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The Walk from Darkness to Light:

A Brief History of the Canius People

Compiled by,

Rhys ap Tewdwr,

Lead Archivist of The Sapphire Empire.

The history of my people has been subjected to many interpretations, assumptions, and wild flights of fancy. The problem is that the true history of our people is even harder to lock down than the myths and legends that have come down to use across the years, even by those that have lived it. It has been drowned under myths, legends, and false history. Even for those of use that have been there from the beginning, such as myself, the memory of the true beginning is no longer clear. For those of us that were "changed", this is, for those of us who came first, we are no longer able to remember who we once were. All that is left of our original beings is our name, and in some instances, we are not even left that. I will expand on this later, in the historical section, but let it suffice to say that time is the "killer" of all things, and it definitely has had the last laugh when it concerns the Canius people.

So, where should I begin? Well, the most logical place to begin would be at the beginning, would it not? Before my people came into being. But what of my readers unfamiliar with the Canius people? Oh, I am sure you have seen us, but what do you know about us? I believe some explanation is in order. So let us begin there.

What is a Canius?

General Description

The Canius Race is born of magic and ancient knowledge, though that knowledge is a little one sided, as it was used to create us, not to be instilled in us. Though we are no where as magical as the Dragon Races; The Drakkei, or True Dragons; The Dragolians, or Dragonmen, or as some call them, the Pretenders; and the Wer-Dragons, who I admit, are not all magical; we, the Canius, have an innate ability for magic. Though not everyone of us are practitioners of the "Old Art", it does infuse our very bones. So how does this relate to our description? Why, through our natural abilities, of course. Let me explain.

We Canius have heightened abilities that make us different from our human and elven ancestry, and not just through our physical looks. More on that later. Some things we have inherited from the creatures we were blended with. For instance, our sense of smell is far greater than that of humans, though no where near as sensitive as that of a blood hound. This makes us very good trackers, and it is very hard to lie to us, or to deceive us. It is not impossible to do so, mind it is just hard to do so. Also, our sense of hearing is far greater than humans, though not quite as good as that of elves. And yes, we can hear dog whistles, but we see it more as an annoyance then the sharp pain that our canine cousins experience. Thankfully, we have not inherited our eye sight from our four-legged cousins. We can see better than humans, and we are not color blind. There are exceptions, of course, as there are in any race, and some have reported being only able to see specific colors. Our sense of touch is no better than that of a human, with some of us being able to feel less, and some able to feel more.

Now we do have a very high metabolism, and that is why you will seldom, if ever, find a "fat" Canius. Add this metabolism to our preference for physical activities and jobs, and we burn through our food very fast. This will also explain our some what...lack... of table manners. It is hard to be polite while eating with a jaw that resembles, and works, like that of a dog (wolf, coyote, fox, etc). Our preference of food is for meat, breads, and other high calorie food. Fast food, while it tastes good, does not do anything for us; we burn through it too fast. Now how does this tie in with magic you might say? Well, we are, in the case of the Guardens, and Caernars, stronger than the average human, and this is before any physical training, which can greatly enhance that strength. Though we can not rival the strength of the Bympyrs or Sharlins, which even the Dragolians have a hard time matching, we are exceptionally strong. My race also has a higher endurance level, and we have better reflexes. Now these are the physical manifestations of our natural magic, but what else does this tell us? What about age and life expectancy? Well, we do mature at the same rate as humans, though a Canius is not considered an adult until the end of their second decade, regardless of the culture that they would have grown up in. As for life expectancy, it depends on whether you are a Guarden, a Caernar, or a Foxling. Guardens live the shortest, with Caernars living slightly longer, and Foxlings the longest. I will go into further details in the perspective sections. Suffice to say, we live a great deal longer than humans, and let me assure you that any Canius born with mixed blood will not live any shorter than one that is a full blooded Canius. The magic in us prevents us from having shorter lives, however; if one of the parents was from a race that lives longer, it is possible for that child to live as long as the parent. With some exceptions. More on that later.

This brings us to our physical description. For the most part, we resemble men; that is two legs, two arms, four fingers and opposable thumbs on each hand, and five toes on each foot; with Foxlings being the noted exception. See their section for more details. Now the obvious difference between Canius and humans is that we resemble canines; and I am not referring to those raised and breed by sentient races. No, it is their wild cousins I am talking about. Wolves, coyotes and foxes for the most part. I will, again, go into more details in the proper sections. Now, as we resemble both men and canines, what is the difference? That is, what is the physical representations? Well, as I have all ready stated, we are structurally built like humans, but with noted exceptions. We are covered in fur, we have tails, and our heads resemble those of our canine cousins. I have heard some disturbing rumors about our reproductive abilities, though. First off, our men do not have "knots." We are not canines, we merely look like them. The same can be said of our women, who have one set of breasts, and have all the female parts of a human in their proper place. Nor are we able to breed with actual canines. The Great Maker forbid such an act. And our women do not go into "heat." They do have menstrual periods, just like a human, but they do not have the "need" to breed. We are as active as any other sentient being, and mentioning something such as "heat" to one of the ladies is a sure way to get yourself bitten. And we have strong jaws and sharp teeth.

And this brings us to the last part of the general discussion: reproduction. As I have already stated, we Canius are as active as humans, and our young can be born anytime of the year. The gestation period is on average around nine months, though some mixed blood breed can have shorter or longer periods. Those of with Bympyr blood usually are born after, or around, ten months, and those with dragon blood normally are born after six months. These, of course, are the averages. Generally, once we take a partner, it is for life, and we do not share them. Again, our sexual orientation is similar to that of humans, and we do take same sex pairings. This is not frowned upon, merely excepted. That being said, we do not have a "gay movement," it is merely part of our culture, and if that pair wants to raise a child, they are free to adopt, or find a willing participant to give birth to that child. Now, if one partner should die, the other is free to find another, though not everyone does this. In truth, this only happens about a third of the time. Out of ten Canius, three will actively take a new life partner.

The amount of young born to each pair will be discussed in the individual sections. We are able to breed with any species that a human is able to do so, which is surprisingly quite a lot. All Canius born of mixed species will take on some aspects of both parents, and I have yet to see a single one of these couplings produce sterile children, unlike some human crossbreeds, such as the human/Bympyr. I feel very sorry for these people, who must adopt in order to raise a child. But I digress. All life is sacred to the Canius, no matter the source, and such things as abortions are seen as heretical in our culture. This does not mean we are unsympathetic. If a mother does not want the child, each community has an orphanage specifically for the Canius people, who will take the unwanted and those left behind by tragedy. And so long as your record is relatively clean, you may adopt. And yes, even criminals can adopt, so long as his or her record has remained clear for a number of years, usually between ten to fifteen years, and can produce three witnesses of good standing, preferably not related by direct bloodlines. Parole Officers are acceptable. However, some crimes, such as Pedophilia, will preclude anyone from adopting. It should be stated that we Canius have a high regard for the law, with some exceptions. There are bad apples in every race.

This, then, concludes the general discussion on the Canius. Next we will go into more specifics with each of the sub-species of our race, starting with the Guardens.