Beasts of burden

[Marauder Moe]

(thread formerly titled "Mounts")


Found this and some more on this site.  Looks like official images from a book somewhere, but I wasn't able to find an actual art gallery with these images.

EDIT: I suppose mekillots aren't really mounts, but they are used to pull wagons.

[Hymwen]

The mekillot looks embarrased...

[mansa]

I had a mekillot mount me.

[Angela Christine]

I don't think that is an inix.  Aren't inixes supposed to have shells?

[Larrath]

I'm not completely sure, but I believe an inix is basically an oversized lizard with a long ridge of 'shell' running down its body from head to tail, and that this strip is the inix shell.
That would fit about right with the picture.  I'm not sure about the beaks though.

[Xygax]

This is very good art, btw.

And yes, an inix is a very very large lizard, not a creature with a shell.

And, the mek looks embarrassed because he's totally being groped by that human standing next to him.

-- X

[Larrath]

And that kank is standing awkwardly close to awkward places with potentially wayward intentions.  That awkward situation is probably why that mekillot looks so awkward.

[Yokunama]

This is very good art, btw.

And yes, an inix is a very very large lizard, not a creature with a shell.

And, the mek looks embarrassed because he's totally being groped by that human standing next to him.

-- X

Yea, the inix would be much larger than that, but it is still good art.

Maybe they did not have enough room for the nude pose they had planned for the inix, thus drawing him/her/it smaller. Don't ya think?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Both the Mek and the inix are sized about right, I think. When it says that a mek is the size of a small house, remember that Houses in Armageddon are small.

[jcarter]

Both the Mek and the inix are sized about right, I think. When it says that a mek is the size of a small house, remember that Houses in Armageddon are small.

Deep down, I'm disappointed that mekillots aren't the behemoths I pictured them to be.

[Alamos]

Both the Mek and the inix are sized about right, I think. When it says that a mek is the size of a small house, remember that Houses in Armageddon are small.

Deep down, I'm disappointed that mekillots aren't the behemoths I pictured them to be.

I'm not or else it'd be all the more jarring when a 1 or 2 man superstar team brings one down.  I think that's a reasonable size.  Though I am disappointed it's embarresed.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Not the beh...what?

Man, that thing is big. Look at the picture again.

That mul in front of it would slip right on in its mouth with no chewing.

[Larrath]

I admit, I too used to picture mekillots as being the size of a two-story cottage, but if you look at the scale, really...  It's not about the size as much as the sheer bulk.

Here's some comparisons for how I now view the size of each animal:

Erdlu - an ostrich
Kank - as tall as a horse but very broad.
Inix - a small hippopotamus-sized lizard with a ridgelike shell.

Mekillot - the height of one-and-a-half large African elephants.


So maybe a mekillot can't step on someone without noticing them, but just think about how an elephant, a 10 ton animal, can uproot a small tree without too much effort.  A mekillot is considerably larger, bulkier, and looks pretty damned muscular.  It's probably in the vicinity of 90-120 tons.
The mekillot in this picture is basically large and robust enough to stand in the middle of a carru stampede and bat aside an elephant.

I think that's plenty large considering people hunt these things down with stone and bone weapons.  They're not Godzilla, apparently, but at least Godzilla is so huge that it wouldn't be able to really notice a single human.

[bloodfromstone]

Nice pictures. I always pictured inixes as thicker and bigger, but they look cool in that picture, so whatever.

[Medena]

Personally, I find the scale of both the inix and mekillot a bit small for Zalanthan standards.  The back of the inix is only at the same height as the man standing in front of the mek, so about 70 - 80 inches. Now try to picture a half-giant riding an inix of that height.  The HG's feet would be dragging along the ground. It'd be like a very large man trying to ride a child's pony.

[Manhattan]

 

[LucildaHunta]

Those are great drawings, the only one I never imagined was the mekillot because when I actually encountered one......

*beep*

I see a few other pictures of things I recognize or at least things the way I imagined them.

*holds up a magickal looking glass*

I see a mul....

I see an erdlu...

I see a gith...

