Bubali are a breed of beastman that feel most at home in the humid environments of flood plains, river valleys, and wetlands. A bubalus’ most distinguishing feature is usually the pair of large, beautiful horns upon her head. Bubali are said to have the most magnificent horns among all mamono and an especially large and beautiful pair is a matter of great pride for one of their kind. Their horns are of such appeal that some scholars have posited the possibility that there is some magic at play as well. Those hypotheses remain unconfirmed however, as no bubalus would willingly let any but her husband touch or examine her horns in detail. Bubali grow tall and strong, even by mamono standards, and heights of 8’ 2” (2.5 meters) are no rarity. In spite of their size and strength bubali rarely tend towards violence and prefer to settle disagreements through nonviolent means. Towards that end most communities will have their individual traditions, such as a strong culture of debate or settling disputes through games and challenges.
Bubali are intensely social mamono, and though they do not necessarily mind others that are not of their kind they will feel most at ease when living in a community of other bubali. As a result their kind is not very well distributed across the continent of Arcadia. Instead, most of them live in the wetlands surrounding the rivers of northern Kioko. There they live simple, agrarian lives in communities of up to 200 individuals in harmony with the surrounding nature and whatever neighbors live close to them.
Bubalus social hierarchy is intuitively defined by the question of which member of a particular group is the most beautiful. Naturally, the quality of an individual’s horns is of particularly high concern in determining individual appeal. Most communities will hold a festival once every year where the most beautiful among their ranks are determined. Winning these competitions not only grants respect and authority, but also improves an individual bubalus’ chance to attract a partner. This is particularly important since, in spite of their social nature, bubali will almost never share their husbands. These competitions are usually reserved for those bubali who are yet to find a mate as the beauty of those who have succeeded in finding a husband is beyond reproach anyway.
A man married to a bubalus can typically expect a peaceful and quiet life as part of her community. He will help tend the fields and tend to his wife’s needs. These needs not only include becoming a regular part of her beauty routine, but also the regular and vigorous consummation of their marriage. Like just about all mamono bubali experience intense feelings of lust and desire, though they will rarely aggressively seek out sex and prefer for their partners to initiate the act instead. The exception to this rule comes into play if the lust of one of their kind gets driven over the edge by something like excessive teasing. In such cases they may grow aggressive and roughly fuck their partners all through the night, only to feel sorry the following day for their lack of self-control.
Name That Mamono: Nakone
Hailing from the small village of Ranjin in northern Kioko, not far from the sea, Nakone has only recently turned nineteen years old and is convinced that she possesses no less than the most beautiful horns in her entire village. She is a little shorter than the average bubalus, but that is not something that can get her down. Not when her horns are as magnificent as they are. They are large, smooth and curve elegantly. Truly, Nakone knows that she is nothing short of spectacular. Her mother and father have often said so as well.
Every day, when she is not busy working the fields along with her fellows, she is busy grooming herself in general and her horns in particular to improve their luster even more. To that end her people have developed a wealth of natural medicines, tinctures, and polishes and Nakone never hesitates to employ these in order to maintain her edge over the competition.
This is especially important as her village's annual festival approaches and Nakone is more than determined to show every single one of her fellows what she already knows; that she is, without a doubt, the most beautiful bubalus of the village. Especially so given that a rumor is making the rounds that there will be a special prize at the coming competition.
CAT FROM SATURN
Family: Cat
Type: Beastman
Habitat: Pocket dimensions; may appear anywhere humans can live
Disposition: Sadistic, intimidating, lustful
Diet: Omnivorous; spirit energy
Cats from Saturn are a subspecies of werecat that has adapted to life in non-Euclidean space. Where common werecats are carefree and playful cats from Saturn enjoy much crueler games; they delight in inflicting psychological torture, and they regard all other thinking beings as prey with which to play.
A cat from Saturn is outwardly indistinguishable from a common werecat except for a bit of unusual coloring -- multi-colored or exotically colored eyes, unnatural highlights or undertones in their fur, or skin tinted in colors that don’t occur naturally among humans. Instead of slits some of them have pupils shaped like stars, crosses, or hourglasses. The average height for cats from Saturn is taller than that for common werecats, and though they are lithe they tend to have more defined muscles. A star-cat’s most memorable feature is her facial expression, which ranges from a manic grin to a contemptuous sneer to completely expressionless depending on the individual’s disposition and rarely changes under any level of provocation.
Cats from Saturn can cross between dimensions at will, though doing so many times in quick succession is tiring. While in Euclidean space they can teleport short distances, which is even more tiring than crossing dimensions. The most powerful cats from Saturn can teleport to any location that they can see, but long-range jumps are as exhausting as running a marathon. A skilled star-cat can take one or two others with her when she teleports or crosses over. Clever cats from Saturn learn to use immediate range “blink” teleports to dodge attacks. Star-cats also have limited illusion magic that allows them to pass as common werecats.
The greatest weakness of cats from Saturn is the hatred they inspire in other feline mamono. All other members of the werecat family can instantly recognize a cat from Saturn upon catching her scent or hearing her voice regardless of any disguise, and the presence of a star-cat enrages other feline mamono. For this reason cats from Saturn hate and fear other werecats. Even with the great strength, speed, and agility common to feline mamono a cat from Saturn has no advantage over a common werecat except her magic. The magical powers of cait sith, familiars, and nekomata make them equal to star-cats while the superior strength of ocelomeh, sphinxes, and jinko means that cats from Saturn are no match for them in physical combat.
Cats from Saturn don’t have husbands. They have prey. When she finds a man who strikes her fancy a star-cat stalks him relentlessly, revealing herself from time to time just enough to ramp up the fear, and pounces at the moment of panic. Once she has her prey immobilized the star-cat takes her time tormenting her catch; cats from Saturn enjoy BDSM and orgasm denial. Any man who breaks under this treatment is fit only to be a toy for her enjoyment, but a man who endures without begging for mercy or release might earn a star-cat’s respect and be chosen to father her children… and a man who is good enough for that is good enough for the star-cat to share with her friends or siblings.
Name That Mamono: Imra
Imra has a problem. She remembers little of the fight in which she was wounded after teleporting into the midst of a pride of sphinxes, but she knows that she was near death. It was good fortune that a man arrived after her attackers left her for dead. While the man nursed her back to health he displayed a growing affection for her… and Imra found that, contrary to her predatory nature, she had grown fond of him as well. Imra had had sex before, but the first night with her rescuer was the first time she had ever made love. Crying in his arms afterward was both embarrassing and strangely liberating. Imra’s big sister Ardeen arrived a few weeks later to take her home, but Imra can’t stop thinking about her rescuer. She now has a decision to make; find her beloved and bring him back to her otherworldly home -- where the loving relationship they have would never be accepted -- or make a home with him in his world. And she has to decide soon before some other mamono finds him and claims him.
