Jorune: Strange Allies game (Prologue and Seq 1.1)

A side note about beast centers: most of the creatures on Jorune are alien. That being the case, the various mounts (thombo, talmaron, bochigon) are incapable of developing a bond with a particular rider descended from Earth (they are not mammals). Some particularly romantic members of the PC races will seek to own their own mounts, name them, and treat the named ones preferentially, but for most people on Jorune one freaky alien creature is much like any other, and they are largely treated like rental cars by all except professional beasters. Even thombocs would look askance at someone who always rode the same thombo; they, like beasters, have several mounts, and they rotate them like farmers rotating crops. What this means is that the idea of owning a mount is extravagant and eccentric unless you're a beaster. Pretty much everyone else pays for the use of a mount, and the beaster in question will base the price on whatever agreements he has with beasters at the destination location for returning/replacing the animals. Then, like with the Pony Express, the rider drops off a mount at the next station and pays for the next leg of the trip, if any.