The best defense against Blood Flies (other than simply never bleeding) is to keep moving. They track by scent, not sight, so even if a swarm is in the same clearing, there is still hope to get moving, and hope to find water. Getting into water is the second method -- On the one hand, washing away blood helps. On the other, Blood Flies drown very easily, and the best way to save a victim covered with the flies is to dunk him quickly.

One noteworthy feature of the burrowbit is its ability to store extra food in large sacks that open at its "mouth", and run along the length of its body. It feeds mostly on roots and fungi, and thus these are primarily stored there. If attacked by a predator, the burrowbit follows one of three reactions. First, if it is relatively easy, the burrowbit will simply retreat into its hole and flee. Second, if it is completely cornered, it may attempt to fight, but burrowbits are hardly impressive for their ferocity.

Third, however, the burrowbit is capable of contracting its body and forceably expelling the contents of its food pouches and then fleeing. Many times, a food-seeking predator will stop to investigate the expelled food first, before attempting pursuit.

This latter tactic, while mostly successful as a last-ditch method, is actually somewhat flawed ... because the Gooshurms seem specially adapted in their behaviors to exploit this feature of the burrowbit. They seek out the small creature during its rare surface excursions, burst out, and whip it with their semi-prehensile tongues. This is usually sufficient to prompt the burrowbit to expel its store and skitter away like the dickens ... while the gooshurm has a snack.

While chibix wings are very fragile, the creatures themselves are shelled, and have some ability to regenerate (slowly), making them fairly hardy. They tend to be about the size of true bats, though there are rumors that in some regions they may reach truly legendary wingspans.

In the Ashdod Territories, they are raised as a food staple by the Eeee. Chibix raised for food have their wings plucked - in part so that they cannot fly away, but also because a flightless chibix generally does nothing but sit and eat, and quickly its fatty hump grows significantly in size. Some Eeee nobles consider it a delicacy to pluck the pry loose the shell of a chibix and eat from its fatty hump, while the creature shrieks loudly, making a "pleasing" sound.

Chibix with their wings left intact are sometimes kept as pets, though they are not known for being terribly bright. (And if they misbehave, they make a nice snack.) In myth, chibix often serve as messengers for the Goddess of Secrets, Barada.

The same name also applies to a type of jungle-dwelling insect (collectively "chigai" or "chigas") to be found in the Savan, well known for attacking the unwary in swarms, capable of bringing down small prey with their bites -- or being a considerable nuisance to larger foes. Sap from the Thistlebark Tree has properties in repelling and killing these pests, leading to much speculation about their relationship to the mythical "Chigai". Alas, it is unknown whether the name for the bug or the "demon" came first.

They are insectivores, and some varieties are capable of being taught to mimic sounds, much like parrots, hence making them somewhat popular as exotic pets for those who can afford them.

Drokars are warm-blooded creatures with strongly reptilian features, resembling Terran equines, but with seemingly stylized and elongated features, such as a long, thin and sharply angled muzzle. Unlike reptiles, they sport especially long and wild manes and tufted, leonine tails. They run wild in the plains of the Savan, though they can be found in other regions as well -- even across the sea on the continent of Ur, in parts of Ashdod. Among surface dwellers, they are used as mounts, though on Rephidim they are not found in significant number, since there aren't the wide expanses to justify (or sustain) them, and such beasts of burden as dromodons are more practical for the expense required to maintain them.

When disturbed or agitated, the eep will begin to rapidly vibrate, finally emitting an ear-splitting "EEP!" and exploding in a spontaneous self-combustion, sending feathers, bits of bone splinters, and other unpleasant eep elements raining on the nearby area. Oddly enough, nearby eeps will be practically impervious to this, and may go right on without evidencing any notice at all.

Eeps have no known predators -- their own suicidal nature keeps the population in check.

For some reason, many nobles have taken to procuring fuff'nars as pets. If kept well fed, they've proven to be tame and affectionate -- although if they go for any length of time without food, there's an excellent chance they'll attack their owner. Thusly, when the fuff'nar owmer decides to take the pet for a walk... it's a good idea to keep them muzzled.

