Beast Lashuns

[The language is based off of Russian, words in their native tongue are taken from this]

## Native Name

They are known as just Beasts across Entheria, or to the more diplomatic and respectful, the Beast Lashuns. However, their original name in their native language is the Zver’ Lashuns.

## Appearance

The Beasts are divided in a few select groups, the most commonly seen are big cats such as Lions, Sabertooth, and Cheetahs. Wolves have been seen from time to time, but tend to keep to themselves, and don’t partake in the ruling Big Cat kingdom.

Lions tend to be tall and large, with great manes of beard, usually ranging from black, to gold or even a dark crimson. The males tend to have a lot more fur and hair then the females, who usually keep their hair trimmed very short. The have sharper, longer teeth than regular humans, slitted eyes, and their ears resemble that of the animal they take from, round and furry. They also have long tails, with a patch of darker fur on the very end.

Sabertooths are as large as the lions, but tend to have a lot less hair over their bodies. Their hair usually ranges from black, blue, dark green and sandy brown. Sabertooths tend to keep their hair braided or tied up, and it’s not uncommon for them to even shave stripes into their trimmed beards and scalps, a very popular fashion style on their midst. Much like the lions, their teeth are sharper and longer, their eyes have slits, their ears are sharper and pointy, but still have a short fur covering them. Their tails are much like the lions, but they tend to keep their color throughout.

Cheetahs are the smallest of the big cats, usually a foot shorter than lions and sabers, they tend to be sleeker, and more elegant than their brutish cousins. Their hair is commonly blond, but there are some who are born with black, or even a mixture of both. Their teeth and eyes follow a similar pattern to their cousins, and their ears tend to not be as round as the lions, but not as thin and pointy as the sabers, but a middle ground between that. Their tails tend to follow the pattern of their hair, either sandy brown, full black, or spotted.

Wolves are some of the rarest of all of the Beast Tribes, and tend to blend in human societies because of the very small likeness they have with the animal they take from. They lack the ears and the tail that set the other beasts apart from the humans so easily, and only have the fangs and yellow eyes to prove their heritage, facts that are mostly forgotten and easily hid from most folk. Their hair is either black, grey, white, brown and in some rare cases, orange.

## History

[All events are in chronological order]

Vstrecha: The governmental official of the Mayarat land confronted the officials of the Big Cat Dominion to discuss the trading laws and territory lines of both of their lands. Hoping to come to an agreement quickly the Mayarats demanded they have control over the entire Sari desert, passionately denying the Dominion any point of sand where trees do not sprout. This easily annoyed the prideful Zver. They attempted a compromise with both of them being able to both use the land, the Mayarats refused. Afterwards the simple debate became a heated argument with both sides cursing each other. In the heat of the argument many racial slurs were thrown and the Zver were outraged, they demanded the Mayarats official to leave their land and never return unless he sought a swift and painful death. In the Zver’s minds this is when war began, plans were almost immediately created to prepare for a full on takeover of the Mayarat land, and to attack so suddenly the Zver would ultimately catch the Mayarats by surprise. Note that the wolves of the land did not interfere in the matter save a few lone mercenaries who would’ve fought for either side. The impending war would be a complete ambush upon Marayat land and would become known as the Red War to the Mayarats

#### Mayarat Reznyu

When the three day Lashun and Mayarat war began, the Mayarats had no idea what was going on. Their forces were unprepared and severely outmatched, the Lashuns being bestial aspects of animals they were too much to handle. They entered and attacked the southernmost city first, then had two groups expand in opposite directions to attack the eastern and westernmost cities, leaving the original group at the southernmost. The death toll was high, while there were a few lucky Mayarats able to kill a Lashun or two, many easily fell to the might of the Lashuns. They quickly converged on the land of the Arcebispo and reduced it to rubble in mere hours. They reached the Arcebispo’s home in the Church of Almasarie. It seemed as though the Lashuns had won with almost no competition. Their entire military force had converged on this one point and were about to witness the slaughter of the seven Sabios weapon masters, they stood in the church’s main hall in a last stand formation, ready to fight for their land with all their strength, but the only outcome for the Mayarats seem to be death. All but one of the weapon masters survived, and as he stood battered, bloodspattered and tired he rushed in prepared for death, until on a white horse resting a female warrior stood between them. The Lashuns thought of her as nothing more than a weak woman trying to be a hero, they were extremely mistaken however, many of the troops bum rushed her and were met with a swift blade to the throat. Claws did not phase, magic fizzled at her very presence, and they hadn’t even seen her offense. At above average speed she tore through enemy forces like a tank, piercing armor as though it were paper.

## Homeland

In the north, the  Zver Lashuns have settled in what is known as the Teplo Savanna. Rolling grasslands and isolated trees dot the landscape with numerous shrubs scattered about as well. Little rainfall in this northern region do not allow a full fledged forest. However, leading into the southern region of the Lashun province the Zver’ experience very rainy weather and even the occasional snowfall.

Now in this province lies four city states that fall under the leadership of the big cat dominion.

