Troqatul (5e Creature)

Large beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 26 (4d10 + 4)
Speed 50 ft.

Saving Throws Dex +5
Senses passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Forest Camouflage. The troqatul has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in forests, woodlands, or other terrain of abundant foliage.

Quick Reflexes. The troqatul gets an additional reaction.

Ultraviolet Dampened. Creatures with Keen Sight roll Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see a troqatul with disadvantage and the troqatul has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide from them.

While the islands of the Free-State have many animals familiar to modern humans of Earth, the most common large animal in their hills and forests, and indeed much of the mainland forests of the known world, is on that is quite bizarre to us and has no living relatives, and therefore no analogue, on Earth. Historians of the Assembly and naturalists of the Great Library over the years have classified them variously as an unusual camel or even horse, the discovery of macrauchenia and other litopterns^[1] that they understood just how unique these animals are in a modern context, and just how unremarkable they were in the context of South American megafauna.^[2] While deer, bovids, horses, and camels are far more diverse in modern Kaimere, most of these animals are from much more recent harvests, whereas the less species diverse litopterns and toxodonts^[3] have populations that are far larger and more stable, with only the giant buffalo of the Houze Prairie and mammoth of Arvel's highland steppes competing in that regard. In Arvel and Ni'Khar's forests, toxodonts and litopterns make up as the vast majority of large mammals herbivores over half a ton, with the most common of the latter being species of the genus Alcecamelops ("Moose camel face"), known generally by the common name troqatul, with a species in the Free-States and Khalin islands (Alcecamelops troqatul), Pakardia (Alcecamelops anamotu), and forests of Arvel and Ni'Khar (Alcecamelops arvelensis).
Fleet of Hoof. Troqatul are defining herbivores of Kaimere's forested ecosystems, being extremely abundant while also generally being too large for predators like big cats and common cockatrice to bring down in confidence. That said, in a world where tyrannosaurus sized dinosaurs with meat hook claws and terror birds stalk the woods, they are far from without threat of predation. While troqatul are indeed quite fast, they are not as built for speed or endurance as ungulates like pronghorn, horses, deer, or camels, but make up for it with agility: their ankle bones are constructed in such a way to allow them to make sharp turns without slowing down as analogous herbivores must do. This has thwarted many a predator in the chase, as they are often still fast enough to race through the forests at such speeds that their predators cannot catch them if they miss the initial ambush, especially bruisers like the fireback.
Further augmenting this defense are ultraviolet dampening secretions in their skin, similar to those of toxodonts and sloths, making it more difficult for the keen eyed theropods that dominate Kaimere to detect them in the first place, but troqatul also have a novel defense of their own: their colorful noses, which when inflated display an array of ultrviolet hues. To their own vison and that of most mammals, the color is a pleasant blue or purple, but to theropod predators, the kaleidoscope array of colors is intense to the point of disorientation and the Assembly has noted several instances where troqatul were cornered, inflated their snouts, then used the confusion to escape. With this menagerie of defenses and plenty of food to support their herds and the bulk of each individual, it is little wonder that troqatul are among the most abundant mammals over half a ton in the forests of the known world.
Significant to Beast and Man. Like toxodonts, troqatul have flexible diets to the point that they can survive on the gymnosperm flora common in the titan gardens, but need periodic angiosperm leaves and grasses and so must keep on the move to migrate to concentrations of these plants. Arvelith troqatul often migrate through either passes or around the mountains in massive herds to feed on the ample grasses in the summer of Arvel's southern highlands, then return to the titan gardens when the highlands become too cold for their liking. The species of Ni'Khar's western forests, which may or may not just be a subspecies of the Arvelith species given that both regularly hybridize and they appear to be similar in many respects, once did the same with Ni'Khari prairies, but once Houze grass came to the known world a few thousand years ago, they instead only feed on grass patches in the titan gardens which are less reliable as a resource. The anamotu (Alcecamelops anamotu) does the same with Pakardia's mountains taking only a week to cross them to the southern coast and back to the northern lowlands. There is enough competition from pronghorns and deer that they don't linger long and while anamotu can get by on horsetails, ferns, and the like, they still need some grass for a healthy diet, but "arid" is relative when living on an island with near constant rain. Anamotu, coming to Pakardia 1.5 million years ago during the low sea levels at the end of the Anchored period, are also the largest litopterns in kaimere and the most combative of troqatul, readily taking the fight to wolves, leopards, indrakai, and weochetu’ka.
The name "troqatul", while applied to Alcecamelops generally, specifically refers to the species domesticated in Qadan, islands of the Free-States. This species, Alcecamelops troqatul, are smaller than most troqatul and descended from the now extinct Qajarith species of troqatul which migrated to the islands 1.5 million years ago like the anamotu did for Pakardia. While lions and leopards are still a threat in the highlands of these islands, most have been hunted to extinction within the past half a million years, believed to be the reason this species have a temperament suitable for domestication. Domesticated troqatul are bred most commonly for labor, travel, and war: while horses are faster, cattle stronger, and camels have better endurance, the agility of troqatul has given them quite favorable positions in warfare, particularly among scouts when needing to move through a forested environment. They also excel in cavalry charges, navigating obstacles and fortifications that would slow less maneuverable mounts with ease and troqatul have one many a military engagement in Kaimere's history, the Free-States and Qajarith Republic both holding them in high regard. While the anamotu is too aggressive for domestication, the Pakardiant do prize the troqatul, as an animal that can eat mostly horsetails and ferns: while this makes the meat mildly toxic to humans, these are the plants most abundant in Pakardia and grazing space for cattle is not common, making troqatul more practical. The Pakardiant also breed the troqatul and anamotu to produce their own breed, the konamotu, a powerful war beast. The success of the troqatul makes them all the more fascinating when the extinction of their ansectors on Earth was not that long ago, and makes the mind wonder what could have been.