Akkoure of the Desert

Information

Class: Report
Wc: 562

Publishing

Aut: Teeou’Ree
Dt: 401 A.T.
Ogn: Sellsword

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• Akkoure

We are certain now, there there is a population of distinct akkoure in the desert, though how this came to be is still unclear. Even among avoc who dwell near or in the desert, their ability to persist in the region is seen as an oddity.

How is it that creatures only known in the colder mountain and glacial regions not only exists but thrives in the mostly arid deserts? I, along with my fellow researcher Per ‘Derik traveled to the planet-star of Liskko in Aft Seas, where the largest known population of this animal was said to be. Once the locals were informed of the reason behind our presence, several stories were told of the local akkoure’s existence, and though there were some conflicting details most of the stories agree on the large details. We have reproduced such below:

Centuries ago after the Thawing, the glaciers that covered Liskko and created a habitat for akkoure and other tundra-dependent creatures retreated and largely melted, leaving the planet-star with its current climate including several deserts. Many of these creatures died off or had their territory reduced due the scarcity of previously abundant resources and livable space. A more resilient creature like the akkoure instead shortened its lifespan, dying naturally earlier in their life cycle due to the strain the environment put on their adult sized bodies.

However, after a year’s worth of monitoring a local population of these akkoure, we know that not to be the case. Though it would have been helpful to have documentation or reproductions of the larger akkoure most are familiar with for the locals, we do not believe these akkoure ‘grow up’ into normal-sized akkoure in different environments. We remained around the village nearest the large population earlier described for more than a year, recording a rough count of how many akkoure were in the pack each day along with rough descriptions of size in an effort to monitor the population’s young. While a much more in-depth study is recommended to future researchers, we were able to determine several things.

Most interestingly, what was believed to be some fragments of desert vegetation by the locals is actually the shed overcoat of the akkoure. Whatever the reason for these akkoure to be in the desert, we believe that they are continuously growing an overcoat similar to ‘normal’ akkoure and constantly shed them, leaving thick fibers across the desert. Additionally, we observed two periods of mating throughout the year, with births occurring almost entirely in the weeks before what would be the end of the warm season or cold season. In the desert, both of these seasons are dry and mating and births occur before the seasons where moisture is most likely.

Though we believe that the theory of a post-Thawing glacial retreat stranding akkoure and effectively trapping them to die earlier in their life cycle is an incorrect one, we are unable to say with certainty why these akkoure exist in the desert, especially considering that their bodies seem to be suited to colder living. Perhaps despite our growing knowledge of the Known Universe this might best be explained like many other things, through the work of Davoto. For some reason unknown to us, Davoto cursed these akkoure in particular for something they had done and they are doomed to live in an inhospitable environment in a cub-sized form.