Bloomoo

A type of oxen creature that heavily takes on aspects of flora. They are able to grow plants on their backs that allow them to generate more energy and nutrients to enhance their survival. Bloomoos are similar to cows and bulls, however, they do not produce milk. Instead, they are used as mobile crop plots, fertilisers and towing cattle. Many farmers have one or two Bloomoos wandering around, they are useful creatures for agriculture.

Biology

A creature first discovered in forest biomes, the Bloomoo has since become a widespread creature around Castrella. Now often found domesticated by farmers and merchants, the Bloomoo can almost be considered a farm animal by many. With the biology of both mammal and flora, they can go days without eating solid food. absorbing nutrients from the soil and photosynthesising through the leaves on their back.

Appearance wise, they are similar that of cows and bulls, ableit they look like said mammals but in a ghillie suits. Depending on the season, they will change appearances to better suit the environment for survival. They have trunk like legs that resemble tree bark, when absorbing soil nutrients, these legs will sprout root like appendages that will dig deep into the soil beds. They have a long tail that ends with a bud-like object, when in danger the Bloomoo will turn its back towards the aggressor and spray them with a face full of pollen, confusing the enemy and giving time for the Bloomoo to escape. Lastly, the most important part of the Bloomoo, it's naturally produced soil that grows from their backs like a crop plot, this feature is found in both male and female Bloomoos but the females have more nutrient rich soil coat. This is due to the female needing extra energy during pregnancy. The male will help plant seeds on the female's back which will eventually grow into plants at a faster rate, in turning producing more photogentic plants to create more energy for the pregnant Bloomoo.

Life Stages

Domesticated Bloomoos live to be a maximum of 60 years, wild ones are estimated around 40 years. Some records speak of ancient Bloomoos living to be older.

• Bud [Child] 0 - 1 year
• Bell [Adolescence] 2 - 3 years
• Billow [Adult] 4 - 60 years

Birth

When a Bloomoos reproduces, rather than giving live birth, female Bloomoos will produce a seed that when exiting the mother's body will fall into the soil. The mother Bloomoo will then bury the seed and await for it to germinate. Once the seed has germinated, it will grow into a large sprout that will eventually bare a fruit. When this fruit splits open, a Bud will fall out. The Bud's necessary nutrients already met via the sprout's roots. Thus, the moment they hatch, they are ready to head out into the world.

Native Regions

Wild Bloomoos are wanderers, seeking land with rich soil and optimal conditions to grow. They are very plant-like in nature, following their needs for growth more than anything. They are not a rare species, quite plentiful in fact, being seen in many areas of Castrella with farmlands and greenary. High concentrations of wild Bloomoos can be found in Sil'va , Dizajni , Guerre , Sung-luc and Rosewood. Domesticated Bloomoos can be found almost anywhere as long as the conditions for their care are met.

Culture

Agriculture

The soil coat on the back of Bloomoos is known to hold nutrient rich properties that help plants of all kinds to grow at an alarmingly fast rate. Farmers took notice of this and started domesticating these creatures to help with their crop yields. Which worked but they were not expecting these cattle to hold other benefits as well. Their droppings were packed with nutrients, a natural fertiliser for farm crops that worked better than regular cow manure. They were also strong, especially the males, which they used as towing cattle for farm equipment. They were a low maintenance creature, only requiring feed during Frost while in other seasons all they need is water and sunlight.

Legend

There was once a legend written down in the text of old of an Elder Bloomoo that lived way past its expected life span. Its body ever growing, becoming a titan amongst man, almost like a walkling nation. When the titan past, its body decayed, its leaves had long withered. Its hard lumber body didn't decay rather it fossiled into a hard wood, similar to stone. Eventually becoming a local trading hub of a local Pestling population. Or at least, that's what the legend says.

Visual differences

• Female
  • Smaller than the males, these Bloomoos are softer in appreance and are covered in more foliage than their male counterparts. During Blossom they coats will have more flowers compared to males. They also have smaller horns.
• Male
  • Slightly larger than the female with more muscle mass. Though they have soil coats, the nutrients of said soil is that or normal soil and has not growth propertities like the females do. Which why they are mostly used as towing cattle. They also have large trunk horns which they use to impress females during Blossom.

Seasonal Coats

Bloomoos, have foliage coats on the outsides of their bodies. Depending on the seasons their coats will change accordingly to better suit the environment.

• Blossom
  • During this time of year Bloomoos have a coat full of flowers with minimal foliage. They tend to be more active during this season and many types of pollinating creatures will surround the Bloomoos for nectar.
• Glimmer
  • Bloomoos will have long lush leafy coats with small flower buds left over from Blossom. Large tall bushes grow near the soil coats on their backs, making the soil coat look like a garden piece.
• Auburn
  • Many leaves from the Bloomoos coat will fall off during this season, their green leaves turning shades of yellow, orange and brown. The bushes near their soil coats turn to branches, causing the Bloomoos to shake them off like antlers to remove unnecessary nutrient distribution.
• Frost
  • The coldest season of the year. During this time of year Bloomoos will shed off all their foliage coats, replacing it with a long fur coat instead to keep warm, giving the appearance of a highland cow but with branch legs. As they do not have any leaves on their bodies nor can they grow plants on their backs during this time, Bloomoos will instead forage for food like nuts and persistant berries. This fur coat will fall off when Blossom appraoches.

Seeded

This only happens when a Bloomoo has a crop or plant growing on its back. When a Bloomoo is raising a crop, the soil coat on its back will sprout and grow said like plant like normal. However, in some cases, depending if the Bloomoo has been planted with the same crop/plant consecutively over the course of several years, their outward appearance will change. Changing to have visual features that take on what they were growing.

Variants

• 
  Female Glimmer Coat Bloomoo

Trivia

• When they sleep, they ingrain themselves in the ground, blending in with their surroundings during the night. Predators struggle to differ a sleeping Bloomoo from a tree, which is why their population isn't struggling.
• They do not produce milk nor do they eat need to eat most of the time. They get their nutrients from the soil and so do their seedcalves. Only needing to eat during Frost season or colder climates.