Race creation.

[Coreben]

I am attempting to create a new fantasy race for a story i am planning.
What is important for a fantasy race?
(eg physical description.)
What i have so far is this and i would like help developing it further.

Caniskin
- Can live in almost any environment but usually avoid the hottest areas such as deserts.
- Most numerous in forested areas less common in snow but still have a presence.
- The main defining feature between different individuals is their coat length and colour.
- The length is dependent on their environment with longer being more common in colder areas.
- The colour is often inherited and usually is relative to the individual’s environment ranging from browns, greys and white.
- They are capable of both Bi-pedal and Quadrupedal locomotion though Quadrupedal is most often used only during periods on travel or hunting as it is faster.
- Wolf like appearance (Fur, ears, rear legs, tail, jaw, teeth, muzzle.) with human like hands and arms however they too are covered in fur and have clawed finger tips.

- As sentient as human beings.
- Primarily carnivorous (Predatory).
- Life expectancy of up to 13 years.
- Breeding at 2 years.
- 6+ pups in a litter.
- Very strong and agile due to lack of domesticated livestock.

- Very territorial.
- Tribal society.
- Have knowledge of metalwork, stonework and woodwork.
- Possess a religious fascination with the moon.
- Generally not peaceful with other races.
- Alpha male and female leaders.
- Males fight for the title of Alpha.
- Pups of the Alpha couple are cared for more than those of non-alpha couples (considered superior).
-

- Build structures primarily of stone.
- Haven’t domesticated animals for their own use.
- Primarily use only small and light weapons if any.
- Rumored to have trained elite armored soldiers to combat knights.
- Usually mark territory with posts but not walls to ensure prey can enter unimpeded.
- Packs rarely feel the need for war, if another trespasses, a tribute is often paid or a minor skirmish takes place rarely resulting in war.
- Despite the lack of warfare individuals usually spend a large portion of their time in skirmishes with each other for nothing more than entertainment these fights are usually observed to ensure not major injuries are inflicted.
- They prefer to fight with tooth and claw but are known to bring short blades into battle with foreign races.

 

[Feo Takahari]

This is actually a pretty good list, if a little barebones. I just have a few questions for you:

* How does their legal system work?
* Do they have any art?
* Are there any goods or materials they have to trade with other races to acquire?

 

[Jess A]

Yes a very interesting race.

I will also ask another question which may help development (particularly with religion, culture etc). How does only living for 13 years affect their culture and their beliefs? Do the aged leave to die to avoid hindering the pack? Or are they cared for? If they trade/fight with other races, do those races live a lot longer, and how does that knowledge affect your wolves, knowing they have such short life spans in comparison?

When they hunt, what sort of weapons do they use? Just their natural ones (claws, teeth, speed, stamina, strength)? If they run on all fours when hunting, they don't have free use of their hands (may not be so comfortable running on all fours with their hands, unless they curl their fingers in and run on their knuckles) - but do they attach weapons to themselves?

Could build on the religion more. When they take prey, do they thank the moon/gods for the offering? Do they respect their prey?

How do they treat prisoners of war, if they take any?

Many human groups were nomadic before farming and animal domestication. Do your wolves follow their prey? Do they have a summer and winter camp, do they follow the movements of the deer (for example)? They would otherwise, very possibly, exhaust the food supply in one area. This means they would need to have very strict rules on what was taken - i.e. no babies, to let them breed, a certain amount allowed to be taken. A lot of energy would be taken by all able wolves to hunt, provide, raise litters, and defend. This means less time and energy to create art and to think about science and such.

On soldiers/knights - who makes it to those ranks and why? Who has time to train them when hunting for food is such a big priority? Or is hunting part of the training? Are the best hunters also the defenders? Or are there hunters and defenders? Do young pups have to choose between the two or are they apprenticed? I would assume the defenders would surely have to be hunters too, to sustain the pack.

Breeding - to prevent interbreeding in a presumably small group (due to being hunters and avoid stripping an area of food too quickly), do they join with other packs to swap males/females, bring new blood? How does this work? Is it related to the legal system and/or the religion?

 

[Coreben]

Thanks Feo Takahari this is something i didn't consider much because of their animalistic nature but they are more than just animals and this would be something good for me to consider.

And Little Storm Cloud this is exactly what i was hoping for thank your for the depth I hope to implement much of what you pointed out so many thanks.

