#puttikan

Puttikan, the 174th Known One.

Suggested by @abominationimperatrix​.

Puttikan, another imaginary being, like a horse, having a large mane and a tail sharp like a cutlass; whenever he meets the blacks, they go towards him and draw up their lips to show that the tooth is knocked out; then he will not injure them; but should the tooth be still there, he runs after them, and kills and eats them. He does not walk, but bounds like a kangaroo, and the noise of his leaps on the ground is as the report of a gun; he calls out as he advances, ‘Pirrolog, Pirrolog.’

“Thresher Rat” © B.R. Guthrie, accessed at his ArtStation page here

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord​. The puttikan is often lumped by modern cryptozoologists in with yowie/yahoo/Australian bigfoot, because it’s described as being hairy and humanoid. At least some of the time. The real puttikan is much weirder and wilder, and to my knowledge has never been properly illustrated by Western sources. The main source I used for this even requested that people give it an artistic imagining. So this picture isn’t perfect for what I imagine the people who knew the puttikan thought it looked like (imagine a kangaroo with backwards feet, a horse-like mane and a bladed tail, and you’ll be close), but it’s as good as I could find.]

Puttikan CR 6 N Magical Beast This bipedal rodent-like monster is about as tall as a man, although it is broader. Its clawed feet twist back on themselves, and its teeth are fused into a beak-like structure. Plates and spines cover its back and shoulders. Its tail is as long as the whole creature is tall, curving and studded with blades.

Puttikans are hopping carnivorous marsupials. Despite their resemblance to kangaroos and to rodents, they are properly neither—their closest kin seem to be bilbies and bandicoots. They hunt using their speed and agility to make hit and run attacks. Their long leaps and razor-sharp tails give them reach and maneuverability in the rocky ground and dense bush they favor, making it difficult for foes to flee or fight back. They do not bother with stealth; the hopping stride of a puttikan is crashing, and has been compared to gunfire.

Puttikans are of animal intelligence. However, they are commonly used as bogeys by local people to threaten their children to behave well and obey local customs. In the lore of some tribes, puttikans are enforcers of taboo, checking people to ensure they have the proper physical markings of belonging and leaving them alone if they do. These stories are likely inspired by the puttikan’s habit of investigating any noises in their habitat for suitability as prey. A group is more likely to be ignored than a lone traveler, enforcing the idea that they target outcasts above properly socialized people.