Mutt Contest VII

Name of Mutt: Children of Arion

Brief Summary: The idea for these odd creatures was meant purely for the Games; it was turned down in an earlier date, but the idea was revived at the reveal of the new arena. Only two lone horses roam the arena; one on each plain, each drastically different from the other.

The first on the mortal plane, temporarily nicknamed Gracie by the Gamemakers, is truly a sight to behold. A pure white horse with golden eyes, it's almost impossible for anyone to not approach it. It'll whinny with the sound of bells, urging you to come closer. Hey, you think vaguely, maybe I do have an ally here. It remains calm and collected, luring you in; that is, until you touch it. It'll have your blood all over it's pretty tan hooves, and anyone else in sight it'll rampage at. The only way to evade this mutt is to climb a tree or flee into the Underworld, and it will leave you severely injured at least.

In the Underworld, the creatively nicknamed Darkie is coal black with red eyes. Towering over any tribute like a monster, it will only stare fiercely at you for a minute, testing you, seeing if you have run off like any sensible tribute would. If it's attacked, it will turn tail and flee. If you're stupid enough to still be standing there, it'll slowly turn around and meander down an invisible path, every so often checking that you're still following. There it leads you to a hidden stockpile of weapons in a secluded part of the Asphodel Meadows, and with one last glance it disappears from your view. You may take whatever you please, but once you leave the mutt will not approach you again, and it is next to impossible to
return to the weapon stockpile.

Poision, Edible, or Neither? Neither

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Name of Mutt: Empusae

Brief Summary: Winged monkeys with sharp talons, originally created to scare District 7 rebels by swooping from the trees. They can't fly very high or for a prolonged time, but they've got a wicked screech that can be heard within a 2-kilometre radius. They're usually not that aggressive, but their hard skin is almost impenetrable and those claws can cause fatal lacerations. They have a main breeding ground in the statue garden in the Underworld, and if you venture too close, they become very territorial. Their main form of attack is swooping, which leaves it's victims with terrible head injuries.

Poision, Edible, or Neither? Edible; a good meal if you can manage skinning it. Tributes could also use the skin as armour.

Name of Mutt: Medion
Brief Summary: A hybrid originally created for the purposes of the Games and based of the greek tales of Medusa, this mutt appears like a small male lion, only its mane consists of a number of asp-like snakes. They are able to move all over its body, but generally stay close to its neck. Living in a symbiotic relationship, the actual lion and the snakes are both seperate creatures, but one could not survive without the other. The beast actually need the bites of the snake to have enough energy to hunt, and the snakes, unable to move very far, rely on the beast for food and transport. Trying to base the mutt of the mythical monster, the scientists who engineered the Medion could not manage to invent a way of getting the beast's gaze to turn it's onlookers to stone, unlike in the original story. However, they settled for a paralytic in the snake's venom, but this takes four or five snake bites to come into effect. A single bite causes magnified emotions of what the victim was feeling at the time of the attack.

Although the actual beast is lazy, and will not attack unless angered, it is very territorial. The snakes around its neck are quite the opposite, and will bite without warning. If the beast is killed, the snakes are able to live for a number of days, and vice versa. However, if the beast dies the snakes are not able to move more than about a foot away from its body, and even that takes quite some time.

Poision, Edible, or Neither? The snakes are poisonous, the beast is edible. However, the snakes get protective over the carcass, and so to be able to harvest the meat off the beast's body, one must first kill all the snakes.