This is a rather general information sheet about the Bloodhounds were I shortly mention certain fields that might be of interest for you.

Living Space:

Bloodhounds live in a foreign star system. The star system has got one sun and several planets circling around it, of which some are occupied by so called “intelligent” species.
One of these is the planet Ileyah. Ilyeah is a large blue pearl, which’s surface is by large amounts covered with water (just like earth). On Ilyeah you will find all sorts of areas: deserts,  tropical forests, glaciers, coniferous forests, steppes and completely exotic areas.

Ilyeah has got three moons which are called the three brothers. Namely those are Cinn, Dhoo and Talar.
The smallest one is Dhoo (speak D’ho). It’s a small dead moon like our Luna. Dhoo has got a very very thin atmosphere and Bloodhounds/ human and other beings couldn’t live there without technical supports.
Yet there are beings who live on this moon. It’s not much know about them as they are very shy.

Cinn (speak Sin) is around twice as big as Dhoo and is covered by 97% by forests (think of Endor from Star Wars, ;)) It’s flora and fauna is incredible rich and inherits many healing plants have their origin there. In the very heart of Cinn lives a special group of Bloodhounds, called the Eldar. They are old, wise and sometimes a bit strange.

Talar (speak Talah) is a giant with rings. He’s rather a sister planet then a moon and he’s completely covered by water. His enormous size makes the nights on Ilyeah shine in a bright and blue light. On Talar live beings which are that large that you can see them with your bare eye in clear nights from Ileyah.
On Cinn lives a mysterious race. They live under water where they have built vast cities.

Bloodhounds have colonies on the bigger two of the three moons (and a small lab on Dhoo) and on several planets in this star system and on other planets, they prefer though to remain on their home world.
This world is also home for most of my invented critters, like for example the Nameless.
Even though having a violent past (see History) Bloodhounds now life in peace with most species and beings, that’s why they are tolerated.

Anatomy:

Bloodhounds can be easily mistaken for Werewolves, but they are more like dogs, than wolves.
What they have in common with Weres is the ability to shift. It’s not “full shift” though. They can re-arrange theirs spine, shoulders and hip, what enables them to walk on all fours as well as on their hind legs only. The only thing also changes are their front paws. They turn into something more hand like.
Bloodhounds are pretty tall. Walking on all fours their size varies from 1.30 centimeters (sorry that I don’t count in inches) till 1.75 centimeters, depending on breed and living space. Most likely the females will be a bit smaller than the males.  Bloodhounds in hot and moist areas are most likely smaller then those out of icy and cold areas.

Bloodhounds are Canines and Carnivores and so are their bodies built. They still survive in many places by hunting prey and killing it trough breaking their prey’s neck or suffocating it. They have got a high endurance, a good sight, good hearing and superb smell (there are differences though from breed to breed).
Some hounds have got claws as sharp as feline ones and they even can pull them in like cats do it. Those claws also give them the ability to climb up trees.

Now for some things that differ Bloodhounds from other canines: Bloodhounds have got three toes only! (plus a thumb at the front paws). Every Bloodhound has a Greek symbol on its forehead (why they are Greek will remain a secret) and they all have an eye marking of the same shape (except for those whose markings got changed due to mutations).

The eyes of a Bloodhound appear to be white and empty, but in fact they are neither blind nor is this their true eye color. When a Bloodhound puppy is born it has his very own eye color. There would be no white to be seen and no pupil. The eyes of a Bloodhound would mirror a universe, a stellar nebula or something similar.
Even though a Bloodhound is born with his very own eye color it will fade and vanish the moment he/she opens his eyes for the very first time.
From that moment on he/she will have the control over the ability to show another person/hound their real color of eyes (see Social Structures).

The fur of a Hound can be varied: straight, curled, short, long, rough, silky and in all kinds of colors. The most dominating colors are all shades from black over gray till white and all kinds of brown (in seldom cases you also find some kinds of blue, green, red and yellow). The colors can appear alone or in variations (spots, stripes etc.) what depends on the area and the breed.

There’s another anatomical difference between male and female hounds. If you saw a morphic Bloodhound you could tell from first sight if you see a male or a female one. Male Bloodhounds have a thick bunch of fur in/on/around (?) their groin, which covers their shaft, so their penis is always hidden. The penis is more humanoid than canine.
Females seem to have breasts, but those have got no obvious nipples (those show only in state of sexual arousement or when a female nurses/feeds youngs). When a female Bloodhound has got puppies she will most likely show two additional pairs of smaller breasts  under the main pair (one of those never gives milk though).
Her vagina is also always covered by fur.

Male Bloodhounds haven’t necessarily a mane or hair, but they can have some hair strains falling in their face. Female Bloodhounds though can have long hair, but they can shorten it also. Partly this hair is also visible in their non-morphic shape. That can be sometimes the only way to differ the sex on non-morphic Bloodhounds.