Fuff'nars have one amazing trait; they can actually mimic a person's voice -- often repeating words said to it by the master. They tend to pick up words relating to their lifestyle and scavenger nature, usually words like "dead" and "kill".

They are primarily found in the Himaat Desert (especially the Sea of Sand), and some can be found in the southern portions of Himar or venturing into the Savan Territories.

Legend has it that Gooshurms are inexplicably drawn to foxes, and will pop out of the soil, to lick at the surprised vulpine with their three prehensile tongues, slurping them until they are drenched in worm slobber, before suddenly slipping underground again and zipping along at surprising speeds.

Grooks can sustain the loss of limbs without any apparent ill effects (other than the loss of the use of that limb, of course), but it appears that breaking or removing the "head" will incapacitate a grook, and cause the rest of its body to fall apart.

Grooks are found in dark areas, known to have an aversion for bright light, and are primarily found in the country of Kroz in Nordika (northern Ai), though they are sometimes found in neighboring regions (such as southern Gallis and western Olympia).

Large turtle-like creature found in Lamu, prized by the Lacinus for its meat and remains, as its shell makes good armor, its beak and be used to make a spear, and its eyes harden upon death, then glow when heated up by fire. They mostly dine on Water-Flinger.

Female horribs possess the ability to inject a paralyzing, non-lethal form of poison into their prey, so that they can plant their eggs in the still-conscious victim, which will then hatch into larvae and feed upon the host. The Babelites use horribs thus to condemn criminals to a particularly horrible fate, essentially being eaten alive by horrib larvae, and sustained during the whole and quite terrible ordeal.

Horribs are also carefully prepared as a delicacy of sorts (since improper preparation can result in poisoned food), and the fleshy tail is especially prized by Eeee diners.

While they normally travel just under the surface of the sand, they are also capable of leaping considerable distances and bouncing or even rolling along the dunes. They are playful creatures at times, apparently showing affection to each other by bounding into the air and crashing into each other, making a distinctive "koosh" sound when they do so. Otherwise, they are completely silent.

Largely, the Kooshkies are prey to various desert denizens, but teams of them may be captured and trained by Nohbakims to draw Kooshkie Sleds. At times, Kooshkie sleds can be seen trailing across the desert, drawn by unseen mounts, with a Nohbakim standing on the sled, cracking a whip in the air and yelling, "Hooska, Kooshkies! Hooska!" The word "Hooska" appears to have no other use in the language of the Nohbakim, and its meaning is not even known for sure by the Nohbakim (though they are never short on opinions).

A small but fierce carnivore found in the Savan, noted for its large and sensitive ears, long snout, faintly blue-tinged fur, and large claws. These creatures are often hunted for their pelts, but can be trained as pets and guardians.

They are not so powerful or resilient as Beasthounds or Groks, lacking thick hides or body armor. However, they are known to fight in a flurry of tooth and claw (mostly claw), sufficient to drive off most enemies twice their size. They're also more favored as pets since they're more easily house-trained than most combat beasts, and tend to be slightly more sociable.

It even retains these properties for a limited time after death, and thus a minor amusement is often made for children by treating oghnoigh bodies to negate toxins in their bodies (but also effectively destroying any nutritional value in the process) and preservatives. Naga children can then slap the oghnoigh bodies silly, producing interesting color patterns, until they "wear out".

Oghnoighs can also be fashioned into jewelry before their bodies dry out, and it's a common belief that jewelry will reflect the "mood" of the wearer, since it seems to react to body temperature as well as pressure. This aspect of the ognoigh is exploited mostly in exports. Nagas, after all, are cold-blooded.

It is believed that oghnoighs reproduce by breaking off into smaller oghnoighs. Thus, they're built to take a lot of punishment before they're ready to reproduce.

These living "vehicles" are apparently giant insects with mechanical components that served in the arsenal of the Sabaoth of Babel, until their destruction in their ill-fated assault on Rephidim. These giant fliers get their name from their weapons of choice: They carry within them biological weapons -- poisonous spores, disease-ridden vapors, and sometimes swarms of smaller bugs, such as horribs.

