Race: The Nox Gadael

The Nox Gadael (or Night Leaves) are a race of magical talking dogs with horns. All are the size of a labrador, but they come in a multitude of colours instead of the known yellow, black or chocolate. Their horn resembles that of a unicorn, although they are nothing like unicorns, and are usually a shade darker or lighter than their body. In some ways they are very like dogs, as they are loyal to the people they care about and do enjoy living with the other races if they are not within a pack. Generally pack ties are looser than family ties and those who live with one of the other races view that person or people as family. There are ways in which they are very unlike dogs, including their love of trade, and there are many shops owned by the Nox Gadael in the mixed centres of the many towns they live in.

Unless they trust the people around them they keep their magical abilities a closely guarded secret. This is due to the way they were treated on their home world, a place they don't often talk about, but their magic has evolved on Taithmarin to give them an innate understanding of who they can and can't trust. If you can get one of the Nox Gadael to talk about their home planet their stories are normally full of being hunted by those who wanted to use their horns and tails, because of the magic held within both, and loss, as many of them lost family or pack members because of the hunters. Taithmarin is the only place any of the first generation have ever felt safe, which is why the door choose the race as one to inhabit it.

They're nocturnal. In order to make the most of normal shopping hours, when most of the other races are awake, a Nox Gadael shop owner will hire staff from those races. Exactly which race depends on the town, but in general the Nox Gadael are friendly and get along with all the other races that live on Taithmarin. The only race they occasionally have problems with is the human race, but this is always due to human being anable to accept a dog is talking to him/her.

The Nox Gadael, as a race, are neither matriachal or patriachal. A pack may be either, depending on who is elected as their pack leader, and within a family there normally is no one leader, as both parents work together to raise their young. Some packs may be family packs, which work slightly differently, as normally they are controlled by the eldest of the family (normally the grandparents) and they're never elected out. Occasionally they may choose to retire, passing their power onto their eldest child, whether that child is male or female.

A pregnant Nox Gadael mother usually has a gestation period of around seven months and will give birth to a litter of puppies. Usually a litter will be between six and twelve puppies, with the maximum being fifteen. If the mother has a large litter they will be helped by their family or pack. On Taithmarin litters are shrinking slightly, because there's no need to keep the race going by having larger litters, and all the puppies are expected to survive.

Puppyhood is normally very short, around three to five months, and then a Nox Gadael is viewed as mostly independent. They are able to choose a pack, if they wish to have one, or to live with one of the other races on Taithmarin. On their home planet they would often stay with a family member for the rest of their life and lives were much shorter then. It was possible for them to live about 144 years, but once an older member of the pack or family felt they were no longer useful or were unlikely to survive another encounter with the hunters they would end their own lives. There is no need to do this on Taithmarin, so more are living their natural lifespan.