The Ashgorn

The ashgorn are the native species of Valose. Hailing from the land of glory, the ashgorn are infamous for their aggression, battle prowess, and competitive nature. These behemoths are drawn to violence in all its forms, even when they're the recipient. In spite of their ferocity, the ashgorn are honorable. There's little glory in beating those who barely stood a chance.

Biology

The ashgorn are tall, strong, and powerful beasts. With long, sturdy legs and muscular necks, the ashgorn tower over the majority of the intalli. Their feet are large and flattened, with thick hoof-pads to cushion their weight. Their skin is incredibly thick, with keratin bumps trailing from neck to tail. This skin notably thins below the jaw and at the belly. They have wide, fat-filled tails that taper at the end. They have large nostrils and lack external ears. Unique to the ashgorn, their eyes are set into the bottom jaw rather than the top. Their prehensile tongues are nearly 20 inches (50.8 cm) long, allowing them to strip leaves and twigs from branches with ease. They may also use their tongue to wash their eyelids and clean their face.

The ashgorn possess a hollow crest on the top of their heads. This crest is used to produce extremely loud, resonant calls. These calls can be heard from miles away and used for all sorts of communication, albeit most often as a built-in war horn. This crest can vary wildly in shape and size, giving every individual their own unique sound.

Abilities

Reverent Reflexes

The ashgorn are capable of temporarily slowing down their perception of time. This ability allows them to react supernaturally fast to attacks and other dangers. This ability can only be activated for a few seconds at a time and will quickly bring about headaches and later migraines if used too often in quick succession. This ability may activate on instinct but is much more effective when used at will.

Ecology and Behavior

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Ashgorn possess a gilder reproduction system with all mature individuals capable of both fertilization and the bearing of live young. Ashgorn experience a yearly heat cycle, with all individuals going into estrus for a few short weeks during the winter. Outside of this time period, ashgorn experience little to no sexual interest. Ashgorn pregnancies last for up to 18 months and almost always produce a single calf.

Courting season occurs during early winter, coinciding with their yearly heats. Ashgorn courtship is a violent and bloody affair. Ashgorn will spar with both romantic rivals and potential partners, going all out to prove their strength and passion. Courtship brawls are highly flirtatious and playful, even as blows are exchanged. While uncommon, some unlucky ashgorn may endure brutal injuries during courting, often accrued from unreciprocated advances or especially cruel and critical suitors.
After courtship, ashgorn will typically pair together for several years before splitting up. Ashgorn rarely pair for life and often do not experience longterm romantic feelings for their partners. Splits several years (Or even a single season) after partnership are amicable and expected. Given the short nature of ashgorn relationships, infidelity is unusual and is rarely treated with the same severity that may occur in other species. Rather than a personal betrayal, it is often seen as a failure of reliability, showing a lack of attention towards their mates and their potential calves. With little in the ways of commitment, ashgorn will often reproduce immediately after pairing up.
Dams typically have a much stronger sway over their calves than sires and will often gain custody upon separation. Thus, despite the strain and sheer length of pregnancy, ashgorn will often have intense debates over which mate gets to be the dam. After 18 months, a dam will finally give birth in late spring or early summer.
Compared to other species, ashgorn calves have a rather harsh introduction to the world. Dams give birth standing up, causing newborn calves to drop nearly six feet (two meters) to the ground. Dams will only give birth lying down in severe situations, as the long drop is necessary to stimulate the calf and get it breathing. Calves will get to their feet within an hour of birth and will be running alongside their parents by the end of the day.
Calves rely on their dam's milk until six months of age, after which they will start to consume regurgitated plant matter. By a year old, calves will be able to forage by themselves.
Ashgorn are highly developed at birth but take several years to catch up mentally. While they may be the equivalent to a toddler, calves still pack a wallop in their hooves. Wrangling young ashgorn can be very difficult due to their inherent stubborn nature and tendency towards violence. Calves are highly attached to their dams and will experience immense distress if separated before the age of four.
Calves are encouraged to play and even spar with one another from a young age. Calf spars can be nearly as violent as that of adults and often require strict supervision to prevent severe injuries. Calves will often spar with older siblings, allowing them supervision whle avoiding potential injuries from sparring with a grown adult.
Ashgorn are considered adults at 17. While their life expectancy sits just above 70 years, their lifespan peaks at 200.

