Pholgh, Shadow Mastiff

The shadow, at once from it's corner of the room, lunged between each greenhorn slayer, blood trailing in it's dark wake. Within moments the three of them were reduced to broken bone and pools of blood on the cold dirt floor of the old hermit's hut.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Pholghs, also known as shadow mastiffs to more common folk, resemble normal Materium mastiff's in a few notable areas, although this is far from the way it is. A pholgh for example, has the jaws of a true monster, wide and unsightly, with teeth often poking from the inside out. Their bodies are rugged and lined with powerful muscles, which can be easily seen under the skin. When in a 'dispersed' form, they are semi incorporeal, capable of touching and being touched, living between the ether and whatever reality they are already within. Their eyes are milky white, sometimes blood red in color all over. Because of these defining traits and further details, a pholgh is considered a monstrosity over a mere beast of the Nightlands.

Genetics and Reproduction

Mastiffs only mate during half moons, during the latter half of the year. It is unknown why they do this only during half moons, theories range from that half moons produce certain chemical qualities within a mastiff's brain to that it is a semi sentient choosing and byproduct of mastiff intelligence, however both of these and other theories like them are flawed for various reasons.

Mastiff's choose their mates based on the alpha's decision. Since all mastiff's live in packs, the alpha will choose a mate first, followed by the beta, which continues all the way through the pack till all the most prominent have chosen. Only the mastiffs in the top rankings can mate, with the rest of the pack instead taking care of the few pups the mated female mastiffs produce.

Mastiff gestation lasts for several months, upon which the longer it goes on, the more the mated female's tend to rest and take a back seat to pack activities. As this goes on, in the last month, an extra mastiff is assigned to protect and aid the highest ranking pregnant mastiff. A single mastiff only produces one, sometimes two pups at most. Because of this, even large packs produce between 3 to 5 new pups annually.

Growth Rate & Stages

Adolescence

During the pup years of it's life, a young mastiff is sheparded and protected by much of the pack, which rotates in protecting the small pool of pups they produced that year. During this time, young mastiff's are unable to utilize many of their senses even during the first few months, such as fully using their false light sight. Because of this, for the first two months, mastiff pups are very vulnerable not only because they are inexperienced and defenseless but that they live their first two months nearly completely blind. As they grow older, they gain the abilities and the bodily autonamy functions required to experience a broader life.

Adult Life

Adult life for mastiff's is somewhat similar to that of any other large hound like beast, save for other wolf-like monstrosities. In this, they live for ten years before dying. It should be noted, that as mastiff's reach their later years, their dispersed forms become more unstable, barely holding them together. Because of this, accidents and old age can sometimes can a venerable mastiff to simply fall apart when dispersed, leaving nothing more than a bag of non dispersed skin and half held together. It is unknown why this is, although it is suspected that due to the aging process, the means by which mastiff's hold together become weaker and less reliable, sometimes resulting in devastating outcomes for the older ones once they attempt to reassemble.

Ecology and Habitats

Nightlands

In the Nightlands, pholghs are among the apex predators of the Realm, falling short of corrupted entities and shadow dragons. Hunting other creatures of the Realm, usually in lower altitude areas, they are not to be trifled with. It is because of their crushing jaws, ability to hunt, general intelligence and such, that many Nightland communities live in the higher altitudes of the Realm, as they are less frequently encountered among high hills, plateaus and mountains. Though because of their carnivorous and scavenger like diets, they thankfully keep down the populations of rogue undead and more problematic creatures around the Realm.

Materium

Once crossed into the Realm of the Mundane, the means by which pholghs interact and are interacted by become vastly different. Becoming some of the most dangerous ground based creatures in many areas, especially in regions of low altitude, they create many problems for farmers and travellers. Though not having particularly any taste for intelligent flesh, a pack will go out of it's way to attack a lone traveler if on the hunt. Also, because of their inherent abilities when existing in darkness, they almost always hunt in the late dusk, night or if unlucky, early morning. Though not usually known of depleting local wildlife or attacking many people directly, they are problematic in that they leave the wilds very dangerous and can disrupt ways of life by going after livestock without any legitimate resistance.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Being capable of hunting prey much larger than itself, the mastiff is almost strictly flesh eating, save for one exemption. Many mastiff's do not necessarily require to eat often, however they do need to eat alot, presumably due to the amount of energy a mastiff can use while dispersed, as it would appear ones in such a state often require more food, making hound's in the Materium much less hungry than those of the Nightlands. One could assume this means that they are less dangerous, however displacing the intelligent monstrosity from it's true and optimal habitat makes many mastiffs stuck in the brightness of the Materium agitated at best and furious and spiteful at worst. It ought to be noted that despite their power to hunt alone well enough, almost all mastiffs hunt in small packs of usually between 5 to 8 in number. By this, they can bring down small hordes of undead, greater spirits and greater monstrosities and beasts of their native Realm.