 

[Jess A]

Thanks Feo Takahari this is something i didn't consider much because of their animalistic nature but they are more than just animals and this would be something good for me to consider.

And Little Storm Cloud this is exactly what i was hoping for thank your for the depth I hope to implement much of what you pointed out so many thanks.

I'd love to see the results if you do want to share them

 

[Coreben]

This is my latest version of the race. (further advice is welcome)

Caniskin
Physical appearance.
- Wolf like appearance (Fur, ears, rear legs, tail, jaw, teeth, muzzle.) with human like hands and arms however they too are covered in fur and have clawed finger tips.
- Fur colour and length differ due to environment. Colours ranging from browns to greys and even white.
- They are capable of both Bi-pedal and Quadrupedal locomotion though Quadrupedal is most often used only during periods on travel or hunting as it is faster.
Physical attributes.
- Primarily carnivorous (Predatory).
- Life expectancy of up to 13 years.
- Breeding at 2 years.
- 6+ pups in a litter.
- Very strong and agile due to lack of domesticated livestock.
Civilisation-Habitat.
- Can survive in most environments but most situate themselves in moderate to cold temperatures with forested areas.
- Very territorial to ensure enough game is available to feed the pack.
- Stone and lumber are key materials for use in shelter.
- Territories are usually marked with totems to warn off trespassers but allow the movement of game.
- There are 4 territories per pack 1 for each season.
Civilisation-Culture.
- Tribal society.
- Alpha male and female leaders.
- Males fight for the title of Alpha.
- Pups of the Alpha couple are cared for more than those of non-alpha couples (considered superior).
- Due to their carnivorous nature game is a high priority and hunters are valued highly.
- A pack usually has four territories which they travel to throughout the year staying in each for only a season to avoid over hunting.
- Because of their natural hunting abilities kills are often made with their teeth.
- Because of their high demand for meat and the risk of starvation strict hunting codes are enforced where only the older prey is hunted to ensure the next generation is given time to mature.
- The packs winter territory is usually its largest due to the scarcity of prey.
- During a difficult winter it is not uncommon for different packs to work together and assist each other.
- Because of their short lifetime debts are remembered and repaid as quickly as possible.
Civilisation-Religion.
- Possess a religious fascination with the moon.
- The moon is sacred and used to decide on when hunts take place being at each new shape (first quarter, half, third quarter and full moons) .
- Because the pack moves between territories they use the full moon as a counter until the move spending only 3 moon in each territory.
- As there are only 12 major hunts per season much of the time is spent caring for the young, and crafting.
- As the weather takes its toll on the dens and totems craftsmen often spend their season repairing and improving upon the last years creations.
- Since the moon plays a part in the hunting for the pack it is seen as a symbol of life and is often etched into the stone dens that are erected in each territory as housing for the pack.
- Howling to the moon is often partaken in for many reasons which depend on the packs prosperity. In a time of struggle Canis plead with the moon to bring them fortune in the next hunt, in times of prosperity Canis thank the moon for leading them to successful hunts.
- Because life is short crimes are often punished depending on the prosperity of the pack, in times of hardship a Canis who overhunts to feed their family is usually forgiven but in times when the pack is prosperous overhunting is seen as an offence to the Moon who is trusted in knowing when to hunt and the Canis involved may be banished in an attempt to severe ties to such traitorous actions.
Civilisation-Wartimes.
- War among the Caniskin packs is rare but not unheard of mostly in times of extreme hardship a pack sees no alternative but to attempt to take the territory from another a more prosperous pack.
- It is during these times of war that Canis prepare themselves for battle, they arm themselves with blades usually fashioned from stone (though some Canis are known to use blades fashioned from metal) and adorned with armour that usually consists of tanned hide.
- The armour and blades are always of a small stature to ensure that the Canis’ agility does not suffer, this restricts them to nothing more than long knives which is often attached to a belt freeing the Canis’ hands when appropriate.
- They fight as such because they hold respect for their own kind above other species and believe that Canis deserve a more honourable death and not that which is delivered to common prey.
- Canis warfare is delivered in a quick fashion of multiple skirmishes (there is no siege warfare) until either an alpha couple surrenders or perishes.
Interaction.
- While Canis are less traditional about the killing of other races they are not known to consume any other creature as sentient or more than themselves.
- A peaceful greeting between two Canis consists of the light touching of noses to signify they are on common ground and share the same air so no hostility is to follow. This rarely has the desired effect on other sentient races as the Canis’ physical appearance is rather intimidating.
- The Canis language consists largely on body language with a lesser extent on verbal communication and is usually only used to emphasise.
- While Canis are capable of learning foreign languages it is uncommon for them to do so because of their close pack mentality which negates the need for much interaction with other races.

