I also changed two racial characteristics (for the Maremma and Carrasquito) and made some less obvious changes here and there, but I guess it’s still pretty faithful. Blind-Fight and Track are not included as bonus feats for the lupins, but they are indeed recommended, useful feats that any lupin should acquire.
It’s also quite easy to play without any breeds at all (using only the lupin Large Breeds abilities score modifiers and ignoring completely the breed table, or using only the Mongrel entry; use Ranger as the Favored Class) or only “generic breeds” (which means, using only the Small, Medium and Large as breeds and still ignoring the table, or using only the Mongrel entry; still use Ranger as the Favored Class). But I think much of the fun would be lost doing so.
It also includes “near-lupin” goblinoid races, the Gnolls and the Kobolds. When using it, you should ignore 3.5 rules for those races and use the following instead. The kobolds presented here are quite close to 3.5 standard kobolds, however, and it shouldn’t be a problem. The gnolls are, however weaker, but there is an optional rule below for making one of the gnollish breeds closer to 3.5 standard gnoll.
There are also included non-canon breeds here, some being mine and GP’s creations (like the Water Lupin, Senjabi, Guará, and Coyotl), others not (Sharon Dornhoff’s Aardovai). The Senjabi breed was based on the character Wolfie from Quest for Glory V. This and the other breeds are described below.
Medium Breeds: Hunters, Shepherds and Nomads:
• Medium: As Medium creatures, lupins from large breeds have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Base speed is 30 feet;
Large Breeds: Guardians, Workers and Feral (Gnolls):
• +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma;
• Medium: As Medium creatures, lupins from medium breeds have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Base speed is 30 feet;
Small Breeds: Vermin Hunters, Wee Folk and Feral (Kobolds):
• +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength;
• Small: As a Small creature, a lupin from a small breed gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Base speed is 20 feet;
Common Racial Traits:
• Low-light vision: Lupins can see twice as far as humans in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail in these conditions;
• Lupins can deliver a bite attack for 1d4 (or 1d3 for Small lupins) points of damage with an x2 critical modifier. When using this natural attack, they are not considered unarmed. Lupins are proficient with their natural attacks.
• Lupins are quite naïve and, for that, receive -2 racial penalty on Sense Motive checks;
• Scent: This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges.
The creature detects another creature’s presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If it moves within 5 feet of the scent’s source, the creature can pinpoint that source. A creature with the Track feat and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures, like the lupins. False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.
Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. Recognize a race (or lupin breed) for its scent is automatic, but a Wisdom check is required for identifying individuals this way (DC 10 for familiar individuals, DC 15 otherwise). If the creature was shape shifted somehow, the DC for recognizing a race (or lupin breed) or familiar individuals is 15 and DC 20 otherwise. Lupins will always recognize a werewolf by its scent in any of its forms.
• Lupins are repelled by Wolfsbane. This substance is poisonous to then (even more than it is to humans; Wolfsbane have the same effects of Arsenic to any non-lupin creature). Wolfsbane ingested by a lupin (or injected into his bloodstream) acts as Dark Reaver Powder. Fortunately, the keen senses of a lupin nearly always alert it in time to avoid ingesting the substance.
• Lupin senses: This ability is, actually, composed by three different senses: sharp vision, hearing and smelling. Some breeds have keener senses than others, as indicated at each breed description. There are three levels of lupin senses: High, Medium and Low. Each level represents a group of advantages and disadvantages.
o High Senses:
+4 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Spot and Survival checks;
-4 racial penalty to sonic and odour attacks and their applicable save throws;
Scent: Ability range is increased by 50% in any situation.
o Medium Senses:
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Spot and Survival checks;
-2 racial penalty to sonic and odour attacks and their applicable save throws;
Scent: Usual ability range.
o Low Senses:
+1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Spot and Survival checks;
No racial penalty to saving throws;
Scent: Ability range is decreased by 50% in any situation.
• Differenced Senses [General]:
A lupin character can change his Lupin Senses in one “step” (e.g., High to Medium, Low to Medium and vice-versa). Feral lupins (Gnolls and Kobolds) characters can use this Feat to get Low Lupin Senses.
• Beastmen Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character receives Darkvision, as a Dwarf. Also, he can use the Rage ability (as a Barbarian) once per day for one round, or if he’s a Barbarian, his Rage ability lasts always one round more. Lupin characters with this Feat also are less susceptible to Wolfsbane (acts as “Arsenic”), but also have reduced Lupin Senses (reduce it in one “step”; if his Lupin Senses are Low, it’s recuded to “None” and the Lupin can’t use his Scent ability). Feral lupins (Gnolls and Kobolds) characters receive automatically this Feat, and don’t have Lupin Senses and Scent ability.
• Hutaakan Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character receives an extra ability modifier, which stacks with his usual modifiers: +2 Wisdom -2 Charisma. Hutaakan characters receive automatically this Feat.
• Foo Dog Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character can cast Protection against Evil once per day as a 1st-level caster or a caster of his class levels, whichever is higher. Also, he receives +2 racial bonus on all saving throws.
• Blink Dog Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character can cast Blink once per day as a 1st-level caster or a caster of his class levels, whichever is higher.
• Shadow Mastiff Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character can cast Darkness once per day as a 1st-level caster or a caster of his class levels, whichever is higher. Also, he receives Darkvision, as a Dwarf, and it will work on any magical darkness, as long as the character created it.
• Hell Hound Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character can cast Burning Hands once per day as a 1st-level caster or a caster of his class levels, whichever is higher. Also, he receives Resistance to Fire equal to his Base Attack Bonus, up to 5 (or 10, if he’s a Zvornikian Sentinel).
• Taymoran Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character receives complete immunity to any form of Lycanthropy. Also, his saliva is harmful to all lycanthropes, and so his fangs are equivalent to silver weapons when fighting lycanthropes. Borzoi characters receive automatically this Feat.
• Wolvenfolk Bloodline [Bloodline]:
A lupin character can, sometimes, conjure death itself. Whenever he meets an untimely death, he can resurrect as long as he succeeds on a Fortitude check (DC 15). This ability works like Raise Dead spell, having the same drawbacks and it will work only immediately after dying. Also, his alignment will change to one “step” closer to Saimpt Loup’s (Lawful Evil). He can use this ability until his alignment has changed to Lawful Evil and after used for the first time, it will prevent the character from being raised by other means. Wolvenfolk characters receive automatically this Feat.
Bloodline feats can only be bought at the character's creation, with his first level feat slots. This means that most of the times, a lupin will have access to only one bloodline. Fighter's bonus feat slots can't be used to buy an bloodline feat. However, a character from a breed that already starts with a bloodline can, in theory, buy a second bloodline. The DM may forbid this, however, if the feels that adquiring a second bloodline talent would make a character too powerful.
Also, both Carrasquito and Torreóner Pit-Bull gain already "half" of the Beastmen Bloodline (the Rage part). If they buy the Beastmen Bloodline, do not recude their senses any further, since they're already lowered by it
Before 5000 BC Stone Age
Nothing is known for sure before this period about the lupins. There is some speculation about the existence of a “Cave Lupin” (Canis habilis), that gave origin to the three original lupin (Canis sapiens) breeds: the Aardovai, the Coyotl and the Wolvenfolk. They lived at the Yazak Steppes by that time.
It’s also possible that the lupins were created by the Immortals or one magically/technologically powerful civilization, such as the blackmoorians, instead of evolving naturally.
