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What is a Canius?

Guardens

Now let me first start out by saying that the Guardens are the greatest of the Canius people, and this is due to a verity of reasons. They are, to start off with, the first of the Canius to be created. They are also the most numerous of our race. If you ask a person to identify a member of the Canius race, you will most likely get a blank look. Now if you ask the same person to identify a Guarden, it is unlikely you will have any hesitation on that person pointing one out. They are also the most spread out, population wise. They largest concentration is here, within The Sapphire Empire, but they are spread out throughout the galaxy. There are large populations in the Terranova Confederation and the Drakkei Empire. A surprising number can also be found within The Grendel Empire as well, and I have heard of small communities existing in the Cybernax Protectorate and The Syntax Empire. We have even found long lost colonies with Guarden populations still in existence. The Guarden's true strength is their adaptability. No other Canius can fit into so many different environments and cultures.

So, who exactly are the Guardens? Guardens were originally created to be the empire's soldiers, and the bodyguards to its elite and nobles. Now before I go any further, I must say that all Canius were bred for war. It is the individual aspects of war that differ between the three sub-species. Guardens excel at the front line type of warfare, where overt displays of skill can be just as intimidating as the brute force they can bring to bare. Therefore, Guardens are the visible arm of the Canius race. They have a natural strength that can not be matched by humans and elves without the aid of magic, genetic manipulation, or mechanical assistance. While this brute force is what Guardens are known for, they are not stupid or unskilled. One of the best blacksmiths I know of is a Guarden with a PHD in structural engineering, chemistry, and geology. He just fell in love with blacksmithing, as well as gunsmithing, and provides a great deal of equipment to both the Paladins, and the Free Knights. Guardens are also incredibly stoic, almost to the point of being stubborn and emotionless. Most Guardens are practically emotionless in a fight, with a natural discipline that could make the Roman Legions look like a lawless mob. This discipline, however, works at its best in small groups, normally between five to twenty. Exceptional individuals have been known to make good commanders, and anyone who wants to command a unit, of any size, of Guardens must have a strong personality. Guardens aren't given to rebelling against orders they don't like, but they respect people that know what they are doing.

Guardens get there looks from the wolves that once populated Old Terra, and now populate several human colonies, such as Terranova. They are broken down into further categories based on the color of their fur; Black, Grey, Red, Brown, and White respectively. Each color was originally designated for a specific role with in the empire (see the history section for more on the empire). The Black Guardens are by far the most common Guarden in existence. They were made to serve as the soldiers for the empire's armies. Commanders were normally promoted from the ranks of the Black Guarden soldiers. They are also know to serve as police, bodyguards, and enforcers. Grey Guardens are the second common type of Guardens. Grey Guardens are the most magically oriented type of Guarden, the magic coming so naturally that they seldom need tutors. They were meant to serve as war wizards, advisers, enchanter, and have served as religious leaders throughout history. One in five Grey Guardens is a priest or priestess of some sort today. Red Guardens, the third most common type, have an unusual roll in Guarden society. They are the relic keepers and hunters of the old empire. Their job also encompasses guarding dangerous knowledge, and they specialize in anti-magic abilities. Red Guardens are a dying breed today. There were never a lot of them, and their genes and rolls have since been absorbed by the other breeds. Brown Guardens are all but extinct today. I've heard of some planets with a small population of Brown Guardens, but these sightings are often proven to be unreliable. Brown Guardens were made to serve as the armies scouts and assassins, and they made damn good archers. Most of the empire's armies had small units of Brown Guardens that served as archers when not on other duties. White Guardens were once the rarest breed of Guardens, but are now as common as the Grays. I believe this is due to the roll that they were originally created for, which is the roll of champion. They were weapon masters, duelists, and King Champions. While this roll seems kind of narrow, it also incorporates such things as heralds, seneschals, and Keeper of the King's Justice, a roll that is a mixture of Judge and Lawyer of today's professions. The White Guardens are also responsible for a profession that has spread to other races and cultures. The roll of Slayer, or Monster Hunter, was a very important profession in olden times that a person, who survived the Monsters that they hunted, could become very rich, and the White Guardens excelled at it. One of the most successful, and famous, Slayers was Beowulf Trollbane, a White Guarden, who was made even more famous when his deeds were put into song. Disgustingly, the humans who wrote the song turned him into a human, and reduced the number of trolls he killed to two.

