Also, when noble zoogs feel a need for the guidance of other, lesser zoogs, they do not hesitate to call them to the council as participants.. When less-sweeping plans are needed, a sing
Trang 1Mythos Races
II
45
considered Also, when noble zoogs feel a need for the
guidance of other, lesser zoogs, they do not hesitate to
call them to the council as participants For example,
if a lower ranked zoog had traveled for a long period of
time with a group of captured adventurers, that zoog
would be interrogated at the council, and his testimony
may well determine the fate of those adventurers
When less-sweeping plans are needed, a single noble
may lead a group of zoogs in some major task—for
example, constructing a large trap designed to capture
a large animal
Zoogs also have an equivalent to human guilds,
in which all like-minded zoogs within a forest share
wisdom or work on large projects Typical zoog guilds
include trap-makers, magical researchers, alchemists
(a generic term for all tinkerers), loremasters, and
animal tamers Unlike human guilds, these are always
led and ruled by one or more noble zoogs and advised
by the rest The nobles are not necessarily the most
experienced workers in the trade, but they do receive
training and are always willing to listen to other, more
skilled zoogs Young nobles are assigned as apprentices
to the various guilds so that they can learn the trade
and be ready to take positions of leadership
Venturing Outside the Wood
The natural zoog habitat is dark, deep woods Often,
when zoogs wish to colonize a new region, they must
travel through the outside world, which is a dangerous
proposition Sometimes, they try to avoid trouble by
moving only at night Other times, they bargain with
fey to gain access to their strange magic or mysterious
portals Occasionally, zoogs make a treaty with groups
whose lands they must travel through, offering to
gift their hosts with magic or unusual forest herbs in
exchange for protection
Protection deals can lead to interesting adventures
for players, who may be tasked by their kingdom or
their friends to travel with the zoog host and keep them safe from enemies and ambushes Herding along
a large mob of small, ferocious zoogs while wolves, trolls, or other natural foes try to pick off some of the troop could be a fun travel scenario Hazards might include bandits hoping to kidnap a zoog noble or a family, bitter about past zoog predations, lusting for vengeance
Warfare
While zoogs are known to go into battle, these excursions would not be considered a “war” by human standards Instead, the zoogs treat their attacks as
an extension of their clever tricks, and usually try to encapsulate the whole conflict within a single huge ambush or trap Hence, a typical zoog war lasts only
a day or two and ends in a complete victory for one side or the other: either the zoog ambush works or it doesn’t
Zoogs are highly protective of their high-ranking nobles because they take so many generations to produce, so their wars are almost always triggered by the death (accidental or otherwise) of a noble zoog or zooglet
Zoogs recover populations decimated in war more quickly than other sentient races, thanks to their fast breeding cycle As a result, they are not particularly deterred by the threat of losses—except with regard to their nobles
Faith Zoogs are not very religious They recognize the existence of gods and demons, but are only interested
in them as potential sources of power or as threats
They are always, at their core, pragmatists in any kind
of religious devotion, though they are able to parrot belief in order to comfort or fool humans or other races