5000-3000 BC Oltec Age
Some Coyotl tribes crossed the Black Mountains and met oltecindian groups at where now lies the Great Waste. The Mictec people enslaved these Coyotl in great numbers, to the point that there were more coyotl than humans inside their cities. Eventually, they rebelled and became the Chochomec civilization and allied themselves with the Azcan Empire.
Legend:
• Red: Lupin ancestral lands, at the Yazak Steppes, up the Great Escarpment; Canis sapiens canus (Wolvenfolk), Canis sapiens oltecus (Coyotl), Canis sapiens yazakensis (Aardovai), some hybrids;
• Yellow: Chochomec civilization, SW modern Sind; Canis sapiens oltecus (Coyotl);
3000 BC Great Rain of Fire
The oltecindian civilizations are moved to the HW, including the Chochomecs. Those few who stayed at the OW moved with the survivor azcans into the nithian basin. There the azcans mingled with a neathar group, creating the Nithian civilization. The Chochomec Coyotl stayed with them, and soon became part of this new civilization. Wepwawet/Upuaut/Ophois (Saimpt Loup, known to the nithians as Anubis/Anupu) and Duamutef (Korotiku, believed to be son of Horon/Horus/Orisis (Ixion)) are their patrons.
Elsewhere, some Aardovai and Wolvenfolk tribes also moved into the Known World, mainly Darokin and Northern Reaches. Some Wolvenfolk tribes went further close to what’s the modern North Pole, occupying especially the Norworld and Heldann regions. Most of the Coyotl, Aardovai and Wolvenfolk tribes, however, stayed at the Yazak Steppes, intermingling.
Legend:
• Red: Lupin ancestral lands, at the Yazak Steppes, up the Great Escarpment; Canis sapiens canus (Wolvenfolk), Canis sapiens oltecus (Coyotl), Canis sapiens yazakensis (Aardovai), many hybrids;
• Yellow: Survivors of the Chochomec civilization, Valley of Nithia; Canis sapiens oltecus (Coyotl);
• Blue: Taymoran border, modern Darokin; Canis sapiens canus (Wolvenfolk), Canis sapiens yazakensis (Aardovai);
2200-1700 BC Taymoran Age
Lupin tribes at the Known World (Darokin) fell under the control of the Taymoran humans. At that time, the Nosferatu Kings had created servant races (they created a magical disease, Lycanthropy; it is not known whether lupin blood was used in addition to the Kings' Nosferatu blood to create the infection agent) that merged human intelligence with animalistic ferocity and a weak will that made them easy to control, the Mythic Lycanthropes. The Necromancer Kings who were not willing to become undead themselves tried to defend from their powerful neighbours by employing the lupin tribes as guards and Lycanthrope hunters. They used their own powerful magics to instil useful abilities in the Lupins - a special ability to recognize werewolves, and a racial hatred of these creatures.
1700-1500 BC First Goblinoid Invasion
The Glantrian Cataclysm sends elves of Glantri underground and splits the humanoid hordes into many directions, including south (Darokin) and west (the Yazak Steppes). With the destruction of Taymora, those goblinoids displaces the lupin tribes living at these regions.
Taymoran Aardovai tribes living closer to Glantri fled from the effects of the Glantrian Cataclysm, entering the caverns under the Broken Lands. These lupins (that will become the Cimarron Hairless) fell under the shadow of Atzanteotl, and became his temple guards among the Shadow elves.
Other taymoran lupin tribes moved to Ochalea (mostly descendents of the Wolvenfolk and Aardovai).
Others went west, reaching the Black Mountains (descendents of the Coyotl, that became the Borzoi breed); some of then went even further west, entering their ancestral lands, the Yazak Steppes (becoming the Long Runners). These lupins return to their nomadic origins, abandoning the taymoran civilized ways.
In the Yazak Steppes, goblinoids overrun the Rakasta civilization, forcing the native Aardovai, Coyotl and Wolvenfolk to move away from their path, forcing them to move south, down the Great Escarpment, towards the central Savage Coast. They’re the ancestors of the “renardensis” and “parvus” groups.
By this time the first Kobolds (Known World) and Carrasquitos (Yazak Steppes) appeared, descending from enslaved Aardovai and goblinoids (probably goblins).
1500-1100 BC Early Nithian Age
Pflarr magically changes the last known group of pure Coyotl, living in Nithia (descendents of the Chochomecs). They become the Hutaakans.
A group of Norworld Wolvenfolk migrates south, entering the Adri Varma Plateau. There, they slowly changed, becoming the Senjabi breed.
Legend:
• Red: Yazak Steppes, down the Great Escarpment; Hybrid subspecies: proto-Canis sapiens renardensis and proto-Canis sapiens parvus;
• Yellow: Hutaakan nithian civilization, Valley of Nithia; Canis sapiens hutaakanus (Hutaakan);
• Blue: Darokin, the Northern Reaches, Heldann, Norworld and Adri Varma; Canis sapiens canus, proto-Canis sapiens parvus (Northern Reaches and Broken Lands);
• White: The steppes; proto-Canis sapiens macer;
• Green: Ochalea; Canis sapiens canus, proto-Canis sapiens parvus;
1100-900 BC Gnoll Invasion
During this time, the Nithian wizards created the Gnolls, combining the last “pure” known Aardovai tribes with trolls. These savage and rebellious “copies” of the Hutaakans fled from their masters, spreading at the Known World (Brown and Spotted) and Great Waste/Savage Coast (Striped). The first wave of gnolls (Brown) enters the Northern Reaches and Heldann, displacing the local lupins; the second wave (Spotted) displaces both gnolls and lupins further north.
The influx of Gnoll blood into the northern lupin tribes led to the creation of the first “colossus” breeds, the Pit-bull and Great Dogge. The existence of these hybrids originated the common misconception that Lupins descends from Gnolls.
Some Gnoll blood also reached the western tribes as the Striped Gnoll tribes entered Graakhalia and El Grande Carrascal.
By this time, the last “pure” Wolvenfolk lupins are no more. Their direct descendents are the Norworld Malamute and the Heldann Shepherd. Saimpt Loup started re-creating the Wolvenfolk, giving them a new, magical bloodline.
Atzanteotl betrayed the Cimarron Hairless, and they fled from Aengmor, settling in what is now eastern Boldavia or within shadow elf territory.
Legend:
• Red: Yazak Steppes, down the Great Escarpment; Hybrid subspecies: proto-Canis sapiens renardensis and proto-Canis sapiens parvus;
• Yellow: Hutaakan nithian civilization, Valley of Nithia; Canis sapiens hutaakanus (Hutaakan);
• Blue: Northern Reaches and Heldann; Canis sapiens canus, proto-Canis sapiens parvus, proto-Canis sapiens colossus;
• Green: Ochalea; Canis sapiens canus, proto-Canis sapiens parvus;
• Black: Traldar lands, Northern Reaches, Plains of Fire (Graakhalia) and El Grande Carrascal; Canis erectus meridionum (Striped), Canis erectus septentrionum (Brown), Canis erectus hilaris (Spotted);
900-500 BC Dark Ages
In Ochalea, the Foo Dogs interacted with the breeds descending from the Aardovai, resulting in the birth of the Ochalean Houndling, while other descendents became the Ochalean Crested. The Ogre Magi breed the Chow-Chow from their lupin slaves, descendents of the Wolvenfolk. The Ochalean culture, an original mix of Cypric, Rakastan and Lupin culture was also created at this time, also under the supervision of the benevolent Foo Dogs.