Social Structures:

It’s not easy to sum up the social structure of the Bloodhounds in a few sentences, as it allows a great variety and is rather flexible.

Bloodhounds can live as passionate loners, in families or large lose bonds. It’s up to the individual if he wants to stay where he is or if he wants to go somewhere else.

Even though Bloodhounds are individuals they’re social behavior can be influenced by their breed or the area they live in, yet they don’t have problems in most of the cases to adapt to new situations. A Bloodhound that was used to live on his own can get used to live in larger communities also. Both – the individual as well as the community – will treat each other with care and respect.

Their ability to adapt to new circumstances allows them a peaceful life with other species and  - what’s more important – with each other. Most Bloodhounds are really openhearted and understanding what gave the race a pretty good reputation in their solar system and beyond.

Yet their history has got a bloody and dark side.
Once (hundred thousands of years ago) the Bloodhounds were feared as a race of furious warriors.  The bloodfever (explained later) drove them into a state close to that of a berserk and increased their power even more. Their warriors were specialized on the fight mano-a-mano. They fought most of the time with “classical” weapons like blades of all kinds, bow and arrow, spares and such.

Weapons using projectiles (other than arrows) were underneath their sense of honour.
They allow the one who uses them to close his eyes of what he causes and this is something Bloodhounds do not tolerate.
This remained unchanged till today and this is also the reason why never any kind of weapons of mass destructions have been developed on Ileyah.

Even the Bloodhound spaceships don’t have heavy weapon systems. Bloodhounds developed another way to get rid of their enemies:
Ileyh’en spaceships have got light energetic weapons, but if they feel threatened they use something that would be called “homebringer” if translated.
The “homebringer” is a high energy pulse that is emitted by an Ileyh’en space ship which causes absolutely no damage to the opponent’s ship, but they are able to send the ship back to exactly that place where it started it’s journey.
So if a race from a neighbor solar system decides to attack the Bloodhounds they will be send back to their home world again and again and again… until they are so fed up with it that they don’t waste anymore resources on it. It’s an unusual way to deal with conflicts, but Bloodhounds learned to value life… beneath that this fits their sense of humor.

Yet Bloodhounds are of course no moralists above everything else. When they feel threatened, they will battle and there are crimes and outcasts on Ileyah as well.
In every group of Bloodhounds (no matter if it is a family, a clan or the whole population of a city) there are chosen ones who deal with criminals. In very hard cases (murderer, rape a.o.) there are special councils who will eventually decide if the criminal Bloodhound will be banished from Ileyah.

Banishment means that a Bloodhound will send to a world where he can’t cause too much damage (because he has knowledge that reaches far beyond what the citizens know or because he is three times stronger than them and such) and that his sign will be destroyed. What also means the loss of the ability to open gates.

All in all the Bloodhounds are very much individuals. You can’t say “This is a typical” Bloodhound, though there’s the say “he’s on of his sign”, what means, that this Bloodhound acts very much in the way a Bloodhound of his original clan would have acted.
Their behavior though is influenced by their sign and their main living space.

Bloodhounds live wherever they want to and can. They live in caves, simple housings or cities. Yet Bloodhounds always try to build their homes in consideration with nature. Bloodhounds do not wish to show their state of wealthiness or development by their cities. The more important aspect is aesthetics (like for example in the Elvish architecture of “The Lord of the Rings”).

Bloodhounds try not to take more than they could return again. So their bound to nature is always strong. You can see this even on their space ships.

Never minding their grade of civilisation they never forget where they came from.
They know that they are beasts (though some with a large self control). They still need to hunt and kill prey to survive (there are vegetarian Bloodhounds though, but these are rather rare).

Bloodhounds can hunt small or large prey. They prefer bigger animals, because this means they don’t have to hunt often. Some Bloodhounds love the hunt and it’s thrill, but they all kill quickly and painless for the victim.
They value it highly that they can survive through the other beings sacrifice.

And Bloodhounds are by no means the top of the food chain on Ileyah! Even they can end up being prey.
This loss is accepted by most Bloodhounds and they don’t take revenge if a Bloodhound gets killed by a larger carnivore. Though there are sometimes cases of Bloodhound-killers. Large predators not killing anymore to survive. Those will be hunted and if necessary killed.

Quarrel for things as food and territory are seldom, last ones almost not existent.

Unlike humans Bloodhounds do not wildly reproduce. They actually never get youngs when they don’t plan it and they have (due to their long lifespan) much time to decide weather they want to have some or not.
The birth of a puppy (the average litter has got between one and four puppies; the first born are most times either single pups or twins) is always a special and joyful event.

Culture, Language & History:

Male and female Bloodhounds are equal. There is no position or “job” specially reserved for one sex. Young Bloodhounds learn because they want to and because they know that knowledge is a good base to build up on. They don’t need to be forced to visit school like institutions. They can be taught from other Bloodhounds all they need to know. If their own tribe can’t provide the knowledge every Bloodhound has the chance to go elsewhere to gain the knowledge he wants to gain.

