The Bodovians
The Bodovians, commonly called the Beasts in the coloquials of many other races, are one of the most primal races in Ul-Zaorith. While there are different subraces, like there are "subraces" of humans - asian, caucasian, african - they are still a single unified race. Beneath the skin and all physical appearances, they are a single people. For ease of understanding in English terms, the Bodovians can be easily separated into two main Clan groupings: the Balo (or cat-like Clans: Sago, Pero, Bano and Gudo) and the Dado (or dog-like Clans: Deno, Vabo, Nivo and Tiao). The associations made with breeds of Earthian cats and dogs are for visualization and mannerism purposes only, and should not be confused with these being anthropomorphic versions of these creatures. All Bodovians possess retractable claws like Earthian cats, dry noses like dogs, purr like cats, perspire through their mouths and pawspads like dogs and have infrared light sensitive eyes enabling them to see well in the dark like cats. 
Considering that the Bodovians have a unique Racial Ability that allows them to physically evolve in their own lifetime, the following descriptions are only concerned with the appearance of Bodovians in their First Stage of Evolution, or the Primal Bodovians. Further Stages of Evolution are discussed later in the section on their Racial Ability.

Appearance:

All Bodovians possess a fur coat with covers them completely from head to tip of their tail (with exception of their paw pads and gums) and is not to be confused with their head-hair that can but does not usually match their fur coat. Some breeds dye or bleech their fur in tribal symbols, others of certain areas or professions ritually shave portions of their fur into designs or reverse tattoos. Their skin under their fur tends to follow a greyed version of their fur colour - leaving some with spotted/striped skin, or patchy coloured skin to match the colourations of their natural fur growth. A fully shaved Bodovian is a form of punishment and is considered incredibly shameful. To be shaved is to be truly naked, in Bodovian eyes. Because of this natural fur coat covering, clothing is not required of Bodovians, but is rather a form of material possession, a mark of wealth, a sign of artistic taste. Their head hair is generally straight, but certain breeds can exhibit curly tendancies. Their faces are muzzled, though the shape of the muzzle depends on the breed. They all have sensitive whiskers on both the cheeks and the forehead. They have ears that vary in form depending on their breed but are placed on the skull somewhere between the top of the head like an Earthian domestic cat or dog, and the side of the head like a human ear. Their necks are a quite a bit stronger and longer than a human neck, but the head is attatched at a forward angle on the top of the spinal cord - again somewhere between the upright placement of a human and the forward setting of a domestic cat or dog. Their spines are a delicate curvature balanced upon digigrade legs - the sort of elongated ankles of dogs and cats, with a stronger upper thigh that balances the weight on the balls of their toes. They all have some form of tail, though the thickness, length and style of tail varies with the breed. They are capable in this Stage of Evolution to run on all four paws for breif periods of time, but while it grants them extra speed, they lose a lot of their peripheral sight in locking their necks into this position and their arms are not as strong for this method of movement for anything more than a sprint. They all possess six nipples, and can have two to eight cubs at a time, though it is most common to have between two and four. Single cubs are often regarded supersticiously, and oracles are normally consulted upon their birth. Their eyes are wide-irised like a cat or dog, and do possess the reflective quality of a cat's eye in the half-light, though they do not have slit-pupils.   

Balo
The Balo clans are the smaller breeds (generally speaking), and are to human appearance more cat-like. They tend to be more sophistocated than their Dado counterparts, and typically are left in charge of matters of state, diplomacy, international relations, languages, arts and culture. They heirarchical caste systems of Bodove are arrange in the following manner: 
 