500 BC-100 AC Fall of Nithia
In the Fall of Nithia, some hutaakans were involved in Thanatos-worship: as consequence, Pflarr withdrew their Hutaakan bloodlines, leaving them (now known as Ramblers) to a centuries-long quest for expiation or revenge. Pflarr also sent some hutaakans to the west, in order to stay far from the nithian corruption. While some kept their tradicional ways, others got involved with the colonial rebels, being the ancestrals of the Foxfolk (Niedegard and Black Mountains) and Fennec (Ylaruam).
100-0 AC Goblinoid Invasion
A new wave of Goblinoids from the Yazak Steppes forced many Lupins to move south from the Yazak Steppes to the Savage Baronies and City-States area. Others migrated further west, getting close to Herathian border; shortly after that “Lupin” mages started appearing in Herath.
The first permanent settlements where being established by “renardensis” lupins. On one of these sites the Renardois capital, Louvines, was later built.
Lupin tribes from the Northern Reaches and Heldann migrates south, especially “colossus” lupins, entering Glantri (some migrating further west, entering the Savage Coast) and Thyatis (some going as far as Ochalea).
0-400 AC Foundation of Thyatis
In Ochalea and Thyatis, Lupins became citizen of the Thyatian Empire after Empress Valeria's proclamation.
New breeds also emerged as the tribes of Renardy adapted to their environment. Most modern breed of Renardy trace their bloodlines to this time.
Legend:
• Red: Savage Coast; Canis sapiens renardensis (Maremma, Doggerman, Zvornikan Sentinel, Golden Retriever, Renardois Folk, Basset Hound, Beagle, Slagovich Herder, Ispan Pistolero, Water Lupin, Das Hund, Burrow Bandit), Canis sapiens parvus (Bouchon, Blue Bandit, Papillon), Canis sapiens minor (Carrasquito), Canis sapiens macer (Borzoi and Long Runner), Canis sapiens colossus (Eusdrian Bulldog);
• Yellow: Hutaakan last colonies, Altan Tepes, Black Peak, Black Mountains, Niedegard Mountains; Canis sapiens hutaakanus (Hutaakan), Canis sapiens goupilus (Foxfolk and Fennec);
• Blue: Northern Reaches and Heldann; Canis sapiens canus (Heldann Shepherd and Norworld Malamute further north), Canis sapiens parvus (Gnomish Snoutzer), Canis sapiens colossus (Great Dogge);
• Green: Ochalea; Canis sapiens canus (Chow Chow), Canis sapiens parvus (Ochalean Crested), Canis sapiens colossus (Shar Pei), Canis sapiens pugus (Houndling);
• Black: Broken Lands, Northern Reaches, Plains of Fire (Graakhalia) and El Grande Carrascal; Canis erectus meridionum (Striped), Canis erectus septentrionum (Brown), Canis erectus hilaris (Spotted);
• Violet: Thyatis and Glantri; Canis sapiens parvus (Cimarron Hairless and Hound of Klantyre, both Glantri), Canis sapiens colossus (King Mastiff and Torreóner Pit-Bull in Thyatis; Glantri Mountaineer and Bloodhound in Glantri), Canis sapiens canus ("Flaemish" Heldann Shepherd in Glantri);
400-500 AC Lycanthropic Wars
At this time, the Five Tribes finally united. King Loows (Louis I) was chosen by the tribal chiefs as the first king of Renardy.
Shortly thereafter, Saimpt Malinois and Saimpt Mâtin became Immortals.
This was also the time of Alphatian Lycanthropy, and Lupins fought against the werewolves in all of Brun, utterly purging the Savage Coast of the lycanthropic threat. Some breeds (mainly Doggerman and Das Hund) left the Savage Coast, entering the Known World in order to keep their fight against the lycanthropic plague.
Senjabi tribes migrated south again, entering Sind. They’re welcome since they’re powerful allies against the lycanthropes that invaded that land. A group of "Flaemish" Heldann Shepherds, led by a capable tribe leader (that will become the Immortal known as Saimpt Malinois), also joined the Senjabi in Sind.
A group of Striped Gnolls migrates west, allying with native Foxfolk. They soon journey together further west, until finally reaching the Arm of the Immortals.
Legend:
• Red: Renardy and the Savage Coast; Canis sapiens renardensis (Maremma, Zvornikan Sentinel, Golden Retriever, Renardois Folk, Basset Hound, Beagle, Slagovich Herder, Ispan Pistolero, Water Lupin, Burrow Bandit), Canis sapiens parvus (Bouchon, Blue Bandit, Papillon), Canis sapiens minor (Carrasquito), Canis sapiens macer (Borzoi and Long Runner), Canis sapiens colossus (Eusdrian Bulldog), Canis sapiens goupilus (red Foxfolk);
• Blue: Northern Reaches and Heldann; Canis sapiens canus (Heldann Shepherd and Norworld Malamute further north), Canis sapiens parvus (Gnomish Snoutzer), Canis sapiens colossus (Great Dogge), Canis sapiens goupilus (white Foxfolk further north);
• Green: Ochalea; Canis sapiens canus (Chow Chow), Canis sapiens parvus (Ochalean Crested), Canis sapiens colossus (Shar Pei), Canis sapiens pugus (Houndling);
• Black: Broken Lands, Northern Reaches, Plains of Fire (Graakhalia) and El Grande Carrascal; Canis erectus meridionum (Striped), Canis erectus septentrionum (Brown), Canis erectus hilaris (Spotted);
• Violet: Thyatis and Glantri; Canis sapiens renardensis (Doggerman and Das Hund in Hattias), Canis sapiens parvus (Cimarron Hairless and Hound of Klantyre, both Glantri), Canis sapiens colossus (King Mastiff and Torreóner Pit-Bull in Thyatis; Glantri Mountaineer and Bloodhound in Glantri), Canis sapiens goupilus (Fennec in Ylaruam), Canis sapiens canus ("Flaemish" Heldann Shepherd in Glantri);
• White: Sind; Canis sapiens canus (Senjabi and a few "Flaemish" Heldann Shepherds);
• Yellow: Arm of the Immortals; Canis sapiens ruber (Guará);
500-900 AC Modern Era
During these centuries, several colonization attempts were performed, more or less officially, by the Thyatian Empire. Thyatian Lupins followed the human migrations to Glantri and the Savage Coast. New breeds the Glantri Mountaineer and Hound of Klantyre developed in Glantri, as the result of interaction with the humans, influx of new blood, and a radically changed environment.
Later, local Lupins in Averoigne and Linden were approached by Sire Claude d'Ambreville, who obtained the recognition of citizenship for the Glantrian Lupins. Many of these Lupin followers of Sire Claude d'Ambreville (mainly "Flaemish" Heldann Shepherds and Bloodhounds) were guided by Clébard de Clairvault (a "Flaemish" Heldann Shepherd himself) to Renardy after the sudden disappearance of their leader.
900-present AC The Clairvault Dynasty
In the last century, Clébard de Clairvault and his descendants Gaston and Louis IV brought Renardy from the Middle Age to the Modern Age. The Renardois Lupins acquired the Sylaire culture, with some Ispan influences, from the Glantrian Lupins and the Torreóner Pit-Bulls. Clébard married the Renardoise Princess Ralon, became King, and initiated several reforms. Both monarchs later became Immortals, and are now part of the established Renardois pantheon.
