ANIMALS and RELATED GEAR It is interesting to note that all of the star-faring races thus far encountered (aside from the Klicks) have long relationships with do-mesticated animals of one sort or another. Whether as pets, guard or attack animals, or mounts, non-sentient and semi-sentient crea-tures of a stunning variety or available for companionship or for more utilitarian purpos-es throughout explored space. Most of the animals listed below can be trained using the Handle Animals skill, while riding a mount requires, of course, the Ride skill. Pets are generally housebroken and minimally trained when purchased. Guard, work, and attack animals are more extensive-ly trained to perform their given roles. Mounts are trained to accept appropriate tack and other gear, and to carry and re-spond to a rider. Younger, untrained animals can gen-erally be purchased for the listed purchase DC –1, or in some cases, found free to a good home. Some settlements and planets have strict regulations about the importation of non-native animals, even as companions to visiting sentients.

Car and Feeding All domesticated animals require a certain amount of feeding in addition to whatever they can scrounge, hunt, or graze upon. They also require a certain amount of veteri-nary care and items such as leashes, collars, and so on. All of this and any other routine maintenance for your pet is covered by a monthly purchase DC, based on the size of the animal: PURCHASE SIZE DC Up to Tiny 2 Small 3 Medium 4 Large 6 Huge 8

AELEOLI The aeleloi is an amphibian kept as a pet by many sesheyan households. Although easily mistaken for a snake, a closer look reveals that these 6-foot long animals have hundreds of tiny legs beneath them. The tip of an aele-oli’s body ends in an organ similar to those found in the electric eel, fish, and rays on Earth. The creature can defend itself if threat-ened by either running an indirect charge over the whole surface of its body, or by its tail into direct contact with an enemy. Exactly why the sesheyans find the aeleoli pleasing is difficult for the average hu-man to understand. Indeed, if asked directly why they keep these animals as pets, they answer in a vague manner with responses from “We always have and we always will,” to “I don’t know, we just do.” When examined scientifically, howev-er, a possible answer becomes clear. The aeleoli is surrounded by a very active electri-cal field at all times. This field, while too week to penetrate the insulation of a human’s skin, stimulates the sesheyan brain in much the way caffeine and other stimulants affect a human. The aeleoli feeds on fish and other sea life that it shocks to death. In the wild, aeleoli hunt in packs like wolves. Once domesticat-ed, they use these natural instincts in the ser-vice of their masters. A typical sesheyan fish-erman sends as many as a dozen of these creatures into the water where he believes fish to be hiding, The aeleoli form a loose ring around groups of fish and fill the water with electricity.

BIG CAT Big cats include lithe and dexterous preda-tors such as cougars, mountain lions, leop-ards and jaguars. Larger cats, such as lions and tigers are virtually impossible to domesti-cate. Even these smaller cats are natural hunters and opportunists. They are most of-ten used as guard or attack animals, alt-hough there have been cases of master train-ers teaching more complex tasks to big cats and even taming them to the point of being (dangerous) pets

CAT Historians believe that the people of Earth’s ancient Africa and Egypt first tamed the cat, one of the oldest known domesticated ani-mals. Although cats served initially to protect grain stores from vermin, they quickly won the hearts of their keepers and became pam-pered pets.

Several thousand breeds of cats are found in the 26th century. Some of these breeds have evolved natural or are products of cross breeding. Others have been genet-ically engineered to be unlike anything ever encountered in the wild. No matter what their origins, all cats possess natural agility, and many have long tails that further im-prove their balance. Their retractable claws are very versatile, enabling them to run swift-ly, climb with great alacrity, and defend themselves when attacked. They have keen senses and retain many of the behavioral characteristics of their wild ancestors. When hunting, cats depend primarily on their bite, although they use their front claws to wound or pin prey. Domesticated cats are especially popu-lar on large starships and space stations, as they are easily kept and can be relied upon to keep the inevitable vermin population down.

CYBERNETICS Most common pets can be fitted with cyber-netics, though many sentients consider this cruel, since the creature cannot have a say in the modifications. The costs and basic charac-teristics of cybernetics for animals follow the same rules as those for characters, with the exceptions and limitations listed below. Only animals with an Intelligence of 2 or better can learn to accept and use cybernetics. Animals fitted with cybernetics must be trained, using the Animal Handling skill, to accept and use their cybernetic parts. Cybernetics designed for flying or swimming animals have to be specially de-signed and increase the purchase DC by +1. Even animals trained to use an inte-grated ranged weapon are never considered proficient with that weapon, and take the appropriate non-proficiency penalty. Any ani-mal trained to attack can be trained to be proficient with a melee weapon. Only a char-acter who is proficient with a particular weapon can train an animal to use it. Any Restrictions on cybernetics or inte-grated weapons carry over to the animal, of-ten requiring the owner to apply for special licensing and meet other requirements to le-gally own the animal.

