Zuronnonzo

The **Zuronnonzo** (sing. **Zuronnon**) are a race of sapient, wolf-like carnivores that live on the planet of Kalozkard.

## Characteristics

Zuronnonzo resemble bipedal wolves that are as tall as five or six feet.

Most Zuronnonzo are nocturnal.

Like most sentient species in the Galaxy, Zuronnonzo are born either as males or females. Males tend to be more aggressive, while females tend to be more gentle (but they can also attack when provoked).

Zuronnonzo are naturally aggressive, and they can get restless if they do not fight for a long time. That is why it is important to use dummies for the Zuronnon to beat up.

## History

The Zuronnonzo evolved from the more-intelligent canids that roamed the planet's continents into wandering bands of nomadic tribes. These tribes went after herds of deer and buffaloes.

As they became more intelligent, they developed metallic weaponry, mining, and stronger political organisations, which culminated into a system of high kings that ruled over stronger clans that consisted of hundreds of smaller warbands. As they mined the ground, they became wealthy from the plentiful silver deposits in their planet, which were then used to purchase more weaponry and advanced machinery to build their people into an army.

During Sarmelonid times, the Zuronnonzo were known as Zorikkil.

In Rabydos, Zuronnonzo are known as zībat ("wolves", singular: zībum), Uridim, or kalbat ("dogs" or "curs"; singular: kalbum). "Kalb" is a more insulting term towards Zuronnonzo.

## Society

Zuronnonzo culture tends to be warlike, celebrating combat and strength as the meaning of life. The weak are put into slavery, such as mining, menial labour, or being sold as mercenaries. Swords, spears, and knives are preferred weapons in Zuronnonzo culture; while they do not mind using guns, they preferred using guns only when fighting non-Zuronnonzo or when executing criminals.

Zuronnonzo combat mostly involves punching, slicing, and stabbing. Only females and weaklings get to fight with dances, as this is considered "effeminate".

Silver, a plentiful metal in their homeworld, is regarded as the symbol of wealth.

Muresso, a large yellow lizard, was used mostly as a steed.

Aside from hunting and raising deer and buffaloes for their meat, leather, and bones; the Zuronnonzo also grow plants as their food. Plant farmers work in shifts, waking up when everyone else goes to sleep at dawn, and sleeping when everyone else wakes up at night.

Although the Zuronnonzo tend to be patriarchal, their females have a high degree of rights, being treated as individuals that can become worthy warriors just as males do.

The Zuronnonzo find the Lausorijo -- a intelligent clown-like race of giants and ogres -- to be reliable allies for teaching them to develop better technology and more organised armies. On the other hand, they tend to be hostile to Arnadjanai, due to the latter's humanoid appearance, their less-civilised behaviour, and their competition for land and resources. Still, some Arnadjanai have become members of Zuronnonzo tribes, and some Zuronnonzo join Arnadjanai tribes. Both do so either to find friends or some fighting.

## Religion

### Western gods

* Zarkhas - god of the sun, gold, and of kings.
* Nulvikh - god of the moon
* Sulkhir - goddess of the moon. Married to Zarkhas.
* Skonkhar - god of the desert
* Zerikhen - goddess of the desert and dance. From her union with Skonkhar, the second generation of kings were born.
* Zorokh - god of war, courage, and bloodshed. The most popular deity of the Zuronon pantheon.
* Manorikh - god of silver, the forge, and merchants.
* Skaranda - goddess of diplomacy and writing.
* Tiagloriz - god of literature, bards, seers, priests, and skalds.

### Eastern gods

* Spilkar - god of war
* Maaskantra - goddess of beauty
* Vaarezor - god of the forge
* Vrezilor - god of weapons

### Other beliefs

Some Zuronnonzo have instead converted to other religions, such as the Vozonid gods of the Survivor humans and Lausorijo Burrow-cities, or the kingly faith of Marduk that predominates Rabydos even as it became into a republic.

A few Zuronnonzo are atheist, mainly out of curiosity or influence from other peoples.

## Notable Zuronnonzo

* Likazvon - an ancient king who was driven insane
* Mojari - a warrior who went wild out of an addiction to herbs
* Karzon - the leader of a group of four bandits in Barandon Castle, who occasionally raided the castle to steal its treasure from the Wannaenids and sell them to arms dealers. He threatened to kill Zerondo and Thinagijo, rob them, and kill their unicorn to sell its brain to the black market unless the two aliens followed them, but not long after, he and his bandits were killed by Headhunter Drones.
* Zurbon - the surviving member of Karzon's bandits. He tends to be skinnier than the average Zuronnon, leading to Karzon treating him as a practice dummy. He and a clown-like Lausorijo, Kaidaro, formed their own band, seeking their own way westward into the Tornarin Empire for a spaceport and any ruins.
* Taglarikh - a queen who led her tribe of Zuronnonzo to somewhere north of the Jasper Mountains. She herself is a devotee of Tiagloriz, and later of the Vozonid god Pjosaroz. She and her successors are allies of several Lausorijo Burrow-cities.

## Trivia

* The Zuronnonzo were inspired by werewolves and barbarian tribes from fantasy works.
	+ However, many Zuronnonzo find werewolves to be disgusting. They see a werewolf as a person shrinking down into a weakly human that seeks to eat and bite other humans, rather than fight like a warrior; and that is considered to them as a "disgusting coward".
	+ A Zuronnon would explain to a human that a werewolf becoming a human would be equivalent to a man turning himself into a shrivelled rabbit.
* Zuronnonzo consider it an infuriating insult to call them "cute" or liken them to puppies or dogs. Nonetheless, some Zuronnonzo would tame or raise hunting or guard dogs as their companions, just as some humans keep monkeys and apes.
* Zuronnonzo swords look like khopeshes.