Their various interests make it possible that you find almost any kind of “civilization” step on Ileyah. from simply living nature bound clans over “industrialized” populations in cities till technically highly developed hounds exploring the space.

There is one thing though almost all Bloodhounds have in common: their love for everything that is beautiful.
Arts of any kind, the beauty of nature… thus are things of high value for them. If you wander through one the many forests in Ileyah or through the deserts and you see ruins it doesn’t mean that there has been a temple or a building there before. It’s also possible that a hound has built that very ruin-like thing… simply because it looked pretty there.

Bloodhounds do not need to wear clothes. When they live in cold areas their fur actually is thick enough to keep them warm, but they like the aesthetic value of it so they use the chance to wear clothes when they feel like it.  Their clothes are partly simple (like loin clothes and tunicas), but can become more complicated and exotic in Ileyh’en cities.  

Bloodhounds like to wear jewelry; not to show wealthniess but because it looks pretty. They have all kinds of nice metals, gemstones and minerals on Ileyah and Dhoo which they can use to form jewellery out of it,

Bloodhounds have an own language, but they try to speak it only among other Bloodhounds. They always try to learn quickly a foreign language when it’s necessary. They can also communicate with many animals on Ileyah, what makes the act of hunting sometimes very emotional. The language is written down in runes (will be also published), but the meaning of each rune is unclear for non-Bloodhounds. (To confess, I simply couldn’t think of making up a whole language until now).
In this language the way how you pronounce something has got a great meaning for what you finally want to say. So there can be for example 100s of Bloodhound Omegas, but they can all be pronounced differently and so each be recognized as an individual.
Next to this language (and others) Bloodhounds are able to produce all kinds of sounds animals can produce.

Sexuality:

Bloodhounds reach their pubscene around the age of 75.
The females get into the state of heat once a week, but they can have sex in the time around it as well.
During their heat they simply produce more pheromones and have a larger lust.
Female Bloodhounds have (in their Wereshap) two visible breast, but actually they have six teats. Four of them just don’t show up until the female has got youngs to nurse. Then she has got six breasts of which one never gives milk.
Males have a knotless penis which is covered in a shaft until it gets aroused.

There are no fixed mating seasons.

Usually Bloodhounds live together as couples, but it also happens that one male lives together with several females or the other way round. Sexual preferences differ from individual to individual.  Homosexuality and Bisexuality are nothing to be ashamed of. If two Bloodhounds of the same sex wish to have a young they will most likely find a pair which is willing to help. Blood in this sense is not of that high importance.
Relationships between Bloodhounds and members are also possible and accepted as long as both parties are happy.

Sexuality is something precious for Bloodhounds. They enjoy intimate moments and gently touches sometimes more than the sexual act itself.

As a sign of trust Bloodhounds show their partner (or in general those whom they love and trust) their real colour of eyes.

Special features:

As mentioned earlier Bloodhounds have the ability to open „gates“, which enable them to travel to almost every place in the universe without the help of a vessel. The sing on their forehead is a kind of focus, a key to a bridge between two places in the universe.
This is an ability young Bloodhounds need to learn.

Bloodhounds have abilities which could sometimes be described as „magic“, especially when it comes to healing and creating.
Telepathy and Telekinesis are abilities that are rare, but if a Bloodhound is born as a telepath this is seen as a gift and this hound will most likely experience a lot of respect and admiration.

A relict of their time as warriors is the so called bloodfever. If a hound gets into the state of extreme rage/pain his body takes over his mind. His blood will almost boil ( a visible sign for a Bloodhound in bloodfever is that his eyes and his sign in the head will glow red) and he will forget almost everything but the urge to fight and kill. In this state a hound could even hurt the ones he loves.
His strength will increase, his ability to feel pain will almost vanish and this state Telekinesis can reach dangerous levels.

Mythology:

Ileyh’en mythology circles mostly around the three brothers and Ileyah itself.

The most common legend says that once Ileyah had only one moon (Cinn), but one more continent. Then – in a time of the greatest war ever on Ilyeah – another moon entered the solar system. Nobody knew where it came from and how this was possible and the hounds feared that it would impact on Ileyah and exinct them all.
The enormous moon though did not impact. He started circling around Ilyeah, but not without any effect.

The continent laying in the northwest of Ilyeah started to break apart… at least it seemed to be so.
Infact it was Dooh who was rising into the sky, woken up by his big brother’s call.
On his way he lost all the unnecessary landmasses and formed on this way what is now the “stairway to heaven”.  Where once was this old continent is now the largest collection of floating isles on Ileyah.

Since this time Ileyah had three moons.

The Bloodhounds saw this as a sign (even though they don’t really believe in deities) to leave the path of blood and war.

Many hounds make the special energy of the three brothers responsible for the ability to use “magic” and to open the gates, but there are no clues for it and Bloodhounds won’t search for them.