Sago ~ The Sago are the lion-like Clan, and the top of the Balo societal ladder. The Sago males develope manes that form under their chins and connect to their head hair (the only breed of Bodovians to do so), and the females have head hair that growns down the nape of their neck into their fur as far as their shoulderblades. Their faces are squarish and majestic, with heavy muzzles and squarely set eyes. Their build tends to be stocky and strong, with an air of power and grace that lends well to their position in society. Their colouring tends towards the lighter hues - with golds, reds, oranges, white, light tan, and ivory fur colouring most common. They never develope markings, though their cub fur tends to be a matte dull version of their adult coat colour until adolescence. Their head hair is usually thick, luxurious and sometimes has a slight wave to it, and comes in a wide variety of colours, from pale peach to deep red, dark brown to ash blond, white to deep golden. The only colours of hair really rare to find in the Sago Clan are very red hues, including orange and garnet, jet black of any lustre and grey hues. Their eyes can be any shade of golden yellow to copper, brown, and rarely deep blues. Sago tails are long and slimly formed and are tipped in a fluff of hair that matches their head hair (they are the only breed with this feature).  

Pero ~ The Pero are the tiger-like Clan. They are longer and sleeker than their Sago counterparts and tend to run a little bit taller. They have longer faces, with more prominant cheekbones, more angled eyes, and thinner skulls. Their most distinguishing feature is their stripes, which are long, multi-branching and run the length of their spine all the way tot he ends of their tail, but generally do not meet over their belly and rarely descend on the face lower than their cheeks. Their underbellies are almost always lighter than their back colour, but usually comes from the same tone of colours. Their fur can be any shade of orange - from light golden copper to deep burnt rust, even mahogany, auburn, golden brown or reddish-black - any shade of grey - from icy white-grey to blueish slate grey to dark charcoal grey - with dark stripes in some blackish shade of the main coat. Their head hair has a wide range, and is often - but not always - the colour of their undercoat or maincoat. In some cases (about 35% of the time) their head hair will also bear the stripes of their facial markings. Their eyes can range from golden-green to yellow to orange tones to brown to blue to grey, but are almost always bright and piercing, never dull or dark. Their tails are long and bushy, and they tend to have longer, bushier body fur than many other breeds, especially around their arms, flanks, legs and throats. Pero also tend to have broad, flat steady paws, with typically end in the same colour fur as their belly undercoats.     

Bano ~ The Bano, the leopard or cheetah-like Clan, are one of the smallest breeds of Bodovian. They are small, impish, spritely, agile and nearly eternally childish. They have rounder faces with shorter, finely boned muzzles with large, expressive eyes and typically bushier whiskers than most breeds, which they use expressively as well. Like the Pero, the Bano have spotted fur with crescent shaped smudge-marks to fully rounded clusters of spots in patterns unique to each Bodovian. Their fur can be a wide variety of colours, including: lavender-grey, ivory, honey-cream, russet, peach-orange, various browns, even pure white, with spots of corresponding dark purple, burnt gold or black. Their head hair is one of the few breeds that can be curly, and comes in an equally wide range of hues, covering all the blonds, brunettes, redheads and blacks, with the exception of true oranges. Their eyes are usually blue, green or grey, though occassionally they come in honey browns or nearly-black hues. Their bodies can be as long as those of the Pero, but they tend to be shorter in stature, delicate in feature, with small paws and long, thin tails.  

Gudo ~ The Gudo are the panther-like Clan, and the lowest of the low in the world of the Balo breeds. The Gudo are sleek, long, graceful and typically highly intelligent - more so than any other Bodovian breed. For this they are deeply mistrusted, and due to the fact that many of the Gudo have a great aptitude for clairvoyance, prophecy, metaphysics, witch-magics and other mystical pursuits, they are quickly shunned and their voices drowned out by their supersticious fellow Bodovians. Physically, the Gudo are the darkest oft he breeds, with inky dark fur in deep purples, blues, black, greys and even - rarely - a forest green. Their hair is often dark as well, though not always matching, and can be any shade of grey, black, garnet, deep slate-blue, browns, dark gold, and occassionally pure white. Their eyes are always large and deeply emotional, though the colour varies from greens, yellows and blues, to smokey greys, dusky lavendars, burning coppers and blackest browns. Their whiskers are typically long and fine, as are their eyelashes. Their longs are typically short-furred and sleek, with long slender tails, delicate (though not overly small) paws and long necks.  