Social Structure

Ashgorn have distinct households with titles derived from the head of the family. When ashgorn pair up, they may establish a new household or join the household of the other. Upon separation, one or both partners may return to their original household or join the household of a new partner.
Calves will typically be made to choose a household upon parental separation, with this household determining their adult title. The majority of calves will follow and join the household of their dam. The members of their adult household are known as namekin, while their extended family is known as bloodkin. While most ashgorn possess sizable family trees, they are encouraged to keep their primary focus to their current household. The depth of connections held with bloodkin beyond their other parent is often far shallower than that of namekin.
Households will commonly have tight-knit alliances with other related families. Strategic partnerships have led to massive multi-household clans with additional unrelated individuals from migration, alliances, or conquest. These clans may have hundreds if not thousands of individuals, with the largest almost always being run by ashgorn warlords. While powerful, infighting and political chaos has led to the violent fracture of many large clans.

Diet and Cuisine

Ashgorn are herbivorous and primarily browse on twigs and leaves. Shrubs, grasses, and fruit are also regularly consumed. Ashgorn ruminate their food, chewing it up, swallowing, then regurgitating it to chew again. This allows them to gain extra nutrients and spend less time browsing. When given the opportunity, ashgorn will kill and consume small prey such as rodents or birds. While the majority of ashgorn livestock (such as sheep and goats) is rarely intended for meat, they will still process and consume them if needed. They will also consume carrion, regularly chewing on bones for extra nutrients and to relieve stress. Ashgorn require high amounts of salt and minerals in their diet, especially in hotter climates.

As ashgorn are perfectly content with the consumption of raw plant matter, their cuisine is rather rudimentary. The majority of food processing occurs in larger groups and clans with farmland and livestock. Fruit is a popular ingredient of choice, with jams, jellies, and compotes consumed as sides. Bark and twigs are boiled or dried and crushed to be used for flour. Leaves are typically preferred raw but may be boiled for tea or added to soup.

A dish popular among ashgorn is known as "Branch Bones". Branch bones are a dish composed of tree bark, bones, and nut butter. Soft, inner bark is cut into strips and boiled. Fresh leg bones from livestock or carrion are snapped into several bite-size pieces to expose the marrow. Finally, tree nuts are roasted, salted, and crushed until turned into a chunky paste. The bark strips are wrapped around the bone fragments with the nut butter either drizzled on top or used as a side. Branch bones are highly favored by calves and pregnant dams.

Hybrids

While many ashgorn hybrids are biologically viable, the violent nature of ashgorn courtship has made them a rather unusual sight. Ashgorn are rarely impressed by the might of other species, and other species are often put off by their brutality. Ashgorn hybrids are typically healthy and face hybrid-typical infertility.

Ashgorn experience the most reproductive success when interbreeding with phyoren, optera, chorum, and paimara.

Psychology and Culture

Ideals and Instincts

The ashgorn have an innate love for violence and conflict. Battle is considered a sacred art, one forged through strength and prowess. They are instinctively driven by aggression and are easily excited by the thrill of combat, even when endangered. As a result, the majority of conflicts involving ashgorn quickly devolve into violence and bloodshed. While other species may see them as mindless beasts, the ashgorn simply see battle as a fast and easy solution to many problems.
Ashgorn are highly competitive and will seek out challenges and rivalries to test themselves. The pursuit of excellence is highly encouraged within ashgorn culture. Impressive feats of any kind are valued and seen as necessary to bring glory both to the individual and their household.
While fond of bloodshed, the ashgorn are bound by cultural codes of honor. The achievement of glory is sought through honorable combat, valiant deeds, and fair conquest. They seek victory with dignity. Although, what counts as "fair" or even moral depends heavily from region to region and individual and individual. While ashgorn see no reason to brutalize a weaker opponent, they may not hesitate to conquer their land.
Ashgorn are extremely blunt and see little point in sugarcoating their words. While harsh to other species, the ashgorn see concealing one's feelings as frivolous and stupid. It's far more insulting to hide your hatred with cheer than it is to spit it out. Showing your open disdain for another ashgorn allows the offended party to fairly retaliate, whether it be by combat or other means.

