Leoman

Leomans are a race native to Greyhawke. Several have been seen on Earth, only two are known to be resident. That is Seelein the SO of Spaulding Ashby and Casa Blackmane.
===Appearance===
Leomans are bipedal cats. They have catlike heads with a thick mane, slight muzzle and large ears. Their tails are highly mobile and reach to the ground. Their legs are like a cat's back limbs. They have humanoid arms and torsos. Females have prominent breasts. They have retracting claws in both feet and fingers. Leomans are 50% heavier than humans of the same height. As a result they can not swim. Unless a Leoman keeps in constant motion in the water they will sink. Leomans don't bother to acquire the skill as the risk is too great.
Leomans, being furred creatures, dislike clothing or armor and will not wear it. They depend on their natural dexterity to keep them from harm. They will use rings, bracers and other magical items. Cloaks are not too confining. Besides they don't like getting wet. They use belts, carrying harnesses, and packs to tote gear and possessions. They are all beautifully made. Bureau Note: This can cause problems with Mothers Against Everything. The Leomans so far encountered are notoriously anti-clothing.
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Leomans possess keen senses of smell and hearing. They can identify individuals by scent alone. Perfume or a recent bath can foil this method of identification. They do not see as well in the dark as other cats but have excellent color vision.
Leomans are large carnivores. Due to their Elven heritage they can tolerate a small amount of vegetable matter in their diet. They eat meat both raw and cooked. Leomans will not willingly partake of any meat they know to have come from sentient creatures. This is strictly a cultural taboo.
Leomans are, for the most part, stay at home types. They build great homes that can house an entire clan wherever they settle. The woods Leoman builds a multilevel tree complex. His cousin on the plains builds a sprawling ranch. The clan house is a mark of Leomans wherever they are found. Leomans speak a felinized dialect of Quenya, the language of Elves. Many of their ways descend from Elves.
Leomans are more than humans with fur and claws. The tend toward a more holistic approach to life. Originally raised in the Elven view, and having lived on the bounty of the land, they are close to the world around them. Leomans are hunters by their very nature. They will not crash about but will remain quiet as they can. A Leoman will not raise its voice louder than needed to be heard. Leomans avoid the flamboyant approach. They plan before acting. If assaulting a fort you can bet they will come over the walls at night. They will not show up at dawn with a battering ram. As a race they are serene and peaceful.
===Leoman Life===
Bureau Note: The Following is an idealized and average Leoman experience. Like the average American this creature does not exist.
A Leoman is born after a gestation of eight months. From one to three children will be born at a time. The infants are helpless at birth and require the full attention of their mother. By the age of six months they will be toddling. Children are reared by the whole Clan regardless of sire and dam. However, careful records are kept to prevent inbreeding.
Children live with their mother until they are at least 6 years of age. At that time they move to the great room that houses all the older children, and at least two of the adults.
When a child reaches adolescence, at about age 12, they are fostered out to another clan. This gives the young Leoman a chance to meet with members of the opposite sex that are not related. Most of the time, the youngster ends up settling with that clan as an adult. In any case, by the time they are 16 they will have left home. Some Leomans fall into the life of adventure while they are seeking another clan to live with. Some will end up founding clans of their own.
The center of Leoman life is the Clan. This is a group marriage of six to thirty-six adults and their children. Clan members do not form permanent pairs, nor is there any dominance by sex. Work is divided by skill and inclination and the jobs no one wants to do are shared by all in turn.
Leoman females come into season four to five times a year. Females are receptive to sexual relations at any time, but during their fertile period they are sexually aggressive. The primary duties of the Leoman females are childrearing and bearing. As a result she gets four times the space in a clan house that a male will get.
One of the advantages of the clan system is that elders are automatically cared for. Age by no means removes the Leoman from the daily life of their clan. Age, it is hoped, brings wisdom. The advice of elders is eagerly sought, and older members are important in the raising and education of children. As many as two thirds of the clan's adults in the Clan can be passed the baby making stage of life, at least for the females. Children are rare after the age of 40, and all but impossible for females over 55. Males remain fertile their entire lives, even if ability and Interest wane in the declining years.
Most Leomans remain robust their entire lives. Age will somewhat diminish physical ability, but seldom robs the Leoman of it totally unless disability is caused by illness or injury. Due the Leoman's hunting lifestyle disabling injury is not uncommon, one reason that every clan goes to considerable effort to have a cleric, healer, or both within the clan.
Death is usually swift, either by accident, or a final illness that the body is at last too old and weak to resist. The lucky few slip away in peaceful sleep.
===Leoman Politics===
Leomans are a peaceful race, gaining what they want by friendly concourse with others rather than conquest. This does not mean that they will not defend themselves. Leomans can be fierce fighters when necessary. Leomans pay little attention to the matters of government. They will give lip service to a human state and move rather than confront a King.
Among themselves they do not form political groups larger than the clan. Clans are usually far enough apart that inter-Leoman politics is not a matter of conflict. Conflict within the clan is settled in the manner families usually settle such matters. On rare occasions a clan member might leave because of a dispute. Such a total disagreement is shaming to both clan and the disaffected member. It is avoided if at all possible.
===Leoman Art===
Leoman arts run to the practical. They make what they need selling the excess for goods that they don't make. They excel at leather and wood working. Leomans carve intricate patterns into wood and leather. Leoman made furniture, saddles, harness, and other items command high prices with other races. Leoman smiths are rare, so they must trade for metal goods. Music and dance are both cultural and social skills. From the graceful and sensual dances of the females, to the acrobatic feats of the males. Many dances are named for and performed on the holidays of their naming. Few dances are for couples.
===Leoman Religion===
Leomans worship the goddess Sharla, patron of the race and goddess of love and beauty. A handful or Leomans look to Bast, or other gods.
Religion is an inherent part of the clan life. A priest or priestess is either sought as a clam member or a clan member will train for the task. Leoman priests do not cloister themselves apart.
===Earth Notes===
Leomans encountered on Earth have been a positive influence thus far. The examples below are the only known.
*Diter of Shambella Clan -- Diter is noted as being an older example. He is noted has a steady and careful thinking person. Very much the Elder Statesman type. He was encountered due to a Dimensional inversion. He later made a second appearance as part of the Greyhawke delegation during the Trial for Peoplehood.
*Leaur of Shambella Clan -- Encountered in the same Inversion. She was quiet and let Diter do the talking. Away from the public is is noted as being more open and domestic. She is a religious ritualist drawing power from the Primal being Sharla.
*Seelein -- First encountered in the same inversion as a child. She later returned during the Trial for Peoplehood. She is currently living with Spaulding Ashby in an apparently sexual relationship. 
*Casa Blackmane -- Wife of Evan Blackmane, a Tauki teaching Magic at UCLA. She is noted for a brash sex kitten approach. Takes the anti-clothing approach aggressively. "I'm not, make something of it." Trolls Mothers Against Everything without mercy.
*Skull -- Found in a gully near Hope Kansas by Dr. Benjamin Carver in 1876. The skull at that time had a good deal of age on it. Carbon 14 tests indicate an age of death about 1560 with the usual margin of error. No further data is known.
===Bureau File===
Leomans are intelligent and unless provoked non-hostile creatures. They are easily told apart from actual cats as they are obligate bipeds. Agents are urged to deescalate encounters and report the presence of Leomans unregistered with the INS as soon as possible, they will be part of an Dimensional inversion. IE, the Leomans are the least of your problems at that point.
Category:Outsiders
Category:Greyhawke
Category:Greyhawke Races