Landhorse

A landhorse is a large terrestrial animal of Nuclearth, native to Atlantis. When the sargassum of the seas of the Atlantic mutated to form the solid mass of Atlantis, a number of local creatures also mutated to adapt to the new land surface. Among them was a species of seahorse that lived in the area (Hippocampus erectus), which over the course of generations grew drastically in size and gained the abilities of air-breathing and terrestrial locomotion, though at the cost of losing its ability to breathe water. The word "landhorse" may seem redundant, but is adapted from the name of the seahorse, the more apt since the true horses from before the war seem to be extinct.

The syngnathid origin of landhorses is immediately apparent; despite their much greater dimensions landhorses share their tiny marine ancestors' abundance of ridges, spines, and leafy projections, as well as their spiral tails, their tubular snouts, and a number of fins that now serve little purpose. They also typically have the same golden orange color, though specimens with different coloring are becoming increasingly common. Like seahorses, landhorses reproduce by the female's depositing her eggs into the male's brood pouch; the male then fertilizes them internally and eventually gives birth to the young.

Humans commonly use landhorses as mounts; though their swaying gait is a bit awkward, and their two limbs don't provide them the balance that a quadruped has, they are easily strong enough to support a large human, and their forward-leaning attitude while walking supplies an adequate place to sit. Though originating in Atlantis, landhorses have been exported all over Nuclearth; they are in particularly common use in nearby Europe and eastern North America, but have become quite popular even in locations as distant as Australia, Japan, and the southern tip of South America. Some breeders are constantly working to develop different varieties of landhorse, focusing on specific desired attributes such as size, speed, and unusual coloration or ornamentation.