Brooaff

Brooaff (BROO-awf) are almost wholly herbivorous Wruwara. While some individuals have been observed eating river fish on rare occasion, Brooaff primarily eat sweet grass, seeds, nuts, berries, fruits, herbs, mosses, and fungus.

Personality

They are a mystical subspecies that spend most of their time meditating and listening to the forests' breezes. Brooaff rarely seek contact with other Wruwara, but other Wruwara will seek them for the strongest medicines. They can be very sensitive to sudden noises or flashes of motion, and often are darty and cautious, even suspicious and paranoid. While they are respectable of other cultures, they are not too keen on standing by while others kill for sport, and can even become defensive if an animal is in danger of an adventuring party they are in.

Basic Information

Anatomy

They are brown pelted Wruwara with large, branching horns, tufted cheeks, large pupils that cover most of their eye, and docked tails. Docking of their tails isn't just ritualistic, for it helped them blend with the Gorrn, a large deer species with four toed hooves. This tail docking isn't always observed in the subspecies as a whole, however, as some individuals choose not to dock. When in their Wruos form, they blend surprisingly well with the Gorrn, and can even be seen grazing along side them. This was believed to originally be a survival habit developed even before they began shifting, though it is unknown how exactly they docked their tails then. Today, they use this trick so they can guard their prized Gorrn from thieves and predators, as, to them, the Gorrn are distant soul siblings as well as animal companions. They rarely wear jewelry, and even more rarely are they found with clothing of any kind apart from the woven head covers their leaders wear in times of honoring and times of war. Clothing can be made from plant fibers or from the shed wool of wild sheep, because they take only what they need and only kill as a means of desperation and defense.

Biological Traits

Bonus Natural Attack: Brooaff are adorned with large, branching antlers with many points. They don't hold their antlers to the same standards of beauty and power as the Awroon, but they certainly show a sign of their age, and thus, command a certain level of respect. However, in response to dangerous situations, they will gladly defend themselves with their horns.
Brooaff can make a gore attack with their horns that deals 1d6 + 3 + their Strength modifier of piercing damage.
Intuitive Initiative: Brooaff may add their Perception modifier to their Initiative checks. Even if they aren't strong warriors, they are often the first to act during combat.
Mark of the Prey: Because Brooaff have antlers like a prey animal, creatures react to them as if they too were a prey animal. They gain a +3 bonus when using Empathy or Beast Kin against a creature with the prey subtype. In addition, they take a -3 penalty when using Empathy or Beast Kin against a creature with the predator subtype.
Socially Favored Form: Wruos.

Ecology and Habitats

They live in shallow dens covered by wood and grass huts that blend in well enough that one could pass an entire village without knowing. They rarely burn fires unless on ceremonial occasions, and keep quietly to themselves. Brooaff can be found wherever Gorrn can, in coniferous and deciduous forests close to grassy mountain ranges. Cave and rock paintings made from animal dung and colored fruits and berries are the only sure signs one could be close to their villages, but even then, not so sure since they are often seasonally nomadic, traveling to winter camps in the late autumn.

Biological Cycle

Both male and female Brooaff grow antlers much like the Gorrn they live along side. Unlike the Gorrn, however, Brooaff antlers do not shed seasonally. Instead, they are born with small, velvety horns that grow through puberty and shed their velvet once the Brooaff reaches sexual maturity. These antlers continue to grow all through their lives, and sometimes, even after the Brooaff is long dead. It is not uncommon to find the tomb of a Brooaff warrior whose antlers have grown and twisted into the roots that reach into their graves.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

High-Light Vision: Brooaff have naturally keen eyesight, and do not become dazed in very high light environments, or from spells and effects that create bright or flashing light. In addition, Brooaff ignore concealment, but not total concealment from high-light.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Brooaff prefer single syllable names with soft or blended consonants. Fern, Hyurr, Thawn, and Loom are examples.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Groomah do not tolerate Brooaff in most situations, because to them, Brooaff are prey animals, both because of their physical characteristics and their herbivorous diet. Lodall grow fond of the Brooaff for their delicate sensibilities, and often, Lodall will develop protective, even parental feelings for Brooaff. It's not too uncommon to find Awroon and Brooaff spellcasters studying nature magic together, even if one is a Mystic and the other is a Shaman. Grindal almost directly loathe Brooaff for their flighty nature, and view them as cowards, not just prey animals. Fangeire on the other hand, respect the Brooaff's flighty nature as a survival instinct and enjoy adventuring with them, since often, a Brooaff can sense a predator coming long before the rest of the party.

Brooaff Headshot by Rotsuoy

Scientific Name

Wruwara brooaff

Lifespan

300 years

Average Height

(Without antlers)
Natrulus 5.9 ft (1.8 m)
Wruos 4.5 ft (1.3 m)
Myetis 7 ft (2.1 m)

Average Weight

190 lbs (86 kg)

Average Physique

Brooaff are much more muscular than their close relatives, the Awroon, but tend to have much more dense fat deposits as opposed to the soft fat that the Awroon have.