Bongani

The Bongani are, for lack of a better term, half-animal, as they possess the stature, fair skin, and pointed ears of the Satomi, but also possess the ears, tail, and some internal characteristics of the animal they embody. For example, an owl Bongani would have two Satomi ears on the sides of his or her head but also possess two owl-like holes behind those ears, a couple feathers sticking out from just above their buttocks where the Satomi tailbone is, and some might possess the ability to turn their head as far as an owl. It is also more accurate to call the Bongani a family rather than a species, since many of them cannot interbreed, unlike the misconception that they are all one and the same species.

## Origins

The origins of the Bongani are clouded, mostly due to lack of proper history-keeping during the long period in which they were created, between the 121st and 1300th Year of the Dragon. What is known is that they were made through magical means in an often-mentioned experiment, meant as slaves for the ruling class of Drusus at the time, rather than a literal offshoot of animals like the Ooctori or the Fengari.

## Reproduction

While the Bongani are able to mate and reproduce year-round, they will enter periods of utter incapability to resist their sexual urges once they have matured, with the very rare individual being able to resist such urges. The age of maturity and timing of this urge is dependent on what half-animal that Bongani is, along with the duration of the urge, gestation, duration of labor, and litter size.

It is believed that this urge was introduced into the Bongani by design, as a sort of system to keep them readily available for the Drusus. It appears that, over time, the urge has become less and less prevalent, thought to be caused by cultural selection.

## Culture

The culture of the Bongani varies greatly, as they are spread greatly across the many nations, but they do have a culture of their own in varying parts of the world. It mostly consists of primalistic, patriarchal domination, with the strongest becoming chief and gaining the right to mate. As such, the males of the Bongani are polygamous, and the females are mainly monogamous, with some exceptions due to the urge. Generally, when a male mates that is not the chief, he is promptly challenged by the chief and, if defeated, is killed, along with the female. If the male wins, he becomes chief and the female lives. The chief can be challenged by a male, and the challenger will be spared if he is defeated by the chief as long as the opponent wasn’t caught mating.

## Biological Traits

It is extremely hard to detail the appearance of the Bongani since they can be so varied, but some of the most common traits in the Bongani is that the color of their hair and the color of their tail and ears, if they possess fur, will normally be one and the same, but can be different. It is hard to detail traits as well, since the half-foxes are more intelligent while the half-oxen are strong. A certain level of obedience does, however, perpetuate from each species, probably a leftover from their servitude to the Drusus. They can generally be made docile by rubbing certain areas of their body, dependent on the species, although this can have the opposite effect on some Bongani.