Simhata

Description

The Simhata, known in most of Creation's languages as the lion-horse, is an imposing and ferocious creature, appearing just as its name would suggest to be a combination of a horse and a lion. Its body is roughly equine, long, broad-shouldered, and heavily muscled, while its hooves are clawed and its maned head bears a mouth of sharp fangs. A simhata stands between sixteen and eighteen hands in height. Its colouration is yellow-brown, close to that of the lion, though variations are known to be heavily streaked with red or black, and at least one entirely black simhata is spoken of in Shogunate records. Albinos are possible, but not likely to survive, eaten by their parents if not removed.

Simhata are fast, powerful creatures, able to easily defeat and devour a human foe. They run at twice the speed of a Desert Horse, tiring at half the rate, making them superior to any of Creation's mundane horse breeds and difficult to evade. They are carnivores, with a marked preference for raw meat, and in the wild are dangerous predators who hunt humans, ungulates such as Cattle or Gnu, camels, and Horses. Simhata compete with Austrech for prey, but the lion-horses are more than a match for the battle-birds unless an austrech flock can catch a lone simhata., and lion-horses often treat the birds simply as another prey animal. Trained or otherwise, however, simhata are vicious creatures by nature.

Even when faced with dangerous opponents, simhata rarely panic or show fear, though they are certainly not suicidal. They have the intelligence of a small child, and when they have accepted a rider they can be trained to respond to complex commands and ride into the thick of battle. They are able to grasp language, and though they are not capable of speech or writing they are capable of detailed expressions, which can be used to communicate with their riders.

Range

Simhata are at home in open plains and deserts. Once, they were more widespread in Creation, but culls in Marukan, Harbourhead, and Thorns did much to reduce their presence towards the East, and today they can be found in large numbers only in the deserts of the South, where they are ridden by the aptly-named Simhata Tribes, and occasionally amongst the Jackal Tribes.

Simhata are popular amongst Exalts, particularly the Dragonblooded, which has seen individuals spread across Creation, though they remain rare creatures.

History

The simhata is not a natural creature, but rather a beast emerging from the work of the Solar and Lunar Exalted during the First Age, to produce a steed fit for the Exalted. While the Golden Age saw skyships, royal warstriders, and other works of artifice become more popular with the Celestial Exalted, the resistance of the simhata to a Dragonblood's violent anima flare kept them prized amongst the Terrestrial Exalted. Specific breeds emerged to suit each type and aspect, with unique colouration and abilities.

The simhata suffered much during the early Shogunate, when they were deemed tainted creations of the Anathema and subject to culls like many other created races. By the late Shogunate, they were almost unknown, though sightings of feral simhata continued to be reported from remote posts in the East and South, and several daimyo engaged in efforts to recreate the species, with limited success. The current simhata is a result of interbreeding between the various escaped First Age and Shogunate simhata, concentrate mostly in the South.

The simhata is one of the Five Trophies of the Southern Hunt, along with the the Abacasteri, the Desert Basilisc, the Furnace Rhino, and the Lion Folk.

Breeding

Breeding simhata is difficult: even in the simhata packs of the wild, the creatures are temperamental and territorial, and attempts to mate often end instead with violence. Their initial creation took place through the sorcerous grafting of several creatures and artificial components, but when they do mate the simhata breed true, producing a single pup which grows quickly. If this pup becomes injured or appears sickly, its mother will give it some days to prove its strength, and if it fails to do so will devour it.

Shogunate efforts to revive the breed saw use of the strongest horse mares as mates for the few available simhata: nearly every time, the simhata would simply eat its prospective mate, and those few successes saw the simhata pup devour its equine mother from within. These horse-bred simhata seemed to express a particularly intense viciousness not seen in First Age records, but with many having escaped seems to now have bred into the general population. As with recovering now-lost variations of colour and ability, should someone embark on an extensive breeding program they might find means to remove this element of the simhata personality.

Imprinting and Bonding

Bred as mounts, a simhata is eager to accept a rider, forming a bond that could last unshaken through a lifetime. This fierce bond of loyalty is given to the first person to feed a young simhata raw meat... but this mundane approach only reflects a biological imperative of the species. When a simhata sees an Exalt's anima flare for the first time, they will immediately transfer their loyalty to the Exalt, abandoning their previous master.

Without this anima interruption, or when a bond with an Exalt is formed, it lasts for life. If a simhata's rider is killed, no other mortal can earn its loyalty, but the flare of a new anima banner will bind it to a subsequent Exalt.

Simhata loyalty is ironclad and unshakeable... the creature's intelligence means it might not agree with its rider's choices, or might attempt to suggest different courses, but it will not disobey when directly instructed no matter its natural tendencies, and will not knowingly harm its rider. The bond has more influence than mere loyalty, however... as time passes, simhata will often begin to exhibit habits and behaviours that can be taken as animal expressions of those of their bonded rider.

Exotic Component

The loyalty and bond of a simhata with its master is of such strength that it carries significant occult power. The Heart's Blood of a Simhata, slain by the hand of the master to whom the beast is bonded, is known to serve as an exotic component in works of artifice which require a close connection between artifact and pilot (such as the Warbird skyship) or an animating intelligence of unshaking loyalty (such as the Brass Legionnaire).

Statistics

Motivation: To serve the one to which it is bonded. Or, to eat and survive while proving its power and ferocity.

Strength ●●●●●●● | Dexterity ●●● | Stamina ●●●●●●

Perception ●● | Intelligence ●● | Wits ●●●

Willpower: 5

Mote Pool: 15

Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Integrity 3, Investigation 2 (a), Martial Arts 3, Presence 3 (b), Resistance 4, Stealth 1, Survival 2.

(a): Scent, sight, and hearing.

(b): Intimidation.

Special:

--- Two Ride as One: A rider and a simhata who have bonded share a deep connection. When within 100 yards of each other, the rider may choose to share one of their senses with their mount, or to experience one of their mount's senses themselves. The rider and simhata can sense each other's location exactly when they are within twenty yards of each other. Further distant, they are able to sense the direction in which the other is located, along with a general impression of distance. They can also sense whether the other is suffering extreme pain, or if they have been killed... this tends to be more meanigful to riders than the simhata whose loyalty is born of the bond itself, but they are intelligent creatures and it is not unknown for a simhata to seek out vengeance for a fallen master, provided new loyalties have not been imposed by sighting a new anima flare.

--- Most Exalted Steed: The connection between an Exalt and a bonded simhata is deep, in both emotional and motonic senses. When an Exalted rider uses an Excellency Charm while riding a bonded simhata, the mount gains the same bonus dice, successes, and re-rolls as the rider. A simhata is also immune to all damage caused by Exalted anima banners (bonded or no), the banner channeled to encompass it along with its rider, granting its benefits (increased leaping distance and no fall damage for an Air Aspect, immunity to plant-based poisons and poisonous contact for a Wood Aspect, etc. A bonded rider may equip their simhata with artifacts, such as armour and even weapons, though of course these must be properly fitted. The rider bays the requesite attunement costs, but the simhata gains full use and benefits (including any magical material bonuses thyat the rider would gain).

--- Supplementary Mote Pool: When touching a simhata to which they are bonded, an Exalt gains access to the simhata's mote pool, to spend as if it were their own pool of personal motes (though it cannot be used for attunement). The simhata itself never has access to this pool, even if it has enlightened its essence.

--- Familiar: A simhata is a 3-dot familiar. Its details are as listed here ignoring any information from the Familiar background itself.