 

[Wanara009]

Alright, let me run why I don't like this race. I'm going to be a bit harsh here, for the sake of believability, so please don't be angry. Moreover, this is a personal opinion.

Ready? ... *Putting on Harsh Glasses*

= Life expectancy of 13 years yet they are as intelligent as human? Are you kidding me? Human being is literally helpless for 10 years after birth. Some scientist believe this is why we are so smart: by being helpless, we stay close to our parents for longer thus we learn a lot more. This is one of the factor that let us reach sapience in the first place.

If Caniskin only have 13 years to live, then they spent less than a year as infants so basically they won't be as smart as human. I would imagine them to be as smart as a lemur or one of the tailed primates, but certainly not sapient.

= The spinal structure for a creature capable of humanesque bipedalism (which I assume the Caniskin had) differs greatly from those that use quadrupedalism because they are exposed to different things. Unless of course, the Caniskin is a clumsy being on two foot like a bear or penguins (they are called "Erect Bipeds"). Tails would also be an impediment for a creature using humanesque bipedalism to stand.

= Now I'm assuming the Caniskin hold their weapon in their belt because they charge at the enemy on all four, but would they have the time to reach the weapon on their belt when they meet? I tried knuckle walking holding a kitchen knife in my hand, and believe me it's uncomfortable. The Drakes from The Battle For Wesnoth strap their weapon into their hand so they don't have to carry sword on their belt. Granted, they don't run on all four and not all of them do this, but I imagine any race that rely on quadrupedalism for fast travel wouldn't store their melee weapons on their belts. I would imagine your Caniskin to develop melee weapons that is basically artificial claws... and/or perhaps knives they put their their shoulders so the blade stick out to the side.

These are the things that I find wrong for this race when the parameters of believability in a fantasy-genre is applied to it and the reason I don't like it. Everything that I don't mention is within the scope of suspension of disbelief. Of course, if you want to be really realistic, I found a thread arguing about the plausibility of a humanoid canine on my old haunt. The argument is mostly about the biological aspect and the evolutionary path, so feel free to ignore it

Also, don't use the term "sentient", please. "Sentient" means self-aware and all animals is already this, intelligent or not so don't use it. Use "Sapient" because it means "Capable of reacting upon wisdom and reason and using judgement".

 

[Coreben]

harsh but i am grateful none the less and will take this into consideration it is still a work in progress after all.

Additionally it seems you have knowledge of locomotion among other useful topics that i would love to tap into so that i could improve my race.
For starters i would like to fix the locomotion so is it possible for a species to adapt to using both bipedal and quadrupedal if so how would it go about this.
Secondly i am interested in how long the lifespan should be, i want it to be short but how short is to short. would 24 years be better as this is still around half the lifespan of the average human in medieval times where i am planning on this story being based.
And finally i have to agree that quadrupedal locomotion and belted weapons does seem illogical.

 

[Ireth]

Also, don't use the term "sentient", please. "Sentient" means self-aware and all animals is already this, intelligent or not so don't use it. Use "Sapient" because it means "Capable of reacting upon wisdom and reason and using judgement".

Thanks for the clarification. I thought I had those two figured out in my head, but apparently not. Now I know. ^^

 

[Feo Takahari]

Well, if you were willing to take that much criticism, I might as well say that wild wolf packs don't really have "alphas" the way captive wolves do--they're closer to patriarchs and matriarchs. Look for recent scientific literature on the subject.

 

[shangrila]

Looks promising, but I'm wondering why they use stone at all. Wouldn't you have to mine it to create structures? Wouldn't this take time away from hunts which, as hunter-gatherers, is a big no-no? I can understand it for weapons or tools, but not structures, especially since they're basically nomads.

I also don't agree with a 13 year life span. It's too short to develop meaningful intelligence, not to mention just feeling too short in general.

How many are in a pack, roughly? Do they have population control measures (i.e. sending the old off to die at a certain age, stuff like that)?

