Canim

Honor, Glory, Majesty

A noble race guided by their legends of valiant knights, impenetrable castles, unquestionable honor and glorious battles the Canim are a humanoid canine race who define themselves by their chivalry, and seek to win fame and fortune in justified combat. They build expansive stone castles, ride barded steeds into battle wearing shining armor, and hold them selves with noble honor. They go to war only with honorable justification (though less savory leaders have been known to manufacture these) and respect their liege lords and the noble class. Their feudal government ensures that each citizen knows their place and role, and the potential for winning glory and a noble house on the battlefield ensures they are never wanting for recruits. They seem to constantly be at minor wars with neighbors.  

From Pack to Pageantry

In ancient times, the Canim were divided into small tribes called packs, with a hierarchy based on power and merit. These packs were territorial and constantly fighting amongst themselves. Barchur, The First Claw, then the pup of a pack alpha, lost his whole pack to a raid from a neighboring pack. He escaped and fled, fearing being found and killed by another pack of Canim. He went on an unprecedented journey, exploring corners of the world previously unknown to any of his people. He learned the ways other peoples run their nations, trained in combat arts from far away lands, and collected books, scrolls and scraps of knowledge on craftsmanship, magic, and architecture.   Retracing his steps across sea, mountain, forest and frozen waste, he returned to his homeland. He proceeded to challenge alphas from small packs to combat for leadership, and using his swordsmanship, won again and again, building the largest pack the country had known. He then chose those who had been loyal to him, and alphas whose lives he had spared, and shared his knowledge. They began to build castles, breed horses, forge arms and armor, all using the skills and technology he had learned in his travels. His kingdom spread until, a mere few years before his death, he had unified the Canim.   Alas, over 100 years ago, Barchur died. He had numerous children, and between them and the previous Alphas, the kingdom fractured. There are now numerous Canim Kingdoms, each claiming some tie to Barchur and a legitimate claim to leadership. Some seek only power, while others truly wish to reclaim the glory of the Barchurian Age.  

Physical Appearance

Canim are commonly considered adult by an average age of 16, range from 4'10" to 6'10" tall, and between 100 and 280 pounds. They have canine facial structures and dog-like tails and legs with large foot-paws, but are otherwise humanoid. Their fur comes in natural colors and patterns similar to dogs and wolves. Their necks are at a slightly more forward angle from the shoulder than in other humanoids, and they have short, blunt claws on their hands and feet, but sharp functional teeth. Their clothing style is heavily dependent on their social and economic status, with most wearing simple cotton, jute or linen tunics and pants, while the nobility wear elaborate blouses, coats and robes in the heraldic colors of their house or country. Their armor, when possible are elaborately decorated and gilded to match the colors of their liege lord's banners, and their weapons are elegant, simple in silhouette, but with distinctive embellishments.   Pathfinder 2 Stats Ability Boosts: CON, CHA Ability Flaw: INT Speed: 25 ft. Low Light Vision Languages: Common, Canim, + int HP: 8   Heritages   Hound - Your senses are well developed and your sense of smell is particularly excellent. You gain Scent as an imprecise scent within 30 ft. This also gives you a +2 to perception to locate a hidden creature within your scent range.   Mongrel - Life has been hard and you have no particular strong lineage to speak of. This can often be a liability in Canim culture, but it has made you tough and resilient. Your HP for your ancestry is 10 instead of 8. In addition, you can end persistent bleeding damage with a DC 10 flat check instead of a DC 15.   Thoroughbred - Your lineage is pure. Depending on your lineage, you may be from a noble house or simply a well regarded, respectable family. Your excellent genes and upbringing have given you more opportunities to learn special skills. Select a general feat of your choice.   Pit - A combatant through and through, your jaws are larger and your teeth sharper than other canim. You have an unarmed bite attack that does 1d8, agile, unarmed.   Feats   Canim Lore - 1 - Trained in Society, Diplomacy and Canim Lore   Canim Weapon Training - 1 - You are trained with the Bastard Sword and Lance. These are simple weapons for you.   Mounted Knight - 1 - You gain the Ride feat, and a +2 bonus on checks to handle, train and control horses and similar animals (including Pegasus and Hippogriffs, should you be so lucky.)   Tireless Hunter - 1 - Once per day you ignore the fatigued condition for one hour. You have resistance equal to half your level to nonlethal damage. In addition, you can treat all environmental effects as one step less severe.   Armored Knight - 1 - Gain the armor proficiency feat. In addition, when you sleep in armor that would otherwise make you fatigued in which you are proficient, you are not fatigued.   Loyalty - 1 - When a spell effect would cause you to harm or betray an ally, you gain a +2 on the saving throw against the spell or effect. If you are under a spell or effect that later would cause you to betray or harm an ally, you can make a saving throw at that time against the effect. You can only gain this additional roll once per spell or effect.   Canim Weapon Squire - 5 - You gain the critical specialization effect for the lance and bastard sword.   Honor - 5 - When you roll a success on an emotion spell or effect, treat it as a critical success instead.   Valor - 9 - Gain a +2 one saves against fear spells and effects. If you critically fail a save against a fear effect, treat it as a normal failure instead.   Shining Knight - 9 - You gain expert proficiency in one category of armor. If you already have expert proficiency in all types of armor, you instead gain the armor specialization for that type of armor. If you already have the Armor Specialization for that type of armor, increase it's value by 1.   Canim Weapon Knighthood - 13 - When you gain expert or higher proficiency in a weapon from a class or other feature, your proficiency in the Lance and Bastard Sword increase to match it.