Post by fluke on Jan 14, 2011 11:02:38 GMT -5
I noticed when I read "The Strong Survive" in TC2 (and as Bainespal pointed out), the names of the breeds of Sachalin aren't very good. The Sachalin wouldn't think of themselves as "lion-headed," "tiger-headed," or "cheetah-headed." Outsiders would think of them along those lines, but they themselves wouldn't.
I've been playing with the names but want some feedback and other thoughts before I decide.
The Sachalin are a felinoid race. They were formed by dark magic blending human and one of three giant cat species. They have humanoid body shapes (no tails, though) with fur and claws. Those coming from lion blends have golden fur (the men grow manes during adolescence, the women have hair from birth). Those from tiger blends have tiger stripes and no hair for men but women do. The "cheetah" breed has spots and the same hair issues as tigers.
My first thought was to start from the Latin name of each. Lions are Panthera leo, tigers are P. tigris, and cheetahs are Acinonyx jubatus. Leonine and tigrine point the way without the problems of lion-head, but jubatine is going to cause confusion. Maybe that's okay, or would be okay if the other two were also harder to pin down.
Another possible problem with working off the Latin names is that the mage was an elf who did this during the Elven Empire which has a very Latin feel to it. After the Sachalin slaves revolted and left the Empire to govern themselves, they shook off everything elvish. I don't think they would keep the names for themselves that their oppressors gave them.
Any thoughts?
I've been playing with the names but want some feedback and other thoughts before I decide.
The Sachalin are a felinoid race. They were formed by dark magic blending human and one of three giant cat species. They have humanoid body shapes (no tails, though) with fur and claws. Those coming from lion blends have golden fur (the men grow manes during adolescence, the women have hair from birth). Those from tiger blends have tiger stripes and no hair for men but women do. The "cheetah" breed has spots and the same hair issues as tigers.
My first thought was to start from the Latin name of each. Lions are Panthera leo, tigers are P. tigris, and cheetahs are Acinonyx jubatus. Leonine and tigrine point the way without the problems of lion-head, but jubatine is going to cause confusion. Maybe that's okay, or would be okay if the other two were also harder to pin down.
Another possible problem with working off the Latin names is that the mage was an elf who did this during the Elven Empire which has a very Latin feel to it. After the Sachalin slaves revolted and left the Empire to govern themselves, they shook off everything elvish. I don't think they would keep the names for themselves that their oppressors gave them.
Any thoughts?