Guide to Stanton Wildlife

Beyond the bustling cities, the Stanton system has plenty of opportunities to get up close with nature. This guide will highlight some of Stanton's most interesting animals and where you can find them.

*WILDLIFE OF STANTON*

KOPION Originally from Ashana (Nul V) kopions are fast, carnivorous animals that easily develop specialized traits to thrive in differing environments by reproducing quickly and in large litters. Without careful monitoring, the kopion often becomes invasive. Fortunately, the horn of the kopion is made of a unique combination of bone and naturally occurring carbon nanomaterials that, when processed, can be used to aid in bone regeneration, making it a valuable commodity to harvest.

MAROK Maroks are omnivorous birds often introduced to terraformed worlds as ecological stabilizers due to their reliability as large predators. Maroks owe their adaptability to their powerful gizzards, which secrete a substance during digestion that hardens into a large stone that helps the marok digest food more efficiently. These stones have unique conductive properties that make them sought-after for use in the production of microprocessors.

VALAKKAR Originally indigenous to the deserts of Leir III, valakkars spend the majority of their life below the surface using overlapping plates to burrow through the ground. Having evolved in the desert, these omnivores need very little water, extracting what they need from their diet of vegetation, detritus, and meat.

Valakkars have three distinct developmental stages with juveniles being 4-5m, adults 10m, and the extremely dangerous apex being over 300m. Juvenile and adult valakkars have fangs often harvested for use in luxury goods. Apex valakkars develop highly sought-after pearls, which are ground into powder and used for biomedical and industrial purposes. These pearls grow on their hide and are encrusted in layers of organic material that must be mined away before harvesting.

Sentient smugglers and animal enthusiasts have taken valakkars from Leir and spread them across the wider universe. The creatures have proven to be highly adaptable and declared an invasive species by the UEE. It’s believed that miners brought juvenile valakkars to Daymar and Aberdeen as pets before they matured into adults and were released. Territorial predators that use vibrations to hunt, valakkars will respond to the distressed cries of a juvenile valakkar from great distances. Apex valakkars will even attack and destroy buildings and settlements if provoked.

*STANTON HABITATS AND BIOMES* Ready to go out and meet some of these animals yourself? The following list of biomes will serve as a handy guide on where to begin your safari.

Caves of Hurston (Stanton I) • Herds of kopions have flourished in these deep underground caverns. We recommend caution while exploring as the naturally aggressive kopion can become dangerous when cornered in a confined space.

Deserts of Aberdeen (Stanton 1b) • We advise caution when moving about this moon’s deserts, as even vibrations from an ATLS suit can attract a valakkar. The defunct Hathor Group notoriously abandoned several mining facilities in the area because operating their equipment summoned valakkars in significant numbers.

Deserts of Daymar (Stanton 2b) • We advise caution when moving about this moon’s deserts, as even vibrations from an ATLS suit can attract a valakkar. The defunct Hathor Group notoriously abandoned several mining facilities in the area because operating their equipment summoned valakkars in significant numbers.

Tundras of microTech (Stanton IV) • These vast, treeless plains are home to numerous herds of kopions and flocks of maroks.

Forests of microTech (Stanton IV) • The tall trees provide shelter and shade for the kopions and maroks that inhabit these forests.