Talbok

The largest grazing animal of the Taurian plains, the Talbok moves through the golden steppe in calm, deliberate herds. Their sweeping spiral horns grow continuously throughout life — by a creature's elder years, the horns curve nearly full-circle and are ringed with deep growth marks like rings in old wood. Their thick fur is a tawny brown, shaggy at the shoulders, and their eyes carry a patient amber intelligence.

When threatened, a Talbok herd circles outward — horns facing every direction, a living fortress of horn and weight. They are rarely troubled by even the Vargor; a single Talbok can hold a pack at bay for hours. Their hooves, broad and splayed, press minerals from the deep soil upward with every step. The land is richer where the Talboks have been.

Giliad's Field Note

"They are not domesticable in any conventional sense. They domesticate you. You learn their patterns, their moods, the particular way the lead animal's ears swivel before the herd shifts direction. Enki has already learned to read them better than I have. I note this without resentment. — G."