Now this explains what the important roll of the different breeds of Guardens are, but what do they look like? As I have already said, Guardens resemble wolves. Now, before you start asking about wolf breeds, let me state this. Guardens are the product of combining a dire wolf with a human through magical means. Therefore, the wolf breeds did not matter when the Guardens were created, so don't bother asking. I couldn't tell you if they did, anyway. I should state that we Canius, and the empire we served, are not from Earth in the first place. How we got there is still a mystery, even to me. So, to start off with, a Guarden stands between five foot ten to six foot six, with a few standing even taller. Beowulf was said to reputedly be six foot ten, though 'I' have never seen a single Guarden that tall until the creation of Clan Wolf's Marine Project. Weight for a Guarden is a little harder to pin down, but the average for most active Guardens, which is most of them, is between two hundred to three hundred and fifty pounds. And let me remind the reader that this weight is not fat. I have already explained the fur color, so I will go on to explain the hair. Yes, all Canius have hair that grows at different rates, and lengths, than that of our fur. The fur more or less stops growing after it reaches a certain length, while the hair continues to grow. Now most Guardens, especially males, cut their hair in such a way that the hair is indistinguishable from that of their fur. Guarden hair is usually very fine and soft, with almost a silky quality to it, muck like their fur. And yes, they do grow an under coat in the winter, though this is no where close to the thickness of our wild cousins. Guardens can endure extreme weather better then humans, but they still require the appropriate clothing for really harsh weather. For the most part, Guarden hair color will match their fur color, for the most part, though it may be a different shade of that color. Browns, reds, and blondes of all different shades are also possible. Eye color can also be a little ordinary. That is, similar to that of a human. The most common eye colors are blue and green, with brown being the rarest. Hazel and gray, typically steel gray, iris colors are also common. Magic effects a Guarden's eye color the same way it does for a Dragolian; it changes the color of the iris to something unusual, such as magenta or crimson. That being said, if you come across a Guarden with "Gold" colored eyes, run. And I'm not talking about golden yellow, but gold, as in polished gold. These Guardens take the "Old Art" to extreme levels, and I have known of quite a few who practice Necromancy and Black Magic. And I said Black Magic, not Demonology. Two totally different subjects. That is an amateurs mistake. If you have an interest is such things, I recommend Math Mathonwy's "A Treaties on The Different Types of Magic." But I am now off subject. Sorry, a small pet peeve of mine. To continue.

