Pass

**Pass** is a carnivorous mammal species belonging to the order of lineserres. It evolved around 750 thousand years ago during the Sixth Era and has remained fairly unchanged until the present day. It is one of only four lineserr species currently alive together with the hipikapus, the ribbonet and the bulber. Around 50 lineserr species are known to have existed in the past. Most of them went extinct naturally. Pass is one of Letina's most universally recognisable and often referenced animals. They are keenly trained and used in the Developed East by militaries, peace-keeping organizations and crime groups alike, while some of the Undeveloped People use them as a faster but significantly more expensive alternative to postal pigeons. There is also a niche sport involving passes, mostly only known to a tight-knit group of usually wealthy enthusiasts: both short and long-distance pass races.

### Distribution and habitat

Though a versatile species able to leave in most imaginable environments, passes are generally only encountered in the northern part of the world. Scientists have described four distinct subspecies, of which the most common and numerous is the aptly named common pass. Wild common passes can be met on the continents of Pentoy, Wagara, the north of Amaruzja as well as the island of Penilea. An isolated population exists on the St. George Island close to Pole. A second subspecies, the rarely researched prairie pass, lives in the northern and north-western sections of Northern Shantox. Lemonian passes and snow passes both live on Wagara, though not in territories overlapping with the common pass.

The former inhabits the dense jungle around the Lemonian Deluge. Snow passes are actually named for their white color, not for living in a cold environment, as their native habitat are the tropical islands of Paguls and Kokuls on the Bright Blue Sea. Common passes are met in many various habitats, but their preference are forests or semi-forested areas located 500 to 4000 meters above sea level. Some scattered populations have even been observed in the barren Ancient Mountains. The prairie passes prefer meadows, swamps and bogs and have not been met any higher than 400 meters above sea level. Lemonian passes inhabit the dense, lush jungle around the Lemonian Deluge which lays at anywhere between 200 and 1200 meters above sea level. Snow passes live on the highest peaks encountered on their native islands.

### Diet and hunting tactics

A pass diet consists of meat in 100%. They typically stray away from carrion, preferring live prey in every situation except survival-threatening famine. With their deadly venom and the very sharp spike through which it is applied, passes can successfully hunt down most other animals, though they have their taste preferences as well as naturally take minimal risks. In the Korynsian Forest, where passes live in huge groups up to 60 individuals, they are not afraid of taking even on young and subadult obauks and quilters, jumping them en masse and piercing everywhere with their spikes in hopes of breaching the thick skin. Hunting of such a large animal usually has about a 5% success rate and sometimes passes themselves end up killed by the defending members of the herds. The skin of most species of monsters is not thick enough to survive a pass sting, but passes are usually intimidated by the monsters' size and roars, and so both animals usually stay out of each other's way. Passes have potent diet adaptability abilities and they may shift their preferred species of prey depending on the current season if they live in a location with prominent season changes.

They consume over 400 different species of animals in total, but a study of six populations from three subspecies found that over 80% of their diet is formed by four kinds of prey: brelkas, pulpwoods, rodents and small birds. In the case of Lemonian passes, fish and large parrots also make up a large part of the diet. Passes usually hunt in a group, though they are perfectly capable of jumping a victim and killing it with their venom solo. They usually lunge from a hideout or dive down from flight at a rapid velocity. They usually hunt 1 or 2 times per day with the entire group, while for the rest of the day each pass can make an unlimited amount of individual hunts if it so desires. In the Lazure Mountains, passes conduct their first formation hunting after leaving their nests at 10 am and their second around twilight between 7 and 9 pm. Senile passes unable to hunt have been observed to satisfy themselves with swallowing butterflies and ants, but are usually cared for by the younger members of the formation and fed with their more nutrient-rich natural prey.

### Nests

In the evening, many passes build a nest to spend the night in. This is very different from their closest relatives ribbonets and bulbers who sleep wrapped around branches or tall rocks as well as hipikapuses who sleep in vegetation on ground level. Nests of passes are nowhere near being a case of artistic animal architecture. They are simply clumps of small branches and leaves squeezed tightly together between the branches of a tree. Nests have from 0.8 to 1.8 meters in diameter and are usually individual, with the same pass building a certain one and sleeping alone in it. Young passes initially sleep with their mothers, but at the age of 2 they start building tiny satellite nests neighboring with those of their mother. Sometimes a disease-weakened pass may be unable to build its own nest, in that case it is usually invited into one of the existing ones by a friend from the formation.

### Venom

The act of applying poison by venom through their spike is called a "sting", not be confused with "bite" which refers to using their regular teeth. The venom of passes is one of the strongest known natural poisons and is one of the seven ingredients of the Holy Mixture. The application of just three or four drops into the bloodstream causes the death of the average human or talking animal within 38 to 41 seconds or of the average machine in 55 to 75 seconds. Application of six or more is considered unsurvivable. Even one or two drops is enough to kill, but it is the largest amount with which it is possible to survive without instant treatment, though it still results in an irregular heartbeat and crippling chest pains.