The Brotherhood of Vintages was also formally established by Queen Ralon, while new trade routes were opened with the Savage Baronies, especially with Torreón.
The Baronial Lupins (Carrasquito, Narvaezan Maremma and Ispan Pistolero) had meanwhile acquired the Espa culture from the Thyatian colonists, both human and Lupin (mainly Torreóner Pit-Bulls).
Lupins Today
Nowadays, Renardy is a strong, modern kingdom, cultivating alliances with the Barony of Torreón and the Kingdom of Eusdria, two major military powers of the Savage Coast. The main source of instability in Renardy is the so-called Heresy of Pflarr, the belief that Pflarr should be the only Lupin Immortal and that nobility is in one's ability to prove ties to a Hutaakan bloodline.
Thyatis, with the Hattian, Thyatian, and Ochalean Lupin populations has the second largest Lupin population, followed by Glantri and the Heldann Freeholds. In Thyatis, Lupins are recognized as citizens, and many Hattian Lupins serve in the Hattian Legions, while in Ochalea Lupins can be found in all strata of the society, including the Mandarinate.
In Glantri, there are no Lupin nobles, and most Lupins live outside the cities and fiefs. The Cimarron Hairless are basically enslaved by the Boldavian vampire barons, but most other Lupin breed fare much better.
In the Heldannic Territories, Lupins are found both among the Hattian conquerors (especially Das Hund and Doggermen) and the Heldanner natives (especially the Heldann Shepherds).
Nations of the Savage Coast also hold significant Lupin communities. Especially, in the Traladaran City-States of Zvornik and Nova-Svoga Lupin noble clans have equal status with the local human aristocracy.
A small but respected breed, the Fennec (or Fanaq), lives in the Emirates of Ylaruam. Most Fennecs are followers of the Eternal Truth.
Minor Lupin communities are found throughout the Northern Reaches and the Norwold (Ostland Stövare, White Foxfolk, Norwold Malamutes and Heldann Shepherds), while nomadic Lupins travel the less populated areas of central and eastern Brun.
Legend:
• Red: Renardy and the Savage Coast; Canis sapiens renardensis (Maremma, Zvornikan Sentinel, Golden Retriever, Renardois Folk, Basset Hound, Beagle, Slagovich Herder, Ispan Pistolero, Water Lupin, Burrow Bandit), Canis sapiens parvus (Bouchon, Blue Bandit, Papillon), Canis sapiens minor (Carrasquito), Canis sapiens macer (Borzoi and Long Runner), Canis sapiens colossus (Torreóner Pit-Bull, Bloodhound and Eusdrian Bulldog), Canis sapiens goupilus (red Foxfolk), Canis sapiens canus ("Flaemish" Heldann Shepherd);
• Blue: Northern Reaches and Heldann; Canis sapiens canus (Heldann Shepherd and Norworld Malamute further north), Canis sapiens parvus (Gnomish Snoutzer), Canis sapiens colossus (Great Dogge), Canis sapiens goupilus (white Foxfolk further north), Canis sapiens renardensis (Doggerman and Das Hund with the Heldannic Knights);
• Green: Ochalea; Canis sapiens canus (Chow Chow), Canis sapiens parvus (Ochalean Crested), Canis sapiens colossus (Shar Pei), Canis sapiens pugus (Houndling);
• Black: Broken Lands, Northern Reaches, Plains of Fire (Graakhalia) and El Grande Carrascal; Canis erectus meridionum (Striped), Canis erectus septentrionum (Brown), Canis erectus hilaris (Spotted);
• Violet: Thyatis and Glantri; Canis sapiens renardensis (Doggerman and Das Hund in Hattias), Canis sapiens parvus (Cimarron Hairless and Hound of Klantyre, both Glantri), Canis sapiens colossus (King Mastiff and Torreóner Pit-Bull in Thyatis; Glantri Mountaineer in Glantri), Canis sapiens goupilus (Fennec in Ylaruam);
• White: Sind; Canis sapiens canus (Senjabi);
• Yellow: Arm of the Immortals; Canis sapiens ruber (Guará);
Although all the lupin breeds have much in common, they can be classified into different species and subspecies using some important characteristics, such as their keen senses. It’s known that a taymoran spell was created to increase the already powerful senses of all lupins. That spell, however, simply doesn’t normally affect the lupin/goblinoid hybrids, the Gnolls and the Kobolds. Apparently they’re simply no longer truly lupins and the spell can’t recognize then as such. That, associated with the fact that the beastmen blood affects the lupin senses by itself, all but negates these extraordinary abilities to these hybrid species. Lupin breeds with high levels of beastmen blood are also separated in different subspecies (mainly Canis sapiens minor and Canis sapiens colossus, but also Canis sapiens ruber and Canis sapiens pharaonicus).
Their size and other physic characteristics such as their ears also help to differentiate other subspecies. Canis sapiens pugus and Canis sapiens parvus breeds are small and have drop ears; Canis sapiens macer breeds are slim, medium sized and have rose ears; Canis sapiens canus breeds inherited much of their ancestral Wolvenfolk, being larger and having erect ears; Canis sapiens hutaakanus and Canis sapiens goupilus also have erect ears, but are smaller. Canis sapiens renardensis is the largest group, having breeds of all sizes, but always drop ears.
• Aardovai: One of the oldest lupin breeds, together with the Coyotl and the Wolvenfolk. This small breed gave origin to all known small modern breeds, despite none of them inherited its two distinctive characteristics: fur with back stripes and a mane. The gnolls, on the other hand, preserved these features, even if they’re so different in other aspects, such as height. This breed is known for adapt quickly to new environments and situations, learning very fast. They receive skill points as humans (+4 skill points at the first level and an extra point each level after the first).
• Coyotl: One of the oldest lupin breeds, together with the Aardovai and the Wolvenfolk. They have much in common with these other two and may be a hybrid breed. The Coyotl were the first to met humans and the first to have a human-like civilization. That, however, happened because they were enslaved by them (the Mictec oltecindian people), with their will controlled by a powerful concoction (a mix of Amber Lotus with Wolfsbane created by clerics of Hel; it’s a primitive version of the Black Drink http://www.pandius.com/ambrzzng.html). Although quite toxic in the beginning, the Coyotl eventually got used to it, becoming completely immune to Wolfsbane and to the mind controlling effects of the concoction, allowing them to rebel and establish the lupin Chochomec civilization.
• Gnoll: The brutish gnoll race emerged when nithian mages mixed gnomish-sized Aardovai lupins with the Beastmen blood from Trolls. However, the Gnolls never inherited all trolls’ abilities, such as regeneration, possibly because of the taymoran incantation over the lupins forbade them to take advantage of it. But they’re still tough and furious as their goblinoid ancestrals, anyway. Three gnoll breeds were created:
o Striped Gnoll: The first breed created, they were, perhaps, the only truly successful nithian creation. Smaller and less aggressive than the others but still strong, they were soon taken to (and thereafter created at) Great Waste/Savage Coast colonies as slaves, being vital to the quick success of those settlements. Some time later, however, they rebelled (just as their east cousins did some time earlier) and fled to the caves of Graakhalia and El Grande Carrascal. Living in such difficult places made them more used to the necessary survival skills; thus, they gain +4 racial bonus on Survival skill checks.
