Submission for Honey Bear

[Notic 941]

Name of the creature:

Honey Bear

(Optional) Link to a picture of the creature + name of the artist:

 

Is this creature tamable and if so, how:

 

Honey bears are bred and raised by Halflings and have become accustomed to the small size of the wee-folk. Because of this they are wary around descendants who are any larger than a Dwarf.  Being more on the small side Honey Bears are incapable of being ridden by anyone other than Dwarves and Halflings, as anyone larger than this is too heavy to be carried comfortably. As they have become more and more common in the community, certain Halflings have started developing a personal relationship with a specific bear.  This bonding often occurs around a Halfling child's 25th birthday if they so choose and is in no way a hard rule.  This bonding ritual can be performed at any age.

 

To do this the person will end their day by venturing to the bears shelter in the village where they must sleep for the night amongst the bears.  If a bear takes a liking to the person they will cuddle up to them as they sleep, nuzzling against their sleeping figure as if they were the bear's own cub.  Upon waking the Halfling will discover if they have been chosen, and if so they began their life together.  The next few weeks are spent together as much as possible as both parties start to get to know each other.  Once this process is complete the Honey Bear will forever think of this person as it's cub and do it’s best to protect them.     

 

As mentioned before Dwarves are also capable of riding and bonding with Honey Bears; and may go through a similar process to gain this bond if they so choose. So in short; Yes, they are tamable.

 

Can you use this in combat:

Yes

 

Combat Abilities:

 

As mentioned before Honey Bears start to think of their bonded person as if it is their cub and therefore become fiercely protective of them.  While their main concern as generally peaceful creatures is to try to escape the danger, if it becomes clear this is not an option they will not hesitate to attack.  Honey Bears have a main attack which is always their first option, attempting to ram the threat extremely hard, this is used as a last ditch attempt to make a get-a-way.  It also has two back up attacks that it may use if it feels cornered: swiping with their paws and biting, both requiring two emotes to see through.

 

The first and main attack of the Honey Bear is ramming, charging forward and hitting something with its head as hard as it can.  If this attack is successful the Honey Bear is able to knock an average sized descendant to the ground, possibly knocking the breath out of them.  However, this attack is less effective against Orcs because of their size.  The attack is essentially equivalent to being hit very hard with a  maul by a human.  The Honey Bears horns serve as a buffer during this attack, shielding their head from the full force of the attack.

In order to swipe with their claws the bear must first rear back on its hind legs and then may attempt to swipe with their claws.  (Rearing back takes one emote while swiping takes another one) This attack is equivalent to an orc swinging a dagger at someone.  Their claws are capable of slashing through leather hides; however, their claws are not able to slash through metal, instead just bouncing off and possibly even breaking one of the claws in the process.  The downside of this attack is that when the bear rears back they expose their soft underbelly to attack, rendering them almost defenseless for a moment.

 

To bite the Honey Bear must first charge forward in order to get near enough to their target.  Next, the bear may bite down onto it’s victim. (This requires one emote to run forward, and then another emote to bite down)  If it is successful it is able to clamp it’s jaw shut and hold onto whatever creature it has bitten for up to three emotes, at which time it must release it.  However, while it’s teeth may be able to bite through leather armor, they are also incapable of breaking through metal of any kind.  If the bear tries to bite down on a person wearing armor and it succeeds in its roll, it instead clamps down on the armor and may attempt to throw the figure back.

 

Habitats - Check all that apply:

Caves/Caverns
Forest

 

Summary of the creature:

 

Honey Bears are fairly docile, content to sit around all day and feast on the honey and berries provided to them by the Halflings for their labor.  Oftentimes they can be found lounging under a tree in the Halfling village with a pot of some sort of delicious treat in their paws.  They are also splendid cuddlers and are more than happy to allow a trusted person to lean against them to rest or even nap.  However, they are fiercely loyal to the community which they call home and doubly so to their bonded person.  Often only letting the person they have bonded with ride them.

 

Another effect of this familial bond is that when the Honey Bear finds itself bonded with someone it does it’s best to keep them as close as possible.  Many Honey Bears suffer from separation anxiety and cannot stand to be left alone for longer than two days before they go off themselves in an attempt to locate the missing person.  Many Halflings go as far to build the bear a shelter right outside their burrow as due to the Bear's size they are unable to fit into the wee-folk's homes.

 

Honey Bears also have a mind of their own that must be respected, they may choose to listen, but rarely will they obey anyone other than the person they are bonded to.  In fact, their life span is around 120 years long, much longer than many other bears around the world, living about as long as the people they bond with.

