Umbudo (Uum-buu-doo)
Summary
The umbudo are a common sight across Immensio and the surrounding lands. A migratory species that form large herds, they're peaceful herbivores who largely demolish small shrubs, plants, mushrooms, etc. Their fur and milk products are especially desirable, being staples for many migratory peoples across the plains. There has ever been a problem with domesticating them, however. The umbudo are actually quite amiable and empathetic for animals, being easy to tame and not much of a bother to care for. They do, however, love being picked up by the wind and rolled away. Umbudo are strongly wind-aspected creatures, particularly expressed through their lumpy, cloud-like fur. When the winds pick up, the umbudo soak up the wind mana, causing their fur to expand. They quite literally puff up into dense, tumbling cottonballs. Combined with their reasonable weight, they're easily picked up by high winds and dragged along. The umbudo capitalize on this nature to its fullest, using the winds to propel themselves great distances across Veltrona. Not only is it fantastic for sending them tumbling all over the place, their fur has incredible shock absorbance. Umbudo will deliberately 'inflate' their fur before hurling themselves off cliffsides, tumbling or falling down to lower grounds without a fuss. Combined with their penchant for mountaineering, they can end up in all kinds of incredibly bizarre places, eating a stray plant. Thanks to having generally no fear of heights, a willingness to roam, and fences being inadequate against them, they're a pain to ranch properly. That said, their furs are great at insulation. Those with a talent in magic can, somewhat, retain the heavily wind-aspected nature during collection. These special furs are great for such specialty clothing, and see usage by anyone rich enough to afford them. Quite a number of nomads make a comfortable business off just chasing umbudo around and collecting their furs. Predators have some trouble with the umbudo, as their puffing up fur makes them infuriating to get at. Some end up trapped in the fur, taken for a ride and smashed across the ground as the umbudo rolls. These are almost all incidental notes, as the umbudo doesn't seem to actively care either way. If something bothersome appears, it'll just roll away. Not a lot of predators want to follow them straight off a cliff.Basic Information
Anatomy
A quadrupedal animal with a roboust torso and hips, its neck is elongated and tall, lifting the head generously high. Its feet are cloven hoofs, being generally thick and flexible enough to handle traversing sheer rock surfaces. The whole of its peachy-skinned body is covered in white-and-grey fur. When the fur is inactive, it is a dense, reasonably cushiony growth that makes them appear like lumpy clouds. When it is active, it puffs up and they become spherical, lumpy cottonballs that can roll across the landscape.
Their heads have tiny, triangular and curved ears that can rotate around to detect sounds. Wide, expressive eyes sit atop a reasonably large, flat-teethed mouth ideal for their herbivore lifestyle. They can be best described as cute, but perpetually bored or unusually peaceful in their look. This is maintained even during moments of distress, making it hard to see if the umbudo is actually having problems or not.
They're overall large creatures, ideal for menial labor.
Biological Traits
Wind-Aspected – Umbudo are heavily biased toward wind mana in their physiology.
Poofy Fur – They have lumpy, cloud-like fur that expands when changed with mana, turning them into puffy cottonballs.
Comments