The carry-beast of the new world. Burdeners possess a row of strong spikes extending from their partial internal skeleton around their upper shell that make it easy to tie packs and baggage to the tops of their shells. Burdeners are the only beast of burden allowed into the upper city because their dung is neatly compacted into practically odorless pellets and is often collected and sold for fuel in poorer quarters.

Despite their size, tarhedra appear to be related to the butterfly. They subsist on nectar, the flower of the carnivorous plants of the swamps, often cultivated in civilized areas to provide them with food. It is always possible to find a job tending the blossoms of the swamp flowers, which are kept in black iron cages that a Burdener can reach through with its tongue, but keep people and other animals from being attacked.

They do not like the cold, and will curl up and attempt to hibernate if the temperature drops below about 50 degrees.