Moon River is a massive, winged white tiger, the animal, familiar and companion of Iriscan. She is recorded as the only creature of her kind in Antiterra.
| Type | Creature (tiger) |
| Companion of | Iriscan |
| Spanish entry | Moon River |
Iriscan names her plainly: “Moon River is my animal, my familiar, my companion”, and “I trust her, and her name is Moon River”.
Description
- A tiger the size of a horse; sitting, she is taller than a person; standing, a “giant feline tank”. She crosses rivers “almost walking on the water”, slowly.
- White, with white and black streaks “like the veins of the moon” (perhaps the source of the name); also called an “albino tigress”.
- Claws “like silver swords”, which she draws in “like a cat” when climbing.
- Mouth and entire esophagus black, coated in a dark substance; the mouth is large enough for a human hand to reach in and pull out what is stuck in her throat. When something lodges there she vomits a blackish, acidic matter.
- A fracture across the shoulder blades.
- She flies — “she doesn’t run, she flies” — hovering in combat and crossing water from above, on butterfly-like wings.
Mind and senses
She is sentient: she listens, follows conversations with her gaze, which sometimes turns silver, and understands what is said before her, so strangers must be introduced (“Easy, Moon River! They’re friends!”). She detects poison in food and will not eat it. She marks territory by scent on her companions.
Equipment
Light chain mail, very thick bracers, two leather bands around the claws, leather wristbands and a rhinoceros hide, all fitted without buckles. On her back she carries, as gear rather than arms, a falchion, a staff, a stick and a shield. Her real weapons are claws and teeth.
Combat
She seizes and tears throats — so she killed Trollo, the hyena — and strikes with her claws, as she did against the woman of mist. Spears break against her natural defense as well as her mail. She can be ridden, and serves as mount, weapon and poison detector; her intervention decides fights that would kill her companions. She has been called “tiger of the hunt” and “legendary tiger”; Iriscan has also been reproached, in her presence: “you’ve killed a lot of animals to get here”.
Growth
She is young, almost an adolescent cub, and has grown between appearances (“Moon River is bigger, she went to eat”). At one point it was conjectured that she “may have fled to the tropical forest”.
Conflicting accounts
- Some accounts say “tigress” (“she’s a girl, remember that”); others write “white tiger” in the masculine.
- Her coat is described both as pure white and as white streaked with black.
Open questions
- Whether “legendary” is innate or a title won in combat.
- Her origin, and how Iriscan obtained her.
- The cause of the black mouth and esophagus, and of the shoulder-blade fracture, and whether it heals.
- Whether the butterfly wings are always present or unfurled at will.
- The referent of the phrase “has a tiger mounted on its back” (Moon River on someone, or another creature).
- Her diet.