Bruul

The silky bruul is a gnu-like animal whose wild populations are native to Amunat. The domesticated type of the species can be found throughout much of the Sirdabi Caliphate, where it is raised for meat, milk, and hide. There are three recognized varieties of bruul: the most common dusky bruul, with a grey or greyish-brown coat; the moon-touched bruul, whose black or dark grey coat is accented with a smoky effect; and the rarest and most highly-prized dawn-touched bruul, whose creamy coat has golden or ochre highlights.

Despite its utility, the bruul is roundly despised throughout much of the caliphate. Most Sirdabi and Razmani in particular excoriate the creature as stubborn, stupid, and senselessly skittish, and rank the bruul at the very bottom of all domesticated stock. Nomadic herders and Razmani farmers, neither of whom keep bruul, deeply dislike the animal for eating large quantities of wild browse, fouling water sources, and trampling and devouring crops. Among the Amunati, however, the bruul has been an object of great reverence for time out of mind and is dearly loved. The yearly migrations of the wild bruul bring them down the River Tamarat just in advance of the annual floods, so in Amunat they have always been seen as the bringers of the river's life-giving water. Within the ancient Amunati pantheon, the goddess Palit is depicted with the head of a dawn-touched bruul.

Throughout much of the caliphate, being called a bruul is considered an insult, ranging from mild exclamations like "you stupid bruul" to the shockingly offensive "your mother loved a bruul!" The Amunati naturally deal out no such insults, but do consider being on the receiving end of them to be perhaps more offensive still given that it is not only a personal affront but an insult to their culture as well.