Overview
The Wild Boar is the barren's own argument with the hunter. It is a barrel of muscle under a coat of grey-brown bristles, and it is the size of a mistake, and it is quicker than the size has any right to be. It does not fight the hunter, and it does not run from the hunter, and it makes its own third choice. It stands 0.90 m at the shoulder, and the barrel is the whole of the boar's own, because the barrel that is the size of a mistake is the barrel the eye does not measure.
Habitat
The Wild Boar keeps the barrens — the bare stone and the red dust of Tuskridge Barrens, scored by tusk-marks a thousand generations deep. It is the barren's own, and the barren is the boar's, and the boar keeps the barren the way the barren keeps its dust. It needs three things: ground that does not fail, a wallow that does not dry, and a tunnel deep enough to hide the sow. It is settled at the barren with hunting-lines over the red dust, and the wallow is its kitchen and its bath and its mark. A Wild Boar that has not dug the barren in a season is called the one who forgot the tusk, because the tusk is the whole of the boar's own.
Appearance
The Wild Boar is the low, long barrel — broad across the shoulder, low at the head, with the short neck set forward and the whole of it reading as one long line from snout to rump. The boar (male) stands 0.90 m at the shoulder and carries 140 kg to 180 kg, with the bristles longest on the back and the head, and the tusk — a curved white blade that grows through the lower jaw and turns up toward the eye; the sow (female) stands 0.82 m, 90 kg to 130 kg, the same bristle, no tusk but the same jaw, and the same charge. The coat is a bristle, not a fur — grey-brown, rough, and long on the back, and the skin under it is thick as leather, and the leather is the whole of the defense. The tusk is the mark of the boar, and it is tooth, not horn, and it grows all the life, and the lower pair grows through the flesh of the jaw, and the growing-through is the whole of the argument. The eye is small and dark and set low, and the head is carried low, because the head is the weapon, and the weapon is carried where it can be used, and the using is the whole of the charge. The leg is short and the hoof is split, and the foot is built for the ground, not the grass, and the ground is the whole of the boar's own. The tusk is the mark of the line, and the charge is the whole of the answer. The boar carries the line in the tusk and the jaw; the sow carries it in the jaw and the charge. Elders are marked by bristles gone grey at the head and, in the boar, a tusk worn long and honest — an old boar is one the barren still lets pass, because the barren that has let an old boar pass once lets it pass always. The boar wears no clothing, and the not-wearing is the whole of the boar's own, because the boar that is the barren's own does not wear the barren's own.
Behaviour
The Wild Boar is the low, quick thing, and the quick is the whole of the behaviour. It does not run from the threat, and it does not wait for the threat, because the waiting is the whole of the death, and the death is not the boar's own. It makes its own third choice — the charge, head low, tusks forward, and the earth split under the foot — and the third choice is the whole of the answer, because the boar that has charged is the boar the hunter does not measure. It is territorial at the wallow, and the territorial is the whole of the law, because the boar that holds the wallow is the boar the barren knows. A sow with piglets is the only thing in the barrens that does not turn, and the not-turning is the whole of the argument, because the sow that has piglets is the sow the barren does not count. The two signature quirks: the dig with the snout — the boar that digs is the boar that has decided, and the digging is the whole of the taking — and the charge, where the boar does not lift its head and the head is the weapon, and the not-lifting is the whole of the answer.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The tusk is the whole of the answer, and the tusk is the argument, and the argument is the whole of the day. It is a curved white blade that grows through the lower jaw and turns up toward the eye, and the turning-up is the whole of the taking, because the tusk that turns up is the tusk the hunter does not escape. The jaw is the second answer, and the thick skin is the whole of the defense, because the skin that is thick as leather is the skin the eye does not measure. The charge is the third answer, and the charge is the whole of the argument, because the charge that is head low is the charge the hunter does not escape. The boar does not fight the small thing, and the small thing does not find the boar, and the not-finding is the whole of the law, because the boar that is the barren's own is the boar the eye does not count.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Wild Boar has the Tusk-Grow — the tusk that grows all the life and turns up toward the eye, and the turning-up is the whole of the argument. It has the Wallow-Nose — the snout that digs the ground the way a thing digs that has decided, and the digging is the whole of the taking. It has the Charge-Head — the head that does not lift and is the weapon, and the not-lifting is the whole of the answer. The boar has no word, and the word is not the boar's, and the not-being is the whole of the boar's own.
Society
The Wild Boar is the small-herd thing, and the small herd is the whole of the family. The herd is not the wide herd the way the Red Deer is a wide herd — it is the small, low herd, and the small is the whole of the defense — because the small herd that is low is the small herd the eye does not count. The boar that holds the longest tusk holds the wallow, and the holding is the whole of the argument, because the argument is the whole of the season. A sow with piglets keeps the piglets close, and the keeping is the whole of the promise, because the piglet that is kept is the piglet that does not lose. There is no lair beyond the tunnel, and the tunnel is the whole of the home, because the home that is the tunnel is the home the barren keeps.
Culture & Lore
The barren's folk count the boar by the wallow. A wallow means a boar has been here and the wanting is not finished, and the not-finished is the whole of the warning. A wallow dug deep and wide means a boar that has found something worth the digging, and the worth is the whole of the argument. The tracks are short and the hooves split, and the bristle on the grass is the mark of the back, and the mark is the whole of the law. The hunter does not take the sow with piglets, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the sow with piglets is the promise of the next boar, and the promise is the whole of the barren. The old ones say the boar is the barren's own, and the barren's own is the barren's tusk, and the tusk is the boar's, and the boar keeps it the way the barren keeps its dust.
Home
They keep Tuskridge Barrens, the ridge of bare stone and red dust scored by tusk-marks a thousand generations deep, where the wallow is the kitchen and the bath and the mark. The barren is the boar's own, and the boar's own is the barren.
Relations
The Wild Boar is the barren's own, and the barren's folk keep their distance at the wallow, and the distance is the whole of the law, because the boar that is the barren's own is the barren's own. The Tuskridge Barrens's iron-tusk keep the tusk-promise with the boar, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the boar that is the barren's own is the one the barren keeps. The hunters of the barren take the boar in the green months and not the sow with piglets, and the not-taking is the whole of the law. The Forgotten of the barren keep the boar as the barren's tusk, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the tusk that is the barren's own is the one the barren keeps.
In the Story
In the current story, the Wild Boar is the tusk on the barren — the low, quick thing Uaellaen writes about when the dust is the boar's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the wallow, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season a wallow was dug deep and wide at the hour the boar was not there, and the digging is the whole of the warning, because the wallow that is dug when the boar is not there is the wallow the barren has not counted, and the not-counting is the whole of the loss. The barren is keeping the dust, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.