#### Korolev

The city of Korolev lying to the north, also the capital of the Teplo is home to the big cats which consist of the lions, sabertooths and cheetahs. The city itself is like a fortress, large walls of stone and marble, with palaces even larger, the place seems extremely expensive from an outside looking in perspective, though this is a symbol of their pride as a people, they hold as much of it within themselves as they do all aspects of their society. One note to make is the fact that this newly appointed capital was the domain of the lions only. Seeing as this area is also the closest in vicinity to the Sari desert, it is hotter and has a more traditional savanna like landscape

#### Zemlya

Along the coast lies the city state known as Zemlya, home to the cheetah iteration of the Zver. This area has much more rainfall than the other territories due to its location near the ocean. In addition, because of its location it has become the main trading hub within the Teplo Savanna. Another note would be that with this increased rainfall Zemlya has allowed for more condensed areas of trees, which they utilize in their style of architecture in most instances.

#### Volchya

Almost completely to the south lies Volchya, home to the rare wolves. This places is often said to be like a corner of Estridia thrown in the the province. This area experiences winters like no other, extremely cold with blankets of snow lying over a landscape similar to Zemlya in its tree placement and growth. It’s almost like a forest, perfectly suited for the rare wolf. In this area, summers are more like fall in most cases with cool breezes blowing consistently.

#### Logius

And to the west lies the Sabertooth territory, Logius. This city state is made almost completely out of stone, with houses of brick, stone and wood along with walls and roads of cobblestone. To the west maintains a more temperate climate being in between scorching vile orc land and freezing Volchya. This area experiences all four seasons, with warm summers, cold winters, cool springs, and chilly falls

## Religion

#### Koshachiy Sozdaniye

The Zver Lashuns practice what is known as Vera, a collective belief in their God, Koshka Sozdaniya, which is roughly translated to Cat of Creation. In Vera, the Cat of Creation is seen in a number of ways, and has been depicted in the same amount. Many believe that the Cat of Creation is another Lashun like themselves, while others believe it is an actual giant cat (the species of cat varies greatly, even domesticated cat has been introduced as a form) responsible for their creation, and some have even concluded that the giant cat is only the shapeshift form that the god possesses. Now because of the Zver’s prideful personality, religion has caused many fights for both individuals and at a political level. While there has never been an all out war between the territories over religion it has come close on numerous occasions.

Now the way Vera is officially practiced is mainly through self teaching by reading the book of proverbs known as the Kniga. The Kniga is said to be direct quotes from the Cat of Creation, and in the Kniga they say the Cat’s words are so wise that most of the statements within the book can be used to conquer obstacles in life and understand its meaning, to understand the reasoning behind these obstacles and meaning behind one’s own existence. And while copies have been made, the Zver have realized it’s only a means to provide everyone with the ability to acquire such invaluable knowledge without force. The devout will find their way to it, while the non would continue their normal life. But the ideal behind the Kniga is that everyone should have the equal chance and equal choice in the acceptance of the knowledge it holds.

## Legends

* Cat of Creation - The Legend that states the Cat of Creation is responsible for the creation of their species
* Gerov Vonya - The Tale of the War Hero that saved a large number of people during the Mayarat Massacre
* Mayarat Ved’ma - The awful tale which speaks of the Mayarats harboring a woman who was seemingly invincible, nothing could phase her, claws could not penetrate the armor she bore.

## Society

#### Government

The Zver Lashuns are a dominion, meaning that they consist of autonomous societies that choose representatives from each of their respective territories which then govern the province’s entirety. Each territory chooses two officials to represents them, usually these are the oldest and wisest within the territory because they believe the older and wiser you become the closer you get to the Cat of Creation, so they’ve taken on a divine right type of mindset. These officials all come together to form the Big Cat Dominion, which gives them the ability to create laws, collect taxes, and declare war among other things. However, every decision that is made, or in the process of being made always goes under extensive discussion and thorough analyzation of decision in question, nothing is passed without the consent of every official agrees with each other, any objection resets the discussion process. Any elected official can run until death, and suspected “cheaters of death” go under investigation by the other officials in the dominion. Those who use magic or darker means of extending their lifespan in an effort to maintain their governmental position is immediately stripped of their position and in some harsher cases killed or banished from the land, with no ability to return without death.

#### Entertainment

Entertainment in the Zver society consists of wooden and bamboo wind instruments utilized to create a smooth acoustic tone. Use of the flute, harp, lute, and occasionally the clarinet is not uncommon. Another form of entertainment in this society would be fighting. As prideful as the Zver are, it’s almost impossible for many to not want to fight each other, so arenas and fighting rings are formed to satisfy that need, some even become professionals going under stage names. Finally artwork consists more of drawings and sketches than painting. The Zver use a calligraphy style of drawing that creates sharp clear images  especially on parchment. These drawings are typically used in front of fire in order to create shadows of these pictures and tell the story in “live action” and because of how clear the image already is the shadows look crisp making their style of art great story telling techniques as well.