Mortar Geckos
(strophurus igenti amicae)
Imagine a gecko with a golden spine and grey-black mottled scales. OK? Now make it as big as a horse, and give it the ability to shoot sticky mucus from its tail. And there you have it: the mortar gecko. All Mortar Geckos are descended from zoo specimens in North America and Europe; the various parent species are all from Australia, and are resolutely free from mutation. Oddly, while the species was clearly mutated by the Serpentfall, it shows none of the usual signs of Serpent taint.
In fact, the good news — the extremely good news — is that Mortar Geckos are decidedly neither aggressive against, nor hostile to, humans. This includes small children, babies, and even some human-animal hybrids: apparently there’s just something about the way that humans smell that keeps Mortar Geckos from attacking. They’re otherwise extremely inquisitive, and will snack on small mammals if they can’t find their preferred prey (insects and small reptiles mutated and tainted by Serpent Venom), but the locals soon notice that a Mortar Gecko nest guarantees a sudden drop in snake-like monster encounters in the area. That is, honestly, worth losing the odd lamb over — especially when the lamb might have been tainted anyway. Post-Serpentfall Earth is a bad time for scientific animal husbandry.
One last note: humans have successfully climbed on top of a Mortar Gecko, but nobody has yet convinced one to let him or her ride it. There is at least one ranch in Texas that seems rather determined to keep trying, though. Rather more success has been made in convincing Mortar Geckos to follow humans, particularly if there’s a steady supply of tasty snacks involved.
Stats: Use the Giant Spider writeup from page 154 of Savage Worlds, but raise Smarts to d6 (A) and remove the Poison Attack. Mortar Geckos have a range of 5/10/20 on their Webbing attack.
Is the world serpent going to be replaced with a world gecko when this is all but myth?