Customs and Traditions

Ashgorn engage in highly ritualized sparring. While most famously used for courtship, battle is used to resolve all kinds of conflict. Participants engage in combat in their true forms, typically exchanging brutal blows with their necks, heads, and front legs. Due to the potential of major injuries to areas such as the spine or skull, armor is encouraged for sparring. Sparring armor is often made from thick layers of leather or wood and are worn on the head, neck, and legs.
Sparring concludes when one participant yields or has otherwise been incapacitated. Opponents typically end battles covered in bruises, lacerations, and the occasional sprain. Especially unlucky participants may leave a battle with broken bones, brain damage, or even paralysis and death. Thankfully, most battles rarely reach this level of intensity unless previously agreed upon. Rematches are common but are typically held several months after the initial spar. Requesting for an immediate rematch is seen as disrespectful and poor sportsmanship.
While initially designed for ceremonial combat. sparring equipment has been adapted to meet the demands of larger, more intense battles. Notable adaptations include reinforced gauntlets, allowing for deadly blows with the hooves. Some gauntlets may even boast powerful blades to slash at the face, legs, or belly. These blades require the use of highly durable metals to puncture the thick hide of ashgorn, making them especially dangerous when used against other species.
Ashgorn regularly collect bones from carrion and culled livestock. Bones are most often used for consumption or chewing but have a vast array of other uses, such as tools, decor, and trinkets. Bonestacking is a common ashgorn game popular among calves and adults alike. As many distinctive types of animal bones are stacked atop one another as possible, with the goal to stack as many without toppling the whole thing. Especially large bone stacks frequently serve as landmarks and are marked with items from local clans or even passersby.
Ashgorn do not celebrate their birthday and instead celebrate certain milestones. These include their first steps, their first leaves, their first battle, their first courtship, and so on and so forth. Ashgorn which have surpassed 100 years of age are given massive, month long celebrations. Gifts of food, carved bones, and various wooden trinkets are common for milestone celebrations.
In the summer following calving season, ashgorn host all sorts of festivals and events to celebrate the new life. Various households and clans will come together in neutral territory to show off their new children and to engage in various competitions. Pre-existing rivalries are often "resolved" through ceremony sparring during these festivals. Although, such spars are also often used to gauge the strength of rival clans or to intimidate them out of any future conflicts.
Ashgorn funerals are short but dramatic affairs. Corpses are brought to communal graveyards which are often used by multiple clans. From there, they are laid to rest alongside any of their important items such as sparring armor, trinkets, and clothes. All ashgorn in attendance will begin to stomp, call, and bellow, making as much noise as possible for the deceased. This is believed to "wake up" the spirit of the deceased and send them on their way to greater battles. Afterwards, the corpse is left unburied to be consumed by scavengers and decompose.
Days, weeks, months, or even years after death, ashgorn will return to the graveyard to take bones from the deceased. These bones are used similarly to those of animals but are most often used for tools, weaponry, and construction. Rather than only use the bones, some ashgorn clans will also skin the corpse for use as leather. The thick hide of ashgorn is incredibly durable and makes remarkably strong leather to be used for armor, clothing, and construction. Shortly after the funeral, a dedicated leathersmith will skin large patches of hide from the corpse before tanning it into leather. The skin and bones of seasoned warriors and warlords are thought to bring about good luck and fortune in battle.

Trivia

The largest ashgorn clan in history was the Nahrul Empire, founded nearly 600 years ago by legendary warlord Mkalu Watan. The Nahrul Empire was the bloodiest empire in Sulshan history, having taken over nearly half of Valose at its height. Every intalli, household, and clan in its path was brought to its knees, either from fear or bloodshed. Watan was responsible for the deaths of millions of intalli throughout her reign, with her children continuing her terror for nearly a century after. While the Nahrul Empire has long since fractured, its effects on Northern Valose echo to this day. In present day, Mkalu Watan is both deified and scorned for her atrocities.
A popular creation myth among the ashgorn claims them to be starborn. Intalli of the other lands had begun to invade Vialor's domain, destroying her realm and disrespecting her name. Enraged but strategic, Vialor waited until they had reached the depths of her territory, waited until sleep took them. There, she struck. Stars shot down from the heavens and formed into massive, ferocious soldiers, tearing the heretics from their sleep and slaughtering them through the night. As dawn broke, the stars raised their heads to the sky, their hooves bloody and voices victorious. They would become the ashgorn, the first warriors of Valose.
The ashgorn were created in January 2024.