I see a braxat...

I see a raptor...

[amoeba]

The tembo is incorrect. It should have eye-stalks.  This is biased but this is how I saw it.

[Yokunama]

The tembo is incorrect. It should have eye-stalks.  This is biased but this is how I saw it.

That looks like a giant, muscular slug.

[Larrath]

I don't have a picture to show for it, but I always pictured a tembo as a brownish-yellow cross between a large pitbull and a crocodile with two opalescent brown eyes on stalks.
Something like, uh, 4 foot tall, 6 foot long and with a bad temper.

[Dalmeth]

Actually, that mekillot has a shell, shouldn't it be a bahamet?

Also, the inix are way too small.  I had a characer with two of them and they were both at least two times taller than he was, if not three.

EDIT :  The character was a human, by the way.

[SpyGuy]

Actually, that mekillot has a shell, shouldn't it be a bahamet?

Also, the inix are way too small.  I had a characer with two of them and they were both at least two times taller than he was, if not three.

EDIT :  The character was a human, by the way.

Meks have a shell, but not the same type as a bahamet.  Bahamets are a bit more turtle/gurth like, a Meks shell is just body armor.  All the photos are more or less accurate, sadly not the same as what's in my mind's eye half the time  :?

[Manhattan]

Also, the inix are way too small.  I had a characer with two of them and they were both at least two times taller than he was, if not three.

EDIT :  The character was a human, by the way.

that's height with respect to the shoulder.
you see how long inixes are?

[Vesperas]

Heh, that inix is totally crouching.  If it stands up, I'm fairly sure you'd have to do a little neck-craning.

[Angela Christine]

Personally, I find the scale of both the inix and mekillot a bit small for Zalanthan standards.  The back of the inix is only at the same height as the man standing in front of the mek, so about 70 - 80 inches. Now try to picture a half-giant riding an inix of that height.  The HG's feet would be dragging along the ground. It'd be like a very large man trying to ride a child's pony.

Not necessarily.  A half-giant is only twice as tall as a human.  Ten times as heavy, but only twice as tall.  So it would be more like a large man riding a donkey, which is plausible.

[gfair]

And, the mek looks embarrassed because he's totally being groped by that human standing next to him.

-- X

And the human groping him is Mansa.

I linked the art in a previous thread, but I didn't realize that the image was shrunk to fit the page.

[John]

So if that's an inix, what does a sunback look like?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Personally, I find the scale of both the inix and mekillot a bit small for Zalanthan standards.  The back of the inix is only at the same height as the man standing in front of the mek, so about 70 - 80 inches. Now try to picture a half-giant riding an inix of that height.  The HG's feet would be dragging along the ground. It'd be like a very large man trying to ride a child's pony.

There is no mount that is commonly available that can really support a HG's weight well, si I'd say that analogy is just about the right one.

[MorganChaos]

For some reason I pictured inixes as being smoother. If anyone saw Obi-Wan's lizard mount thing in the monastery in Episode 3, that's what I thought an inix looked like, except no beak and smooth. Low to the ground with easy movement and stocky but supple limbs. Stich is probably another decent example, though not as good. Though I suppose I could see plates along the spine. Smooth plates.

[Anonymous]

Awwww mannnnn....

And here I thought the mek I drew was really cool.  And then you posted that.

Eh. well, mine's not copyrighted, I guess...

[Sephiroto]

I feel the same way as John.  It looks like dark sunback rather than an inix to me.  I picture an inix like a giant (large enough for a half-giant to ride), smooth-scaled komodo dragon.

[davienLazy]

A psionicist attempting to dominate an immature mek

[Dalmeth]

Actually, sunbacks are probably based off troodontids, since it mentions in game they are related to raptors.  Just imagine a raptor with a much longer neck, probably a bit bigger too, and you've got a sunback.

Also, about that inix : the one in the first picture just isn't a lizard.  For one thing, its legs stand beneath it, and all lizards walk at a sprawl.  The lizard from Episode 3 is probably the best science fiction representation of a huge lizard I have ever seen.  Pretty much the only difference from real lizards was that the legs were distinctly longer and more muscular in comparison to the usual ratios of a lizard, which made it look more graceful.  I didn't complain at all.

