Evolved for the sole purpose of hunting

tribal, fierce creatures that are distant relatives to humanoids. They have adapted to permanently inhabit the wild, and mostly resemble one mammal or another. They are proud, heavy on tradition, and some of the fiercest warriors one could hope for.


Stats: Quickness +3, Awareness +3, Strength +2, Reflex +2, Will +1, Knowledge -3, Charisma -4, Intelligence -1, Luck -2, Toughness +1. Beastials are more athletic and have sharper senses than most races. However, their isolated nature makes them gruff and uneducated.


Anatomy: beastials vary from one individual to the next, particularly those in distinct areas. For the most part, they are at least partially covered in fur, and faces with humanoid features, but with more pointed ears and sharper features. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, but they are almost invariably more muscular and more physically fit. Fat beastials simply seem almost non-existent, or else possess so much fat that they are downright titanic and none attempt to bring up the "f word." The majority of beastials have claws and fangs of varying sharpness, but ordinarily tough enough to employ in a fight. The sharper features of beastials are said to come from a distant relation to the presently extinct elves, but they are actually positioned to create longer, clearer passages of the ear canal and nasal passages, enhancing their senses accordingly. Between their keen senses and muscular forms, the beastials are considered some of the greatest predators in the world.


Genders: most beastials treat females as slightly inferior, leaving them to tasks closer to the home while the males continue to hunt and fight. However, a woman who can prove herself capable in more masculine tests will be treated as an equal to any male, if not more respected for overcoming the handicap of gender. Males are the generally dominant species in relationships as well, unless altered by the previously mentioned accomplishment. Beastials in their homelands tend to simply claim a mate, which is fairly informal and unofficial. They are more commonly known to mate out of instincts rather than pleasure, but the latter is not unheard of among the slightly primal people.



Youth: beastials are born in small litters, most often 2-4. While beastial females are slightly more sheltered than the males, both are raised to develop strong bodies and survival instincts. Even before they can participate, young beastials are required to follow on several hunts before they learn to do so themselves, ordinarily on packs on their father's back. Physical competition among the pups is fairly unavoidable, and encouraged strongly by parents so long as no real damage is done. The competitive nature of testing strength and skill continues on throughout most of a beastial's life, although it is done more skillfully and with greater control than the youngsters have learned.

Female beastials are often subjugated unless they manage to prove themselves as hunters

Diet: beastials are almost exclusively carnivores, and heavily rely on regular hunting as a result. When food is scarcer or if some other complication is involved in the tribe, some vegetables may be grown, but this is done with grudging reluctance. Beastial teeth are evolved for cutting and ripping flesh, and so they can sometimes have trouble eating certain vegetables, or they may have some poor internal reaction to them.

Territory: beastials are very serious about their territories, given their dependence on the land and their hunts. Their homelands are centralized in the northwest woodlands of Grard. They pay little mind to most passerby, but will take immediate and violent action on intrusion of their wildlife.


Psychology: beastials are hardened by their life of harsh survival in the wilderness. Even those born closer to civilization seem to pick up this gruff nature, most likely developed into an instinct at this point. Beastials are fairly mirthless and vicious when threatened in general as a result, but a civilized life has been known to cause interesting reactions. A beastial has a built in nature as a hunter, and so this tends to dominate their no-nonsense, hostile personas.

Technology: beastials are perhaps the most primitive of the main races, as they have little contact with outside cultures. Even the use or gathering of steel is relatively uncommon among them, most often gathered through trade with the tolerated passerby. Some who travel to populated cities have been noted to become largely indulgent, adoring the comfortable lifestyle after a harsh upbringing. Some have deemed a social beastial to be a "true party animal," though not many do so, as this is often followed by a claw to the face. Beastials don't like puns.

Politics/Law: beastial societies largely go by the "might makes right" theory of rule, making each culture's moral code vary. Leaders make little change among their people ordinarily, since the majority of beastial business remains in raising children and gathering food. Beastial will normally adjust to other cultures' laws, but seem to do so grudgingly. Though when a beastial's temper flares, laws rarely come into account any more.

Religion: beastial have very spiritual natures, but this does not necessarily relate to religion. They strongly follow a personal code, which sometimes involve following gods, or simply falls into their same teachings by coincidence. They primarily follow Jad, as his strength, courage, and honor follows many aspects of beastial life. They tend to be his most devoted and favored followers, but they also respect the elemental gods in a hope for guidance and mercy. There are at least several beastial clans that actively defy the gods, sometimes leading them to more occult lifestyles. Occasional praises to the gods of nature, war, or shadow have shown up here and there.

Those buggers sure do like their huntin...

Entertainment: beastials are not very good-humored creatures, and most entertainment simply takes the form of activity. These are fairly limited to weapon crafting, occasional farming, and physical competition. Beastials struggle with one another from birth, some even implied to be fighting while still in the womb (though obviously not very affectively). This is to hone their skills, which the beastials never wish to dull, and so they frequently compete with one another in mock combat. The spars are hardly less dangerous than real battles, as beastials find it rather difficult to give anything less than about 80%. Many scars have developed from mere practice fights.


Interspecies Relations: beastials, while untrusting of most races, often allow them to pass through their lands. They are fairly solitary creatures for the most part, though a percentage do travel out to the more advanced world. Some tribes strictly frown upon those that try to return after being "softened" by the outside world, and most will rarely actually welcome outsiders without promise of decent trade.


Warfare: although beastials do not leave their lands often, they have often feuded with rival tribes, and have had surprising impact on the outside wars. In the War of Extinction between the elves and dwarves, the few dwarven units that survived the war were wiped out promptly when the attempted retreat through beastial woods. Similar circumstances held off the ogre armies in the War of the Dragons, forcing them to cease their advancement and leaving them open to surprise attacks by the inta and kirr tol that night. Beastials are noted by survivors or brave sociologists to treat warfare much like hunting, and primarily involving bows and travel almost exclusively from trees when possible. While this gives them an edge of altitude, protection, and range, grounding them may only make matters worse since claws and teeth quickly become a factor