Guarden Culture. Guardens tend to be tribal first, and familiar second. Or they used to be. The clear lines of the tribes are now completely gone, and over half of the tribes did not survive the fall of the empire that created us. The family unit now has taken over the roll of the tribe, and when I talk about the family unit, I am referring to a community of Guardens, not to a group of Guardens related by blood. Though in some places, it can mean the same thing. Let me explain. Originally, a community was, if not ruled over, than advised by the eldest female in the community. Guardens are surprisingly matriarchal, with each of the tribes, and now the communities, ruled over by a female from a noble, if not royal, family. This position was originally handed down from mother to daughter, but with the fall of the empire, this has fallen to the way side. Guardens still revere the advice of the community's senior females, however. Guarden communities still have an elder council, though a lot of the law making and law enforcement have been taken out of their hands. They still look after charities, construction plans, community crisis', and the council also makes regular trips to the community's orphanage to over see the care of the children. They also try to help new residents, regardless of the race, to settle in, and go out of their way to help new parents, especially when one of the parents has died. The council in normally dominated by females, with a few males mixed in for good measure. The original idea was that the females make the decisions, and the males provide the protection. This matriarchal outlook transfers into the individual households and families as well. Now, before any male reading this starts to complain, let me say that this outlook is instinctive, not by a matter of choice. This is why you will find that any fighting force dominated by Guardens will be lead by a strong, often independent, female. It is in their nature. And females normally do not fight over who is in charge, with the younger females deferring to the older females. When there is a dispute, they will often debate it in open council and then have an assembly vote on the one who made the best argument. Physical violence is forbidden at such events, though intimidation is frequently used. As with most human governments, force of character normally wins over knowledge. But I am slightly off track. Back to the families. As in most cultures, the female is left to raise the children, leaving the male as the provider. Both parents are in charge of providing protection, as female Guardens are normally as strong and skilled as their male counterparts. As with everything, there are exceptions, and some households have the female as the provider, and the male raising the children. In today's society, it is becoming more common to have both parents acting as the provider. As with the community council, families normally defer to the eldest female in the house. Why the communities of New Berlin are so different, and overbearingly patriarchal, is beyond my understanding. You are better off asking Miss Sarah Reigns, Free Knight to The Sapphire Crown; though if you do, make sure you have a battle suit and a strong force field. It's a...touchy subject.

Now Guardens come of age at the age of twenty just like any other Canius, but for Guardens it means much more than that. It also means that the Guarden is now of marriageable age. Guarden families take this time to throw elaborate parties, especially if the child in question is the first born, and most especially if the first born is a girl. Normally, all eligible males are free to present themselves as suitors, and the girl is free to chose a handful of these suitors to go through a trial period, which can be anywhere from a few months to a year or two, in order to choose the one who best fits with the girl in question. This period is then followed by a year of courtship, and a date for the wedding is set at the end of the courtship period, normally anywhere from a month later to five years in the future. This period of courtship and waiting is to make sure that if anyone gets cold feet, they can still back out before being committed for the rest of their lives. In more traditional families, these suitors are normally picked by either one parent, or both. Males go through a similar process, though competition between the female suitors can be a little heated. Strangely, this does not happen with male suitors too often. Remember, Guardens tend to be matriarchal, and their females are a little more aggressive than the males. In today's society, a lot of the original meaning of these parties has been lost, for it was designed to strengthen bloodlines and establish allies between the ruling families. Today, they are treated much like the human "Sweet Sixteen" parties, as time to celebrate the coming of age, without the commitment of marriage.

Once a couple is married, they are encouraged to have children as fast as possible. As front line soldiers, Guardens originally had a very high mortality rate, and it was a rare, and exceptionally gifted, Guarden who lived to reach old age. These days, it has become less of a problem, but some of those instincts are hard to squash. Most families have between three and five children throughout their lives. Guardens stay fertile up until the last three or four decades of their lives. Twins are fairly common, but most Guardens have one child at a time. It is a rare Guarden that has triplets, and anyone who says that they have heard of a Guarden giving birth to more than this, is lying. Newly born Guardens have all their fur and hair in place, and are called pups up until they reach two years of age. Their legs, arms, and tail all start out under size, and their first set of teeth do not come in until they are three or four months old. During this time, they are totally dependent on their mother's milk, or someone volunteering their milk. Ninety percent of Guardens mothers breast feed their pups, with the remainder either reluctant to do so, or unable to. Today's medical advances have been able to replicate Guarden breast milk, and it is available to those families that need such things, such as a single father, or the orphanage. As they age over the next few months, the pups limbs grow quickly to match the rest of their body, and are able to walk with in nine to ten months, though granted, not all that well. Now, Guardens are born with their eyes shut for the first week of their lives. Scientists speculate that this is so that they get use to the using their sensitive noses, and become able to pick out the smell of their mother and father, but no one knows for sure. When the eyes do open, they are completely formed, with the iris color that they will have for the rest of their lives.

