Roaming the blistering hot springs and sulfur-crusted cliffs of Muspelheim, the Geyserhorn, also know as a Sulferhorn Elk, is a towering, majestic ungulate whose biology has uniquely adapted to the volatile geothermal biome. Despite its size and graceful movements, this creature exudes an ominous aura—its breath hissing with fumes, and steam huffing from its jagged, glowing antlers.
Description
The Geyserhorn stands nearly ten feet tall at the shoulder, with muscular, charcoal-gray fur streaked with dull orange veins that glow faintly when it's agitated or overheated. Its hooves are obsidian-black and webbed, giving it purchase on the slick, sulfur-stained rocks near boiling pools and fumaroles. Its eyes are glossy and pale, as if clouded by heat, yet see perfectly through shimmering steam.
The most striking feature is its antlers—massive, spiraled structures shaped almost like exhaust pipes or fumarole vents. They emit steady wisps of vapor and periodically exhale long jets of steam and volcanic gas, a biological mechanism that helps the elk regulate the pressure and heat built up inside its digestive system. These horns also act as a defense mechanism; when cornered, the Geyserhorn can blast a plume of blinding, sulfuric vapor at attackers, allowing it to escape.
Its diet consists almost entirely of sulfur rocks, lichen stained by geothermal gases, and even superheated mineral-rich water, which it filters through specialized ridges in its gullet. Enzymes and internal heat chambers break down these otherwise toxic elements into energy, and in turn, their bodies become slightly geothermal themselves—warm to the touch, even in deep winter.
Behavior & Ecology
Sulfurhorn Elks are solitary and territorial. They wander alone across volcanic ridges, soaking in geothermal pools or grazing on smoldering moss. During mating season, males produce deep bellowing roars—accompanied by great jets of steam from their antlers—that can be heard echoing across the sulfur flats for miles.
They are revered by certain shamanic sects of the Grimfeather Pufflins, who believe these beasts are fire-touched avatars of the land itself. A carved piece of antler is said to bring good fortune during eruptions and is often worn by Pufflin shamans.
Rarity & Threat
While not inherently aggressive, a startled Geyserhorn can charge with the force of a landslide and leave behind trails of steaming hoofprints and burned moss. Only the most skilled or foolhardy hunters ever pursue one—for their antlers fetch an enormous price as alchemical components and magical conduits.