These gnolls have usually light brown fur and black snouts; mature gnolls have a black mane that resembles a mohawk. Usually they have black stripes on their legs, torso, head and back, but some individuals (mainly in Graakhalia) have black spots, instead. This is likely caused by miscegenation with Spotted Gnolls. They usually have Neutral alignment instead of Evil, despite of their beastmen blood, and is the closest gnoll breed to their lupin cousins.
o Brown Gnoll: Slightly larger than the Striped breed, the Brown Gnolls are also more aggressive and bloodthirsty. Instead of slaves, they were created as guardians and thus received larger amounts of beastmen blood. They, however, hardly fitted their guardian roles, since they simply were too impatient for standing still guarding anything. They soon fled their nithian masters, entering the Northern Reaches. Eventually, however, they were pushed north again by their cousins Spotted Gnolls, taking the best lands for themselves.
This made this breed somewhat used to difficult terrains (but not as the Striped Gnolls), and their beastmen blood make them naturally aggressive (although not always Evil). They receive +2 racial bonus on Survival and Intimidate skill checks. Their fur is darker brown and they have a white mane and black snouts. Some individuals have reddish spots, while others show strips at their legs and arms.
o Spotted Gnoll: The most common breed at the Known World and the most famous as well. They’re vicious and almost always evil, to the point of mindless thirst for destruction, much for the delight of Ranivorus/Yeenoghu. After noticing the gnollish qualities for war the Brown breed had, the nithian mages created a new breed with even more beastmen blood, making it much stronger and ferocious. It, however, poisoned and twisted their minds, making them basically insane creatures. They were very quick to rebel, destroying a significant part of the Nithian Empire in the process, took by surprise. The nithians managed to drive them out, forcing then north (displacing the Brown Gnolls) and west, entering the lands of the Doulakki and the Traldar.
They’re the tallest gnolls, but that may not be always perceived, since they’re usually hunched. They have light brown hair with black spots and snouts. Occasionally they have a tan mane. They tend to be very aggressive and usually insane, giggling before and while attacking. They receive +4 racial bonus on Intimidate skill checks.
(Optional rule: the larger and stronger spotted gnolls can use the D&D 3.5’s usual rules for gnolls combined with what’s shown here. This means that they’ll receive also +4 Strength and -2 Inteligence, two levels of Humanoid and +1 natural armor bonus; they still receive the +4 Intimidate and -2 Sense Motive racial bonus/penalty and Beastmen Bloodline, as shown before; their favored class is Barbarian and have a Level adjustment of +1).
• Guará: This breed is an obvious mix of the Foxfolk lupin and the Striped gnoll. At the same time they have red fur and fox-like face, but they’re also unusually tall and have a black mane. This breed was created when a group of Striped gnolls moved further west from El Grande Carrascal, reaching the woodlands of Robrenn and Eusdria. Here, they allied with some Foxfolk tribes and, for some unknown reason, continued to migrate west, eventually reaching Jibarú (where they received their breed name, Guará, meaning “Red” in Jibar), and finally arriving at their modern home, the Arm of the Immortals. Inspired by this legendary breed, renardois explorers sailed west, looking for them; the colony of Preuve was founded at the site of where the explorers met for the first time with Guarás. Soon it became a religious colony, focused on bringing the Guarás to the “rightfully lupin faith of the Church of Renardy”.
That proved to be a hard task, however, since the Guarás, different from most (if not all other) breeds, do not form “packs” (cities or even tribes), living usually alone at the forest; they usually only look for company when feeling “the urge of mating”. Some Guarás, however, did enjoyed spending some time at Preuve, in company of many of their kind, but they usually return to the forest after some time. Some Guarás became part of “Bandeirantes” (verdant explores) groups, especially when fighting native rakastas or orcs. They’re quite used with the forest (they’re reliable scouts) and the vegetal and fungus that can be found at there, and the uses they can have. They receive +4 racial bonus on Survival and Craft (herbalist) checks. Even being quite talented, they will seldom leave the Arm of the Immortals, since their life depend on regularly (at least once a month) consuming Lobeira fruits, than can only be found here. They lose temporarily one point of Constitution for each month without consuming Lobeira fruit until they reach 0 points of Constitution and die or until they eat a Lobeira fruit (and recover one point of Constitution per day) or receive any magical mean to recover their health. Magic is, however, only a temporally solution, since they’ll still need to eat Lobeira fruit in a month in order to stop losing Constitution points.
• Hutaakan: The hutaakan people were created from the last pure Coyotl people living at the Outer World. Descendents from the first advanced lupin civilization, they helped the humans living at the Valley of Nithia to build this new civilization. The Immortal Pflarr blessed this lupin people, teaching them many secrets and making them even wiser. Originally, they were very close to the nithians, but gradually became more distant and reclusive, moving to the surrounding mountains, since those humans also became more power-hungry and ambitious.
They were unused with their new homes, however, and had problems to do the necessary hard work at first. That happened by the same time the doulakki-descended Traldar people passed through a desperate moment of its history, devolving into a primitive state. The hutaakans helped them, but they also took many traldars with them as servants/slaves. Eventually they became used to this, growing more and more dependent on these slaves.
Meanwhile, inspired by the success of the hutaakans, the nithians attempt to create their own hutaakan-like people as a servant race, capturing the gnomish-sized Aardovai and magically blending them with trolls. They, however, proved to be too savage (especially the Spotted Gnolls), and soon they rebelled, leaving Nithia and entering the lands of the Doulakki and the Traldar. There, gnolls and traldars almost annihilated one another and the hutaakans retreated once more into a reclusive life.
This time that wasn’t enough, however, since the nithian corruption by the entropic Immortals Thanatos and Ranivorous was growing too strong, to the point that even some hutaakans were embracing their cause, thirsty for power and interbreeding with gnolls in order to create a stronger breed. Pflarr was abhorred with that and removed his blessing from those fallen hutaakans, which became the Rambler breed.
Pflarr also made some of his faithful hutaakans leave the borders of the nithian vale, being too close to corruption. Some of them migrated to the west, to the borders of the nithian colonies at the Savage Coast, the Black Mountains and Niedegard Mountains. There, some of them resumed their reclusive lives, but others became actively involved with the nithian colonies and the rebel groups living at there, planning to return the nithian culture back to their old ways by force. These hutaakans were involved at the creation of Cinnabryl and the Legacies, weapons for the rebellion. They, however, never truly had a chance for using that, since the Immortals intervened, erasing all recordings about the Nithian Empire at the Outer World and, after purifying it of the entropic corruption, sent it to the Hollow World.
Those hutaakans involved with the rebellion also lost their memories about it and about their previous lives. They also forgot about Pflarr and his teachings, and his bloodline eventually stated to fade away. Some of them kept fighting against entropic forces, such as the goblinoid tribes of the Yazak Steppes, leading local lupin tribes against them and eventually mingled with them, becoming part of those breeds and giving them some of the Hutaakan Bloodline, which became strongly associated with leadership. Others reverted to their reclusive lifestyle, but in a new fashion, more nature-oriented; they eventually became the Foxfolk breed (red fur next to the Niedegard Mountains and white fur next to the Black Mountains, but most of these migrated north, reaching the Norworld region; a small part of this group mingled with Aardovai still living at the Northern Reaches, resulting in the Fennec breed of Ylaruam).