DOG Another of humanity’s oldest and most be-loved companions is the domesticated dog. They are commonly depicted in primitive cave paintings. Historians believe that humans originally domesticated these animals to help them with hunting, herding, or guarding. In time, humans trained dogs to perform tricks, used them as guide dogs for the blind, and employed them for tracking. Several thousand species of dogs exist in the 26th century. Some of these are natu-rally evolved; wild dogs, wolves, and foxes once lived across the Earth. In time, con-trolled breeding and genetic engineering brought forth breeds that one could never find in nature. The natural territoriality of canines makes them excellent guard animals. Given their hunting instincts, trainers can teach them to serve as very formidable combatants. Dogs depend primarily on their bite when they attack, for their non0retractable claws tend to be blunted by abrasion. In general, smaller dogs are pets, herd-ing animals, are hunters for vermin and small game. Larger dogs can also serve as loyal pets, but also make excellent guars, herding, and attack animals. Dogs are renowned for their loyalty and their trainability, and have been trained for a seemingly endless range of simple tasks and purposes.

ELEK The elek is a pet commonly kept by fraal. The fraal brought it with them to Earth, and it has a history of involvement in fraal history that predates the earliest historical records. De-spite its unusual appearance, the elek is also becoming a popular pet with nonfraal mind-walkers because of its natural psionic abilities. The elek is a small animal, looking ra-ther like a soft-bodied horseshoe crab. The natural texture of the creature’s back makes it look uncomfortably like a human brain. A ring of light sensitive spots surrounds the ele-k’s body, although the animal is essentially blind. A slender tail trickles out behind the elek, making up about hale the animal’s length of approximately 30 inches. Dozens of pairs of tiny legs, hidden beneath the elek’s body, are its means of locomotion. A relaxing elek gives off psionic vibra-tions that most mindwalkers find pleasant. Some consider the vibrations akin to the re-laxing effect some humans feel when a cat purrs. If an elek feels threatened, it can lash out mentally, stunning its attacker while the naturally timid scurries off to hide.

FERRET Ferrets are aggressive predators but usually confine themselves to smaller prey. Humans have been domesticating them for the past several hundred years, however, and domes-ticated ferrets are notably less aggressive than their wild ancestors. They extremely fast and agile, with long, slender bodies that easily squeeze through the tiniest of spaces. Ferrets are pri-marily kept as pets, although they generally do a good job of controlling the vermin pop-ulation in their territory. Their only weapon is their bite, but once they do bite, they attach themselves to their targets and are very diffi-cult to remove.

GEARWERK The gearwerk is a common companion of mechalus characters. Although not an organ-ic creature per se, it is wrong to call the thing a machine. Many who do no understand the nature of a gearwerk assume that it is a ro-botic assistant. Modern gearwerk begin their lives as pollywog-like creatures grown in breeding vats. Although they are certainly organic at this stage, they cannot survive outside the fluid baths in which they dwell. When would-be owners decide to pur-chase a gearwerk, they visit a breeder and indicate the exact characteristics their new pet must have. Through a series of cybernetic implants and attachments, the gearwerk is given the desired characteristics. For exam-ple, a mechalus who serves as the engineer on a starship might purchase a gearwerk with cybernetic tools and implants that allow the creature to assist her in her work. Breed-ers include among these extensive life sup-port mechanisms that allow the creature to survive outside the breeding vat. The characteristics of individual gear-werks vary greatly, as breeders can engineer them to undertake many tasks. While the typ-ical gearwerk is not outfitted with any form of armament, they are sometimes equipped with tools they can use in self-defense. On rare occasions, of course, some breeders in-corporate weapons and even armor in a gearwerk. Such creatures are often employed by the mechalus in much the same way that humans might use a guard or attack dog. Because of the many roles they are engineered to fill, it is impossible to give a de-tailed description of the gearwerk. In general, however, the mechanical body resembles a long-limbed, five-legged spider. At the nexus of its legs is a carriage built around the tad-pole-like body. A number of thin, organic ten-drils (usually two) sprout from the fleshy part of the body. Although not as nimble as hands, these serve the creature well. All gearwerk are automatically trained to use the Assist Other action to help their owner with any skill in which they have ranks.

