Grunthora (groon-TOR-uh)

Gruntora: Animalistic humanoids, usually taking after big cats, but there are a few ‘other’. They have dapple colored skin, pink and black, and are covered in short fur. This fur can be patterned, usually spots or stripes if it is. High strength allows them to excel at manual labor and military needs. Gruntora cannot use magic unless they're a half breed, and even then it is few and far between, usually in defensive magics/barriers. As a people they occupy Idola, but due to their efficiency and work ethic, (not to mention constantly growing population) they make up the labor force and armies of several countries. Gruntora are tall, muscular people, commonly standing over 6’0” tall. The only peoples that are taller are the Perdikai, which is terrifying to think about.
Some other races see mixing with Gruntora as a bad thing and are quite racist toward them sometimes. Many only value their labor. (#Rude)
These people can purr and growl much like the animals they take after. They don’t have human esque ears-they're usually small and rounded on the tops of their heads. Literally think Khajiit but tall and muscular instead of lithe and sneaky.
Females of this race probably have heat cycles.
I imagine that Gruntora typically like small village living, but with so many of them in Idola, they don’t have the space for such luxuries outside the southern forests. Those Gruntora that live and work in Larkesh are quite happy there surrounded by the forests of that part of the world. Because there were too many of them in Idola, some decided to make the move into Akha and other countries. They were taken advantage of in Akha by the Perdikai for cheap labor in exchange for land to live on, but they took it. (We can make the Perdikai even more evil to be a host people if we want, but maybe not this time). Much of the Akhan territory is Desert, and because of this, the Gruntora and Perdikai living there have developed several types of cave dwellings that dig down into the earth to avoid the hot sun.
(I’m sure the Gruntora dislike the Perdikai immensely- they can’t use magic after all, and the constant power struggle for bigger and better beasts to control would be annoying if you couldn’t help...... that and the Perdikai see them as lesser for being unable to use magic even with their powerful bodies. The hatred stems from jealousy.)
Gruntora probably live to be 180, and are an omnivorous people that lean toward meat in their diet.
They probably don’t like to be touched unless they are familiar with others, in which case they rub often, much like real cat scenting. Perdikai probably assert their dominance by touching with their horrible claw-like fingers... yucky.
Gestation period is typical, 9 months. Multiple offspring are common, though not all of them survive all the time.
Cat-like tongue.