The Dark Peak Bestiary
Ripperthroats are large canines native to The Dark Peak. The banded fur of a ripperthroat is usually mottled white, brown, gray, or black. Ripperthroats are specialised for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by their physical adaptations to tackling large prey, their social nature, and their highly advanced expressive behaviour including individual or group howling.
Ripperthroats travel in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair accompanied by their offspring. Offspring may leave to form their own packs on the onset of sexual maturity and in response to competition for food within the pack. Ripperthroats are also territorial and fights over territory are among the principal causes of ripperthroat mortality. The ripperthroat is mainly a carnivore and feeds on large wild hooved mammals as well as smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. Single ripperthroats or mated pairs typically have higher success rates in hunting than do large packs. Pathogens and parasites, notably rabies virus, may infect ripperthroats.
Ripperthroats have a long history of interactions with all denizens of The Dark Peak and humans in Hellsborough and The Nether Lands, having been despised and hunted by most communities because of their attacks on younger members of society and livestock. Conversely they are respected by some smaller sub-clans of the nether lands, notably members of the more remote sects of the Moors. The ripperthroat is also considered the ancestor of the domestic barker.