However, those hutaakans that kept their reclusive ways were preserved by Pflarr. Most of them were taken into the Hollow World, living close to Nithia. A few stayedat the Outer World, living scattered in small and remote valleys, much like their ancestrals did once.
• Kobold: Many sages wonder about the true relationship between kobolds and the lupins. While they bear a striking resemblance with the lupin breed known as Carrasquitos, at the same time they possess unique features, such as scaled skin and a pair of small horns. It is possible that the Beastmen Bloodline gave them this hideous appearance, but it’s not known why other species with Beastmen Bloodline, such as the Gnolls, don’t show these characteristics. Some sages may argue that Gnolls (or the Carrasquitos) also have the same terrible skin condition and it’s simply hidden under their fur, while others may say that the scales are symptoms of a strange disease all kobolds have. Probably both theories are wrong, and even the kobolds themselves can’t explain their condition (although some claim that kobolds also have draconic blood and that scales and horns are proof of that).
• Senjabi: This sindhi breed has a wolf-like appearance, although it has shorter light-colored fur. This breed arrived at Sind by the time it faced it greatest threat (before Hule), the lycanthropy crisis of c.450 AC. The keen senses of the Senjabi (Senjab being the name the sindhis give to the unclaimed region north of Kadesh, Peshmir and Gunjab, around the Lake Hast) were truly helpful for Maga Aditi’s revolt against the shapeshifters. However, differently from the mages, that were able to create a caste for themselves, the Senjabi were forced into the lower castes after the crisis, and they had to adopt and adapt to a merchant life. And they indeed did a very good job on it, developing a good “nose for business”. Involuntarily, then can make a wisdom check with DC 10 for “smelling” a good opportunity for profit.
• Water Lupin: This breed is quite used to the sea and lupins from it are known as great sailors. They can be found on mosts ports of Brun, being especially common in Renardy, Dunwick, and among the sea wolves of Vilaverde and Texeiras. They can also be found in Slagovich, Hojah and any important port at the Savage Coast. Some Water Lupins also can be seen at the Known World, especially in Minrothaddan ships; they have a friendly rivalry with the Meditor water elves, since both consider themselves equipped with better navigating senses (they receive +2 racial bonus on Profession (Sailor) checks and can also attempt to track the desired direction at sea using their Scent ability (DC 15)). They deeply wish to one day create their own Guild in Minrothad, but they’re yet newcomers at there and will need a larger population at the islands for that. Water lupins have curly, white fur much like the Bouchon, which gives then funny looks; something that ma led someone foolish enough to underestimate this breed. Despite their looks, they’re capable warriors, usually quite skilled with cutlasses and sabers.
First of all, all canon writings about the lupins, especially Dragon Magazine 237. Other canon sources, like RS/SB/SCCB, CoM (Gnolls), GAZ10, p. 17 and 18 (Gnolls and Kobolds) and HW (Hutaakans) were also used. Another major source were GP's articles (besides, he helped me writing all of this ;)). Sharon Dornhoff’s articles mentioning the Aardovai were also took in consideration here.
For 3e/3.5 adaptations, I took ideas from all these previous adaptations:
http://pandius.com/lupin3e.html
http://pandius.com/lupn3e_2.html
http://pandius.com/lupin3er.html
http://pandius.com/savcst3e.html
and http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/6011/races.html (from The Lighthouse). Unfortunately, I coudn't find anything about lupins at Mystara 3e, but my adaptation work was inspired by it in the first place ;)
Fantastic stuff, Wilhelm! I've glanced through some of it and in looks good (I'm at work so... ;) ). Thanks for posting all this.
Thanks :D
Phew, I'm glad you haven't read it all yet, there are so many typos and mistakes here and there... ;)
this is really impressive work you have done here Wilhelm! I had never been quite clear on the whole relationship between the Lupin, the Hutaakans and the Gnolls and their whole historical background, so this helps alot!
A couple of things:
Will you be including more on the Hutaakans? I know they aren't really Lupins, but since you included quite a bit about Gnolls it might be appropriate. I find it interesting that the areas where remnants of Hutaakan civilization might still be found in the Known World are generally devoid of Lupin settlements. We only have one official Hutaakan settlement still around in the Known Word, but I wouldnt rule out further such hidden valleys throughout the Black Peaks and the Altan Tepes Mountains. I think that may even have been suggested in B10. "The Black Vessel" also reveals Hutaakans living among the Gnolls of the Savage Coast.
You mention briefly Bloodhounds in one of the posts. Are those the Bloodhouds of Alphatia? Otherwise I see no mention of the Alphatian Lupins introduced in the very last installment of VotPA. Would be nice to see.
As Hugin says, this is a massive piece of work, so I only had time to read through it fairly quickly, so Im sure there are other things I could have commented on. Overall, it looks really good though
Thanks!
Havard
Wow,
this is really impressive work you have done here Wilhelm!
Thanks :D
I had never been quite clear on the whole relationship between the Lupin, the Hutaakans and the Gnolls and their whole historical background, so this helps alot!
Canon never really made clear which is the true origin of the lupins. Dragon Magazine 237 hints that they're a mix of hutaakans and gnolls, and it could indeed be the answer. OTOH, that excludes completely any connection between lupins and werewolves (GP answered this linking primitive lupins with Taymorans) and also made them a really young race (c. 500 BC?). Pehaps too young, considering all those breeds we have...
Also, it makes impossible to have lupins before the creation of the Gnolls and Hutaakans, and this would ruim Sharon's Aardovai idea.
A couple of things:
Will you be including more on the Hutaakans? I know they aren't really Lupins, but since you included quite a bit about Gnolls it might be appropriate.
Sure, why not?
I'm considering also write a little bit about kobolds as well ;)
I find it interesting that the areas where remnants of Hutaakan civilization might still be found in the Known World are generally devoid of Lupin settlements. We only have one official Hutaakan settlement still around in the Known Word, but I wouldnt rule out further such hidden valleys throughout the Black Peaks and the Altan Tepes Mountains.
Sure, that's possible indeed
I think that may even have been suggested in B10. "The Black Vessel" also reveals Hutaakans living among the Gnolls of the Savage Coast.
Yes, that's basically what Dragon Magazine 237 says as being one possible theory about the lupin origins. But I don't know if it's correct or for Hutaakan, they mean other lupin breed (Nithian Ramblers?)
You mention briefly Bloodhounds in one of the posts. Are those the Bloodhouds of Alphatia? Otherwise I see no mention of the Alphatian Lupins introduced in the very last installment of VotPA. Would be nice to see.
Yes, they're
As Hugin says, this is a massive piece of work, so I only had time to read through it fairly quickly, so Im sure there are other things I could have commented on. Overall, it looks really good though
Thanks again ;)
We only have one official Hutaakan settlement still around in the Known Word, but I wouldnt rule out further such hidden valleys throughout the Black Peaks and the Altan Tepes Mountains.
BTW, look what a jut found at the Monstrous Compendium - Mystara Appendix, page 64: "Today, the few surviving Hutaakans speak vaguely of a great catastrophe that decimated their brilliant race; the remaining examples of their species live in small, isolated communities scattered throughout the Known World". I guess that's a good clue that we don't have just only one lost valley at the KW ;)
EDIT: looks like Havard already brought most of this idea before of me, and I just found it at the Vaults: http://pandius.com/hut_idea.html
Canon never really made clear which is the true origin of the lupins. Dragon Magazine 237 hints that they're a mix of hutaakans and gnolls, and it could indeed be the answer. OTOH, that excludes completely any connection between lupins and werewolves (GP answered this linking primitive lupins with Taymorans) and also made them a really young race (c. 500 BC?). Pehaps too young, considering all those breeds we have...
