On the great fields of grass that border the northern edge of the capital, there lives a large group of creatures that almost any person could take on. Their coats have become the coat of arms for many small groups. The monster that has basically become the symbol of low level adventures is the horned rabbit.
Classification: The horned rabbit is a simple chimera, with the base of a rabbit and horns of a ram. The horned rabbit has been compared to the tale of the jackalope from the Hero's original planet, Earth. The horned rabbit is generally around sixteen inches long, with a white hide covering most of its length. The life span usually is around 4 years, but in captivity it has been seen to grow to eight.
Diet: The diet of horned rabbits includes the natural grasses and weeds, berries, the roots of the few trees still left in the area, and almost any other plant based food that they have the opportunity to eat. Horned rabbits are opportunistic to an extreme, sometimes going as far as stealing food from camping adventurers and merchants.
Behaviour: The horned rabbits’ hide is great camouflage, but only for winter. While a majority of other rabbits have the ability to change coat colors throughout the year, the horned rabbit opt for an easily cleanable coat. The purpose was specifically for the coats to be stained by grass that they constantly roll around in, turning them almost the same shade of green as the grass. They roll on the ground about twice a day all year long, just to keep up the coloring. The genius behind having an easily cleanable coat is that in winter, the rolling works with the opposite effect, removing the grass stains from the hide in time to hide in snow. Rabbits are very social, almost always staying in a colony, with the colony staying in a warren. Rabbit warrens are usually close to the surface, with many interconnected tunnels culminating in a main room for sleep and a deeper room for the young. Colonies will sometimes fight over land, usually sending out the largest rabbit in the colony to do glorious battle. The battle consists of two rabbits sprinting at each other, with the battle ending when a horn or head has been broken by the charges.
Combat: Horned rabbits are not the brightest monsters. The only thing they will do is jump straight at the target, hoping to at least to stun them with their act of stupidity before running surprisingly quickly. The easiest way to dispatch a horned rabbit is to bait it into jumping before moving sideways. As the horned rabbit falls on the ground from the miss, you can calmly walk over and kill it. It has the same defence as a normal rabbit, so even a farmer with a little extra strength could fight it.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Resources: The horned rabbit may be named after its head, but its fur is the main reason it is hunted. The fur can be made into many clothes, and because of its anti-stain nature, means that normal people can quickly wash large amounts of clothes. The horns can be made into simple musical instruments or embellishments on pieces of art. The rabbits’ meat is just rabbit, even if it is easier to transport to the masses in the capital.
Danger rating: F-. Reward rating: F.
Variants: Horned rabbit king, blue horned rabbit. The horned rabbit king is the strongest member of the species currently alive. The horned rabbit king can bring together a few colonies to work as one, and slightly increase the intelligence of its subordinates. It takes time for a horned rabbit king to be able to use its abilities to a useful degree, sometimes even a year. Young adventurers usually go out of their way to kill horned rabbit kings, as their fur is a shade of purple that grows deeper the longer it lives.
Danger rating: F to E-. Reward rating: E+.
The blue horned rabbit is a mutant that usually appears once every two to three years. This mutant has light blue fur, but also a different type of horn. The blue horned rabbit’s horns look more like those of a gemsbok, going straight up. These differences lead to the colony that it is born into not recognizing the blue horned rabbit as part of the colony, so they will kick it out. Blue horned rabbits often die soon after being born, but they grow powerful quickly if they survive. Surviving blue horned rabbits are often the strongest in their species, but as the horned rabbits do not recognize it as one of them, it is impossible to have a blue horned rabbit king. The horns of the blue horned rabbits are deceptively sharp, on par with military grade spears, letting them pierce through wood and in some stories stone, making them desirable for low to mid level weapons.
Danger rating: E- to D-. Reward rating: D-.