Vaeran

Named after an elven word for a child who ate too much candy, these forest-dwelling marsupials are known as "sugar bats" to other groups and are valued for their sweet-tasting, tender meat and warm pelts. They are flightless, but excellent climbers with prehensile tails roughly the size of an opossum.

Physical

Vaerans are dog-sized creatures with four large claws on their front paws, and three toes on their back paws. Their paws and long, prehensile tails are bare, rough skin that allows them to grip tree bark safely and effectively. Their thick, silky fur covers the rest of their body, longest around the neck, chest, and forelimbs, and is prized by hunters to sell for use in luxury goods. These pelts are dully colored and marked with bold stripes for camouflage. Large ears and eyes and long whiskers allow them to navigate in dark forests at all hours and stay alert for their many predators. They have long, thin tongues used to lick sap from holes drilled into trees using their large front claws.

Habitat

Found on: Halios, Aegoros, Eutera

Vaerans are found in the lush forests of all three continents. They are most common on Eutera in Lycanthra's ancient forests, as well as east of Greenhollen on Halios. Some have spread further west on all major continents, but only to where trees remain densely packed and plant life remains plentiful. The name "sugar bat" is most commonly used for them on Aegoros, while the others tend to refer to them by their elven name.

Diet

Vaerans have a strict diet of tree sap, nectar, and when available, honey. They may unintentionally eat insects along the way. Because of their diet, their bodies often become tools for plants to disperse seeds.

Behavior

Domestication: wild, unaggressive

Vaerans are docile and skittish prey animals, and can be lured to people with sugar water, syrup, or honey. Hunters may take advantage of this to set traps and easily catch and kill them. Children may lure them in and attempt to play, but their erratic movements often scare the vaerans away. In wood elf culture, it is considered a serious taboo to kill a mother with babies in her pouch. Wood elves who choose to hunt them will lure them and check to make sure there are no babies in their pouch before killing them.