The Stable · Chapter 14

Mounts of Dort

A world names its own animals. This chapter is one world's stable, as an example of how regional breeds are built from the general entries: take the nearest animal in Chapters 9 to 13, change one or two numbers, and add the trait that the people who bred it wanted.

Dort is the world of the Ix setting. Its peoples each bred a mount for their own country. The entries below are complete and can be used as they stand.

People	Home	Mount
The horse breeders of Jazirah	Mosulad	Al Jaziri Horse
Dwarves	Malurten, Rockmount (Irna)	Carpsonic Grizzleback, Ironhoof Steed
Elves	Maxan (Antaea)	Moonmane Charger
Smalings and gnomes	Windward, Hashire (Irna)	Meadow Trotter, Hashire Hopper
Plains tribes	Aysgarth (Irna)	Irnian Courser
Greyfang orcs	Antaea	Orcish War Brute
The riders of Chon Buri	Shoing	Drakin Flame Runner
Handler families	Gwajin (Shoing)	Emerald Pachyderm
The racing stables	Tontou (Funta)	Funta Kasike
Frostbound Stables	Frosthaven (Irna)	Frost-Mare
The Ice Lake fishers	Coleshill (Irna)	Ice Lake Otter
The Pilots' Cooperative	Zazua (Shoing)	Zazua Pilot Drake
The island patrol	Junaloia (Dort Islands)	Tide Serpent

The Pegasus Paddock at The Heavens keeps the Pegasus of Chapter 12, and the Hippogriff, Griffon, Great Eagle, and Wyvern of that chapter are all found in Dort.

Dort's dragons are people. Nobody rides one.

Al Jaziri Horse

Desert Blood, Sand Charger

• Attacks: Hoof (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 5)

Bred around Mosulad in Jazirah. A refined, sand-coloured horse of medium height that keeps its pace across dunes for days. It is a scout's and a messenger's mount, and a cultural symbol. It is the Desert Horse of Chapter 9 at its best.

Carpsonic Grizzleback

Malurten Bear, Dwarven Riding Bear

• Attacks: Claws (Unarmed; Damage 7; Crit 3; Vicious 2); Bite (Unarmed; Damage 6; Crit 4; Pierce 1)

The riding bear of the dwarves of Malurten in the Carpsonic Mountains of Irna: broader and lower than a wild bear, grizzled grey-brown, calm, and devoted to the dwarf who spent years earning it. It works mines and passes that defeat carts. It sickens in lowland heat.

Drakin Flame Runner

Fireblood, Ashfoot, Volcanosteed

• Attacks: Raking Kick (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4); Snap Bite (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4); Panic Flame (Heavy Ranged; Damage 4; Crit 4; Short; Burn 2)

The raptor-runner of Chon Buri in Shoing. It runs on two powerful hind legs with a long tail held out behind, clawed forelimbs tucked to its chest, and a horned, crested head on an upright neck. Its scales are rust red and ember orange, and the throat sacs at the base of its neck glow like banked coals. It has no wings. Fire-Blooded: fire and heat do not harm or frighten it, cold makes it sluggish (Speed 1), and once in an encounter, when frightened or commanded with a Hard Riding check, it uses Panic Flame.

Dwarven Ironhoof Steed

Ironhoof, Rockwalker, Forge-Horse

• Attacks: Hoof (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4)

Bred in Rockmount in Irna for the Ironspike and Carpsonic ranges: heavy-boned, dark, and tireless under load. Fire-Proof Hooves: its hooves are as hard as forged iron, strike sparks from stone, and are not harmed by fire or hot ground. It is the Mountain Horse of Chapter 9, stronger and slower.

Emerald Pachyderm

Forest Elephant, Gwajin Elephant, the Green Hide

• Attacks: Tusk Gore (Unarmed; Damage 7; Crit 3; Pierce 2); Trample (Unarmed; Damage 6; Crit 4; Blast 3 against clustered targets)

A green-grey forest elephant from around Gwajin in Shoing, smaller and more agile than the elephant of open country, with a trunk precise enough to work a latch. Handler families keep one animal for three generations. As a Siege Pachyderm it carries a fighting platform.

