The Bessbok, better known as the Berry Goat, is a creature that was created via the combined efforts of the brightest halfling and gnomish wizards from around the world in ages long past using magic that is somewhat considered unethical in modern times. Despite their arguably dubious beginnings, the Berry Goat became a widespread domestic farm animal across many nations due to their regional variety and ability to photosynthesize, granting them extra longevity in times of crop failure or famine.
These berry goats average around 3 to 4 feet tall when full grown. Their bodies are covered in the leaves of whatever berry they grow, except for their neck, face, and legs. They typically have a small bunch of much larger leaves on the top of their head (usually between the horns) that do not grow fruit and are solely for collecting sunlight. The "fur" beneath the leafy growth is more akin to moss, which helps keep the creatures well hydrated and cool in the heat, but will become more dry and act like insulating wool in colder climates. It's not impossible to create fibers for weaving/yarn/etc with the leaves and moss, but the process is tedious and labor intensive, so most farmers only use it for compost and tinder.
Both male and female bessbok grow horns, but males typically do not produce fruit at all. There are rare cases where berries will grow on a male, but the crop yield is sparse at best and the berries usually get unnoticed in their dense leafy coats or get knocked off and trampled during mating displays. Female bessbok will produce fruit in abundance once they're kids are old enough to wean from milk. Moreover, the milk of bessbok always has a slight fruity flavoring to it, matching the type of berry that grows on its body. The type of berry that grows in a herd is largely dependent on the lineage of the location. While they can travel to other climates and still produce with the right care, berry goats thrive in the climates where their berries would also typically thrive.
The miracle of magic that these creatures are, it still amazes even modern scholars that berry goats can reproduce at all. By all measurable metrics, they operate just like any other domestic livestock. Aside from the photosynthesis, they also eat and drink like a typical goat. They will often eat the leaves and berries off each other's coats, but can also be happy with other types of vegan feed and even vegan composts. Feeding them with other types of food allows for collecting more of the berries for personal or commercial use. While there are no truly wild berry goats in the world, there are occasional colonies of strays in favorable climates.
Across the world, berry goats produce many different types of berries. Most are true berries, with only two varieties being aggregate fruits; the cloudberry and the salmonberry. It's unknown if any new fruits could be produced without the use of dubious magical experimentation, so the calculated total seems to be somewhere around 15 to 18 types of berries. The different types by latest census is as thus:
Varokka'baz, aka the orcish bison, is a staple of orcish cultures of the far north. These gigantic bovines provide a lot for the orcish peoples of colder climates, using every part of the animal for food, clothing, dairy, tools, instruments, and jewelry, and the living creature itself as a beast of burden for farming and travel.
The varokka'baz, sometimes just shortened to varokka or varok (depending on location and culture) is a massive creature that stands about 7-9 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs around 3000 to 5000 pounds. It's a very dense animal, having been selectively bred for more muscle over the centuries, and does not naturally shed its fibrous coat, meaning that it needs to be manually sheared. The wild variety it typically smaller in mass with naturally shedding seasonal coats and seasonal migration patterns.
The domestic varokka'baz is typically fairly docile compared to its wild counterpart. Their cows grow much larger than the bulls, and typically outnumber bulls 2:1. This is assumed to be so that mothers can better protect their young by forming a thick wall around them, while bulls more actively attack predators with a wider range of movement. It's also been noted that bulls can get overly aggressive with calves at times, and so the much larger cows create a much more intimidating barrier than their smaller counterparts.
While both males and females have the same sturdy coiled horns, they are usually used in different ways. Mothers don't typically fight each other, but can easily fend off predators by headbutting them full force. Bulls can do the same, but additionally they will fight each other in displays of power to impress the cows during mating season.
Calves typically are born with very short coats that grow shaggy and long within four to seven months. In those first few months, they stay very close to their mothers not only for milk, but also the warmth of their fully grown out coats. Domesticated varok are typically kept indoors during harsher conditions to minimize mortality rates, and they don't start getting shorn until at least their third or fourth summer.
While they were initially domesticated by settlement orcs, ancient nomadic orcs would traditionally travel with them through their migrations between seasons. The settled orcs introduced these creatures to other northern settler cultures and became popular among trolls and dwarves as well. In modern times, they are still very popular in very cold regions and preferred over the domestic dairy cow of the warmer areas.