 

 

Characteristics of the creature:

 

The Honey Bear stands out from other bears due to a couple of particular traits it possesses, the first being the fact it has horns.  Now, these horns are very similar to those of a ram, sprouting up from near the center of their head and curling up and behind.  These horns evolved due to the Honey Bears tendency to just ram things in an attempt to get through them, they are positioned in such a way as to protect their head.  These horns began to form around 1 year of age and reach their full size around 10 years. 

 

Another noticeable feature is the fur, being much longer and warmer than a typical bear.  In fact, the Halfling’s realized not long after their discovery that this fur could be sheared and  used in all sorts of projects in place of sheep’s wool. 

 

Honey Bears are about the size of an average Black Bear.  They stand at around a height of 3ft at the shoulder and are 6ft long from the snout to the tail.  The average weight hovers around 220 lbs as they have quite a bit of muscle from carrying out physical labor around Halfling communities that the Halflings themselves may be unable to perform due to their size.  The colouration can vary from brown, blonde, to black with brown being the most common.

 

 

(Optional) Origins of the creature:

 

Upon entering the new world of Almaris, the Halflings ended up settling into a small forested community under the jurisdiction of the Wood Elves yet still far enough away to feel isolated from the rest of the world.  It was during this construction of the village that the Halflings realized they were sharing this land with another resident; the Honey Bear.  The bears seemed docile enough, intent on leaving the Halflings alone as long as they were not bothered. However, as the Halflings continued to get settled in, some of them began to cultivate bees. The presence of honey lured the creatures into the town and they soon wrecked many of the beehives around the village.

 

This caused the Halflings to come up with a solution to deal with their new neighbors; Domestication.  They soon realized that while the Honey Bear may be smaller than the average bear they were still strong, strong enough to pull the ploughs that they had previously used horses for.  Yet the land they settled in was not as friendly to horses, the village being located in a forest prevented the horses from having wide open spaces to run and graze.  Yet, these Honey bears seemed to be a native, calling the forest home for longer than anyone knows.  The next few years a select number of Halflings devoted their time to developing a relationship with these bears.  Moving out into temporary shelters to be near them and slowly gaining their trust before finally one allowed a Halfling to sit atop it's back, signaling that their time had not been wasted.

 

The next few months were a flurry of activity as the village prepared to welcome their new residents.  A shallow cave was made to provide the creatures with shelter while the Halfling tinkerer’s prepared the materials that would be needed to help the creatures pull the ploughs as the horse harnesses were much too big. It was not long after this that the bears moved into their new homes, where they helped and protected the Halflings for generations to come.

 

 

Strengths/Weaknesses

 

Strengths:

• Honey Bears are quite strong, being able to drag along quite a bit of weight.  The Halflings use them to pull their ploughs as well as building materials for their construction projects.

• Extremely Loyal

Weaknesses:

• Their underbelly when they raise up to swipe with their claws.

• Their claws and teeth are not able to rip through metal.

• Separation Anxiety.

 

 

Red Lines

 

Red Lines

-While a bonded person may leave their Honey Bear alone for a set amount of time, if this is done for any longer than two IRL days the bear will start to suffer from separation anxiety and the player must roll every day after this to see if their bear runs away in search of them.

-Honey Bears may only be ridden by people that are shorter than 4 ft and will not allow themselves to bond with anyone but a Dwarf or Halfling. 

-Honey Bears are incapable of biting or tearing through metal of any kind, most armor being very effective against them.

-Honey Bears are very docile and hate to fight, they will only attempt to use force if they feel as if their bonded person or themselves have no other way out.  Every attempt should be made to escape the danger.

-Honey Bears act mostly on natural instinct, even if their bonded person is trying to direct them into battle they will very likely turn around and just try to get them to safety if they can.

-Honey Bears cannot be trained to enjoy fighting, no matter what you do their first priority will be to get you and them out of danger.

-Once a Honey Bear that has bonded to a halfling or dwarf dies, the halfling or dwarf will never be able to tame a new one.

 

 

 

Availability:

Rare - Only Dwarves and Halflings can obtain these beasts.

[Zarsies 6025]

This final product is solid; they're cute, balanced, and most importantly functional. I hope the halfling (and possibly dwarf) communities take to this :]

[Sorcerio 4595]

Now this is cute 

[Notic 941]

Thanks to the halflings for all the kind words during the making of this lore piece.