It's a furry egg with a wing jutting out. It reminds you of another egg, but you're not sure which one.
Spoiler
Your egg hatched into what can only be described as a yapping ball of fur with wings. The tiny Synaranian could fly as soon as its wings dried after hatching, and if it can't keep up with you on foot, it will take to the air and follow you in the air. It has made a game of trying to balance on the top of your foot when you sit at your desk, flapping its wings furiously to keep from falling off. It's growing quickly, though, and soon it will be too large for that.
Spoiler
Your Synaranian has grown into a healthy adult, with a stingered tail, large wings and a lush golden mane. You would call it majestic... except it is still small enough to easily sit in your lap. What it lacks in size, however, it makes up for in confidence. It will fearlessly run up anyone it considers an intruder, yapping furiously. Even large, aggressive predators that have nothing to fear from the little creature are often chased away by that behavior, and you've heard theories that Synaranians have magic power they put into their yaps. With you, however, it is always friendly and playful. When you go for a walk, its favorite pastime is to hunt and eat wild tarax. Swarms of the tiny creatures will flee in all directions from your companion when you enter the meadows around the Keep. You suspect that this feeding habit contributes to the Synaranian's high energy, but it doesn't seem to suffer from any memory loss, so you can't be certain. For obvious reasons, Synaranians are barred from entering the greenhouses where magi keep their Taraxes.
Spoiler
The Synaranian is not a naturally occuring creature. Several centuries ago, a Synaran noble fell in love with the manticores he saw on a visit to the Keep. However, he didn't dare take a large and dangerous creature like that back to court. So he asked around and found a group of magi willing to do some breeding experiments. It took decades, and the noble was an old man by the time they brought him the fruit of their work, but they managed to create a breed of manticore that was small enough to sit in a person's lap. The Synaranian was born.
Today, Synaranians are still a rare commodity, but they are great pets. They love to be around humans, always happy to be with their owner and following them around everywhere. While their tail stinger is still venomous, it isn't dangerous. At worst, it will make the person stung slightly lethargic. For this quality, it is a prized ingredient in sedatives.
Today, Synaranians are still a rare commodity, but they are great pets. They love to be around humans, always happy to be with their owner and following them around everywhere. While their tail stinger is still venomous, it isn't dangerous. At worst, it will make the person stung slightly lethargic. For this quality, it is a prized ingredient in sedatives.
Domestic cat manticore :O
I can't wait to see the hatchling.
