      "body_structure": "Barrel-chested and low-slung, with four heavily-muscled legs and a broad, powerful neck. A ridge of hardened, overlapping keratin plates runs from the back of the skull to roughly mid-spine \u2014 dark, slightly iridescent, and tough enough to deflect glancing blows. Beneath the ridge the body is covered in coarse bristle-hair.",
      "coat_and_skin": "Coarse, wiry bristles over the flanks and hindquarters. Sparse or absent under the dermal plates. Coloration is dark grey-brown, often near-black along the ridge. The underside is paler.",
      "dimensions": "180\u2013280 kg. Significantly larger than a typical boar. Shoulder height roughly 1m.",
      "facial_features": "Heavy, elongated snout. Two pairs of curved tusks: the lower pair is longer and sweeps outward, used primarily in defense and territorial displays; the upper pair is shorter and curves slightly inward, used for rooting. Small, deep-set eyes with good low-light vision."
    }
  },
  "id": "species.firgol.animals.drakeboar",
  "meta": {
    "notes": "Created from a single confirmed prey reference. The name\u0027s \u0027drake\u0027 element is not treated as evidence of dragon or wyrm descent.",
    "status": "active"
  },
  "name": "Drakeboar",
  "native": null,
  "relations": {},
  "sources": {
    "confirmed_from": [
      "world/species/firgol/monsters/wyrms/cragstalker_wyrm.json"
    ]
  },
  "subtype": "animals",
  "summary": "A large, armored highland omnivore of Hjemland\u0027s rocky valley margins \u2014 aggressive, difficult to kill, and never successfully domesticated. Named for the ridge of hardened keratin plates along its spine.",
  "tags": [],
  "timeline": {},
  "type": "species"
}