Also, it makes impossible to have lupins before the creation of the Gnolls and Hutaakans, and this would ruim Sharon's Aardovai idea.
In general I'd say I'd favor creation theories that allow for the races having been around longer as that gives us more room for historical maneuvering. The Taymoran idea, while interesting is problematic since there is such a small Lupin presence in Karameikos...
Sure, why not?
I'm considering also write a little bit about kobolds as well ;)
Looking forward to it!
Yes, that's basically what Dragon Magazine 237 says as being one possible theory about the lupin origins. But I don't know if it's correct or for Hutaakan, they mean other lupin breed (Nithian Ramblers?)
I'd say Hutaakans are definately present on the Savage Coast, though they are usually mistaken for Gnolls.
Havard
Just find more interesting things in GAZ7, that could help reinforcing the idea of the Lupins as being the original race, from which the Hutaakans and Gnolls came (and not the other way around): first, the quite famous fragment from p. 43, that hints the kobolds as one of the elder, major races (in this case, the whole "lupinkind" instead of just kobolds); another, from p. 30, says that "Gnolls were the first humanoid race to settle in the Northern Reaches after the ice caps retreated." (c. 3000 BC?). Since we know that the gnoll race is quite new (c. 1000 BC), this may be refering to an gnoll ancestral (Aardovai?). Could this also be another help for the lupin theory as an elder race? ;)
EDIT: looks like Havard already brought most of this idea before of me, and I just found it at the Vaults: http://pandius.com/hut_idea.html
Whaddyaknow. I had forgotten about that one. :P
In any case I have always been interested in this whole Kobold's being a major race idea. I would definately like to see you develop it through your Lupin material. It makes sense to me that Kobolds belong to the major races on account of being related to Lupins. I also like the idea of Lupins being considered a major race
Havard
Although I didn't directly based my work on these two, I think they should be mentioned anyway:
-Ron Carney's New Races for Mystara: beautiful pdf, but I'm not sure if it's a 3.0 or 3.5 conversion. Still, nice work here ;)
-Mike McArtor's Lupins, from Dragon 325: This one is very nice, even if intentionally generic (for space limitations and author's choice). I didn't use it as a source simply because only today I bumped into it :P I guess I was abscent from the mystaran community when this one came about. It's very nice indeed, but works with the opposite conception I was trying to bring to 3.5, the breeds... BTW, do you agree that "the scent ability is too good to give a player character race", guys?
Whaddyaknow. I had forgotten about that one. :P
;)
In any case I have always been interested in this whole Kobold's being a major race idea. I would definately like to see you develop it through your Lupin material. It makes sense to me that Kobolds belong to the major races on account of being related to Lupins.
I also like the idea of Lupins being considered a major race
Well, I guess it is, at least at the SC ;)
In general I'd say I'd favor creation theories that allow for the races having been around longer as that gives us more room for historical maneuvering. The Taymoran idea, while interesting is problematic since there is such a small Lupin presence in Karameikos...
But GP added into his timeline that those breeds migrated north, to the Broken Lands (becoming the Cimarron Hairless) and southeast (all ochalean breeds, Chow Chow, Houndling, Crested and later Shar Pei).
I'd say Hutaakans are definately present on the Savage Coast, though they are usually mistaken for Gnolls.
The are present, or they were present?
Either way, we do know that hutaakan blood had been related with royalty conception among the primitive lupin tribes of the region, one of the reasons for the Pflarr heresy and Nouvelle Renardie existence, in the first place. I think it's a strong clue about hutaakan presence at the region, but we still need to know where, exactly...
One thing we know is that hutaakans and nithians are culturally related, and they generally live close to each other (the hutaakans at the mountains while the nithians in fertile valleys; as Havard pointed, the karameikan Altan Tepes, quite close to Ylaruam, is a very good (and remote) place to have a second hutaakan lost valley ;) ). And we had nithian colonies at the Savage Coast as well...
The main problem about these lost colonies is to know where they were, exactly. Christian Constantin's articles for Hule included the Great Waste region: http://www.pandius.com/h700bc.jpg (that, BTW, he pictures it also as a fertile region, centered around it's rivers, much like old nithia), which I assumed as accurate, since it's a good route to the Western Sea (where we should have more colonies) and the Plains of Fire/Graakhalia is just north, a good place for escaped gnoll slaves. I'm not so sure about the baronial region, however, since the otzil (native oltec) perspective was, unfortunatelly, not included at his writings... I like to think that what his maps shown as hulian territories down the Great Escarpment is, in fact, only a way to show that the local goblinoid tribes are allied with the hulian emperor, while the baronial territories "Conquered by Nithia BC 725-706" as natives (otzil, elves and lupins) allying with nithian forces to expel those goblinoids. Still, we have two famous ruins at that region, and also some gnolls (pehaps part of the nithian troops that eventually became independent tribes, pehaps escaped slaves from some nithian colony close to it), even if Nithia doesn't dominated directly the whole region (something it did at the KWas well, dominating the Traldar/Doulakki peoples by other means, pehaps as overlords):
1st theory - Antro do Dragão: I guess this one is the only nithian ruin described at the canon, but Christian Constantin's map doesn't show it. Still, I guess canon wheights more, even because it's placed where we have the largest known cinnabryl deposit, Terra Vermelha.
2nd theory - Buenos Vientos: We have a desertic region (nithians just love that, lol), with gnolls and a cinnabryl mine more or less close to it. I like to think that Buenos Vientos was originally a LB outpost that later received traladaran colonists (pehaps wanting to fight the gnolls because of their religious background?), but it could had been built over a nithian ruin. Or pehaps those ruins were, in fact, below Smokestone City, which is closer to the sea and along a river, something they just love ;) the gnolls then simply escaped, entering the first empty region they found (El Grande Carrascal).
I'd say that both were, indeed, nithian colonies at the region, experimenting with Cinnabryl, and we may had hutaakans living close to them or the Great Waste colonies (either way, the best place for them would be the Black Mountains, then). But that's quite far from most lupinsand Renardy...
3rd theory - Monoliths of Zul: It's possible that Zul was once the last remain of a larger nithian complex that parcially sunk (and the tortle slaves living at Zul simply kept doing what they were told to do and eventually became the only known tortle civilization... Actually, I think that tortles were brought were and west Cimarron by nithians). The idea came while working on Protectorado da Presa, making it the mystaran version of the portuguese islands (Madeira, Açores, Cabo Verde and also the spanish Canárias), and IIRC, there are some legends saying that they could be the last remains of a sunken continent. At first I ignored it, but nithians fit nicely with Zul (even if Otzil oltecs would be a better option, unfortunately some goblinoids destroyed that civilization some time ago...). Also, it's the best explanation for Claw's Tiger Island and gives us an interesting underwater extra cinnabryl reserve (pehaps even larger than Terra Vermlha's).
The best part of it is that we can have hutaakans quite close to Renardy, living or at the hills that separate Tortle Tribeland from Renardy (and they eventually left their lives and intermingled with the lupins) and/or Niedegard Mountains, still isolated and hidden within another lost valley.
