Ilu

The Ilu are a bipedal people who most resemble lions with their tawny fur and powerful builds. The men begin developing manes when approaching twenty years in age, but they do not fill out until thirty or so, and even then they have various stages of color that delineate ranks of the elders, culminating with flowing silver tips. The women are nearly the same height but of slighter build, but in the pride tribal unit that does not mean they aren’t considered equals in warfare; the girls are trained to fight just like the boys at a very young age.

All members of Ilu society are warriors, capable of killing with tooth and claw alone and are considered some of the most dangerous fighters in the world, with a combination of strength and quickness that few intelligent races can match. They also have an affinity for other large cats, such as mountain lions and snow leopards, that they raise as pets and companions for both hunting and warfare.

The Sulpûloku religion follows the tenets of the Eternal Hunt, which is headed by Lombôdêu and Menelelosu, the Father and Mother of the Ilu. They are portrayed as staunch warriors who roared alongside the First Dragons at the creation of the world, which makes the Sulpûloku the only religion to incorporate the First Dragons with their own gods. The Eternal Hunt is composed of five sons and five daughters, who are called the Ever-Walking Pride. Individuals are worshipped in varying degrees for special requests. Animal sacrifice followed by feasting upon the animal are common, and the tooth marks on these bones are often read by augers in attempts to foretell the future. The religion itself is very tolerant of others’ beliefs but they are also dead-set in their convictions and any attempt to coerce them toward another religion will always be met with a ferocious to the death attitude.

There are many tribes of Ilu, such as the Ilu-Sivztrô, who live mostly south of the Dragonspan Mountains, but Ilu tribes may also be found as far north as the Orstân Rift, where they have a solid relationship with the Ûlstrwar, primarily due to sharing a common enemy in the Tek.