Lore24 May 03: Giant Aardvarks

Growing to the size of small cattle, giant aardvarks have a complicated relationship with people. Thankfully they are not very aggressive, but they will use their strong claws to defend themselves when threatened. On the other hand, due to their increased size, they must eat near constantly to avoid starvation, meaning they occasionally just straight up start destroying homes, farms and other buildings to get to the termites inside. This behavior has lead to them being declared a pest in most places, and in some places there is even a bounty on them.

Giant aardvarks are actually quite intelligent, and some people have even managed to tame them, and teach them to perform tricks in exchange for food. Some rulers have experimented with domesticating giant aardvarks as either mounts or as a part of sapper units (a motivated giant aardvark can make a man-sized hole in a city wall in just a few hours), but these never really went anywhere, mostly because of the logistical nightmare that is providing live insects in large quantities.

According to legend, the goddess Temet was raised by a giant aardvark, teaching her about the mysteries of stone and clay, allowing her to make the first sculpture in the world. For this reason sculptors and potters often take a vow of never harming these creatures.

 Image by Gary M Oppenheim

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