[Anonymous]

New and improved. With color.

[Fragmented]

I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who pictured mekillots like tyrannasaurus rex's. I mean.. we've got raptors (I assume it looks like a raptor like in Jurassic Park).

[Hymwen]

I've always pictured a mekillot being more like the tarrasque from D&D:



More of a semi-bipedal monster than a sort of oversized crocodile-lizard.

[Anonymous]

except we have braxat that look much more like that.

but yes. Meks are shellier than what I drew - hence why I labelled that one as an immature mek. Got to get there somehow.  Too shelly and I can't imagine ever managing to kill one with some bone spears and a stone-headed axe.

[Spooman]

Actually, sunbacks are probably based off troodontids, since it mentions in game they are related to raptors.  Just imagine a raptor with a much longer neck, probably a bit bigger too, and you've got a sunback.

Also, about that inix : the one in the first picture just isn't a lizard.  For one thing, its legs stand beneath it, and all lizards walk at a sprawl.  The lizard from Episode 3 is probably the best science fiction representation of a huge lizard I have ever seen.  Pretty much the only difference from real lizards was that the legs were distinctly longer and more muscular in comparison to the usual ratios of a lizard, which made it look more graceful.  I didn't complain at all.

The animals of Zalanthas have always been a debated issue....But here are all of my thoughts......
Scrab- even though it says they look like mantises, i still picture them as large beetles with pincers....
War Beetle- A huge rompcerous/hercules (google the pics of those beetles) beetle
Inix- A large lizard, simple as that, with a line of bone plates following its spine to its tail.
Sunback- Obi-Wan's Lizard in episode 3.....Minus the dreads.
Kank- A big ant, lol
Gwoshi- Lion mixed with a buffalo.
Gortok- like a Warg from LOTR, but a little smaller.
Mekillot- A mean, bulkier, brontosaurus without the giant neck. (it has to be toothier, and more claws.
Verrin Hawk- A large hawk capable of attacking prey as big as a person.
Ritikki- Small mantises....
Gurth- big turtles with spiky shells
Braxat- Huge, beastial, clawed troll with hair, and a large shell on its back......Troll from LOTR, but bigger, and more claws.

Feel free to debate my visions all you want.  


*edit* I said all of my thoughts....They are just some. *edit*

[Dalmeth]

The animals of Zalanthas have always been a debated issue....But here are all of my thoughts......
Scrab- even though it says they look like mantises, i still picture them as large beetles with pincers....
War Beetle- A huge rompcerous/hercules (google the pics of those beetles) beetle
Inix- A large lizard, simple as that, with a line of bone plates following its spine to its tail.
Sunback- Obi-Wan's Lizard in episode 3.....Minus the dreads.
Kank- A big ant, lol
Gwoshi- Lion mixed with a buffalo.
Gortok- like a Warg from LOTR, but a little smaller.
Mekillot- A mean, bulkier, brontosaurus without the giant neck. (it has to be toothier, and more claws.
Verrin Hawk- A large hawk capable of attacking prey as big as a person.
Ritikki- Small mantises....
Gurth- big turtles with spiky shells
Braxat- Huge, beastial, clawed troll with hair, and a large shell on its back......Troll from LOTR, but bigger, and more claws.

Well, I can't blame you for the sunback.  Afterall, it is called a sunback lizard.  I really do wish someone would come along and tell me if when they say a lizard in the game, they actually mean a dinosaur.  Yes, there are key structural differences, and it's getting really tiresome for me to keep picking it out.

Which is why I can blame you for your conception of the mekillot.  I personally like the idea of that long-tongued version.  At least it's vaguely lizardish, but then again, not quite.

[MorganChaos]

I feel the same way as John.  It looks like dark sunback rather than an inix to me.  I picture an inix like a giant (large enough for a half-giant to ride), smooth-scaled komodo dragon.

Yeah, that's how I picture inixes. Except a little more supple and less wrinly than a komodo dragon.