The Bulls are the twelve: immense living metal bulls, each bearing a sign of the zodiac in “a deep socket” engraved in its metal (one bears Virgo). Twelve of them attacked the Atlantean Ship (“there are 12 bulls below”).
| Type | Creature |
| Spanish entry | Toros |
Description
Their skin is “half metallic and hard, granite-like”, a carapace. They give off vapors. Their horns can break under a weapon, and blows strike sparks. They are not constructs: “they are alive… they have blood”. Some are yellow. In battle they show “a gleam, if not of intelligence, at least of wisdom”.
Combat
Blows only dent the carapace (“Against metal, it does not hurt!”); the wound must reach the flesh beneath. They are “cursed magicals” and resist a Gorgon’s petrification. Iron and stone fail against them.
Other bulls
- Strays outside the twelve: a pair (“the two bulls”, “the yellow bull”), one that charges a company fording a river, and a flying bull.
- The special Bull: wild and unique; it detects evil, can be ridden, and serves as a diplomatic gift between powers.
- A Bull stands in a main square of Byzantium: statue, creature or emblem is not fixed.
Open questions
- Where the twelve come from, and who sends them.
- Whether the socket has a function; whether the vapors harm.
- What method kills them.
- Whether the strays and the Byzantine Bull are the same kind.
- Who gave the special Bull to whom, and what its sense of evil asks of the rider.