WerewolfWaiting

See also: Rwanda, whose leaders more eloquently stated their reasoning for the move:

“A higher number of women in decision-making roles have led to a decrease in gender discrimination and gender-based crimes,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Friday in remarks to judicial officials.

[portrait of a manticore © Mary Graham]

Native to Persia, the manticore is a frightening hybrid with the body of a lion, a tail like a scorpion’s, and a disturbingly humanoid face. Similar to sharks, a manticore’s mouth is crowded with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth; if one is knocked out or lost, it is quickly replaced by a another.

Manticores mate for life, and a pride consists of a mated pair and their offspring. Females are able to breed every two years, and generally have a litter of two to four cubs. Fighting among siblings is common, and it is not unusual for only one cub to survive to adulthood.

Hunting is accomplished by two different methods - when hunting in a group, manticores corral their prey and attempt to trip it or jump onto the back to bring it down. For solitary hunts, however, they prefer using their deadly tails, whipping their stinger up and over their head to inject poison. They mainly prey upon large animals, such as deer and cattle, but will eat anything they can catch.

marigolds requested by Desiree on my patreon

[an impundulu in flight © Amadoodles]

The impundulu is a magical bird found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It has dark brown, almost black, plumage, with hints of iridescent purple on its back. Rumour has it that they are impervious to bullets, knives, and spells, so its feathers and fat are valuable commodities.

Like the American thunderbird, the impundulu spends most of its life airborne in storm clouds, and is theorised to feed upon the rampant electricity and kinetic energy [26]. Females come to earth once a year to lay their eggs - after locating a suitable hollow, a female carefully deposits her clutch of three to five eggs, covers them up with dirt and leaf litter, and then departs. The chicks hatch, fully fledged, within about three weeks. As soon as the last egg breaks, the chicks cry out in unison, summoning a massive storm that gives the hatchlings enough energy to become airborne and join their parents in the sky.

[painting of a hippocampus breaching © Sebastian Meyer]

The hippocampus is an aquatic creature with the head and forequarters of a horse and the tail of a giant fish. Instead of a mane, it has a long dorsal fin which extends to the base of the neck. The body is covered in iridescent circular scales, which can be any number of different colours or patterns.

Hippocampi live and move in large schools, led by a dominant mare. They graze upon various underwater vegetation and eat tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton. Like mundane seahorses and seadragons, male hippocampi are the ones that care for their young - after a brief courtship dance, the female deposits one to four eggs onto the brood patch located on the underside of the male’s tail; the eggs are duly fertilised and then carried by the male for about eight months. Tadfoals, while able to swim and eat solid food immediately after hatching, are reliant on their father (and their school) for protection.

[painting of a hippogriff © Laura]

The result of crossbreeding a griffin with a horse, hippogriffs combine the head, wings, and forelegs of an eagle with the body and hind legs of a horse. The eagle parts have dense, waterproof plumage, while the rest of the body is covered is short fur; both feathers and fur can be a variety of colours, although brown and black are most common.

Hippogriffs were originally bred in France, but are now found all over the world. Extremely proud and territorial, even well-trained individuals should be treated with caution. When approaching a hippogriff, one must maintain steady eye contact, bow deeply, and wait for the hippogriff to reciprocate. If the bow is not returned within a minute then a hasty retreat is called for.

[a juvenile akhlut resting on land © Camille Andrea B]

Roaming the cold waters and ice floes of the Bering Strait, the akhlut combines the traits of a wolf with an orca. It has a robust canine body with webbed paws and a cetacean’s head, dorsal fin, and tail. Like its mundane cousin, it has a black back, a white or light grey chest and belly, and white patches above and behind the eyes. Males range between twenty and twenty-six feet long, with females slightly smaller at sixteen to twenty-three feet.

Akhlut live in small family groups, made up of an adult female and her offspring. Together, they travel near the coast, shifting seamlessly from swimming to running in search of prey. Using all their strength and intelligence, akhlut can tackle a variety of creatures, from polar bears and walruses to adult humpback whales. Some packs are even known to attack sea serpents and krakens.

[an adult female diricawl]

The diricawl is a plump, flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius. It stands about three feet tall and weighs up to fifty pounds. It has particularly fluffy plumage, which can range in colour from dark blue to bright pink. Males are distinguished by a large crest of iridescent feathers on their head.

Diricawls mostly subsist on fallen fruit and nuts, as well as roots and other vegetation, but have been known to opportunistically eat small rodents and crustaceans. During the mating season, males court a single female with displays and intense grooming. Both parents then work together to build a nest for their single egg and care for their chick.

[painting of a gulon © Jeff Cain]

Native to Scandinavia, the gulon is a stocky, muscular creature about the size and shape of a large dog. It has slightly pointed ears and a thick coat of shaggy brown fur, which keeps it warm as it roams the northern boreal forests and subarctic tundra.

An indiscriminate eater, gulons have been observed eating everything from fruit and carrion to man-made objects, such as tires and canvas. Apart from this cast-iron stomach, the gulon is also notorious for its insatiable appetite - if it happens upon a large amount of food, the gulon will gorge itself between them to aid digestion.