 

[CupofJoe]

... would 24 years be better as this is still around half the lifespan of the average human in medieval times where i am planning on this story being based.

I stand to be corrected but I thought that in the middle ages that adult life expectancy was in to the 40s [for women it may have been lower because of death during childbirth]. It was the high level of 0-5 child mortality that gives an averages in the 20s. But I agree with the general point that a longer life is needed to have an "educated" population.
I find your concept and this thread/process interesting [I'm trying to do something similar myself] and I look forward to seeing your results.

 

[Jess A]

Good to see you've fleshed out the species!

Wanara has raised some very important issues that I agree you should look at. I also don't think thirteen years is believable, which was why I asked some of the questions I did. It is indeed doubtful they would be intelligent.

As for the issue of hierarchy, I think it is perfectly acceptable to go by something based loosely on the captive wolf pack model, even if wild wolves don't follow that model. You aren't writing about wild wolves, you are (presumably) writing about a culture which has similarities to human cultures. You could always avoid using 'alpha' and create your own word for the leaders.

 

[Coreben]

greetings i am sorry for not replying sooner i didn't realize that this had increased to two pages. To update those who are interested i have taken the criticism to heart and realized that it makes several very valid points and i have attempted to resolve these.
Firstly i have increased their lifespan to 24 years with them reaching maturity at age 8. If this is still unbelievable please don't hesitate to give me a better number.
Secondly i addressed the weapon belt issue and am thinking that attaching them to the shoulder in fact made more sense.
Finally i spent some time considering their movement and tried to find a way to keep both means while making it more believable I have come to the hopeful conclusion that by having longer arms they would be capable of running on all fours by stooping closer to the ground. Among my friends there is one i have known for some time who has demonstrated his talent for running on all fours and i believe with arms that are longer than the legs this would be much easier.

On a separate note i have kept the Alpha titles not for the reason of spiting anyone but because i have always like the Greek alphabet where Alpha is first.

Oh and i also removed the tail as Wanara009 made a fair point about it thank you for being honest i want this to be believable even if i must sacrifice to do so.

 

[Saigonnus]

Wanara has raised some very important issues that I agree you should look at. I also don't think thirteen years is believable, which was why I asked some of the questions I did. It is indeed doubtful they would be intelligent.

I wouldn't say it's 100% believable, but to me it only slightly borders on the fantastic. Humans come in all shapes, sizes and their intelligence varies just as much. Some are born smarter than others by a sheer genetic chance, I read an article about a 6 year old attending college in NY. Though it is considered a rarity among humans, what if ALL members of the created species were like that? They could certainly qualify as intelligent in my estimation.

 

[Zero Angel]

I don't have a problem with the ages, personally.

Why do they need to conform to currently accepted scientific theory or a human-like development cycle? Furthermore, and I apologize for not reading through all of the characteristics where you may have mentioned this, but what's meant by "human intelligence" anyway? Most of our ability in that regard is relatively recent. By this I mean, we take for granted being taught to count as babies. Way back when, if you could count you were considered a magician or shaman or whatever. The development of the number "two" was pretty major, and the idea that we could have something more than two that wasn't just "many" was a big deal too.

If they are nomads possessing stone age technology, why would they need to be much more intelligent than a human child of today? And if they were taken out of this setting and placed in a university, why can't they learn at a faster rate than humans?

Most people assume that elves learn at a much slower rate than humans (taking 100 years to reach maturity for instance), so why not have a race that can learn that much faster than humans?

Finally, all that said, there are many pre-teens and teens that are as intelligent if not moreso than college kids.

I don't really care what age it is, but I just don't find much merit for the objections to the low age. Do an age that makes sense and be consistent. If you want to make a nod towards the objections, then I would just have something that addresses it in an aside (e.g. their brains are more dense and have more connections, or scholars have found that their diet improves memory and mental reflexes; something like that).

 

[Wanara009]

@Zero Angel
Huh, you do bring up several valid points. I shall take notes of it.

@Coreben
There's another thing I want to mention. So have you thought about the environmental condition in which the Caniskin first appeared (aka Ancestral Homeland)? It might affect how the Caniskin's civilization develop as you go forward in your world's history. Personally, I think the environment in which a sapient species first appeared would have an impact on their thought process and in turn, it will affect how their civilization develop.

