Leonin
The Leonin are a proud and noble race of lion-like Beastfolk created by Zharos, The Lion Lord and one of the Three Cat Lords who watches over the redeemed Tindara on behalf of Tagyn, Goddess of Beasts. From sun-scorched savannas to golden highlands, leonin walk with the strength of warriors and the dignity of kings. They are not a people of frivolity or deceit; they value truth, duty, and honor above all else, holding themselves to the high standards of their creator.
Physically, leonin are powerful and imposing. Standing taller than most humanoids, they possess broad, muscular frames covered in golden, tawny, or umber fur. Their feline faces are framed by majestic manes in males and sleek, sharp-featured beauty in females. Their amber or gold eyes gleam with intelligence and intensity, and their voices carry the natural resonance of command, even in quiet tones. When they roar, mountains seem to pause and storms hesitate.
The leonin are deeply communal, organizing themselves into extended prides that act as both families and warrior bands. Leadership among them is not determined by strength alone but by wisdom, restraint, and the ability to protect and uplift others. Every leonin learns from a young age that their might is meant not for dominance, but for stewardship. Those who break this covenant often become outcasts, seen as forsaking Zharos’s ideals.
Leonin culture celebrates trial and temperance. Rites of passage are Common, often involving long treks across the wilderness, service to neighboring peoples, or acts of bravery and diplomacy. Their storytellers—called Sunvoices—carry the oral histories of prides, ancestors, and the teachings of Zharos himself. Their art is often geometric, symbolic, and carved in sunstone or bone, always reflecting values of balance, legacy, and protection.
In battle, leonin are ferocious and coordinated. Whether as proud chieftains, shieldbearers, paladins of Tagyn, or oathsworn champions of Zharos, they strike with the strength of stormwinds and the resolve of granite. Yet, they are also peacemakers when possible, believing that war should be the last resort of those who have tried every righteous path.
While most leonin dwell in the sunlit regions of the Pridelands or high plateaus, some travel across Aigusyl as diplomats, monster-hunters, or envoys of the Cat Lords. These lionfolk carry their pride with them in more ways than one, seeking to act as examples of justice and strength wherever they roam.
To meet a leonin is to encounter the living legacy of a divine creed — the belief that strength must walk hand in hand with justice, and that the roar of the lion should be heard in defense of the weak, not the oppression of the many.
