Worlds Without Number: Creatures and Critters of Latter Earth

The last WWN post in a while, this one is a collection of random and weird creatures to populate Latter Earth, as first extrapolated in this post. Not every fantastical or bizarre creature needs to be a 'monster', some are perfectly ordinary animals give or take centuries of human and Outsider experimentation to produce the right type of critters for their needs.

Sheeps (Fluffers, Beaked Sheeps, Hairy Hen)

Like this, but way bigger. (wVw)

No, not the sheep we know of. Their name is usually 'sheep' in whatever local language because the creature has a role similar to woolly sheep. Not every animal found on Latter Earth is terrifying abomination, some are cute, adorable and cuddly in their own way. The Hairy Hen or Wooled Hen to use a number of names are ancient descendants of genetically engineered Silkie Hen which can grow to the size of cattle. Unlike the regular type, they are much larger and covered in a coat of something very much closer to actual wool. This fluffy coat can be sheared and made into avian wool, which is one of the reason these creatures are raised.

The second reason is that, unlike a sheep, they lay eggs which include fertile and non fertile eggs. A single 'sheep' can lay a giant egg which is good source of food. It is clear these creatures were engineered to optimized farming as the animal is multi purpose: they can be sheared for wool, their eggs and flesh are edible and they are larger enough to cart around wagons, even if they aren't exactly the best beasts of burden by any stretch. While generally kind creatures, they are omnivorous and their beak are lined with teeth which they use to eat grass, small animals and just about anything. An angered and suitably frightened sheep is no fighter but the creature is still capable of biting off a man's hand if suitably frightened.

Blind Hounds (Pale Hound, Pale Beasts, Deep Wolves)

Art by Simon Guillory-Seguin

While quite hideous in form, Blind Hounds aren't monsters. They might smell bad, have slimy skin and a slavering maw filled with teeth for rending flesh but they aren't monstrous. They have no monstrous urge and are simply an engineered life form. Seemingly grown in the Depths from a fusion of canine, moles and underground creatures which may include worms, the Blind Hounds are large quadrupedal blind creatures with a mentality similar to a loyal hound or a vicious attack dog which they were indeed bred to be.

In an reversal of the changes from wolves to dogs, the original Blind Hounds were much smaller creatures, with a slimmer build to squeeze through tunnels and their paws were designed to grab on to ceilings and walls of the Dephs. The modern, surface-dwelling breeds are freed from the constraint of the Depths and have been bred to ever larger size, with increased intelligence and ferocity. As with their genetically engineered ancestors, they are still blind but can detect smells and vibrations through their skin to an almost preternatural degree. Blind Hounds aren't particularly popular on the surface as guard beast now that humans and demihumans have 'real' hounds but these creatures retain a use among folks who live a semi-subterranean existence or among those whose environment is a bit more cramped. Another use of the Blind Hounds is that they can detect things which sight alone cannot, since they can sense pure movement, rending invisibility completely useless against them at short range.