Dado
The Dado, or dog-like Clans, take over the bureaucratic side of society, controlling policing, policy, law, business and building. They are typically harsher-spoken, less-patient, though more devoted to their tasks than their Balo relatives. The Dado Bodovians are fiercely devoted to their own culture, and uphold their religion and brotherhood with tireless enthusiasm. They generally do well in positions of action, rather than debate and are nearly to a man more seriously obedient than any other race in the known world. Their caste system mirrors the Balo one caste for caste, making a Deno equal to a Sago, a Vabo to a Pero, a Nivo to a Bano and a Tiao to a Gudo as follows:

Deno ~ The Deno are the sleekest of the Dado breeds, and also arguably the most intelligent. They have a brilliant sense of perspective, giving them an edge for planning, forsight and prudence, which is highly respected by the other Clans. Physically, it is easy to compare them to a doberman or a sleek german sheppard because of their natural markings, but they are a thing of their own. They do have the pointed ears of a doberman, and they do stand upright. Their muzzles are long, narrow and thin, with widely set-apart eyes of a notoriously dark spectrum - dark browns of any hue or black, and rarely darkest midnight blue-indigo. Their fur is two-toned, a darker outer colour and a lighter undercoat. Their fur is typically one of the following: black with russet, dark brown with copper, black with charcoal, russet with golden, or charcoal with lavendar. There are rare cases of the whole body of the Deno being a mottled stripe pattern of fiery hues as seen on some species of Earthian dogs. Their hair is typically dark, ranging from garnet red, brown, grey, or rust colourations. They do not stand overly tall, but are regal and imposing, with their long necks and typically turned-up noses. Their tails are mid-length, slim and whip-straight.

Vabo ~ The Vabo are the wolf-like Clan, and are the most independant thinking of all the Bodovian breeds. They are one of the most variant in colour and sometimes have patches or colour, underbellies, streaks downt heir throats or flanks or pointing on their ears, muzzles, paws and tail. Their fur can be any of the colours discussed for any of the breeds, though their fur tend to be longer and shaggier than any other breed. Their ears are pointed and upright, though marginally mroe fluffy or tufted than Deno breeds. They also tend to grow their head hair further down on their jaws than most other breeds, sometimes so much as to look like muttonchops. Their head hair is as varied as their fur coat colourations, as is their hair, even going so far as to have bright red or bright blue on occasion. Their eyes can be any natural shade of green, gold, blue, brown or grey. Their cheekbones tend to be prominant, their faces lean and gaunt, their body structure sinewy and tight. There is more variance in their height and built than in any other Bodovian breed. Their tails are medium to long and bushy.  

Nivo ~ The Nivo, or hyena-like Clan, are the biggest and more muscular of all Bodovian breeds, and also the most simple-minded. Where they are cunning, they tend also to be brutish or bullies, where they are mild-mannered they use their strength and ferocity to serve masters with obedience unto death. Physically they are thick, ropey and muscular, with broad heads and squareish, short muzzles, prominant jaws, deep-set eyes and massive paws. Their ears are leaf-shaped, and can be half-flopped on one or both sides of the head. Their fur colours often have streaks of alternate colour, patches of blurry spots along the haunches, neck, spine or elbows/knees, and often a gradiation of dark on the back, muzzle and paws to a paler version on the underbelly. Their fur can be any shade of tan, brown, russet, golden, inky charcoal even garnet red, with contrasting hues of the same colour for the highlights and dark points. Their hair is typically brown, though it can also be grey, blond, russet, or black. Their eyes are usually golden browns, but can be reddish, black or dark grey. More than any other breed, the Nivo tend to bleech/dye or shave patterns into their fur, clip portions of their ears out or crop the ends of their tails. Their tails are typically short, thick and brutally strong - to the point that they can give themselves welts in their own enthusiasm, so they tend to crop them closer to their haunches to give them less reach. They are the tallest and bulkiest and therefore strongest of the Bodovian breeds.   

