Aion - The Nasobames, more than a myth?
Among the civilised human communities of Aion, even across different cultures, one folkloric motif is quite common, and has affected their art, iconography and mythology. That is the subset of fabulous creature known as the Nasobame.
The typical mythical Nasobame is something like an elephant, a rat and a rabbit, and is remarkable by its nose. Different Nasobames will have an array of grotesque and misshapen noses, from elephantine trunks, pig snouts or ugly human noses, to multiple ones sometimes with human appendages at the end. Across the different artistic and material cultures of Aion's civilised man, Nasobames are often present in iconography, grimoires and surrealism.
The origin of this folklore is considered obscure, but it is believed that seafarers originally brought back stories from far abroad, of strange rabbit-sized verminous mammals with unusual noses. Eventually as exploration and human colonialism continued, it was found that within the far reaches of Champsopia, lived a unique order of small-to-fair-sized mammals that probably served as the original archetype of the Nasobame story.
This group is so different from other placental mammals, as to have been given its own taxonomic order. They are believed to have evolved from small rodents like the Black Rat, which has spread over much of Aion. These foundlings, isolated within Champsopia, formed an adaptive radiation driven by vicariance, that must surely account for their strange appearance. Particulars of the teeth and foot bones are unique, but the most distinctive feature of this order is the nose. Retracted nasals and advanced musculature support various trunk and snout-like probosces that serve these animals in locating and manipulating food. Other particulars of their anatomy vary quite widely.
One of the most primitive Nasobames is the Hograt (Suinomys sp), a creature similar in size to a Brown Rat, with relatively long legs, and a squared-off, spatulate proboscis topping the snout. This rather conservative form is nevertheless still very specialized compared to the hypothetical ancestor. It is found in the tropical rainforests of northern Champsopia, where it roots about in the leaf-litter and loose soil, in search of plant roots and fallen seeds, which make up the bulk of its diet.
The Dachswarken (Nasotaxus sp) is a cat-sized, generalist Nasobame, being common in many vegetated Champsopian habitats. It feeds by rooting and digging in the soil with its nose and fore-claws, to unearth insect larvae, social insects, plant roots, fallen seeds and fungi. Its call is an unusual flatulent grunt that sounds somewhat like someone breaking wind. Most Nasobames are somewhat less fecund than their rat ancestors, but still breed fairly fast.
The Watermole (Asteronasua sp) is a kind of small Nasobame no larger than a vole, that is found almost entirely along mountain streams. It feeds by probing the stream-bed among the rocks and weeds, in order to catch small aquatic insects and larvae. Its long proboscis is tipped by an array of flanges that are extremely sensitive to movement, touch and bioelectrical fields. This nose-tip is also used to firmly seize the prey and pas it to the mouth. Watermoles are keen swimmers and relatively clumsy on land, though they do dig tunnels in the stream-bank in which they shelter and raise their young.
The Nasrat (Probomys sp) is perhaps the quintessential Nasobame. This swift-footed, rabbit-sized form is usually found in tropical lowland forests, where it sifts through the leaf litter with its nose in order to unearth its usual prey, insects and larvae of different sorts. Its proboscis is shaped somewhat like a miniature elephant's, but it is tipped with an array of 3 muscular fingers that are used to grip prey and pass it to the mouth. Nasrats are the most social Nasobame, and live in troupes of up to 20, that forage over a wide area, the group constructs a communal warren dug as a set of tunnels in lee of the roots of a large tree.
Nashind (Nasomeryx sp) are a kind of unusual herbivorous Nasobame that must be part of a radiation that diverged from the others a long time ago. About the height of a goat, these hooved creatures vaguely resemble a cross between a tapir and a forest-antelope. Found mostly in tropical rainforest, they browse many types of under-story plants, particularly ones with starchy stems or softer foliage, as well as consuming fallen fruit and seeds, and wood fungus. Able to retreat from predators swiftly, these mammals hold cultural significance for some Hardbacks as a sign of luck for future hunts. Having a bulbous, tapir-like trunk, it is known to make a high-pitched braying in rutting season.
So it seems, that the true nature of the Nasobames is perhaps not as sensational as the myth. But these creatures surely compensate in the beauty of their supreme adaptation to their environment.
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