Hornhoof People

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Hornhoof People (角蹄种)
Alias(es)	Tulun Hornhoof People; Tulun Tribe
Species/Race	Civilized horned humanoid race of the Northern Lands
Affiliation	Formerly the independent Tulun Tribe; later Republic-supervised Hornhoof city-states on the Northern Plateau
Status	Extant; their population exceeded 200,000 but was divided into 23 isolated regimes under Republic influence 245
First Appearance	126

Appearance

Hornhoof People are powerfully built upright humanoids, generally shorter and lighter than Trolls but still large by most standards. Adult males average around 2.5 meters tall, while the tallest rarely exceed 2.7 meters. 127 193

• Twin horns grow from the head.
• Their faces protrude outward, and their feet end in near-complete giant hooves.
• They have four fingers on each hand.
• Exposed skin is blue and largely hairless.
• Thick hair grows on the head, neck, chin, hoof-ankles, and other localized areas.
• They wear crafted clothing and use deliberately made tools rather than improvised natural objects. 126 127

History

The Hornhoof People were historically a weak Northern Lands race, with many of their kin enslaved by powers such as the Rhine Chieftain Alliance and the Wasteland Clan Alliance Kingdom. The Tulun Tribe was among the independent Hornhoof groups that escaped slave status under the indirect protection of the Mammoth Twin Kings. 208

The Tusk Tribe first encountered Hornhoof herdsmen and their livestock during northern exploration. The Far Travelers recognized them as a civilized people, but the scouting force attacked before that intelligence could be properly relayed. 126 127

By the time of the northern campaign, the Tulun Tribe had concentrated roughly 32,000 people inside New Tulun City, supported by more than ten outposts and extensive farmland. Their caravan smuggling of Vino to the Tusk Tribe in exchange for food and tools gave the Tusk government a pretext to suspend trade, blockade the Black River, and organize a punitive expedition. 175 177

The Tusk Tribe's 3,500-strong expedition advanced on New Tulun City. The Hornhoof People mobilized their clan forces, shamans, Earthshaker Legion, and Ancestor Spirit Legion, but lost the city after prolonged siege fighting. The Chieftain, his two sons, thirteen of seventeen clan chiefs, and nearly the entire Ancestor Spirit Legion were killed; the surviving shamans surrendered. 178 187 189 190 192

Following the war, the Rune Council rejected immediate expulsion or extermination. The Tulun Hornhoof People were permitted to remain on their land under supervision, provided they acknowledged Tusk Tribe suzerainty, surrendered their magical inheritance and northern intelligence, and accepted reconstruction and railway control. 192

The Great Northern Treaty reorganized the Hornhoof territories into new political units under Black Forest authority. Troll forces built three new settlements, established the Northern Fortress around the former Ancestral Altar, and converted confiscated farmland into mechanically cultivated fortress fields. 203

Over the following years, Republic policy encouraged clan fragmentation and promoted economic dependence. By the later Northern Plateau period, the Hornhoof People had been split into 23 competing regimes, with recurring local conflicts over land, mines, water, and pasture. 245

Society and Governance

Tulun political structure

New Tulun City had two centers of authority:

Institution	Authority
Chieftain's official residence	Secular leadership and clan authority
Ancestral Altar	Shamanic authority and access to the Ancestor Spirits

The Chieftain and shamans governed through separate institutions, while clan chiefs held substantial influence over their own forces. 177

Postwar political condition

• The Great Northern Treaty abolished the name Blessed Plateau and formalized Black Forest suzerainty over the region. 203
• Hornhoof clans were reorganized into new alliances and settlements while being held responsible for trade obligations and war reparations. 203 207
• Republic intervention later encouraged city-state formation, alliance competition, and internal political fragmentation. 245
• Hornhoof military totem systems were later fitted with control terminals and destruction safeguards. 259 290

Economy and Technology

Before their defeat, Hornhoof agriculture depended heavily on animal power and physical labor. During busy seasons, farming occupied nearly 80% of able-bodied workers; wooden, spike-toothed plows remained common because iron sources were scarce. 177

Their acquired knowledge significantly expanded the Tusk Tribe's technical base:

• Metallurgy and mining — experience in mineral prospecting through terrain, soil, and stone coloration; smelting methods for precious and common metals; early alloy-processing plans. 206
• Textiles and leatherwork — superior wool spinning and leatherworking techniques. 206
• Agriculture — cultivation of Crown Wheat, Silkball Grass, Sweet Wheat, and Oilfruit Trees. 206
• Animal husbandry — domesticated high-yield wool livestock and small birds raised for meat and eggs. 206
• Brewing — production methods ranging from low-grade to high-end alcohol, including brewing starters. 206
• Resource labor — Hornhoof workers later mined lake-like mineral deposits on the Northern Plateau under Troll engineering guidance, receiving compensation rather than tribute. 235

Arcane Arts

Ancestor Spirit spellcasting

Hornhoof shamans cast through the Ancestor Spirits and Ancestral Altar rather than the Troll rune-based system. Their process functions as a “black box”: the ancestral spirits amplify intent, then produce an Arcane effect without requiring the caster to understand its underlying mechanism. 208

• Allows some Hornhoof People with limited natural spellcasting aptitude to use Arcane Arts.
• Favors fire magic and effects related to physical condition.
• Supports techniques such as dream learning and weapon enchantment.
• Becomes severely limited when shamans leave the Ancestor Spirits’ range of influence.
• Carries a perceived risk of thought-imprint influence over the user’s will. 208

Mass Inspiration and curses

Hornhoof shamans used Mass Inspiration to stabilize warriors’ emotions and prevent a rout during the siege of New Tulun City. They also inflicted a large-scale weakening effect that reduced Troll strength and caused javelin throws to lose accuracy. 185

Fire magic

During the siege, Hornhoof shamans created “flowing clouds of fire” that destroyed Tusk siege engines. The attack failed to seriously injure the Troll forces, shaking Hornhoof confidence in their fire magic. 184

Earthshaker tremors

Earthshaker Legion warriors could strike the ground with enormous wooden stakes to send violent tremors through the earth, causing dizziness and disruption among enemy troops. 181

Military

Formation	Command	Size	Equipment and role	Fate in the War
Earthshaker Legion	Chieftain	500	Chieftain’s personal guard; prime warriors wielding thick wooden stakes and massive metal axes	Reduced to fewer than 200 survivors 177 192
Ancestor Spirit Legion	Shamans	Usually fewer than 100	Elite shaman-controlled force selected for special aptitude	Completely annihilated 177 192
Clan militias	Clan chiefs and nobles	Variable	Adult citizens could fight; militia reinforced city defenses with crossbows and other weapons	Nearly 5,000 civilian militia members died during the battle and northern rampage 185 192

Relationships

• Tusk Tribe / Black Forest Republic — Initial trading partner and later conqueror. The Republic defeated the Tulun Tribe, imposed reparations, extracted its knowledge, and maintained control through political restructuring, fortress construction, and military safeguards. 175 192 203 290
• Mammoth Twin Kings — The Mammoth Kingdom’s wars against slaveholding powers indirectly enabled some Hornhoof clans, including the Tulun Tribe, to escape slavery; the Mammoth rulers were regarded as protectors by independent Hornhoof groups. 208
• Rhine Chieftain Alliance — A powerful western slaveholding regime from which many Hornhoof People historically suffered enslavement; it also originated the ancestral-spirit construction method later adopted by the Hornhoof People. 208
• Wasteland Clan Alliance Kingdom — Another slaveholding power that historically held Hornhoof People as slaves. 208
• Ancestor Spirits — The foundation of Hornhoof shamanic authority, military spellcraft, dream learning, and weapon enchantment; the former Tulun Ancestral Altar was seized and studied by the Republic. 177 203 208

Trivia

• Hornhoof People were used as gladiatorial fighters at Nomen Outpost before the northern war. 166
• The Tusk Tribe eventually recruited 25,000 adult Hornhoof warriors as paid mercenaries, exceeding its original target by 5,000. 259
• Although the Republic promoted their population growth through polygyny, Hornhoof society later developed internal “seeds of slavery” through conflicts among its own regimes. 245