The Dragon Realms

The Canidae Kingdom: A Design Guide

Where dragons embody the great compass of elements, the Canidae kingdom represents primal earthbound strength. Wolves and wolf-like beings dominate this branch, their lineage stretching from feral beasts to creatures touched by draconic influence. Unlike Draconis, Canidae does not map cleanly onto the compass: most are earth- or ice-inclined, with rare elemental mutations shaping their forms.

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Wargs – The Dire Wolves

• Form: Towering wolves, several times the size of their natural cousins. Their coats are natural hues—greys, browns, blacks, whites—never touched by the flamboyance of elemental scales.

• Elements: None by default, though environment may lend a mild ice or earth affinity (snowbound Wargs develop frosted pelts; stone-dwelling packs may grow heavy, slate-colored hides).

• Nature: Wargs are feral predators, dangerous to young or inexperienced dragons. They are cunning pack hunters, but never intelligent beyond wolfish instinct.

• Player Note: When you want a primal, “true beast” enemy, Wargs are your go-to. They are the baseline predator of Canidae.

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Barghests – The Elemental Wargs

• Form: Similar to Wargs in shape but altered by elemental forces. Fire Barghests may have glowing ember-eyes and scorched pelts, while Water Barghests carry dripping, kelp-like fur. Their appearances echo how dragons manifest their elements. Significantly old and experienced Wargs often can rival dragons who are at or near elemental mastery.

• Elements: Strongly tied to one affinity—fire, ice, earth, wind, or water.

• Nature: Unlike Wargs, Barghests range in mentality from feral to truly sapient. Rarely, they may display intellect enough to communicate or even integrate into dragon society, though this is exceedingly uncommon.

• Player Note: Use Barghests when you want “elemental wolf” archetypes. They are the transitional species between bestial predators and myth-touched beings.

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Hellhounds – The Draconic Canids

• Form: Always bearing a wolf’s head, but unmistakably infused with draconic traits—horns curving from skulls, armored scales or plates across their bodies, serpent-like tails, even wings sprouting from their shoulders.

• Elements: Fully elemental, their alignment warps their appearance as with dragons. A fire-aligned Hellhound may breathe flame, while an earth-aligned one could bear obsidian plating.

• Nature: Always intelligent, Hellhounds are distinct from Wargs and Barghests. No one knows their true origin; they are considered unnatural outliers in Canidae taxonomy. While most dragons distrust them, dark dragon societies often grant them acceptance as kin.

• Player Note: These are the most "player-facing" canids—personalities, allies, rivals. Think of them as uncanny hybrids that bridge dragon-kind with wolf-kind.

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Classification Notes

• Wargs: Feral baseline, always wolf-like, never draconic.

• Barghests: Elementally-mutated Wargs, spectrum from beast to thinker.

• Hellhounds: Intelligent pseudo-hybrids with dragon features, unrelated origins.