General
Many animals have impressive tusks, but few are as spectacular as the curled canines of an adult male babitanah. Males use their tusks in combat, rutting with each other to defend their territories and impress onlooking females. The fights can go on for hours, even days, and become quite bloody if neither combatant is willing to back down. While the upper tusks are by far the most noteworthy, growing continually throughout the animal's life and requiring constant grinding to keep from piercing their own skull, they're actually used primarily for self-defense. The upper teeth form a sort of shield between a babitanah and its opponent, while the straight lower teeth form gouging weapons capable of doing considerable damage. A female's tusks are much smaller by comparison, but don't be fooled -- any determined babitanah can make quick work of whatever displeases them with those tusks.
Egg
This egg has a crest of stiff bristles.
Hatchling
Young babitanah are charming creatures, intelligent as dogs and easily capable of solving puzzles or learning tricks. They're easy to train and make for good companions, provided one has enough room and food for them as they grow larger. The young are highly social and love to play with each other and their human companions during the day. They take a while to learn how to use their sharp sense of smell, but once they do, they love to run off into the woods to search for odd foods like truffles. Of course, their fondness for rare foods seems to be the one thing no one can train them to resist, hence the Keep's kitchens enforcing a ban on unaccompanied babitanahs.
Adult
Fully-grown, a babitanah can be over ten feet long and easily sturdy enough for a brave magi to ride upon. They aren't fast like their cehual cousins, but if trained from a young age, they can become accustomed to a specialized saddle and ridden through many unforgiving environments. They're a favorite mount for search and rescue parties due to their strong sense of smell and fierce tusks, which allow them to move obstacles and protect their rider from danger. When they're not working, babitanahs are on a constant search for food. They're not especially lazy, despite common misconceptions, and tend to be active through much of the day and night. While females and young pigs are amiable toward one another, males defend small territories from strange pigs, becoming much more aggressive during the breeding season. At the Keep, babitanah boars are given enchanted dummies to defend their territories against instead of other pigs, and their pens are kept a good distance away from each other to keep them all from getting seriously injured.
Notes
Obtained from: Donation (Feb)
Breeding: Yes
Renaming cost: 2000 gold
Release date: February 15th 2019
Element: Neutral
Breeds with the following:
Babitanah + Babitanah = Babitanah (Guaranteed) Cost: 3 shards
February 2019 Midmonth Donation Pet
Sprite art: Mysfytt | Description: PKGriffin