Phew, that was big, wasn't it? ;)
But GP added into his timeline that those breeds migrated north, to the Broken Lands (becoming the Cimarron Hairless) and southeast (all ochalean breeds, Chow Chow, Houndling, Crested and later Shar Pei).
Also, Taymor is not modern Karameikos, but the "Sunlit Sea". Modern Karameikos was a borderland of Taymor. In my version, it was occupied by Necromancer Kings who mostly used Elves, Giants and especially Lycanthropes in their armies.
Lupins were employed by southern and western Necromancer Kings, mostly.
GP
Part of the hutaakans eventually even joined the rebelious nithian groups, planning to restore Nithia as it was by force (and, why not, getting involved with the creation of Cinnabryl and the Legacies), while others kept their old reclusive ways. And the same was happening at old Nithia (with an quite known reclusive colony being that one in Karameikos), with the addition of a third group, corrupted hutaakans that got involved with Thanatos, Ranivorous and his "children", the Spotted Gnolls.
When the Immortals decided that there was no hope for Nithia and sent it to the HW, Pflarr sent most of his hutaakans to there as well, except for a very small number of colonies. He completely withdrew his blessing from those hutaakans with spotted gnol blood, that became the Ramblers; and only made it weaker for other hutaakan descendent groups, that were more involved with other races and the rebellion against the corrupted nithian culture, the Fennec (hutaakans + aardovai) in Nithia/Ylaruam and Foxfolk (red ones close to the Niedegard Mountains; and white ones at the black mountains, from where they migrated to northern regions, such as Norworld).
Losing part of their Bloodline power and memories about Nithia, the Foxfolk group splited again, between those who would rather return to their old, reclusive ways (that didn't changed much and are the modern Foxfolk) and those who would rather keep fighting against another enemy of the "lupinkind", the goblinoids. With the help of their wisdon and mode advanced culture, they soon became leardes of their more barbaric cousisns at the Yazak Steppes, that would eventually become the modern breeds of Renardy.
Well, what do you guys think of that?
Ok, assuming that we indeed had hutaakans at the SC during the nithian era, why would they be there?
There's at least one good reason -- to get them out of Nithia, which was becoming more and more corrupt.
G.
There's at least one good reason -- to get them out of Nithia, which was becoming more and more corrupt.
EDIT: On a second thought, I guess I'll use exactly this idea, and let the only the proto-foxfolk involved with any kind of help to the nithian rebels
I guess it's a silly question, but I just saw that close of Oceansend there is a island called Isle of the Dogs. Is there any info (canon or fanon) about this place? Pehaps some lupins living and there and stuff like that? ;)
Not that I can remember. However, Lupins do live in Norwold, so it is not at all impossible -- though the isle may as well be simply known for its dogs.
GP
Not that I can remember. However, Lupins do live in Norwold, so it is not at all impossible -- though the isle may as well be simply known for its dogs.
GP
I remember this coming up in a discussion here a while ago. I think the general consensus was uninhabited except for wild dogs and other animal life. However, it would be interesting to have a lupin shrine / holy place there where lupins sometimes go on pilgrimages. Maybe it's connected to understanding themselves by being surrounded by wild dogs, which are the dominate species on the island?
Not that I can remember. However, Lupins do live in Norwold, so it is not at all impossible -- though the isle may as well be simply known for its dogs.
Indeed
I remember this coming up in a discussion here a while ago. I think the general consensus was uninhabited except for wild dogs and other animal life. However, it would be interesting to have a lupin shrine / holy place there where lupins sometimes go on pilgrimages. Maybe it's connected to understanding themselves by being surrounded by wild dogs, which are the dominate species on the island?
I think it's an interesting idea
I was asking that because of those maps I just posted at the timeline (left Isle of the Dogs blank). They're not pretty, but I think they help to underestand the lupin migrations and how and where the breeds were originated. They're pretty generic as well, not showing specific locations for each breed. Except for Ochalea (I painted the whole island because I'm not sure where each breed settled), the size of the circle indicates more or less the populational size of those lupin groups. Or even better, indicates the impact those populations have or had at each region.
I was asking that because of those maps I just posted at the timeline (left Isle of the Dogs blank). They're not pretty, but I think they help to underestand the lupin migrations and how and where the breeds were originated.
They do help, indeed.
GP
They do help, indeed.
Did I forgot to list at the map any breed that are not wanderers (Ramblers and Shag Head), Wolvenfolk or Kobolds? Please tell me if I did, butI guess they're all there
BTW, do you think it's a problem to have all molossoid breeds at the KW until 900 AC, with the journey of Clébard of Clairvault? I wonder if the Eusdrian Bulldogs left the KW before of if they're just newcomers as well
GP
Uhm, I'd have the Eusdrian Bulldogs arrive earlier, if possible.
Do you think their role at there need a earlier arrival?
I just let then arrive later because I'm not sure if they could be there before or at the same time of the eusdrians got there and met the elves and dwarves, forming their nation.Well, we can try to think about a reason for that ;)
But besides that, do you think everything else is ok?
Do you think their role at there need a earlier arrival?
I just let then arrive later because I'm not sure if they could be there before or at the same time of the eusdrians got there and met the elves and dwarves, forming their nation.Well, we can try to think about a reason for that ;)
But besides that, do you think everything else is ok?
I think they should reach Eusdria during or slightly after its formation, but certainly not in 900 AC, otherwise they wouldn't be more eusdrian than other breeds...
GP
I was asking that because of those maps I just posted...
Hey, I missed those somehow. Very useful in sorting out the where and whens of the lupins. Thanks!
I think they should reach Eusdria during or slightly after its formation, but certainly not in 900 AC, otherwise they wouldn't be more eusdrian than other breeds...
Sure, they would more likely be part of Clébard's followers then. I guess the most obvios answer would have them migrating by 450-500 AC, but we alredy have too many breeds migrating by this time (Senjabi from Adri Varma to Sind, with a few Heldann Shepherds from Glantri (or, more exacly, Flaem Shepherd), led by Malinois; and Doggerman and Das Hund from the Savage Coast to Hattias, going in the opposite direction).
What about if the Eusdrian Bulldogs simply went further west from Glantri c. 0 AC, when most of the "colossus" breeds migrated from Northern Reaches/Heldann to south (Thyatis) and west (Glantri)? Pehaps they heard about the "mythical" original hunting grounds of the lupin people (a.k.a. the Yazak Steppes) and decided to migrate back there. But if they did arrived at there (up the GE) or, at least, where the other breeds were living now (down the GE), they were soon expelled by the goblinoids, the same fate that the other breeds had.
And, pehaps, Clébard was only following the path the Eusdrian Bulldogs went almost 1000 years before, seeking the land where lupins were kings instead of just commoners.
And, BTW, what's Saimpt Clébard's breed?
Very useful in sorting out the where and whens of the lupins.
Thanks
I'm trying to make more precise maps, that's basically just a draft. But I guess that indeed helps, it helped me as well to add a few things at the Timeline, especially to keep track of those breeds ;)
What about if the Eusdrian Bulldogs simply went further west from Glantri c. 0 AC, when most of the "colossus" breeds migrated from Northern Reaches/Heldann to south (Thyatis) and west (Glantri)?
That would do.
GP
That would do.
Hope that's the only problem with the breeds. Please let me know if there's anything else ;)
Wow! I just noticed this. Neat work!
Indeed. And it's all compiled here at the Vaults.
pandius.com/lupnbred.html