Baphos

Baphos are a humanform species, and genetically very close to qilin. Unlike their sister species, they’ve been historically known as hardy travellers, and can be found just about anywhere in Ultra Space… though they tend to keep to themselves.

Appearance

One of the first telling signs of a bapho tends to be their lack of secondary sex characteristics – in stark contrast to their sister species. This results in individuals from the species often looking very androgynous by generalized humanform cultural standards, though not always.

Similarly to qilin, they have scalloped ears and solid horns atop their head – though bapho horns tend to come in more diverse shapes. They have horizontal pupils, a very short tail, and fur-tufted ankles.
A bapho’s horn shape is generally considered to be genetic, and population groups will often share the same horn shape.

While the fur on their ears, tail, and ankles tends to stay relatively even in length, they’re often known to have very thick hair otherwise – though it manages to rarely become tangled or matted.

Biology

The internal functions of baphos are almost identical to the standard humanform, and are one of the shorter-lived species of that type. In fact, much of their biology doesn’t stray far from humans at all, so it’s thought that baphos are the genetic ancestor to qilin.

However, what baphos make up for in lack of any truly spectacular single ability is their well-rounded biological nature. They’re hardy, and have stronger tolerances against harsh conditions like heat and storms. They also have very efficient stamina, and are capable of traveling the farthest on foot of any humanform species without needing to rest.
They also have quite impressive balance, especially for rock-like surfaces.

Like most other humanform species, baphos are omnivores – with their diet’s lean depending on their location, and what it offers. Though, like qilin, they’re noted to have sharp canines, indicating a slight lean towards meat.

Socialization

Baphos are one of the less social humanform species, often keeping within their own groups of their own species, or groups alongside qilin. Historically, they’d travel as ‘herds’ alongside the herd’s guardianbeast – but since the advent of the darkest day, many still in central Ultra Space will choose to just rotate around the Ultra Forest due to habitat loss.

Like qilin, they’re known to be gentle and a bit reserved – though out of the two, baphos are more daring. Still, due to their preference to keep to themselves, they’re a bit uncommon in larger population centers like Megalopolis.
It’s also due to this nature that they’re a species that faces natural predation, like qilin. While the protection small towns offer is usually enough to negate this, it can be dangerous for smaller groups or individuals living on their own – especially closer to the Deepwoods.