Bahro
From D'ni Zoological Society
 Found in: Various Pronunciation: BAH-ro |
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The Bahro, translated as 'Beast People', are a unique race of creatures with the abilities to link and modify their local reality.
The actual culture and history of the Bahro are as obscure as the race itself, so the D'ni Zoological Society are limiting themselves to only the morphological observables, as opposed to the cultural and xenopsychological makeup of the race.
It is widely believed that the Bahro originated on Noloben.
Most of these observations are by proxy or the occasional Ki photo. As such, most of the statements below should be seen as specious at worst.
Physical Attributes
The height of a member of the Bahro is shorter than the average Explorer in its usual slouch. The overall skin (or carapace, there is debate even on this) color of the Bahro is a dark slate gray to black, with no visible gender identification marks. There are reports that the Bahro have a set of wings which are stored upon their back in an extremely compact form; expanding approximately twelve to sixteen feet from tip to tip.
The Bahro skull is a very insectoid shape and the Bahro brain (if the drawings of Esher are IC) consists of a standard mammilial two lobe system comparable to a larger homonoid. The Bahro eye is a lidless, irisless, and (again, if Esher's drawings are IC) similar to the homonid eye. The ability to differentiate color is a bit beyond any current biological survey.
There is not much discussion about the 'down and dirty' aspects of the Bahro, as the Bahro are generally shy and even the concept of suprising a Bahro mid-bowel-movement is laughably absurd. One can suspect that the Bahro may have either an insectoid or animalistic digestive tract; again, this may be a case of Never Knowing, since there is not a chance the Bahro are exactly going to let us peek at their 'undercarriage.'
The capacity of the Bahro abdomen and chest appear to be undersized for the size of the Bahro's limbs, leading to believe that the Bahro's respiratory and digestive tract is very small and efficient. There is no indication where the Bahro's mouth may be, and it could be reasonably conjectured that the Bahro's mouth may be in their chest. No current photographic evidence shows any opening on the Bahro's head or chest that opens during their cries.
There is no real visible distinction of age (besides the younger bahro which have lately been seen are smaller), gender, or potential social standing. If End of Ages is considered IC, there is little to no differentiation between the Bahro that can be easily observed.
Bahro arms appear to have very standard simian features; opposable thumbs with three fingers with quite large claws (the thumb claw looks as if it enters fully into the hand itself.) As for how nimble these fingers are, the only indication we have are from their artistry (seen as the Bahro Stone altar/stands in the Bevins and the standing stone in the D'ni City balcony.)
As for lower extremities, the Bahro have a unique foot and leg structure, similar in many ways to a horse or dog leg but with the appearance of distinct bone and tendon structure for multiple toes that extend up the foreleg.
The actual mobility of these extended toes is purely conjecture at this point, as most of the sightings of the Bahro have been their linking in, throwing their arms into the air while letting out a screech, and modifying the local area with obscure artwork or sculpture.
Bahro are notable for their highly unusual natural linking abilities. A Bahro is capable of instantly linking from one point to another without the use of Linking books or other apparatus, and apparently is capable of knowing the exact spot where it is linking to without being present in the Age. In addition to this linking ability, Bahro are able to directly manipulate the attributes of an age without altering the descriptive book. This ranges from increasing the geothermal temperature of an age to speeding up time itself.
From observation and ki pictures of apparently younger Bahro, the growth of the Bahro is very similar to most sapien aging; the oversized cranium and undersized hands of the younger Bahro may indicate that the same benchmarks of physical development may be shared with human adolescence.
There has not been much discussion regarding live vs. egg vs. pupae gestation, but this researcher believes that the Bahro participate in live birth, but the apparent lack of gender differentiation may indicate that the female of the Bahro species may be even more recluse and may have similar but unique differences in physiology or the Bahro are transitively transexual depending on the biological and sociological needs of the 'cacophony' of Bahro.
Vocalization
The Bahro have no visible mouth, yet they let fly with one of the most striking and loud cries in the natural world. A sonogram of one of their calls as heard in the D'ni City proper, taken from an unknown but quite significant distance, follows.
The call is not a single tone, but more of a high-frequency trill (brightening and darkening.)
Behavior
The Bahro, as have been seen historically, are 'observers'; only rarely interacting with the Explorers. As of late however, there have been observations of groups of Bahro entering Explorer-populated Ages en-masse, even to the point where 'adolescent' and younger Bahro have been sighted.
These reports may indicate that the Bahro's social norm of being solely in the shadows may be eroding due to either the Bahro War reducing their safe territory or a gradual acceptance of the Explorer population as a part of their environment.
Reports of open warfare between Bahro and 'Bahronoir' have been stated by both Doug Sharper and Phil Henderson. The DZS does not plan on taking any stance as a group regarding the Bahro War, but we advise that any Explorer who comes across a Bahro act with respect and caution.
Technology, Artwork and Architecture
The Bahro utilize a system of technology completely alien compared to that of both the D'ni and Human cultures. Many artifacts and items of Bahro origin exist, left throughout the Ages and the city of D'ni. One of the most prominent examples are the "Linking Stones": Small tablets of rock with rectangles of cloth inlaid into the surface. These cloths bear an illustration of an Age, and function much like a linking book. Other items include cloth "Bookmarks", which allow an explorer to link to a corresponding Journey cloth in an Age.
Bahro are well-known for the complex pictographs that they leave in certain ages. These generally depict historical events, which give some clues as to the time span of the Bahro presence. The pictographs are found primarily in Eder Kemo, Noloben, and Teledahn. In some ages, entire walls are graffitied with symbols, etchings and dots of color.
The Bahro are also notable for their unusual architecture. Various structures of Bahro origin can be found in certain ages. These are composed almost entirely by bones and tusks of unknown origin. Some of these bones are of great size, but as of yet, no discovered animal is known to posess such bones.
