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.
Orchid mantises are a type of the mantis species that is often seen with flowery colors to their carapaces as well as their bug abdomens having floral patterned protrusions to simulate the appearance of petals. Unlike their mantis counterparts an orchid mantis has no blades. Instead they have human arms below which two mantis arms grow from their sides with semi-serrated edges sharp enough to make it difficult for struggling prey to escape but not not sharp enough to cause serious damage. The arms are covered in a hard chitin material that makes them very durable and resistant to damage.
Orchid mantises have been seen stealing prey from man-eaters moments before they are in the plant woman's grasp. Originally it was believed to be a rivalry between the two species as the orchid mantis would initiate intercourse in front of the plant woman as if to taunt her. Yet it was revealed after the session the orchid mantis would share the “nutrients” with the Man-Eater before dipping her mantis arms in the Man-eaters fluids coating them in the secretions showing the two have a sort of symbiotic relationship.
An orchid mantis is usually felt before she is seen. They are masters of blending in; they hide within large foliage and trees using their unique forms to appear as flowers. Leaping out from hiding with speed like a kamaitachi they wrap their mantid arms around their prey, gripping and pulling them close. At this time the prey begins to feel pleasure as man-eater fluids are pressed into their skin. As the fluid does its work the mantis will go for the head attacking with kissing and nibbles in a lewd version of their former insectoid ritual.
Name That Mamono: Ivey
Ivey is an Orchid mantis who stands at a staggering two meters (6’7”). She has a pinkish skin tone, and her chitin has a pink hue in addition to her long pink hair. Due to her staggering height and pink colors she has difficulty blending into the flowers of the forest she calls home, instead choosing to hide high atop the trees. In recent years she has taken a liking to a saccophyte-type man-eater and waits patiently in the treetops for their shared prey to approach.
The qerashim (CARE-ah-shim; singular: qerash [care-OSH]), also known as ice angels or dark sheleim, are martial upper mid-tier members of the angel family. They are the mamono counterpart to the sheleim and in many ways the polar opposites of the shinanim. Qerashim are robust and stand on average at around 180 cm (5’11”) tall. They are easily recognised by their grey, blue, or purple skin, elfin ears, and wings made of dense magical ice. Their blood is thick like an ice slush and can, oddly enough, act as a food preservative. It can also slow a human’s ageing but is less efficient at that than mermaid’s blood, hence more blood is needed to achieve the same effect.
Qerashim’s physical strength is comparable to that of dark valkyries. They are innately attuned to cryomancy and can face-tank an incredible amount of punishment -- their wings especially are tough as nails. They can ice-over their wounds to speed up the healing process and freeze their blood to prevent blood loss from deep wounds, but they cannot sculpt and replace whole body parts like the sheleim can except for their wings. Most of their senses are on par with other angels, but they can also see exceptionally well in the infrared.
Qerashim are martially oriented angels who prefer to wield polearms and wear little to no armour. Instead they rely solely on their prowess, toughness, and especially their icy wings, which they can use as shields, for defence. Furthermore they have calm, stoic personalities and put the group before the individual or even themselves, the group being either their local community or their battle sisters. Ironically this willingness to put the group before herself means that qerashim, like the shinanim, have a degree of recklessness to them, though for different reasons.
There are two situations where a qerash’s stoic nature goes out the window. First, they and the shinanim are weirdly adept at ruffling each other’s feathers. Hence, it is common for younger members of the two species to develop fierce rivalries. Yet opposites also attract, so these rivalries are notorious for how often they escalate into spectacularly intense hate sex. Also, despite their rivalry, or perhaps because of it, they often end up sharing husbands, too.
Second, qerashim that have had a taste of nookie will discover that they are a particularly lustful species and are surprisingly passionate during intimacy. A fair few of them would even qualify as nymphomaniacs. Qerashim tend to try and justify their lustful nature by rationalizing that them getting laid is in the best interest of the group, which admittedly is not untrue.
While qerashim make for fairly ordinary partners, as soon as a shinan is inserted into the equation things are about to get spicy, for their passionate side will take over. It is all but inevitable for a fierce rivalry to grow between the two angels as they vie for the human’s affection. While this constant vying for affection can be tiresome if the human is not ready for it this rivalry rarely turns malicious. Even if tensions boil over the angels are most likely to sort things out with a trib fight or a straightforward cat fight rather than scheme or to try and backstab each other.
Once the heat of intimacy seeps into their bodies qerashim temporarily lose their magic and strength. Their wings will melt, though often they violently shatter first sending a flurry of ice feathers in all directions. If an ice feather comes into contact with bare skin it will have similar effects to a raging mushroom, for it acts as a strong aphrodisiac that evaporates inhibitions, flips the power dynamic between mamono and human, and sends the affected party into an aggressive, lustful frenzy. Contact with multiple feathers results in the effects being even more potent and longer lasting. Luckily the qerashim do not lose their toughness, for they bear the brunt of their own aphrodisiacs.
Unable to resist and with a partner who is send into an aggressive lustful frenzy, intimacy for a qerash is often lopsidedly violent and painful. Rarely does she come out unscathed, but this does not deter them. On the contrary, most qerashim believe in the exaltation of pain; they believe it to be the most primal and universal of emotions, the most honest and effective teacher, and the most intense way to reaffirm one’s existence. For a qerash to receive pain is to receive a blessing. Hence most qerashim are deeply masochistic, craving and getting off on intense physical pain during sex. But simultaneously masochism for humiliation is particularly rare among them.
Their masochism goes beyond intimacy. They often let non-crippling battle injuries heal naturally rather than ice them over, just so that they scar. They do this either out of respect for a skilled opponent or to prove their dedication. Furthermore, they consider self-flagellation as the go-to way to atone for missteps and mistakes. As their masochism is one of the few things they have in common with the shinanim, and because of their fierce rivalries, they can be deliberately callous while having hate sex or a catfight with a shinan, but otherwise sadism is not more common among qerashim compared to other species.
Name That Mamono: Ragnhild the Unshattered
Ragnhild is as atypical for a qerash as it gets. As a veteran of the War of the Ancients she is old, ancient even. She is also one of the only one angels to have impressed Brynhild enough to be appointed as her right fist. Ragnhild is not the most attractive angel as her body is scarred and muscular and her face has many masculine features. She is, however, a force to be reckoned with; she wields a glaive with grand master proficiency and has mastered electromancy, aeromancy, and cryomancy.
Despite her skills, nowadays Ragnhild mostly teaches and trains the new recruits for the Winged Legion. It is Ragnhild who gets to assess their prowess and other capabilities to determine where their talents will best serve. Teaching adolescents comes with its own challenges, namely rumours, pranks, and stupid dares. The two main rumours circling around about Ragnhild are that her wings have never been shattered before and that she packs more than just lady bits between her legs. Ragnhild has never bothered to deny or confirm either rumour but has made sure no definitive proof for the rumours can be found either. Almost every generation of angels she has taught has sooner or later taken upon itself to try and get Ragnhild laid. Preferring her students busy themselves with such an inconsequential endeavour over more troublesome scheming, Ragnhild has always feigned ignorance towards their ploys. Needless to say, if what they say about her wings is true, they all have failed… so far.
