Lyrror

Lyrror (LIE-roar, roll or flip the first R) are
the fur-bearing, quadrupedal race native to the world of Trycanta, which
 they share with the winged, scaled mazor. Note that I did not say they
share nicely. A cat-like race which prefers grassland and a
draconic people who like forests should be able to co-exist on an entire
 planet, right?

Wrong.
 For reasons which probably boil down to something along the lines of a
badly timed yo-mamma joke, lyrror and mazor have been trying to
exterminate each other almost as long as either race has existed. The
war ended (mostly) with the arrival of humanity on Trycanta, but that is
 another story and shall be told another time.

Lyrror generally
 resemble house cats, but like mazor, are approximately the same size as
 human beings. Males, or lyrrer, tend to be larger and have
solid-colored fur, which can be white, black, or almost any warm color
in between. Females, or lyrrir, are more delicately built and have
patterned fur, striped, spotted, or variegated.

The
 combination of fur and a four-legged gait, meaning that lyrror
literally walk on their hands (the fifth digit on their front paws is
indeed opposable), de-emphasize the need for clothing in lyrro society,
though jewelry is popular. In many places, lyrror wear particular styles
 or colors of ear-studs to signify their marital status.

As
 mentioned above, most lyrror prefer to make their homes among rolling
hills or "on" plains--the quotation marks are necessary because lyrro
cities, by long tradition, are located underground. The lyrro gift of
Shifting, moving objects without touching them, helps
greatly when digging out new homes or public areas.

The
 areas above lyrror cities are generally devoted to both herding and
farming. Lyrror did evolve from obligate carnivores and can still
survive by eating only meat, but such a diet tends to foster quickness
of temper in the average lyrro, while a leavening of plant-based foods
helps to encourage calm and thoughtfulness.

Lyrro
 society operates generally on the principle of laissez-faire.
Once individuals reach the Age of Thought, which can be determined by a
number of birthdays or a series of tests, they are officially considered
 adult, and accepted practice for such is to bid their parents a loving
farewell and establish their own homes in another city.

These
 young lyrror, newly freed from parental oversight, will often embark on
 trial relationships, sealed by a ritual similar to a human handfasting.
 While they retain separate living quarters, the relationship is
temporary and can be ended without fault by either; only when
the pair combine homes should the wedding party be planned.

Bearing
 or siring children within one of these temporary relationships, though
not the social sin it once was, is still frowned upon, if only because
the custodial parent in lyrro society is the same as the parent from
whom each child inherits, and the issue of inheritance in lyrro society
is, to human eyes, an unusual one.

Family
 names and tribal allegiances among lyrror (each lyrro city was once the
 homeplace of a particular tribe, with a distinctive color to the males'
 fur and pattern to the females', but intermarriage has all but erased
this) travel in alternation. Fathers bequeath their names to their
daughters, and mothers to their sons.

Many
 humans consider lyrror the more comprehensible and approachable of the
two Trycantan races. This could stem from their vocal speech (the words
the races use for one another come from the lyrro language of Linmyra),
their mammalian appearance, or the fact that the senses of humor of the
two races coincide more often than not.

Lyrror,
 for their part, tend to welcome human guests to their cities, so long
as the humans are willing to deal with low ceilings, dim lighting, and
creatures which appear predatory and find it funny to sneak up behind
unsuspecting visitors. Humans, after all, are the original purveyors
of a wondrous variety of substances called cheese.