The venom contains a unique toxin, named passtoxin, which makes its way to the heart at lightning-fast speed and immediately causes fatal cramps in it without affecting any other part of the body. Two species of monsters, pasecelf and tofix, have osteophanine in their blood which grants them a very rare immunity to pass venom, though are not completely unaffected by it - a large enough dose may cause a feeling of being dazed for many hours. The poison only works intravenously, it does not work if introduced to an organism through the digestive or respiratory system. Passes also have osteophanine in their blood, assuring that any stings made on their own kind do not have a fatal result.

### Social structure

The prairie, snow and common subspecies live in groups. "Group" is indeed the official name for a community of passes. Lemonian passes are loners, occasionally tagging along in small packs not larger than 4 individuals. A "group" contains anywhere between 3 and 65 individuals, but typically between 6 and 30. The average group consists of 15 individuals: two adult males (often brothers or a father-adult son pair), around four adult females and their offspring of different age. The leader of the group, the alpha male, is usually older than 15 years, but younger alphas have been observed with the youngest being 11 years and 4 months.

Males and females both have a tendency to leave their native group at some point in their adulthood. In snow passes, nearly every female leaves while nearly every male remains in their native group for life, while in prairie and common passes around 60% of males and 85% of females leave during their life. Adult males after leaving their group usually found a new groups by attracting females from existing, perhaps too large groups to them. Low-ranking females of large groups are the most likely to join since they suffer a lack of sexual and social attention from their current leader.

Sometimes males choose to stay in their formation for life and either plot to overthrow the alpha or genuinely stay submissive to him and help in maintaining order. There is not a definitive hierarchical list describing the ranks of the males in order. Usually easily recognizable is the leader, his second-in-command (beta male) and occasionally the third-in-command (gamma male). The rest of the males do not develop a hierarchy between them as they are too busy showing submissive behaviors towards the top two or three to fight between themselves.

### Life expectancy

The average life expectancy for a wild pass who has survived infancy is estimated to be around 18-22 years for males and 23-27 years for females, according to long-term data gathered in six most researched populations (four of common passes and one of snow and lemonian respectively). In habitats with a large availability of highly nutritional food, they live longer - the main standout being the Lazure Mountains where their average life expectancy after surviving infancy years is calculated to be around 28-32 years. The oldest wild passes are reported to have reached around 41 or 42 years of age. Only 2% or less of wild passes die from actual old age, with most succumbing to diseases, starvation or injuries. Captive passes often live to be 35 years old with the oldest reaching their 50s. The absolute longevity record belongs to the currently alive female Trudy, who is approaching her estimated 63rd birthday as of December 22 022.

### Research and conservation

The world leader in pass research and conservation is Patricia Kelman. She founded the Gigombe Research Center in 21 968 to conduct research on groups of wild passes found in the Lazure Mountains, which would eventually transform into the Patricia Kelman Pass Fund of today. Although globally the number of passes is large and they are not threatened by extinction, in the Developed East they are legally protected from any harm by the Act of Non-Sentients Protection from 21 975.

### Threats and problems

Natural predators of passes include animals such as large species of monsters, tigers, obauks, mountain crackors, sometimes forest crackors, abassers and Lemonian or B-type seals. However, for no species passes are a major source of food as they are quite hard to catch due to their reflexes, agility and their narrow build. The predator may occasionally even die itself in the case of a successful pass retaliation with the use of the venom spike. Hence, mostly only young inexperienced passes or weak old ones fall victim, and healthy adult passes rarely do as much as lift their tail if an individual of one of the mentioned species draws near. Much more real problems of passes are diseases and famines. They are also vulnerable to sentient-sourced intrusions especially prominent in the Developed East, such as poaching, environment degradation, pollution or getting caught into captivity.

### Commercial pass hunts

In the far west of Pentoy, passes are hunted and made into sushi or used as an addition to spring rolls. Orcs use passes to make a dish called the tulma-ghituta, where they cook them for many hours on plates heated by lava before tearing them apart, squeezing the deformed pieces back together into a salad and adding spices of their liking. In a few undeveloped Amaruzjan countries, killed passes are rolled into a ball and served with sauce or sweeteners. In the Developed East, passes are legally protected and illegal as a hunting animal with the single exception of the City of Clouds, whose inhabitants have an exclusive permit to hunt passes due to their years-long traditions. The animals are caught using tangled ropes strapped between houses and cut to meat pieces, which are crammed into jars with salted water and left for several months before consumption.

### Communication

As of today, the following 12 distinct bodily and vocal signs used by passes and their meanings have been identified.

* **High-pitched roar** - anger, grief
* **Low-pitched roar** - throwing down a challenge, mainly to specimens of its own kind
* **Wagging the tail vertically** - good mood
* **Folding in half and silent wailing** - sad or somber mood, feeling unwell
* **Wagging the tail vertically with hitting the ground** - a display of concern or care
* **Wagging the tail horizontally** - a display of being ready for something, most often hunting or sex
* **Squeezing itself into the ground and loud wailing** - fear, anxiety
* **Standing on its tail vertically as stretched as possible** - a demonstration of strength and size
* **Venom spike fully displayed out of socket** - an intention to hunt or attack another pass
* **Raised tail while lying down** - boredom, occasionally a display of aggression
* **Snorting** - a display of trust or good intentions
* **Tail in front of the head as stretched as possible** - a warning to stay away