While the Plaguebringers are armed to resist most any blow, it was discovered that they have two weak points: their wings, and the "eyes". The pilot resides in a hollow space in the head behind the latter, making him vulnerable to attack.

Rotbiters were only briefly found in any numbers on Sinai shortly after the "Boomer Incident" in Himar, when Elamoore was displaced by the Red Cliffs. Several Rotbiters were in a section of "canal" that came with the Red Cliffs, and spilled off into the surrounding forests, devastating the local population of Himarian Jupani, before eventually dying off.

Rotbiters bear considerable structural similarity to gooshurms, wyrms and even shriken, and may somehow be related.

One "hazard" that may be encountered by a rider of a selona rickshaw is that, if two male selonas should happen to approach each other head on, they will come to a halt and then start engaging in a head-bobbing contest, trying to look bigger and tougher than each other, much to the chagrin of a driver trying to keep them moving.

Serendips are used as a means of travel by water, and they have some limited ability to crawl over the land. They are (for the most part) peaceful creatures that can be trained to serve as mounts and pack animals.

Shrikens rarely live to grow to full adult size, typically found at no greater than a few feet in length, but there are legends of gigantic shrikens capable of smashing sand-triremes or swallowing victims whole. Some credence is lent to these legends in that the sand-faring Nohbakim often use very large bony structures for the supports for their sand-triremes ...which would tend to suggest the existence of suitably large creatures to provide the skeletons from which these structures are made!

Skedats move about on multiple tiny little legs, and they have larger claws useful for handling prey and for flipping themselves back over if they are upended. They are very disagreeable, capable of making loud screeches that sound like fingernails scraping on slate, only amplified ... and they will charge "intruders" on their "territory".

Skedat nests are noteworthy for the silvery sheen of the melon-sized eggs. At first glance, they may be mistaken for metal, because of the high silicon content.

"Skedat" is also the name used for a weapon favored by the warriors of Ashdod, fashioned from a skedat shell, hollowed out to cover the hand and part of the forearm, held with a supporting grip. Thus, it serves as a shield and a weapon, what with the sharp spikes. Sometimes the segmented tail is left on, used by more experienced warriors as a barbed whip. "Skedat armor" is made from shells of varying sizes, and it is common for warrior cults of Ashdod to send out young warriors to prove themselves by defeating a skedat in unarmed combat, then to fashion a weapon from the shell.

Small reptilian domesticated creatures, almost spheroid in shape, tapering at each end into a scrawny neck and diminutive head, and a vestigal tail. They lay blue-purple eggs, which have a reddish-orange filling that is considered a Lamunian delicacy when eaten raw.

Vanderat races are a popular spectator sport in Abu Dhabi, with organized gambling over which ones are expected to win or place.

Vermites thrive on eating just about anything, and can be a hazard, as, in large numbers, they are capable of attacking and killing prey much larger than themselves. In urban environments, though, they are typically skulking, timid little creatures, zipping around and snatching off morsels and generally getting their filthy little bodies into places where they shouldn't be.

Vermite exterminators generally have no shortage of work, though it's generally not a pleasant job, requiring going in AFTER the little beasties, into foul environments, and the vermin often carry communicable diseases. Despite this fact, it is not uncommon in poorer quarters for vermites to be captured and cooked up as a very cheap source of meat. (It's said that vermites actually taste almost like rughrat ... but who is going to investigate that claim?)

The semi-transparent Waashu purportedly gains its name from the sound it makes as it gulps in large quantities of air and then expels it to jet forward with some limited maneuverability. (For the most part, however, it is a slave to the winds.) These gases that it generates and which seep out when it expels air are noxious and somewhat flammable, so while the Waashu may be visually appealing to some at a distance, it isn't nearly so pleasant to approach.

Dissected Waashu have no discernable brain or central nervous system, and demonstrate little more intelligence (if any) than plant life.