Great, lumbering creatures, actually more closely related to the armadillo, and resembling a spiked tortoise more than either of their namesakes.

The most noticable feature of the Hedgehog Cow is its domed shell, easily five feet in diameter in a large specimine and covered in vicious, bony spikes. The exposed skin on their limbs, head, tail, and underbelly is almost as impregnable, resembling that of a rhinocerous and laced with small, bony pellets. Their small, almost reptilian heads have a pair of short, sharp horns behind their ears and another, resembling a beard, on their lower jaw. Their tails are long and whiplike, ending in a brutal, spiked club.

Contrary to its rather frightening appearance, the Hedgehog Cow is a docile herbivore. Small herds of the mammals graze the praries of Thass, where they have few natural predators.

Although they can be eaten, they produce surprisingly little meat, and what they do produce is gamy, stringy, and nearly inedible. In the past, during the reign of the Kingdom of Blue Moons, armor was made from their skins and shells; this has been more-or-less supplanted by later developments.

Today, they are far more valuable for their milk, which is considered a delicacy (not least because of the difficulty in obtaining it, generally requiring a minimum of four men, two horses, and a ceremonial clay flute) among the nobility of Asivis.