| Class: | Beast OR Majical Constuct |
| Hab: | Domicile, unless feral |
| Fre: | Rare; Common where they are made or feral colonies |
| Num: | As kept; 2-20 |
| Lair: | 95% |
| Size: | Most 3-12' in length |
| Move: | Slow lumber or horse-fast roll |
| Def: | Very tough hide, usually covered by a thick pelt |
| Att: | Bite + claws = animal made from + envelope to smother |
| Int: | As original animal, sometimes enhanced when enchanted |
| Spec: | Sometimes given extra majical qualities (fireproof, etc.) |
| Posns: | Rarely, other than own pelt |
Some animal skin rugs are simply magically animated animal skins. Others are made by taking a healthy animal and magically or, through the use of alchemical diet, dissolving the bones and helping the animal adapt its muscles to its new form. These latter have proven so successful that there are now feral colonies of, for example, bear and badger-skin, panther and lion-skin "rugs" lurking in the wilds.
A majordomo will generally buy several of the same type of "rugs," so they will interact well and breed to produce more - but a wise majordomo will check to be sure the rugs are well-trained! Luckily, there are several varieties that seem to take very readily to domestication. They enjoy being walked on; it's like a nice massage - but no spiked heels please!
While most rugs are generally somewhat slow when humping along, they can roll up in to a cylindrical form and roll along quite rapidly, striking like a serpent when they unroll.
Some have special qualities, such as mothproofing, superior durability (additional "armour" value), fireproofing (which may be trained to extinguish fires), extra fighting abilities if doubles as guard, comfy if for curling up in front of a fireplace, Dark-Vision, or wear-resistance.
Animal Skin Rugs are very similar to Dust-Eating Rugs (which SEE), but some of the larger carnivorous varieties enjoy supplementing their diet of mice and moths with the occasional sneak-thief! Animal-skin Rugs look like regular animal skin rugs but are animated. They may lap up litter, catch mice, and attack sneak-thieves. They may or may not "play dead."
Rugs attack with the same bite ands claw attacks as the animals from which they (or their ancestors) were made, or by enveloping the trespasser and sucking the blood out through the thousands of tiny, supple syringes; these flexible needles may form a fringe along the rug's edge or the entire belly-pelt may be formed of sucking syringes. The hair-fine syringes can wriggle their way between chinks in armour or layers of clothes.
Many rugs have a pelt on each side and are reversible; often, the two sides have different colours and patterns, providing greater aesthetic flexibility and camouflage. Some have a leathery gripping surface on their bellies, while others just have a gripping surface on their paws.
Smother Skins
Smother skins are similar swaths of hairless hide. Some are natural beasts, despite their bizarre appearance. Others are feral mutants escaped from skin cloning facilities such as supply high-tech hospitals. Some smother skins are refugees of primitive torture chambers where victims are skinned alive; the great trauma, such as might give rise to a ghost, in this case grants the skin an independent life.
A swarm of squirrel-sized baby or of pygmy smother skins may resemble a swirl of fallen leaves - until they attack.
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