Lore24 Mar 15: Sky Cattle

Sky cattle were originally made by the gods to act as their messengers and occasionally instruments of their will. Unfortunately some of them went rogue and established a breeding population in the world. They look like colossal bovines with a pair of bird wings on their back, that they can use to fly. Their heads may be humanoid or bovine. The most common coloration by far is spotless white, but black, brown and red individuals have also been observed.

While sky cattle understand all languages, and can speak most of them, they usually act aloof and cagey with most people, maintaining that their divine heritage places them above mere mortals. They usually have a good relationship with most spirits, and hate demons. They live mostly in mountain ranges where their flight enables them to quickly traverse distances that would take prohibitively long for landbound animals, but sometimes they threaten or bribe mortal farmers for the use of their grazing grounds.

Sky cattle have detailed knowledge of the sky gods, and they are the only creature the average mortal is likely to see who know about orbital mechanics. They also have the ability to instantly tell whether a place is consecrated, and if so, to which deity, and to tell spirits from demons.

Image via The Met

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