HAWK/FALCON Humans have domesticated the hawk and similar birds of prey for many centuries, most often training them to hunt for small animals and other birds. Their keen eyes and sharp talons make them deadly predators, while their natural beauty and grace have won many a heart. The game statistics given here can be used for falcons and other Tiny raptors, as well. The excellent natural eyesight of hawks enables them to spot even small ob-jects at great distances. While this makes them excellent natural hunters, it can also had other uses. For example, a hawk can be trained to swoop down and snatch up keys or other small objects, or to attack the hand or face of a character in combat.

HORSE Horses join dogs and cats as humanity’s old-est friends in the animal kingdom. There are hundreds of breeds of horses, some naturally evolved, but most the product of controlled breeding and/or genetic engineering. Somebreeds are adapted to work or pleasure rid-ing, while others are bred and trained for combat. Horses have also been trained to perform a wide variety of other “tricks,” but physical labor, riding, and combat remain their main functions.

JAY-BOO The jay-boo is a small, reptilian creature simi-lar in many ways to the dinosaurs of Earth’s late Cretaceous period. Although smaller than their terrestrial cousins (generally stand-ing about 3 feet tall), they are nimble, slender creatures with needle-like teeth and wickedly sharp talons on their hind legs. Jay-boo have long, slender necks with angular heads and large, black eyes. They often seem nervous and jittery to humans, darting their gaze back and forth as if con-stantly searching for predators or prey. Although the t’sa domesticated these creatures when they were still in their early stone age, they have never bred the aggres-sive, hunting instincts out of these carnivores. As such, the typical jay-boo is as much a guard animal as a pet. In combat, they at-tempt to bite first and, if they score a hit, fol-low up by raking with their rear claws. Although popular among the t’sa, the jay-boo has never caught on with other spe-cies. They are skittish and tend to bite or nip even their keepers. Because they are strongly territorial, they act very aggressively when strangers approach. Only on Austrin-Ontis colonies can one find humans keeping jay-boo as pets.

LURLA The lurla is a small animal that looks rather like a three-tailed monkey. Known for their curiosity and affectionate natures, these taw-ny-furred creatures were originally domesti-cated by the weren. They have bright, intelligent eyes and over-developed jaws that look like the beak of a parrot or similar bird. Lurla are playful and energetic creatures that like to climb and jump about. Their arboreal herit-age is obvious from they way in which they use their tails for both balance and as extra hands. Because of their friendly, playful na-ture, these animals have become popular as pets among other species as well. Both hu-mans and fraal find the lurla a pleasant com-panion, and they are growing on some t’sa, as well. Various historians and xenobiologists believe that the weren originally trained the-se natural herbivores to go out into the for-ests and gather fruit for them. Before long, this natural tendency to gather small objects quickly and efficiently won them other roles as well. Owners can show a well-trained lurla a replica of an object and send it into a build-ing to recover it. Lurla are very intelligent and can be trained to do many simple tasks. For some reason, they possess a natural talent for picking mechanical locks (although they must receive special training to get the gen-eral idea across). Lurla are frequently kept as pets and companions for weren children. In this role, they are often taught to play simple games, the most common of which are catch, hide-and-seek, and fetch. As herbivores, lurla lack any real fighting ability. They can bite, but seldom do any real damage when attacking in this fash-ion. As a rule, the lurla’s natural reaction to any threat is to flee as fast as possible, gener-ally trying to scamper up into a tree or other-wise gain altitude.

MITE Despite its common name, the might is of no relation to terrestrial insects or arachnids. The mite is a ten-legged crustacean originally found on the rocky coasts of Theodolius, a minor world some 35 light-years from Sol. Be-cause of their voracious appetite for insects and other small pests, mites quickly became a part of every Theodolian household. Over the centuries since their first discovery, mites have spread throughout human space in the company of many star travelers. Physically, a mite’s body resembles that of a terrestrial crab. A hard exoskeleton protects the animal. At the tip of its heart-shaped body is the head, with its four eyes and constanly churning feeding tendrils. The mite captures prey with its pair of grasping claws and stuffs it into its mouth, where nu-merous moving parts grind it down quickly. On average, as adult mite weighs be-tween 7 and 12 pounds. They can live as long as fifteen years and are quite neat once housebroken. Mites are cold-blooded crea-tures that find the warmth of the human body very pleasant, which has often leads them to creep into bed with any nearby hu-man and scare her. A sleeping mite gives off a faint thrumming sound caused by the re-flexive clicking of its legs against its carapace. Some sentients find this sound very pleasant and calming, while others find it grating.