"We're new to this world. The Galtbjörn are not. So we follow them, use their wisdom as we would use their hide or meat or bones - with respect, reverence, and compassion. It's a mutually beneficial relationship."
- Steadfast Sjallen Herder, teaching children on the Great Walk about the beasts they walk along
The Galtbjörn - or 'bear-hogs' - are the sturdy pack animals that the human migration is built around. With strong hides and thick manes, the Galtbjörn are well-suited to continuous seasonal travel, and having done so for many, many years has given them an instinctual knowledge of the safest paths through Azlyð.
The humans are respectful towards the freedom of the herds as the herds are to them. Humans protect the Galtbjörn, shear their fur when needed, assist in their birthing and try to heal injured ones; they also, when killing them for resources, let nothing go to waste. Many things in human culture are based on parts of a Galtbjörn - clothing and tents are made from their hide, weapons and tools from their bones, and many instruments are crafted from various parts.
Galtbjörn are large quadrupeds with large heads with long snouts, ending in a disk of cartilage, resembling that of a wild boar's. They have large, long horns coming straight out of the sides of their heads, with a smaller set of horns above them, set in front of large, round ears. Their feet end in cloven hooves. Their backs have large humps made of muscle and vertebrae, used for clearing snow in colder climates or routes through boulders when travelling between mountains. Covering the humps, their heads and their chests is a thick, shaggy coat of hair. They have large, wise-looking eyes.
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<aside> 📝 Page author: Ellis Devereux
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