#hellhound lore

He better or I'll-

Eat them? like in that la-

Generally speaking they see colors normally! Every species might have some nuances in the colors they see, but generally everyone has same or similar color range.

I KNOW ;A;

But also, look at it from their perspective. Sure, a young hound may envy other species and their ability to kiss because it looks so intimate, sharing that space like that--but also, maybe they pity other species for their lacking in other senses? Can they (other species) languish in their partner's scent even after days of them being gone? Can they track down their loved one by scent alone to play a prank? Play extreme hide and seek pretending to be hunters of old? The classic game of hunter and prey.

No, frankly, because other species don't have as keen a smell, they lose their partner's scent after only a few days if not shorter. They cannot tell when their partner is nearby, cannot sense when their family is getting closer--there are facets that other species lack in where others prevail, and I'm sure there's a jealousy just inherent from being around other species (who wouldn't want an extra pair of arms like a basilisk? Who wouldn't sometimes be jealous of a unicorn's ability? A harpy's wings?)

And why are they referred to as hellHOUNDS?

I mean think of it this way. Hellhounds developed same as we did irl, as did every species on this planet. They had distant ancestors, maybe even a shared common ancestor between all sentient species, and through isolation, adaptation, etc. etc. they developed into the modern day hellhound.

I like to think that they're the ones who first tamed the wolf and named them after themselves as a kind of reverence for their species? So the first dogs were probably hounds, or, at least, were all called 'hound' despite maybe not being exactly what we consider hounds.

As for the term hellhound there's two stories, exhibit a being when first contact between species happened the term hellhounds went by was either mistranslated/colloquially translated to the other language as 'hellhound' or even 'hound from hell'. Or exhibit b, some ignorant explorer witnessed a coming of age ceremony and titled them hellhounds in their own narrow-minded view and the name stuck.

I'm rather more fond of exhibit a because then it infers that hellhounds in their ancient language, whatever that may be, named themselves as such. Why? For fun? Because they liked the imagery? Or was there a sect of hellhounds that truly believed their species came from the depths?

This is also assuming hell is the same as we understand it, and since Christianity doesn't exist in the same capacity (as if Christianity was the creator of what we know as 'hell' lol), we should assume that hell is, perhaps, a different understanding in this world and maybe more refers to a specific place--perhaps the original land by which hellhounds originated from? Though I do like religious imagery being peppered in their backstory too if just for aesthetic lol

Maybe hellhounds in medieval times were keen on serving religious orders? Hence why they can sometimes come with religious iconography/aesthetic these days?

So maybe a bit of all of the above? It is an ancient name by which no one truly knows exactly where it comes from, and this can go for a large number of species on this planet where it's just all they've known/the original culture or language died out so they don't fully understand the origin/or they adapted a more modern name to describe themselves (i.e. Porcelains).

That is a hilarious image and I love it asdsfkjbdskjb

So when they spit fire it’s a combination of flames shooting out a la dragon breath and a heavier ‘wetter’ substance not dissimilar to napalm that splatters and burns. This is the primary reason why hellhound’s spitfire only has so much range and is best used as a close or medium range weapon.

It cools down after puberty but is still abnormally warm compared to other species. The pills basically stop production of the substance that ignites so that would cool it down even further though the presence of the organ is still going to generate some heat but not nearly to the point that a hellhound would be used to.

It’s not bothersome at all!

I like to think that a hellhound does a full ghibli blush if it’s a deep enough fluster ;P

Their ears a very emotive, and sometimes their noses twitch depending on the emotion they’re feeling. The tail, of course, is also a dead giveaway. So a stoic hellhound could control all these notions well enough, its the fur ruffling up that is harder to hide.