Volken

Volken are free and cheerful people that look like humanoid dogs. They have no land to call their own, choosing instead to travel as nomads in groups called packs, employing themselves as mercenaries in service to other races.

Athletic and Tough

Having no land to call their own the dogmen have to be naturally resilient to dangers that the world poses. They vary wildly in size and weight, but almost always are rife with muscle mass and display considerable stamina. Few are taller than humans and some are almost as short as mamoonas. Many different appearances, sometimes referred to as breeds, can be spotted among their number, just like with regular dogs, who they often keep as companions.

The Pack Above All

Volken consider the pack they belong to as their family. They live together, work together, take care of each other. Anything a volken does it's done for the good of the pack, and being selfish or acting for the detriment to it often leads to packmates being ostracized by the rest and in extreme cases even exiled from the pack.
Being family units the eldest pair of the pack tends to be in charge, a male and a female. Leadership is obtained by the second oldest pair in case of the old leaders leaving their position, rather than being inherited by direct descendants. In general the packs do not track their bloodlines too closely besides their mothers, which leads to inbreeding. In other to avoid genetic deterioration packs occasionally exchange cubs during trade meetings.

Loyal and Affectionate

Life for the dogmen is lived in the moment, they highly enjoy physical activity, which includes hunting, sparring and warfare. They do not track time in the same way as humans do, having little regard for history or planning the future beyond the immediate issues. Part of that lifestyle is enjoying the company of others, especially in a physical capacity. Hugging, rubbing and petting are common activities among volken, and is key to their mental health, which for other races is often hard to understand and uncomfortable.
Volken are naturally devoted and loyal to their companions, both in the pack and when traveling with others. They form such attachments quickly and respond poorly to groups where they are not met with like trust, loyalty or physical closeness. Those who value their volken companions often engage in cuddling sessions, though usually in private to avoid embarrassment. In groups where the volken's needs are not met, they become detached and depressed, usually staying ion their groups despite that due to their natural loyalty and need for belonging. It takes a serious betrayal of trust or values of the volken to lead it to make the decision of leaving it's newly found group.

Pack Exiles

Those who lose their belonging to a pack often become adventurers in search of another group to call their own. The most common cases of this happening is losing a pack in a battle, being the only survivor, being exiled for bringing misfortune to the pack, or being found out as gay. Many gay volken make their way to Sodora, which is well known for having a large community of homosexual Volken.

Volken Names

The names of the volken are granted them by their parents, and are based on their language. To most the names sounds more like onomatopoeia, and a lot of them have very minute differences in pronunciation. They do not distinguish between male and female names. Their names are followed by the name of their pack, which exiles usually still use.

• Example names: Arf, Bork, Awoof, Bowf, Haruff
• Surnames: Awoo, Hau, Wan, Bow, Vau

Volken Traits

• Ability Score increase: Your Strength score increases by 2. Your Intelligence score decreases by 2.
• Age: Volken grow up quickly, but are considered cubs until their rite of passage at age 10. Due to their life style they rarely live to reach old age, but it is suspected that they can live up to 60 years.
• Alignment: with their strong familial bonds and need to belong the majority of volken are lawful and tend towards good.
• Size: volken range wildly in size between 5 and 7 feet, most being somewhere between those extremes. Your size is medium.
• Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Low light vision: You can see in dim light as if it were bright light. You cannot see in darkness.
• Naturally Athletic: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
• Hunter Instincts: You double your proficiency on perception checks relying on smell and gain advantage on chase checks.
• Powerful Jaws: You can use your jaws to attack and grapple enemies. Your bite attack does 1d6 piercing damage plus your Strength modifier and can grapple the opponent.
• Favored Classes: Cleric and Fighter
• Languages: You can speak, read, and write Merchant and Volken. Volken language is a collection of noises resembling barks and growls with subtle intonations used to denote different concepts due to the limited amount of sounds.