National Animal

[Aryeztur]

The National Animal of Aryadesh is the Elephant.

[Vilhelm Benkern]

What qualities of the elephant are hailed as particularly worthy? Do they have a religious or sentimental value? Are they employed in any state ceremonies or events? Are they, and/or their habitat, protected by the government?

[Aryeztur]

Elephants in Aryasht are completely domesticated. Thus they no longer have a "habitat" but as a result, they thrive in large numbers across the land, being used for war, ceremony, construction, etc. Elephants are highly intelligent animals, said to have extraordinary memories. Furthermore, they are one of a handful of animals to have passed the "mirror test," indicating self-awareness. They thus symbolism wisdom. Baby elephants are a delight to watch, being cute. Elephants are also extremely compassionate and do not harm other animals except to protect themselves and their young. There are stories of elephants refusing to step on or drop something on other animals, such as dogs, etc. The exception to this is when an elephant is in the state of masth when their hormones are high. Despite this, they can be used for war, but mostly as beasts of burden. It is considered sinful in Aryasht to use them to slay humans. Elephants have extraordinary ceremonial value, being used by nobles to ride into ceremonies, coronations, and by commoners who can rent-an-elephant for a day for weddings and the like. The importance of the elephant is reflected in the city gates and walls of Aryasht, which have to be higher than usual to accommodate elephants, so this is an integral part of our architecture as well. There are side benefits to this- our walls being higher makes them harder to scale. Mini-elephants, the size of large dogs have also been bred for families to keep as pets at home.

[Aryeztur]

Elephants also have a great sense of humor. See this elephant trolling a buffalo:

[Kaiser Aiomide]

Elephants are nature's tank!

[Tokaray al-Osman]

Elephants are nature's tank!

A bit fleshy and they tend to burst if you hit one with an armour-piercing round from a recoilless-rifle.