Tiao ~ The Tiao are the universal scum of the Bodovian Clans, and are rather fox-like. They are not considered by the Deno to be Dado-like enough to be considered true Dado, but the Balo Clans won't take the either, saying they aren't Balo enough. The Tiao are the shrimpiest, smallest and quickest of the Bodovian clans, and are shewd, mischievous and usually forced to survive on their wits alone - which has done nothing but perpetuate the prejudices against them as thiefes, con-artists, bandits and urchins. They are fine-boned and delicately-pawed, with possibly the most dexterity of any breed. They have v-shaped faces with pointed muzzles and large upright pointed ears, and wide, bright eyes. The shape of their muzzles and faces gives their mouths a constantly-smiling appearance that aggravates the dour seriousness of the Deno and the sensitive pride of the Sago to no end. They have bushy fur along their cheeks, flanks and tails, but are sleek along their backs and limbs. Their fur is typically two-toned, dark on the back and lighter on the belly, but even if there is no two-toned bi-colour, their pointing remains the same, with darkened tips of the ears, and paws. The ends of their bushy, thick, long tails is often tipped in either their point colour or thair brighter underbelly colour, though it can also remain uniform with their back coat. The colours of their fur are usually: any shade of red/brown/grey with a white/cream underbelly; dark brown with black pointing; lavendar grey with charcoal pointing; cream with honey pointing and white underbelly; or pure white with grey pointing. Their hair is usually sharp, spikey and straight in bright colours that often contrast with their body fur and run the gamut of the Bodovian spectrum. Their eyes also can be of any colour, and with their wide, almond shape often look bright even if the colour is not startling. Their whiskers also tend to match their hair colour rather than their fur colour, which is a peculiarity unique to this breed.

Fashion:
The Bodovians have many features (paw pads, tails, fur coats, whiskers) that make certain standard forms of clothing impossible. Their fashion is in someways modified to enable them to wear certain garments, but there are ither items they simply do not have a need for. Bodovians love textiles, colour, jewellery and accessories, and a great deal of their fashion choices are from a standpoint of wealth, rather than practicality. 

Bodovians cannot wear shoes. Aside from the fact that they have paw pads on their feet that give them an equivalent to a flexible leather sole, with their retractable claws and digitigrade legs, wearing any form of foot covering is uncomfortable and at times painful for them. You will see some Bodovians with shorter coats wearing cloth wraps or footless leggings during the colder months, as well as bangles, anklets, talismans and other ornaments. 

Bodovians have an efficient fur coat, and aside from certain Clans in some of the southern areas and islands who shave patterns into their fur, many use this coat as their primary covering, especially in the warmer seasons. garments like coats are constricting and often irritating to your average Bodovian. In place of jackets, they will wear vests, loose chemise or Germaine-like tops. For the most part these are short-bodied, but occasionally a tailed garment will be worn so long as there is a split between the tail flaps to enable one's tail to move freely. 

Wealth in Bodove is based entirely on the Barter system, and is completely arbitrary to how much one likes one possessions. Stones, pearls, coins, jewels, bone, carved wood/wooden beads, ivory, shell, glass and crafted clay or porcelain are all easily traded forms of currency. Buttons made out of any of these materials are incredibly popular as they are easily stitched into one's clothes for easy porting, can serve a useful purpose until they are traded, and add an easily displayed aspect of wealth to one's visage. Many Bodovians will wear a great number of necklaces, wraps, broaches, bangles, earrings and the like on them at all times, with an effort to combine as much colour, texture, varied materials and varied size as possible so that easy trading can be done.

