Cynanthropes: Werehounds of the Eastlands

Cynanthropes are a race of Men who have been specially bred as kind of tame werewolf. In fact, these werehounds were bred from male hunting hounds and female werewolves in the lands of the Warlords. Their directability and keen senses of hearing and smell made them ideal hunting companions, often as handlers of the pack. Their affinity with both dogs and wolves ideally suited them to the task. Werehounds, unlike werewolves, are relatively docile folk and are also able to control their shapeshifting at will, whereas werewolves suffer a monthly round of nearly impossible to control shifting. Even so, cynanthropes are only rarely able to shift into full dog shape. They typically take on some number of characteristics while retaining a basically human shape. Some exhibit slightly elongated jaws & snout; elongated ears; elongated canine teeth; a tail; the ability to bark properly; elongated ears. Those few who can become full dogs, often take the opportunity to conceal themselves among the dog population of the city they inhabit.

Daine are able to detect the presence of either cynanthropes or lycanthropes. They seem to have a considerable affinity for animals in general, but dogs and wolves in particular and it is well known that Daine were the first to be chosen by wolves as domestic friends and partners.

It is not known how many werehounds were initially bred, nor how many came about due to the natural course of events in the lives of these werehounds, but there seems to have been a rather large population of these folk in Warlord ruled lands.

Over the years, many werehound men and women escaped the slavery of the Warlords' dog pens and most refugees of earlier ages ended up drifting towards either Auntimoany, old Hoopelle or else the wild country of the Arnal Mountains. In these places, they kept mostly to themselves, only very rarely divulging their true natures to any but the most trusted confidants. Given that Daine are able to detect a cynanthrope, many newly arrived werehound refugees naturally fear their Daine neighbors considerably. Yet they needn't worry, for the Daine are trustworthy and most careful with the secrets they know.

Most werehounds that came to the great empires took up honorable work as guards, soldiers, watchmen and the like. That is to say, work with a clearly defined social structures and hierarchy and where few questions are asked of the applicants. Even so, a few have taken to more intellectual pursuits: philosophy, medicine and literature being clear favorites.

Werehound Healers

The first known werehound healer lived for a while at Alixaundria in Iconia, taking the name Fidonicus, before moving on to Auntimoany. His treatise, The Canine Senses as Healing Modality, was never published among physicians in general, though it has widely circulated among his fellow werehounds, being lovingly passed from generation to generation in secret. An extract from the work reads:

While it is a well known fact to every man that our canine cousins possess superior senses of smell and hearing, with respect to those of Men or Daine, it is also true that they are ill equipped to communicate with their human Masters what they have learned thereby apart from the suggestive wagging of the tail or else the issuance of sugestive whining. We, my cynanthropic brothers and sisters, also possess superior senses of smell and hearing with respect to Men and Daine, but what is more, it is well known to us, even if we keep this gift a secret from other Men, we are fully able to rationally consider and communicate what our noses and ears are telling us... (I.i.)

Werehounds trained in the healing arts become adept at detecting various diseases suffered by Men and animals alike, and also many kinds of poisons or toxic sicknesses. They can also hear and appreciate the many sounds and rhythms of the body: the blood flowing through the veins, the greater and lesser sounds of the heart, the sounds of lungs and bowels. They can thus detect blood flow, blockages, stenoses, and vessel constriction all without laying a single hand on the patient.

A typical healing session with a werehound healer plays out with some similarities to a session with a faith healer or witch doctor (or even an ordinary physician in many parts of the civilized world!), to outward appearances anyway. Although the werehound healer will ask questions in order to gauge the patient's history and scope of his complaint, as often as not the werehound will simply stand in the presence of the patient, usually slightly behind and to one side or the other. He will pass his hands very close to the patient's head, face, torso and limbs, but will not at first touch the patient. Most folks don't pay this much mind, as they consider such shennanigans to be part of the schtick. But what differentiates the werehound from other healers is that he is using the examination time to evaluate the odors and sounds of the patient and reasoning through what they signify.

Cynanthropic healers tend to "get the diagnosis right" far more often than other doctors, potion pushers and snake oil vendors. It should be noted that their reiki-esque assessment doesn't mean the patient will necessarily get better quicker, or even at all. Just because the healer can sniff out cancer or high blood sugar doesn't mean the patient will necessarily be cured. All it means is the patient is much more likely to get the right diagnosis -- and still be told to swill this or that potion or eat more kale and cabbage.

(Note to medical staff: Just be careful when opening a jar of potted meat for Dr. Rover's hearing is as good as his sense of smell and he's liable to come tearing into the staff lounge at the first hint of the jar opener being engaged!)