Banghozu

a.k.a The Stone Callers

Living in the remote mountain ranges of the Greylands are a species of ungulate humanoids, notable for their broad antlers, three-toed hoofed and hands, and thick white fur.

Both males and females feature antlers, though males tend to have the larger pairs. The forearms and shins of each also feature thick segmented plates with some having vestigial plating along the snouts of their long muzzled faces. They have very powerful builds with thick necks hidden beneath their manes, allowing them to shovel and lift earth and stone aside with their horns. Their long, thick tails are often used to help counter balance the weight.

They get their moniker of "stone caller" not from their loud, echoing vocalizations (though there are those), but for the fact that their innate magic is reliant upon spoken 'word' that resonates with stone and earth. Efforts to tame the Banghozu into a mining labor force fail because of their adeptness to create escape routes through the stone and earth that many would use to imprison them. The relatively few enslaved Banghozu that do exist usually have their vocal cords severed, but this in turn cripples their utility in the very task they could most excel in. Some tribes have found more use in peaceful relations, offering food and other goods in return for mining efforts.

The Banghozu live for potentially hundreds of years and have a very low birth rate. It is rare for a tribe to grow large enough that it will divide into a separate tribes.

Their small tribal societies are highly ritualized, with males partaking in grand courtship displays with loud vocalizations. This can be boulder tossing or carrying, headbutting rivals, and the like. Even should the male best his rivals for a chance at courtship he still must engage in a form of ritual combat with his prospective mate seeking to further prove himself.

This has led to many scholars misunderstanding the relationships between the sexes as violent with the male 'forcing' his advances on a female. Many don't seem to realize that this ritual combat takes place in front of the gathered elders of a tribe and a male that would force himself would face violent and swift reprisal.

The Banghozu don't follow monogamous relationships and most tribe adults have multiple partners throughout their lives. The idea of single partner marriage is seen as foolishly restrictive, for the performance of any mate is never eternal, despite their long lives.

Some tribes do practice a form of marriage, but this is usually multiple mates of both genders 'wed' to a single powerful individual. Homosexual relationships are not frowned upon and seen as a means to increase comaradery and to let off steam. Exclusive homosexual relations, however, are frowned upon more than single partner relations as this is seen as knowingly withholding one's strength from the tribe by not seeking to continue its Existence.

Kin Stones are the large carved boulders that decorate the center of any Banghozu settlement, both present and past. The Kin Stones are covered in the names of their ancestors. Sometimes a tribe moves and a stone is left behind as it has grown far too large and weighty with the names and deeds of the ancestors. Other times the tribe will carry the stone atop multiple antlers while singing hymns as they seek their new home. Kin Stones may also carried into war, but as the Banghozu can rarely be pulled into prolonged conflict, tales of these stones acting as magical and spiritual foci in battle are unconfirmed.

Stone Scribes are the shamans and bards of the tribe in charge of carving the names into the Kin Stone and memorizing the vast oral history of the Banghozu. They know well that stories have a power and that the great epics can restore and heal their tribe.

Author's note: This race as not featured in any story to date, but may have a distant spiritual link with the Mist Folk of the God Wars.