Canim

The Canim are large, bipedal wolf-like creatures and fierce warriors. They are long-lived, with a society organized in a caste-like social hierarchy which is susceptible to political in-fighting. Canim speak a growling barking language more suitable to their muzzles than the mangled Common that they attempt. A giant bipedal wolf. Big teeth, sharp claws, lots of hair. Everything about this creature should inspire the average primate to run away.

Canim Castes

 * The Warrior caste consists of the elite warriors. These professional soldiers are the Canim equivalent of legionnaires. They are taller and stronger than the other castes and much more disciplined. They are issued military standard armour and weapons. The heads of Canim armies are known as Warmasters.
 * The Maker caste consists of the farmers and artisans, the Canim equivalent of an average citizen. In battle, if the Maker caste is deployed in raiding parties they are not very disciplined and pose a threat mainly because of their numbers and sheer Canim strength. In time they can be trained to become Warriors.
 * The Ritualist caste consists of the Canim's spellcasters. They gain their power from the blood of living (or formerly living) intelligent creatures. They can and do use their own race's blood for power if necessary. Originally, their role in Canim society was to grant luck, bless family lines, and grant a plentiful harvest, but by the Second Age, they are vying with the warrior caste for political control of the Canim. They often use the skin or body parts of their enemies as clothing or tools. For example, many Ritualists have cloaks made of human leather or helmets made of minotaur skulls.
 * The Hunters are the stealthy Canim. They are the spies, scouts, and assassins. They use short black lengths of chain, small javelins, and iron bars for throwing, and these light weapons allow the hunters to sneak up on people. They have no overt authority, remaining as pure covert operatives. They are considered to already be dead, having received their blood song (Canim form of last rites) when they became hunters. The Hunters are usually assigned to a Warmaster. They are most commonly tasked with missions where the letter of the Canim codes of honour must be violated in order to preserve the spirit of the codes. The Hunters justify their role by renouncing their right to their life, removing their obligation to observe the codes. With extreme skills in stealth and assassination, Hunters are able to sneak in and out of the most guarded positions. This is often used to the advantage of Warmasters who can cause dissenters or enemies to simply "disappear".

Canim provinces are split up in a feudal system, each one run by overseeing families. Within these provinces, a Canim may choose a mate, with whom they will breed once, then spend the rest of their lives. Canim give birth to a "litter" containing between three and six pups. Mates are chosen not for politics or love, but for the strength of potential offspring.

By and large, Canim are atheist, and within their own community are considered to be true neutral, living a Spartan lifestyle and acting logically in the interests of survival. By human standards, Canim are all evil monsters, but none more-so than The Ritualists, whose use of dead bodies and blood is taboo in human society. However, Canim society do revere the Dragons as godlike beings. Some Canim do worship Tiamat, too, as the Goddess of Chaos she represents all they love in war and dragons.

How well a Canim performs depends on their caste, as they can be fierce warriors, powerful spellcasters or sneaky assassins. As a rule, they tend to be less suited to social situations. Canim are not people persons.

Canim names are often unpronounceable in Common tongues due their lack of vowels. Because of this any Canim in the prolonged presence of a group of humans may want to come up with a pronounceable alternative – these names are non-gendered and often one syllable, such as Warg or Grag, but sometimes those Canim who fraternise with the outer races find that a more symbolic name is useful, which is where names like Khendra, Girda, and Remus come in.

Standard Racial Traits
• Ability Score Racial Traits: Due to their large but lithe physique, Canim gain a +2 bonus to Strength and a +2 bonus to Dexterity, but take a -4 penalty to Charisma for their brutish mannerisms.

• Size:  Standing at 8ft tall, Canim are large creatures, with even their runts being the same size as a medium human.

• Speed: Canim move at 30ft a round.

• Languages: Canim begin play speaking Canim.

Feats and Racial Traits
• Caste: Each Canim is a member of one of the four Castes: Warrior, Maker, Ritualist or Hunter. At character generation, pick a Caste and apply the below adjustments.

• Warrior: Warrior Canim are raised to be strong and ruthless, and therefore gain a further +2 to Strength while taking a -2 penalty to Wisdom. Warriors also gain Bravery (Ex), allowing them a +1 bonus on Will saves against fear. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd.

• Maker: Maker Canim are more suited to living as part of a society, and have a better understanding of what it is like to be a civilian, therefore negating the +2 bonus to Strength and mitigating the inherent -4 penalty to Charisma to only a -2. Makers also gain a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks due to their propensity for farming.

• Ritualist: Ritualists rely on their intelligence and their pragmatic approach to harvesting the dead for magic, but do little hand to hand combat, which makes them unpopular in the eyes of just about everybody. This means they take -2 penalties to Strength, and gain a +2 bonus in Intelligence. If they have blood available to fuel their magic, Ritualists receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, they receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.

• Hunter: Raised to be stealthy agents that follow orders, Hunters gain a further +2 to Dexterity and -2 to Wisdom due to their inability to think for themselves. Raised to walk in the shadows, they gain a +2 racial bonus to stealth checks, and a +4 racial bonus to Perception.

• Intimidating: Due to their fierce presence, Canim gain a +4 racial bonus to all intimidate checks.

• Scent: With their sharp noses, Canim gain the extraordinary ability Scent as a racial bonus.

Alternate Racial Traits
The following Racial Traits may be selected in place of the previous traits at GM discretion.

• Sprint: Due to this character's smaller stature than most Canim of its kind, for five rounds a day (to be spent in one-round increments) the Canim may move at 50ft a move action or 110ft as a full-round action. This replaces the Canim's Large size category and instead the Canim is a medium creature with the same size range as an adult human.

• Raised by Monkeys: A Canim brought up in Khalivarian society may begin play speaking Low Khalivarian or Corynthian instead of Canim.

• Tactical Thinking: Instead of being fierce and reckless, this Canim thinks about their surroundings and weighs their opponents properly. They gain a +4 racial bonus to CMD and are immune to Tripping as long as they are not flat-footed. This replaces the Intimidating racial trait.

• Bloodhound: As a naturally evolved Hunter, the Canim is specifically adept at finding a certain kind of quarry. At character creation, pick a Humanoid subtype from Giant, Human, Goblinoid or Orc. The Canim gains a +2 racial bonus to survival checks attempting to tracks creatures of that subtype. This replaces the Scent racial trait.