Moorbounder

Moorbounders are tailless, panther-like creatures native to swamps of southern Xhorhas. Moorbounders are bred, trained, and ridden as mounts.

Appearance
Moorbounders are muscular panther-like creatures with no tails. Their head combines with their muscular neck to create an aerodynamic profile that slopes all the way back to their haunches. They have wiry dull gray-purple fur that is matted along their back but fluffs around their muscular shoulders and pits. Their eyes are fish-like and lidless. Their nose is described as a cat's skull nose, but with skin over it and two slits. They have a toothy maw with two upward facing tusks. Moorbounders are over six feet tall at the shoulder, and 14-16 feet in length fully grown.

Characteristics
Moorbounders are carnivorous and naturally aggressive. Baby moorbounders in the same litter attack and eat each other. Adult moorbounders will eat any kind of meat. The moorbounders purchased by the Mighty Nein engaged in pack hunting when left alone overnight.

A rider must form a bond with a moorbounder before it will obey them. Zorth warns that trying to bond a moorbounder to more than one creature is dangerous because it may get confused and choose one of the two to eat.

Moorbounders require approximately 16lbs of food to eat every 24hrs (vs. only 9lbs for a traditional mount), based on the 3rd level Cleric spell "Create Food and Water," which produces 45lbs of food - enough to feed all 7 characters of the Mighty Nein, along with roughly 1.5 moorbounders.

Abilities
Moorbounders are capable of leaping fourty feet and running faster than a riding horse with a speed of between 70 feet and 80 feet per round. Some moorbounders grow bladelike bristles on their body, which they use as weapons. One moorbounder is strong enough to carry two medium creatures and a third small creature.

Known Moorbounders
Moorbounders are sold as mounts in Asarius. The Mighty Nein purchased three moorbounders from a livery called Zorth's Pits run by a goblin named Zorth. They were left behind in Bazzoxan when the party teleported back to Rosohna.
 * Mighty Nein's moorbounders:
 * Clarabelle bonded to Caduceus Clay
 * Yarnball bonded to Jester Lavorre
 * Jannik bonded to Caleb Widogast

Trivia

 * When Zorth was suspicious that Nott hadn't heard of moorbounders, she lied that she was from the south of Xhorhas and that moorbounders were called "swamp panthers" there.
 * Statblocks for moorbounders are included in the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. Strangely, the moorbounders as presented in the book are slightly slower than as they appear in the campaign.