Hampu

Limbs: Quadrupedal with strong, muscular forearms and hind legs designed for climbing, digging, and combat. 

Skeletal Structure: Robust with reinforced bones, especially in the skull and tail. 

Musculature: Thick, powerful muscles adapted for burrowing, climbing, and combat. 

Unique Features: Large, tufted ears, glowing eyes, retractable sharp teeth, cheek pouches capable of sonic emissions, and a whip-like tail with an armored tip.

- Reproduction: Mating occurs annually, with females typically birthing a single offspring after a gestation period of approximately 8 months. 

- Offspring: Born precocial, capable of clinging and learning from the mother from birth. 

- Genetic Traits: Variations include fur color, muscle density, and magical enhancements, inherited from ancestral lineages.

- Infant: Neonates are small, blind, and reliant on maternal care, with rapid growth during the first 2 years. 

- Juvenile: Reaches half adult size by age 5, learning hunting and burrowing skills. 

- Adult: Fully matured at 10-15 years, with peak strength and magical capabilities. 

- Elder: Can live up to 150 years, gradually declining in agility but maintaining formidable strength.

Primarily inhabits rugged mountain terrains and dense, ancient forests. They prefer areas with ample caves and underground tunnels for shelter and are often found near magical ley lines that enhance their abilities. They play a crucial role as guardians of their environment. The beasts maintain the balance within the ecosystem.

Omnivorous: Prefers hunting small mammals, insects, and scavenging plant material like fruits, nuts, and roots. Excels at digging for underground tubers and fungi. They store food in cheek pouches or underground caches and are skilled foragers.

Seasonal Behavior: May enter a state of mild hibernation or reduced activity during harsh winters. 

Shedding: Fur sheds annually, coinciding with seasonal changes. 

Reproductive Cycle: Seasonal breeding aligns with environmental conditions to ensure offspring survival.

Territorial: Defends its territory fiercely, especially during breeding seasons. 

Communication: Uses vocalizations, scent markings, and visual signals. 

Defense: Emission of sonic screeches, posturing, and tail strikes to deter predators. 

They lives in complex packs led by dominant elders; younger members learn hunting, digging, and defense. 

They will have large glowing eyes, tufted ears, prominent jaws with retractable teeth.

Primarily thriving in the rugged mountain ranges and dense forests. They can be found nesting in cliff caves, ancient tree hollows, and underground burrows within the mountain forests.

Intelligence: Highly intelligent, capable of problem-solving, tool use, and understanding magic-based commands.

- Enhanced Night Vision: Glowing eyes allow perfect vision in darkness. 

- Acute Hearing: Sensitive ears detect the faintest vibrations. 

- Vibrational Sensing: Capable of detecting seismic activity or sinkholes via enhanced sensory perception, aided by icy magic related to rocks and earth. 

- Sonic Emission: Cheek pouches produce disorienting screeches and sonic blasts for defense. 

- Pheromone Release: Glands emit scents to communicate, calm, or deceive.

The Hampu is a lineage evolved from ancestral burrowing beasts. They have adapted to mountainous and forested environments. Variations include differences in fur pigmentation (deep gray to silver), muscle mass (ranging from lean to heavily muscular), and specialized traits such as enhanced sonic abilities or armor plating, depending on environmental pressures.

They have a sacred pact with the Rásan merchants. Nímari has a neutral stance for they don't understand why the pact works. The beasts don't seem to mind for its called survival of their species.