Crystal Runner

Description
A happy accident created by the Transmuters during the Battle of Aspaeth, crystal runners were specifically developed as war mounts during Aspaeth's conflicts with the danaavrakt of The Obsidian Plain. A crystal runner looked like a colorful, seven-foot tall flightless bird with a long, featherless neck and powerful legs. In place of feathers, the crystal runner had sharp, crystal-like shards that acted as physical and psychic protection.

Crystal runners reproduced asexually, laying fist-sized, gem-like eggs in the red sands of The Wither and savannahs of Aspaeth. A single clutch could contain up to 30 eggs with a gestation period of 30-45 days. Unfortunately, crystal runner eggs were a favorite delicacy of the wild xorn who roamed both regions.

Although their prominence as war mounts had subsided after the seventh century, brave (and stupid) heroes who hoped to lead attacks on Shred in The Obsidian Plain still sought the beasts as protection against the danaavrakt.