| Class: | Vegemal |
| Hab: | Warm woodlands and plains; most prefer dampness |
| Fre: | Uncommon |
| Num: | 6-60 pack, or as kept |
| Lair: | 20% |
| Size: | Dog-sized; 20-80 lb. (or more); domestic wee to huge |
| Move: | Dash or horse-fast tumble |
| Def: | Extremely tough fibre hide and flesh, studded with thorn-spikes |
| Att: | = dog bite; some pounce with a pair of thorn-clawed paws |
| Int: | = dog (or a bit less) |
| Spec: | Immune to majics not affecting plants; may be domesticable |
| Posns: | Incidental, chew toys |
Thornies are vegemal dog-analogs, described in the Monstrous Manual edited by Doug Stewart. They are often found as guards and pets of Vegemites (which SEE) or other plant people. They vary as much as domestic dog varieties, with analogs from teacup toy poodles to giant mastiffs.
Thornies reproduce by seed. A single large seed is buried under a mound of compost and rotting flesh. This grows in to a tree. Pendant from the branches grow great buds, looking a bit like leaf-wrapped bundles or cocoons, swollen with vague bodies, which, as they ripen, twitch and wriggle, a disturbing sight indeed, reminding some of silk-wrapped spider victims.
These ripened pods eventually open, dropping down fresh, almost full-grown thornies. A stand of thorny trees is generally well-guarded by the thornies it has produced. Other thornies disperse widely through the area. If the thornies' mother-tree is disturbed, the guard vegimals call for their kin to come home. If the mother-tree is badly injured, it may start dropping fresh thornies, some fully ripened, others only half grown.
Thornies plucked when ripe but before dropping are readily trainable, especially by plant people of various sorts.
When running, thorines start by running on all four, six, or eight limbs, but may bounce and switch to "tumbleweed" mode, rolling as fast as any horse could run.
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