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II Mythos Races considered Also, when noble zoogs feel a need for the their friends to travel with the zoog host and keep guidance of other, lesser zoogs, they not hesitate to them safe from enemies and ambushes Herding along call them to the council as participants For example, a large mob of small, ferocious zoogs while wolves, if a lower ranked zoog had traveled for a long period of trolls, or other natural foes try to pick off some of the time with a group of captured adventurers, that zoog troop could be a fun travel scenario Hazards might would be interrogated at the council, and his testimony include bandits hoping to kidnap a zoog noble or a may well determine the fate of those adventurers family, bitter about past zoog predations, lusting for When less-sweeping plans are needed, a single noble vengeance may lead a group of zoogs in some major task—for Warfare 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 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 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 The natural zoog habitat is dark, deep woods Often, breeding cycle As a result, they are not particularly when zoogs wish to colonize a new region, they must deterred by the threat of losses—except with regard to travel through the outside world, which is a dangerous their nobles 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 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 for players, who may be tasked by their kingdom or 45