As I have already stated, Guardens reach sexual maturity around the age of twenty, but they can be sexually active as early as ten. In the past, it was not unheard of to have a Guarden child, usually a girl, married as early as the age of twelve in an effort to increase the population. This was normally frowned upon, and required a national emergency, such as the aftermath of a very long and/or costly war, and is now considered a crime. As I said, Guardens are very family oriented, and such measures were seen as a last resort. Incest within a family is strictly prohibited, though children born of such unions, for they do happen from time to time, do not usually have the birth defects that occur among humans. This, and abuse of a child, will usually bring out the worst of the community, and it is not unheard of for the community to lynch the offending party. The children of such unions are treated just like any other child, either remaining with their mother, or taken to the orphanage, depending on the circumstances, and with out the stigmata attached to their birth. After all, it is not the child's fault that it was born is such a way.

And that brings up the next subject: Life Expectancy. As I have stated, Guardens, and Canius in general, can live a very long time, and the average for a Guarden is around five hundred years, with the longest lived Guarden in record being that of five hundred and forty-seven. Unlike humans, Guardens do not start showing the deprivations of age until they get around four hundred and seventy to four hundred and ninety. At this point in time, the Guarden will rapidly weaken, loose the color in their hair (for those that are not white or gray already), and loose the perfect vision that is part of Guarden physiology. These Guardens are encouraged to retire from what ever field they work in, and the community does its best to make the remainder of their lives as comfortable as possible. A Guarden, as far as I know, has never developed cancers, or some diseases, such as AIDS, as humans do. Guardens can still catch such things as the Black Death, colds, and flues, it is just harder for them to catch them. As with diseases, poisons have a harder time effecting them then they do humans. Most common poisons will make a Guarden feel ill for a short period of time, and stronger ones will force a Guarden into bed for a few days. The strongest poisons, such as the "Dreaded Naga" poison (I did not name it), still effects them as it does anything else. Now, all this being said, we have a slight problem with magical diseases, such as vampirism and lycanthropy. These are an anathema to all Canius. A Canius who contracts these diseases has only a few days to live, and the standard cures for these diseases has no effect on a Canius. The infected Canius can not pass this disease on, and the death of a Canius to this disease will only produce a corpse. A very specific disease known as "Living Vampirism" is the only disease that effects us with the effects similar to that of infected human, though this is a genetic disease, which is different from the normal vampirism, and can only be passed on to the next generation.

Now what about military might? Guardens are extremely adaptable when it comes to warfare, after all, it was what they were made for. They adapt to whatever form of combat that is used in the society they live in. At the time of the empires existence, the standard military was very similar to that of the Roman Republic, that is, very infantry oriented. Their were specialized units in this military, however, just like any type of military. Three distinct military units were created from the Guardens who showed a special affinity towards certain fields: The Black Guard, most of the time called The Dark Guard; The Slayers; and The Dark Rangers. The Dark Guard was the personal bodyguards to the emperor, and served as his enforcers, secret police, and ambassadors. Both the Free Knights and the Paladins are based off of The Dark Guard, though the duties are divided between the two groups. Originally, The Dark Guard was a unit of only a few hundred members that was not only martial in nature, but magical. A prospective member wishing to join The Dark Guard had to be quick witted, able to adapt to a variety, often confusing, political situations, and be able to handle detection magic as well as combat magic. And more importantly, be a Guarden. The Dark Guard were entirely made up of Guardens for the entirety of their existence, mostly of the black Guarden breed. These requirements, along with a grueling training regime, some of which the Free Knights still use, made for a low to non-existent recruiting quotas. To compensate for this problem, The Dark Guard created the Bloodline Record, a list of families that had an affinity for magic and their descendents. Originally, it only dealt with Guardens, but towards the end of the empire's existence, it dealt with all Canius. Sadly, The Dark Guard no longer exists, as the last members disappeared shortly after the fall of the empire, and while some of their teachings and duties were passed on, most of their knowledge was lost, including how they kept the Bloodline Record.

