WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0142 0142
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weapons or simply to prevent being thrown off. A thakal’s
tough hide and bulk make it difficult to kill.
Experienced riders say that no two thakal mounts are
exactly the same, surprisingly so for such a simple and
stupid animal. Their personalities are simplistic but
varied, and the relationship between rider and mount
develops slowly over time. It takes as much as a year before a new mount can be relied upon to obey commands
consistently, without protest.
Besides transportation or brute drayage, owners use
thakal in two common, brutal displays. Those too old or
slow to be useful are pitted against each other in savage battles amid rings of fire (surrounded by gamblers
betting on the battle). Another cruel trial (used by some
tribes as a rite of passage) demands that thakal deemed
too wild for domestication are blinded with firebrands.
After strapping barbs against their hide to enrage them,
they place the beast in an open courtyard. Participants
in this trial sneak up on and slap the beast, then hope
to escape without suffering anything worse than lacerations or broken bones (although more than a few are
crippled or killed). After the contest, thakals are euthanized, their carcasses discarded.
Tough thakal meat sickens most people, but many
stranded desert dwellers have settled for it in desperate
situations. The flesh takes quite a while to stop jerking
and quivering, even after being cooked.
Uludur
Another common Khitan herd animal with special
properties is the uludur. This sluggish creature has been
domesticated for many centuries and its meat is considered a delicacy by those who can afford it. The uludur is
not a large creature, no more than eighteen inches high
at the shoulder.
Uluduri have a secondary and highly desirable ability:
they have internal organs that can purify salt water, toxic liquids, or even the most polluted (or even poisoned)
waters into fresh water. This pure water is stored in their
gullet for their own use. It can be extracted fairly easily
back through the mouth with a gentle squeeze without
harming the animal. In this manner, an adult uludur
can purify as much as five liters of water per day.
Uluduri are fairly easy to handle, but their small tentacles contain small sharp stingers that can hurt an unwary person. Their eggs are known to have limited curative properties, as well, in their undeveloped and raw
states.
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