World Building: Cynocephaly (Diamond dogs and their relatives)

I figured that I would start posting a series of companion blog posts for destiny quest running through the different species present on Terra. to kick this off I though I'd start with Diamond dogs and their relatives

Cynocephaly, Cynocephali, or cynocephalus, are a group of broadly similar sapient canines. The broadest distinctions are listed here, though there exists a great variety amongst each group

---

Diamond Dogs, Goblins, Yrrchs or Uruks

Also known as goblins to other cynocephaly, yrrchs to the minotaurs, and uruks to the Griffins. Diamond Dogs spend the majority of their time living in the depths of the world, mining for gems and ores, as such their bodies have become perfectly adapted to a subterranean lifestyle with long and muscular arms. Diamond dogs make no beautiful things, but many clever ones including machines, tools, weapons, and instruments of torture, and are particularly delighted by wheels, engines, and explosions, and tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled minotaur.

though they can be found in much of the world, they can be found in in the greatest concentration in their own nation of Mongrowlia, a land walled off on all sides accessible by only a single gate located on the border with Kurgania and Tirdynbuwch, and filled with a variety of tribes constantly at war with each other

---

Sythians

Standing upright at about 5 foot tall, Sythians are close relatives of Diamond Dogs, though they are much friendlier, and have adapted to a life more suited to living above ground on open plains. Though they can be found throughout much of the twin northern continents, they are most commonly found residing in their "home nations" of Vinillia, Kurgannia, Jermania, and Herulia, though they are also a considerable minority along the northern coast of Stirrupe, in nations such as Trottinghamshire, Alba and Thestalia.

Although those living in cities lead very modern lifestyles, those living out in the countryside lead much more traditional lifestyles, ranging from established pocket communities of agriculture and farming all the way to downright primitive hunter-gatherer clans, each with their own unique traditions and social conventions, though some have started to record their own written histories, with "chroniclers" tasked with writing down said history so as to ease the teaching of their young. These clans never remain in one place for too long, and instead roam freely, often on a circuit which may span more than one continent and take decades to complete, though there are some which chose to remain within a relatively small territory. The home nations keep something of a unified consensus of these clans, keeping a basic record of clan markings, current leaders, estimated size, and intended migratory routes so as to ease their travels across borders, providing of course that the clans in question also declare themselves to the authorities of the nearest settlement to where they have set up a temporary camp.

Through the ages sythians have made a name for themselves as the makers of a great things, and though they can make fantastic weapons, particularly the bows which they first invented, they have become renowned for their arts such as music, painting, carving and sewing, brought about from their high dexterity, a quality sythian longcoat is a gift worthy of royalty, and often worth more than entire towns.

Bothnians

Bothnians are the most primitive, socially speaking, of all the Cynocephali. Being closest to feral wolves they cannot grasp objects or create things with any precision, though one could, for instance, grasp a stick to scratch out some basic markins in the dirt, so they live much the same way that wolves do, in roving packs. one area in which they greatly differ is the way in which they trade; they can't carry things by themselves, so they will hunt for meat for diamond dogs in exchange for gold, and will in turn exchange this for the services of nearby sythians to make garments such as saddlebags, allowing them to now carry rations of food, allowing them to travel further.