The Slayers are the longest running military organization to exist in Guarden history, and is still in existence today, though in other guises. The Slayers were originally dominated by white Guardens, and it was their job to seek out the best warriors and commanders in enemy armies, and "slay" them. Now let me say that Slayers are not assassins. They seek out individuals in open combat, either in the middle of a battle, or by calling out a challenge for a duel. Duels at this time allowed the one being challenged to pick the weapon or weapons, which forced the Slayer to be an expert in several weapons and unarmed fighting styles. As time went on, the Slayers found that they could not recruit from white Guardens alone, and started to recruit anyone, regardless of race, who had the aptitude to learn the many fighting styles they used. They also found out that a lot of their techniques could be applied to hunting monsters. They created special training techniques to be used against specific monsters, the most successful being the Vampire Slayers and the Dragon Slayers. Because of the high mortality rate of the Slayer professions, ninety percent of all recruits did not survive their first encounter, it was customary for a Master Slayer to take on several trainees until they got the basics down. At the point in time that they learned the basics, the trainees had to go out and slay monsters by themselves. Those that survived long enough to kill their fifth monster were then considered Masters, and then able to take on apprentices. By the time of the empire's fall, the Slayers were acting more like a guild then a military unit. Today, the Slayers act as mercenaries and bounty hunters specializing in criminal organizations and extremely dangerous races, though they still hold true to a high standard of business and are not as unscrupulous as most mercenaries are.

The Dark Rangers were the only military organization to survive the fall of the empire completely whole. A mixture of front line soldiers and scouts, they were a highly disciplined fighting force that could fight in a pitched battle, or fight a guerrilla war with ease. Though not as heavily armored as the standard infantry, they were a force not to be underestimated in close combat, as each Ranger was highly trained in their chosen weapons. All Rangers were required to be proficient in bows and crossbows, light or throwing spears, daggers, axes, and either short or war swords. Their armor consisted of mostly leather, with metal reinforcing specific areas of the body, namely the shoulders, forearms, and shins. A special girdle of overlapping leather strips was used to protect the abdomen. Over all of this went a short cloak with an attached hood. A longer, fur lined cloak was used during winter. The Dark Rangers favorite tactic was to divide up the unit, and attack with missile weapons from cover, first on one side, then from another, causing considerable confusion within the enemies ranks. When the enemy was completely confused, and had suffered considerable casualties from the missiles, the Rangers would charge in from multiple sides to finish the enemy off. The Dark Rangers normally recruited from the civilian population, which was required to have some training in military matters starting at the age of twenty-one, and ending at the age of thirty. Clan Dragon still has this system in place, though The Dark Rangers no longer exist. A few hundred years after the fall of the empire, what remained of The Dark Rangers was absorbed into the various societies they had become part of, and they ceased to be.

Now what religions do Guardens practice? All Canius tend to be monotheistic, that is, the belief in one god or goddess. Originally, Guardens worshiped The Great Mother, a deity that gave birth to everything because she was lonely. The religion is very similar to that practiced by some of the Native American tribes of Old America, on Terra. It was a religion of harmony with the world around you and with yourself. As time past, the Guardens converted to the worship of The Great Architect, a religion that parallels that of Judaism. Please note that it is similar, not the same, and treating it as such is likely to result in having two very angry groups after you. Most Guardens are primarily Catholic Christians now, with a handful turning to the Baptists, drawn to the family oriented worship of their churches. Please note that I am not a very religious person myself, and am not very knowledgeable about such things, so if I err in somethings, please pardon me. I have heard rumors of some Guardens who are atheists, but I find this highly unlikely. Most likely these individuals worship something abstract, such as power or music. I will not pretend to understand such concepts, but such things have happened before.

Here, then, ends our discussion on Guardens. Next up is my favorite sub-species of the Canius: The Caernars.