Urzhad

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This article or section is about the animal Urzhad. You may be looking for Dûrgrimst Urzhad.

Urzhad were cave bears from the Beor Mountains. They were one of the five native species of the Beor Mountains. The elf name for Urzhad was Beor, for which the mountains were named. According to Orik, the name of this creature was used as the names of one of the dwarf clans. Urzhadn were massive beasts, larger even then Nagra, the huge mountain boars. They are described as having brown-silver fur and large hooked claws. Despite their size they were surprisingly fast, able to catch and kill most species in the Beor Mountains.

These large ursines probably competed with the Shrrg and Fanghur for prey, and in turn intimidated them from their kills and vice versa. Urzhadn were quite capable of taking down such prey as large deer, Naga, Feldunost, and wild oxen. But as with most bears, they were probably mostly vegetarians, eating grasses, nuts, fruit, tubers and other such fare. But they were omnivores with a highly varied diet, including insects, invertebrates, fungi, fish, reptiles and small mammals. They most likely would have killed large prey by swatting and slashing at it with their large, hooked front paws until the prey was stunned enough to perform a death bite to the skull or a part of the spine. Small prey was likely killed with a fast bite or a fast swat of their mighty club-shaped paws. They would take foodstuffs based on availability or ease of attainment, like all bears. Nar Garzvhog encountered one of these beasts on his first hunt during his Urgal coming-of-age ritualistic quest. He strangled the monstrous carnivore to death as it attempted to maul him, and used the stomach as a confectionary tool, much like a pot, in Brisingr. This marked Nar Garzvhog for his eventual occupant as the warchief of the Bolvek Urgal Tribe, as killing a cave bear without weapons or magic is impressive by any standards.

Cave bears had an excellent scent of smell, as all bear species do. They probably used this amazingly sensitive sense of smell to track prey, find tasty plants and fruit and to find a mate. During the winter, these bears would go into winter dormancy, which is similar but distinct from true hibernation in that the animal doesn't defecate, drink, eat or awake during this process. The mother Urzhadn gave birth during this torpor to anywhere from one to five cubs, three cubs was the commonplace number. She would have defended them fiercely from other animals such as Shrrg, Nagra, Fanghur and even humans and dwarves. Male Beor would have tried to kill a female's cubs to bring her into estrus to mate her.

 

These large mountain dwelling cave bears are probably in part based off of the extinct European cave bears (Ursus Spelaeus) and perhaps even the North American giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus).

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