Snowhauler
Kelan pack and sled animal
The Snowhauler is the working animal of Kela, a heavy, shaggy hauler bred to pull sleds and carry loads across frozen plains and polar shelves. Kelan colonies, settler trains, and the mercenary escorts that guard them rely on it wherever the ice is too broken or the storms too heavy for vehicles.
It has a deep chest, a double coat thick enough to shed ice storms, and broad, fur-padded feet that spread its weight across snow. Fat stored along its back carries it through many days without feeding.
It is steady and stubborn and bonds closely with its handler. It feels thin ice through its feet and will refuse to cross it, and Kelan handlers trust a Snowhauler that stops over any instrument.
Kela has no native relays and very few hubs, and across much of its interior storms ground airships and broken ice stops rovers. Kelans say the Snowhauler is what made the colonies possible.
