Mogwainiu

Mogwainu are an alien species of an origin that has, at this point, been lost to time. Closely resembling Old Earth Avians, Mogwainiu evolved into a niche where, instead of taking to the skies, they adapted into land based grazing animals. Their beaks adapted to breaking the stalks of particularly hardy plants. Their spread throughout the galaxy was, however, the result of human activity. Mogwainu are incredibly fast runners, being more capable of speeds approaching 80 kilometers per hour in a sprint, particularly on worlds with Earthlike or lower gravity. Because of this, colonists brought these animals with them to serve as low maintenance personal transport, though in colonies where animal power was required oxen or similarly muscular animals.   Mogwainiu are tall, relatively lean animals, typically standing almost two meters tall, and weighing in at eighty to one hundred kilograms. Their bodies are composed primarily of lean muscle with relatively little body fat, and bones of lighter mass than would be expected of animals of their size. Mogwainiu’s bodies are covered in thick, downy feathers, except for their heads, their necks, and their legs. They are well suited to living in low gravity environments, typically between .25g and .9g, but do not do well in high gravity environments with persistent gravity greater than 1.5g causing severe health problems including the death of the animal. They are quite strong with an array of extremely high density fast twitch muscles in their legs, allowing them to run at very high speeds, in spite of their somewhat lanky appearance.   Mogwainiu are herbivorous animals preferring to eat plants with woody stalks for which their beaks have adapted to crush. They are fiercely territorial creatures that will attack other members of their species, or similar looking animals if they believe them to be intruding, which has made their domestication difficult. Despite this, many frontier settlers still prefer Mogwainiu to other animals, including the Terran horse as its speed is virtually unparalleled short of mechanized transportation.  

Animal	Hits	Speed
Mogwainiu	29	40m
Skills	Athletics (dexterity) 3, Athletics (endurance) 1, Melee (natural) 2, Recon 2, Survival 2
Attacks	Kick (2D)
Traits	Fast Metabolism (+2), Large (+1)
Behavior	Herbivore, Grazer