Mastiffs have the unique ability to consume the remaining essences of undead and incorporeal undead, though this does not mean they consume souls or anything of that nature, only the magical essences of Tharsus that drive undead. It should be noted, mastiff's can and sometimes do consume the magical energies of Moonbridges themselves, sorcerous corpses, ritualistic areas, etc., wherever raw magical energies can be found and or resonate from. It does this by unlatching it's mandibles from it's jaws and pulling in air from it's surroundings, into it's mouth and then into guy where the Tharsus is contained and digested. It is unknown exactly how or why the magical energy here is consumed within it's body, but it is suspected that it is used to aid the mastiff in it's own mystical actions and functions.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Pholghs, living in packs, live in somewhat small ones. An average pack numbers in 6 of them, not including pups or elders. There is an individual alpha of the pack, similar to a wolf pack, who leads and makes almost all actions unchallenged. Following that is an appointed beta, who stead's the pack and takes charge if the alpha dies or is exiled. Following this are the rest of the pack, with no particular roles other than supporting the alpha and beta, and of what is expected of them.

Domestication

Pholghs are not a tamable species like normal wolf's and hound's are, not even as wargs and dire wolves can be. Where other species may require special treatments such as respect, pampering, and or feeding consistently, pholghs are much different. Despite their general intelligence, they can only be coerced into domestication, if you could even call it that, by force and magical influence. Pholghs are extremely rebellious to non pholghs having power over them, so much to the point that if given a good chance, they will kill their non pholgh master. Because of this, pholghs are hardly tamed, and when they are, they are by the most cruel and or determined handlers.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Pholghs, when under control, make extremely desirable hunting hounds, assault beasts and guard dogs if used properly. Since they are not vulnerable in darkness, they are much harder to kill then and their exceptional tracking skills, and ability to see into the ether often make them pets of powerful casters and exceptional slayers and hunters.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Nightlands

Across many parts of the Nightlands Realm and occasionally in some smaller areas of the Mundane Realm. They do not hunt in higher altitudes, although it is not known why they choose not to, instead opting for lowlands, specifically fields and forests, especially denser ones. In the Nightlands, pholghs establish territories wherever the food is good and often stay there for years at a time, until they are driven out by something else or there is no more food in the area.

Materium

Packs unlucky or foolish enough to be caught in the Materium must often choose dense forests, large cave systems or immense structures to reside and hunt within, as they cannot truly live and hunt where the sun shines. At worst, a pack or individual pholgh must live in the darkness of something such as a cave or abandoned building till night arrives to travel or hunt.

Average Intelligence

Mastiffs are intelligent enough that they can serve as domesticated beasts and yet also, and often do so, choose not to. They can recognize the meanings of different languages if they around them long enough and given enough context. For this, they often lie for hours on end in wait before attacking other intelligent and speaking creatures. It is suspected this is because they are trying to decide if they worth attacking and what the risks are. This is all also without saying they live in a calculated pack structure and must learn to use their own bodily functions as they age.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Mastiffs, despite their somewhat corporeal nature, do not have the murky senses that many other creatures do. Instead, one could say, in their natural dissipated form, their senses actually amplify.

Hearing

A mastiff's hearing is structurally not so different from that of a common wolf hound's ears. It should be noted, because of this fair relative similarity, one could assume they are simply generally alike in this way, but one could not be further from the truth. By this, a mastiff's sense of hearing is not based only sound, but rather by the proximity of light and shadow distance. Upon further notice, when one inspects the ear organs of a mastiff, they see not one, but two sets of drums hidden further on into the ear. It is unknown how this second ear drum functions, lacking certain pieces of a normal drum, but it can be assumed to aid function in that it aids in possibly mystical means. For example, a hunter who makes little to no sound happens upon a mastiff, it's back turned to him and it at first unaware to his presence. The hunter is in light, however upon entering a nearby shadow, such as the one the mastiff is also in, the monstrosity will then notice him as they now share the same shadow. It is by this second set of ear drums, capable of shadow sensory, that mastiff's are extremely difficult to sneak up on, especially in darkness.

Sight

Unlike the aforementioned ears, structurally, a mastiff's eyes are very dissimilar to that of a wolves. Where a wolf has a means to take in light and transmit the seen scene to it's brain, a mastiff instead is only capable of taking in the lack of light. To do this, it would seem that once it gazes into a dark area, its eyes emit a strange ' false light' that consume the area before it, although this false light cannot be seen by normal eyes, only in the ethereal, leading to the idea that their sight is magical based, despite appearing to work in non magical areas as well. It is by these too, that mastiff's are very formidable in darkness.

Mysticisms

Their false light is limited to only the darkness however. While they can see in darkness, perfect and imperfect, they cannot see in even normal light. Despite this weakness however, in any kind of light, they are capable of seeing the inner workings of the Realms in between. They are capable of seeing into the ether by their false light as well. It is unknown exactly how the light does this, but it is speculated their light passes through not only the world they live in, but due to semi magical wualities, into other Realms overlapping and layering the one they see.

Scientific Name

Sumner Nucter Canus

Lifespan

Roughly 10 years.

Average Height

Roughly 4 feet tall.

Average Weight

Between 190 and 320 lbs.

Average Length

Between 4'6" and 6'6" in length from head to tail.

Average Physique

Pholghs are powerful creatures, muscles line their body, especially around the head and neck, allowing for bone crushing strengths comparable to much larger beasts and monsters.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most pholghs fall in-between a greyish color and complete black, with a few exhibiting patches of crimson red or silver in their fur.