Elven Moonmane Charger

Moonmane, Silverfoot, Night-Breed

• Attacks: Hoof (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4)

Bred by the elves of Maxan in Antaea: tall, lean, and silver-grey, with a mane that catches moonlight. It moves through forest almost without sound and notices danger before its rider. Silent Hooves: add 2 Boon Dice to Stealth checks made while mounted on it in woodland.

Frost-Mare

Frosthaven horse, ice mare

The cold-country breed sold by the Frostbound Stables of Frosthaven in Irna. It is a Riding Horse that ignores the travel penalty for snow and does not suffer in the cold.

Funta Kasike

Kasike, Sprint Horse, Tontou Racer

• Attacks: Hoof (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 5)

The racing horse of Tontou in Funta, heavy in the hindquarters and glossy as a polished boot. Nothing leaves a standing start faster. It is the Courser of Chapter 9, bred for the festival track.

Hashire Hopper

Giant Riding Rabbit, Windhopper, the Long-Eared Express

• Attacks: Kick (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 5)

The riding rabbit of the gnomes and Smalings of Hashire in Irna. It is the Riding Hare of Chapter 11 by its proper name. It dislikes rock and desert.

Irnian Courser

Plains Runner, Aysgarth Blood, the Wide-Sky Horse

• Attacks: Hoof (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4)

The tall, long-legged horse of the plains tribes around Aysgarth in Irna, bred for hunting and war in open country. It covers more ground in a day than any other horse in Dort, and frets in a stable. It is a Light Warhorse with a longer stride.

Orcish War Brute

Durgor, Greyfang Boar, the Iron Mount

• Attacks: Tusks (Unarmed; Damage 6; Crit 3; Pierce 2); Stomp (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4; Knockdown)

The war mount of the Greyfang orcs of Antaea: a boar that stands above a warhorse, dark and bristle-maned, with great curved tusks the orcs band in iron. It is the War Boar of Chapter 11. The plates the Greyfangs hang on it are trophies and add nothing to its hide. Too Angry to Stop: once in an encounter it suffers 2 Wounds to ignore being Immobilized or knocked Prone. Three successful mountings are needed before it accepts a rider who is not an orc.

Smaling Meadow Trotter

Windward Pony, Meadow Horse

The gentle, thick-maned pony of the Smalings of Windward in Irna, no taller than thirteen hands. It is the Pony of Chapter 9 with better manners. Meadow-Bred: it walks through standing crops without harming them, and it is unhappy in mountains and desert.

Ice Lake Otter

Coleshill otter, net-hauler

• Attacks: Bite (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 3; Pierce 2)

The Giant River Otter of the Ix Adversary Catalog, as ridden. It is the Giant Otter of Chapter 13. The fishers of the Ice Lake Fishery at Coleshill, on the Haffsa River in northern Irna, raise it from a kit. It hauls nets along the ice edge, and in the short summer it carries one lightly loaded fisher on the river and the lake. It is ridden low over the shoulders in a water saddle.

Zazua Pilot Drake

Delta drake, pilot drake

• Attacks: Bite (Heavy Melee; Damage 6; Crit 3; Pierce 1); Tail Sweep (Heavy Melee; Damage 5; Crit 4; Knockdown)

The River Drake of the Ix Adversary Catalog, as ridden. It is the River Drake of Chapter 13. The Pilots' Cooperative of Zazua, at the mouth of the Chanda River in southern Shoing, keeps a few trained to the saddle. A pilot rides one ahead of a loaded ship to read the Third Finger, the one deep channel through the delta. It is ridden behind the shoulders in a water saddle, and it walks across the sandbars between channels.

Tide Serpent

Coast serpent, wave wyrm

• Attacks: Bite (Heavy Melee; Damage 6; Crit 3; Pierce 2); Coil (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4; Ensnare 3)

The Tide Serpent of the Ix Adversary Catalog, as ridden. It is the Sea Serpent of Chapter 13. The patrol of Junaloia, in the Dort Islands of the Rhodian Ocean, has a few island-born riders who each raised a serpent from a hatchling. A rider goes out ahead of the patrol vessels, seated behind the crest in a water saddle, to meet arriving ships. It carries only the rider who raised it.