Today, apparently, is World Wombat Day.
Wom-Bats
Vombatus vampiricus ursulae
Australia, thanks to its location in the post-Serpentfall world, still manages to remain mostly free of Serpent Taint; this includes the ongoing Tainting of seawater by the decomposing corpse of the World-Serpent still found in the north Atlantic and western Indian oceans. Prevailing currents push that venom-Tainted water deep under the sea’s surface when it passes by Australia’s southern coast; and the warm current that rises up in the north Pacific and flows through Indonesia on its way back to the Atlantic is generally clean of the most obvious venomous taint at that point. All of this suggests that a lot of Serpent venom is building up on the bottom of the ocean, which is likely going to end up being a literally monstrous problem; but in the meantime Australia mostly avoids having its already bizarre ecology drastically mutated further.
Mostly.
Vombatus vampiricus ursulae is a variant of the common wombat (vombatus ursinus): differences include the addition of thin scales between the forepaws and body that allow the Wom-Bat to glide and swoop; the addition of envenomed fangs that can knock smaller prey out, and make a human woozy; and a new, carnivorous / hematophagous diet. A single Wom-Bat is usually not overly dangerous to a human-sized animal, but the creatures hunt in packs of at least twelve. And they are not particularly docile, either.
Wom-Bats were first encountered in 1946, after reports of a chunk of decaying World-Serpent flesh was reported drifting just south of Warrnambool. This event happened before the Royal Navy fully understood that the only safe way to destroy ‘snake-bergs’ like this was to burn them with fire; in this particular case, high explosives were used. The first Wom-Bats started appearing roughly two months later. The Australians think that they’ve got the population under control; but then, the authorities always think that, just before the Wom-Bat horde comes bursting through the walls…
Wom-Bat: use the Fly-By-Night (The Day After Ragnarok, page 88) stats. It has the Bite, Flight and Quick Special Abilities, plus the following:
- Armor: 2 (fur over hide)
- Burrowing: Pace 4
- Small: -2 to hit