“Do not fear what piques your eyes, but rather to whom it belongs.”

A warning from merchants reminding buyers of the danger of getting goods from strangers, as some of them could be a loss to them.

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In the world of Akumu, merchant image is an important part of their business. Some can go to great length to find what their customer most desires, even collecting goods across the two words in secret.

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For that, they need a creature capable of moving between water and land without damaging the goods.  Such creatures are rare to find as they are intensively supervised by the rulers of each region, fearing that they could be used illegally. For so, some merchants decided to look to the west where the power of their lord couldn’t reach.

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There, multitudes of new species were found and documented. One of them being the Lochmhàthar, a horse-like creature that lives in swamp-like terrain. The Lochmhàthar can change its appearance to resemble an ordinary horse, allowing it to mingle with herds for socialization and procreation, as only females of this species exist.

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This creature is very docile and affectionate, allowing others to approach it and judging whether they mean harm. The Lochmhàthar avoids confrontation and prefers fleeing threats, especially underwater, where its speed makes it very difficult to catch. However, if provoked, the Lochmhàthar defends itself fiercely, particularly when protecting its young, as it is a highly protective mother.

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Their diet consists of kelp and underwater vegetation, but they are known to also swallow living things or objects from time to time. Their metabolism is incapable of digesting non-plant matter, which is why they use it to protect what piques their interest. Sliding them into their chest where they can protect it and keep it from harm. They use such abilities when they feel some kind of danger lurking around their filly, giving little chance for the entities to react.

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Being such a difficulty to catch, merchants prefer capturing the filly and use it to train the mother for their business. Being capable of securing objects in their chest without them being damaged, they are coached by the merchant  to collect certain things in the human world and bring them back to her foal prison.

​Certain merchants, to keep the nobility quiet against their business, would offer valuable trinkets from the human world. Even going as far as to kidnap young maidens so that those nobles, too, could enjoy the prosperity and wealth that comes with devouring a sacrificial bride that only their ruler gets to enjoy.