Thanatursuses

Fights in close combat. Does not retarget unless challenged or its path to the initial target is blocked.

Thanatursus Artwork.jpg|Official Creature Artwork

The thanatursus is one of the few nightmare-twisted creatures that could establish itself as a new species. These creatures, that once probably just were common bears, became dangerous predators of berserk-like frenzy. The thanatursus is a carnivore that doesn't even shun away from carrion. In the contrary: it's known that the deformed bears often drag their kills into lairs, where they rot for a while before they are eaten. It seems the thanatursus does so for a more practical reason though. Observations lead to the theory that a thanatursus does absorb certain traits and even physical characteristics from their eaten prey. This seems to be more intense, the more fresh the devoured creature is. The natural instinct of the bear-creature seems to be to hide the carrion away for a later date, but if a fight with a victim drags on and drains more energy and blood then usual, the thanatursus is more likely to feast on it immediately. This probably leads to it mostly absorbing traits from more formidable foes and become more and more powerful over time. An average, grown up thanatursus combines the power and appearance of a couple of their prey. Some of them develop horns, similar to bulls or stags, most display the snout of a boar or fangs of a wolf. Some added more disturbing elements like human-like hands, elf-like faces or the wings of a giant bat. Even scales and tentacles are possible additions to their body. While the common thanatursus is an enough disturbing sight and threat, their very nature makes vastly different and more powerful variants a possibility. Sadly it's more than just a rumour that some of these creatures escaped the dream realms and began to roam the realm of Tibia. Though loners, these individuals acquired considerable power and already changed into creatures vastly different from the common thanatursus. With men as part of their common diet, they developed intelligence and ambition, preying on more and more dangerous foes to add their strengths to their own array of abilities.