Lepus

Geography
Above ground, Lepus is nothing but thick and shadowed forests, labyrinthine and cobwebbed. Their cities are hidden away underground, away from prying outsider eyes.

Culture
Lepus is a country often avoided by those who can manage it, and for good reason; its forests are thick and shadowed, and the people who grow in their shadows are rumoured to be just as wild and lawless as their land. Rebels and outcasts, thieves and murderers, pretenders to nobility and people who long ago gave up their humanity for something much darker.

It’s not entirely false. But nor is it entirely true.

Tucked away in those dark cities, in buildings that outsiders would never suspect might hold such things, are academies and libraries, carefully tended temples, workshops and laboratories. The people’s claim to nobility is no lie; one’s house and birthrights are carefully traced, known and understood. . . and then ignored between all but complete strangers (and outsiders), most citizens meeting on equal ground regardless of the titles they hold.

There is very little expected in Lepus society. Those who find satisfaction in physical arts find a home in the academies; either by training or blood, most in Lepus are almost unnaturally strong (with those that aren’t making up for it in resourcefulness), and what they lack in an organized military, they make up for by every citizen past childhood knowing at least three good ways to deal with ‘problems’ (some more permanent than others). Intellectual study is more often than not carried out alone, or in close apprenticeships, and topics vary from the mundane (the tensile strength of different spider’s silk, or the effectiveness of this paralytic over that one) to a vast array of arts most other countries have outlawed or declared taboo (exactly how do you slow the decay rate of someone you’ve risen from the dead?).

One of the first things Lepus youth learn is tree climbing, both as a test of strength and a right of adulthood. It has the added benefit of helping keep a watch on the forest. Invaders to Lepus lands often learn about this defense all too late.

Still, they’re good-- okay no. They’re direct people, and more honest than not. They’re straightforward in their dealings, and they keep to their word. They’re fiercely loyal, and those that earn their friendship often have it for life (whether they want it or not), just as those who make enemies of one often find themselves the enemy of that one, and their friends. . . and their friends’ friends.

Economy : Barter, everyone ELSE’S coin, though Monoceran is taken at highest value.

Architecture : Ranges from medieval to steampunk.

Technology level : Surprisingly advanced for the area. Just very, very self limited at times. Government : Very limited Timocracy. Voting is right out, as most tend to vote for themselves, and anyone attempting to take power by force is usually viewed as a challenge :D and. . . things end messily. True leadership comes from charisma and talent, and isn’t outright acknowledged unless they’re needed for something boring (in which case, yeah, you want to go talk to X).

Outsiders wanting to deal with Lepus (usually because they have something that simply cannot be found anywhere else) will find some sort of leadership. But only by dealing with the head of a School or Family who specialize in whatever area they’re interested in.

Elemental/Magic affinities : Fire, electricity, ice, necromancy.

Also they have a hellmouth.

Native Creatures

 * Lesser spiders - From millimeters in size to about the size of a small cat, lesser spiders are small, swift and unnervingly intelligent. Most breeds are colony forming and prefer to string their webs just below the forest canopy. They work as almost a hive mind and have been rumored to be able to pick up magical saturation in the area. They are carnivorous with their primary diet being insects.


 * Giant spiders - Giant spiders range from two to 4 feet in height from bottom of their feet to the top of their carapace. Solitary and particularly territorial, these monstrous arachnids weave giant webs, and their silk is stronger and noticeably thicker than their smaller counterparts. They are independently intelligent and while not particularly aggressive, they WILL eat whatever and whomever gets entangled in their webs. The webs are more than enough to hold all but the most panicked Lepus.


 * Harpy - This terrifying creature is a mishmash of features. It has the face of a man or woman, and is capable of common speech. However, from there, they possess the bodies of a great lizard and a massive wingspan with extraordinarily bright, often rainbow hue’d plumage. For hair, the creature often has quills or spines and it’s lips end in great talons like a dragons. Their voice is entrancing and is often a weapon to startle off great predators or lull prey into a fall sense of security. They have lifespans into the thousands of years and impulsive but intelligent. They are solitary by nature, rare and absolutely carnivores.


 * Derpjelly (Quezut) - (Beauty pet) When their egg isn’t spun prior to birth, Quezuts are rather energetic lake hunters. They prefer freshwater environs, particularly still or anything with a gentle current. They filter the water for their nutrition, but possess small dexterous limbs for catching their favorite water bugs. Strangely enough, they seem to be able to survive decent periods above water, and that with their generally laid back temperaments tend to make them favored test subjects of the less adventurous of Lepus’ inventors and scientists. There ARE rumors of a greater jelly, known as the Super, with amazing power and intelligence, but most Lepus consider it an old wives tale.


 * Gyara - These round, heavy creatures have patches of thick shell scattered almost randomly throughout their brown, scruffy pelt. They have tiny eyes and heavy, drooping brows, and short, clawed limbs. Their teeth are large and square, and have about the hardness of diamonds which makes them valuable in tool making. However, taking one down is a challenge, as they fold into themselves, leaving what seems to be a misshapen, ugly rock where they stood.


 * Craven - Large, feathered carrion birds. At adulthood they grow to be about the size of your average owl, but with a much greater wingspan for picking up and carrying whatever they can scavenge. Adept night hunters, with a batlike face and ears, they also have a long prehensile tail that they can snap like a whip at aggressors. They travel in small flocks and are omnivorous with a preference to rotting meat.


 * Glurp - This bizarre creatures like nothing so much as a rolling mass of orange marmalade. No one is exactly sure where they have come from or why, but they slowly eat through ANYTHING. Plants, rock, animals, if anything has the misfortune of being in its path, it is probably going to be lunch. They get about to the size of a grapefruit and then divide... they do not seem to possess any intelligence or social structure and they are absolutely, completely, 120% not good on toast.


 * Tet - Small rodents with a row of spikes down their spine a tuft of fur at the end of their tail, they are omnivorous, a common pest and the spikes on their back are barbed and snap off easily making stomping on them a generally unwise decision. They are considered disease carriers and not eaten as a practice. They are, however, experimented on.


 * Squidrats

Affiliated Characters

 * Ange