Texture is very important to Bodovians, and so varied fabrics from ginghams, cottons, muslins, burlaps, linen and heavier weaves (including Arashka, a soft fabric woven of brushed Bodovian hair (the best hair for this culled from Bano, Gudo and Tiao)) are all crafted across Bodove. Their fabrics tend to be coarsely woven, sparsely threaded, and often intentionally including many irregularities, in bright bold patterns and colours. Motifs of leaves, birds, concentric circles, stripes, cross-hatches and speckles are always popular, with rising and falling popularities within each region every season. Foreign fabrics like silks, stretchy weaves, taffetas, organzas, brocades, jaquards and embroidered fabrics are hugely popular as they are not materials that can be crafted by Bodovian paws. They use a lot of bold, contrasting-coloured stitching, intentionally making it visible and uneven for the visual and tactile aesthetic. Multiple pockets, straps, tassels, buttons and trailing asymmetrical fabric are prominent features in all of their designs. 

The perhaps most distinctly Bodovian garment is the Akorab, a garment that was designed in place of pants. As most Bodovians find fitted pants restricting or irritating to the fur surrounding their tail mound, the Akorab was seen as a happy alternative. The Akorab consists of a wide, sash-like belt that can be fastened by ties, straps, buttons or cords around the midriff. From the front hangs a panel of fabric which can then be looped between the legs quite loosely and tied to two corresponding places on the back of the sash. Attached to the front and back of the hanging panel are two vertical panels of fabric that wrap around the leg, are tied above the knee and are often stitched or buttoned into the hanging panel. This enables freedom of movement, protection from the elements for the genitals, free use of one's tail, and is loose enough to not irritate fur patterns.  


Culture:
Sexuality:
Homosexuality is practically unheard of in Bodovians, arrising in less than 3% of the population. Of those affected, 99% hail from the Gudo, Tiao or Bano clans. It is not a concept that holds any revulsion or immorality for them, it is simply one they do not think of and cannot comprehend. The act of sexual intercourse is culturally so integrated into procreation, the idea of coupling with an individual who cannot enable one to procreate is absurd. While they often do couple outside of mating season, it is still an act intended for those who wish to express interest in having a litter. 
That said, there are many intimate acts that are practised between friends that might be seen as sexual to other cultures - such as cleaning or licking one another. This act is somethinhg that is shared between any two Bodovians regardless of age, clan or gender. It is equivalent to massage (another popular form of contact) in the sense of joining together in a medidative, caring gesture that is mutuall beneficial for health, temperament and hygeine. In fact, the act of using one's tongue for sexual acts is one wholly foreign to the Bodovian circles and is really only seen in Bodovian prostitutes who are workin in foreign nations.  

Marriage:
In a conventional sense, Bodovians do not marry. Mating involves a female choosing a male mate, which whom she couples until she becomes pregnant. Most females choose to keep the male around until after the litter is born, but then they usually part ways. It is possible and in some places quite likely, that a Bodovian may reselect the same mate for another litter in the following or another Mating Season to follow, but to select a different mate is not seen as a lack of fidelity. As young are raised collectively by the community, it is not required for there to be a 'stable parental unit' as it is in some other nations. There are also some concerns over which Clan one selects their mate from, but (with the exception of the Bodovian Civil War) it is generally left up to personal choice. There are of course Class stigmas which often colour or pressure a Bodo's choice towards a certain selection,


Family Units:
  
Coming of Age:
  
Death:


Education:

Language:
Alphabet:
J - (juh)
U - (oo)
N - (nn)
G - (guh)
B - (Buh)
O - (oh)
D - (duh)
E - (uh/eh)
V - (vee)
A - (ah)
L - (ll)
W - (woo)
I - (ih)
H - (hoo)
S - (ss)
T - (tuh)
R - (rrr)
P - (puh)
K - (kah)
Y - (yee)
X - (ks)
M - (muh)
F - (feh)
Z - (zoo)

Pronunciation timing:
Ma - (mah)
Maa - (maaah)
Mah - (mahuh)
Mahh - (ma-ah)
Maah - (maaahuh)
Maahh - (maa-aahuh)
Mha - (muhah)
Mhaa - (muhaaah)

Cuisine:


Comparative Statistics:
Intelligence: 11/16. The Bodovian race is notoriously simple-minded, having difficulty comprehending complex situations and advanced sciences. But their child-like wonder fot he world allows them to see things with a clarity and simplicity many other lose as they grow older. The Bodovian learns very quickly - the Bano are a brilliant example - and their capacity for kinesthetic learning is almost unrivalled. They remember things well - but usually only from personal experience. If you tell a Bodovian something you've read, they might not comprehend it, but if they read it themselves - or better yet experience something first-hand, their memories are superb. They have a great understanding of medicine, herbology, spirit energy (such as for acupressure), languages, terrain and navigation, hunting, tracking and stealth. They excel in fighting forms that require endurance and speed, as well as strength and reflexes. Their strong physical senses give them an edge for understanding the properties of something new. 
Wisdom: 14/16. Bodovians are very understanding. They easily set aside wrongs and show a great wealth of compassion for each other as well as for all other races. Because of this, they are one of the few willing to deal with the Humoro or the Talmontese or the Ere Breghin when others shy away. They are adventurous and curious, and have a deep wealth of respect and attachment to the spirit world. Their perception of the Shadow Realm is nearly instinctive, and their capacity for League of Spirits or Metaphysics is extremely high. The wisdom of the Bodovians most shows up in their patience for decision making. While others find their slow-moving policies to be frustrating, the Bodovians ensure that absolutely everyone involved in a decision will be happy with the outcome, making choices decided by a group literally perfect - it just often takes years to reach this point.  
Agility: 15/16. The Bodovians have all the agility of the animal world. While bipedal in their basic form, they can pounce and spring into a very fast four legged sprint for short distances, are extremely flexible and nearly always land on their feet. They can climb well, can sneak well and can use their senses and sensitive paw-pads to scout terrain. Their manual dexterity is limited as they have paw-padded hands as well, with non-retractable claws, with short and broad digits. They do have opposable thumbs, but fast-wielding techniques are beyond their capacity, as is fine writing, detailed craftsmanship and some crafts-skills like embroidery.  
Strength: 14/16. Bodovians have a primal sort of strength, the sort that rarely is used to its full potential. A Bodovian's jaw has the power to crush through a Speritanian femor, but they are rarely in a situation where this is called for. Their muscular strength is massive for the relatively small size of their bodies, but they are still not quite tough enough to keep pace with the Muzina or Speritanians. Their real force lies in how far they can throw or jump, rather than brute mass itself.
Resistance: 11/16. Bodovian resistance is moderate when averaged out. On the one hand, their fur coats give them an added resistance to basic scratches and scrapes from their terrain and added protection against the weather, but their constitution is suceptible to far more illnesses than what normally affect other races. Many parasites and viruses that target lower animal life-forms also can affect the Bodovians. Their endurance is good so long as they are not exerting themselves. Keeping a standard running pace, or wielding a weapon withing their strength range is no issue, but once they over step those bounds, their ability to keep it up shortens porportionately to how hard they push their limits. Against blunt trauma, they are perfectly average for their weight and size, and serious harm to a limb can often prevent them from functioning well enough to preserve their remaining health.
Recovery: 11/16. The Bodovians heal well enough, and are inclined to bounce back, but as mentioned before have to be wary of infection or complications to injuries. They have a hard time expelling poisons or maladies of the spirit, and require magical healing to prevent lasting disabilities in damaged limbs. A Bodovian Proverb says "The only harder than cheating fate is forcing an injured Bodovian to lie still." Usually the largest impediment to healing is the Bodovian patient themself. They have an almost compulsory need to chew their injuries, lick their wounds and constantly shift to try and escape discomfort, thereby causing more. Sedatives are only partially helpful as they greatly lessen the Bodovian immune system's ability to function.   
NMP: 3/6. Bodovian potency for magic is fairly good. They aren't as good with precision magics - such as those that require delicate hand finesse (alchemy) or balanced recipeés (Spell Work or Conjuring). They are, however, very good with huskline magics like Illusions, Summoning, skills like Metaphysics, Channelling, Charm Work and even have one of the most free-form and creative Rune sets in the world. Their ability to bind familiars is extremely good, and their eventual attunement with the cardinal elements can make them godlike.