Ignator

During the Great Cataclysm, many of humankind's domestic dogs were left to fend for themselves after their masters died, resorting to scavenging or returning to the pack hunting of their lupine relatives. The magic that came to infuse the world then transformed them into fearsome beasts with the power of flame. They are highly valued due to their fire breath, but they are cruel, and nothing like the domestic companions they once were.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Ignators are the size of a relatively large dog, most commonly a hunting or work dog, but they lack any fur and glow with fire, both inside and out.

Genetics and Reproduction

Ignators mate and reproduce like ordinary dogs. Due to their cruel nature, however, siblings often slaughter each other before reaching adulthood.

Ecology and Habitats

Due to their inherent immunity to fire and weakness to cold, Ignators prefer hot climates, with deserts and savannas especially favored. They can live in more temperate areas, but they avoid places that get too cold, leaving them for the equally dangerous winter wolves to claim.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Unlike wolves, hell hounds are oftentimes solitary, meeting only to mate. Others, however, form packs that can terrorize a truly massive territory. These packs have highly organized pecking orders.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

While nothing of use can be harvested from a dead hell hound, one that is trained can make an excellent guard or tracker. Evil masters often find it easy to recruit hell hounds, given that they supply the creatures with opportunities for violence. Others, however, will need to be powerful enough to force them into submission.

Average Intelligence

Ignators are intelligent enough to fully understand language, though they cannot speak.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Ignators have a sense of smell as sensitive as the most adapted tracking dogs', and can see in complete darkness.

Nessian Warhounds

Larger, more ferocious, and more dangerous relatives of ordinary hell hounds, Nessian Warhounds were bred in the deepest layer of hell by Asmodeus himself. While unrelated, the term is also used to refer to hell hounds in the material plane that were created not from domesticated dogs, but from the wild painted hounds of the plains. These hell hounds have similar abilities to those actually originating from Nessus.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Black like burnt pitch