Jarbo

A jarbo looks like an oversized kangaroo rat, up to 2 feet tall at the shoulder, with a round furry body, tiny forelegs, a long balancing tail and greatly elongated hind legs. Coats are generally tawny or sand-colored, with markings that vary to match the local ground. Species differ mainly in ear size, toe count, and whether the tail is furred, but all bound across the dunes on their hind legs at tremendous speed.

Jarbos are timid and run from anything bigger, relying on astonishing speed to escape. Only a jarbo whose master is in danger turns aggressive, and though they are loyal pets, their bites do just 1d3 damage, so they make poor bodyguards.

They rarely fall ill, but now and then one catches a rabieslike 'foaming sickness' that drives it insane. A mad jarbo attacks every creature it sees and fights until killed; anyone it bites must pass a Constitution check or contract a serious disease, as with a common rat.

Their psionic sense, a variant of the psychometabolic devotion heightened senses that works through smell and detects only water, functions over great distances regardless of wind. A teaspoon of water draws a flock from 100 yards, a closed cask from a mile, and an oasis from across an entire region.

Flocks migrate by night from one water source to the next, staying ahead of the many animals that hunt them. At each new site they find a dry streambed or cliff base and dig two dozen or more burrows, each a winding foot-wide tunnel ending in a chamber 3 feet across, which their supple bodies slip through easily. Within a few nights to a week predators find the colony, and at the next moonrise the jarbos move on.

Nearly every desert predator eats jarbos, making them a vital link in many food chains. They eat seeds, grass and insects, getting most of their moisture from food; an adult needs only a few tablespoons of water a day and can go a week between real drinks, a hardiness travelers envy. Their water sense mainly guides them to the plants and insects that gather around scarce water. The pelts are too thin for furriers but sometimes decorate ceremonial clothing or furniture, worth up to 1 gp in some places.