For Example: Human and Neanderthal. We evolve in Africa during extreme drought while the Neanderthal evolve in Europe during an Ice Age. It should be noted that a Neanderthal brain volume is slightly than ours.

Neanderthal's environment is a place that demand toughness if you want to survive. So their thought process become very linear, unable to grasp anything that's not needed for their survival. They can plan an ambush or anticipate the birth of a baby, but that's it. They won't bother with things that don't help them survive. Even simple imaginative thinking exercise like a joke involving talking animals are beyond them. If Neanderthal took the place of human, I would imagine we'll still be a hunter-gatherer society with little culture beyond what's needed to survive.

Human on the other hand, evolve in a condition that will kill you no matter how tough you are. So their only way out is thought process become more and more abstract and that culminated in imaginative thinking, the ability to see beyond what's here and now. From this comes long-term planning, abstract notions such as religions and arts, and finally, sciences.

 

[Coreben]

That's a great point. I had considered that they had origins in the forest but never gave it much more thought that that. This will require some consideration thanks for bringing this up. If anyone as any ideas i would graciously take them into consideration.

 

[Zero Angel]

@Zero Angel
Huh, you do bring up several valid points. I shall take notes of it.

@Coreben
There's another thing I want to mention. So have you thought about the environmental condition in which the Caniskin first appeared (aka Ancestral Homeland)? It might affect how the Caniskin's civilization develop as you go forward in your world's history. Personally, I think the environment in which a sapient species first appeared would have an impact on their thought process and in turn, it will affect how their civilization develop.

For Example: Human and Neanderthal. We evolve in Africa during extreme drought while the Neanderthal evolve in Europe during an Ice Age. It should be noted that a Neanderthal brain volume is slightly than ours.

Neanderthal's environment is a place that demand toughness if you want to survive. So their thought process become very linear, unable to grasp anything that's not needed for their survival. They can plan an ambush or anticipate the birth of a baby, but that's it. They won't bother with things that don't help them survive. Even simple imaginative thinking exercise like a joke involving talking animals are beyond them. If Neanderthal took the place of human, I would imagine we'll still be a hunter-gatherer society with little culture beyond what's needed to survive.

Human on the other hand, evolve in a condition that will kill you no matter how tough you are. So their only way out is thought process become more and more abstract and that culminated in imaginative thinking, the ability to see beyond what's here and now. From this comes long-term planning, abstract notions such as religions and arts, and finally, sciences.

Thanks!

One interesting possible Neanderthal story that is relatively modern is the story of Zana, the Wild Woman. When I first read about this (I think in one of my bestiaries), I thought the story took place in Japan, but I can only find the story referenced in Georgia. Here's one page: perdurabo10.tripod.com/warehoused/id11.html

Basically, Zana was a wild woman that was captured, "tamed" and mated with, producing four live children. If Zana was a Neanderthal, then the description of her intelligence/ability to learn is relevant to the discussion, especially the fact that her children seemed to have no difficulties in acclimating to "normal human" standards.

If you look it up on Wikipedia, they have Zana listed under the Almas page.

...even if she was not a Neanderthal, for the purposes of comparing to a made-up race in a book, we can assume she was...

 

[Wanara009]

@Coreben
It would depend on what kind of forest, really. A creature living in dense forest would rely heavily on sound to communicate due to visual limitations while those living in sparser ones would rely more on visual aids like colourings and shape instead.

Of course, their theology would be different. A sparse forest creature would put more focus on celestial objects while dense forest creature would emphasize the trees.

Dense forest also means you're very limited when it comes to earthen materials like stone or metal, so you would largely use wood or small bones (dense forest, remember? large creatures wouldn't be able to penetrate deep very often). Clay would also be an option for them, but they wouldn't have too much baked clayware until they are advanced enough to build something to contain the furnace (like covering the inside of a leaf-and-wood house with clay). Sparse forest dweller on the other hand won't face too much problem, since they have wood, bones of large animals, and perhaps large workable stone if they're willing to paw at the ground for a few moment.

Oh, the amount of ground space would also be a factor. Dense forest creature won't have this in abundance, so they would perhaps built homes suspended in trees (further shafting the notion to use use of heavy earthen materials), carve larger trees into lairs, or perhaps dig into the forest floor to create tunnels (which would be easier, since the tree roots would hold the soil together as they dig so long they know what they're doing and it's not a swampy forest). Sparse forest won't have too much of this problem, depending on the level of sparsity.