Losel

Losels have a broad-shouldered, roughly human torso, long limbs, sparse dark brown fur and a stubby tail. They can stand erect but usually stoop, and they prefer to move through the branches on all fours. Under a low, jutting brow, their orcish faces have thrust-out jaws and large canines. Their big eyes are deep-set and grant infravision to 10 yards. They wear no clothing.

Primitive and timid, losels claw and bite. Trained ones can throw small stones up to 20 yards for 1d4 and use simple weapons like clubs, though not swords or axes. In the wild they fight only to defend territory from another tribe, to repel a dangerous predator or to finish off a sick or injured animal they can eat. Beastmen are the exception, for losels loathe them. There is a 75% chance a troupe has a dominant male of 3+3 HD, and rarely an unusually big or strong leader unites 6-60 losels into a band that is far more aggressive toward other species.

Male-dominated tribes keep to themselves, males hunting small mammals while females gather fruit, nuts and tubers and mind the young. They speak a crude orcish that even orcs struggle to follow, and have no religion or shamans. Territories are marked with scent and scratches on big trees. Rival tribes occasionally fight, but more often their leaders stage a ritual standoff of bluster and insults that settles the dispute.

Humanoids in a vast border forest and the minions of a cruel demigod have captured and trained some tribes. Their poor morale makes them weak soldiers, but their infravision and keen noses make them decent guards.

Losels live 20-25 years. After a six-month pregnancy they bear 2-5 young, but usually only one survives to maturity at age three. They are omnivores who refuse carrion. Besides beastmen, whom they plan raids against, they hate and fear elves, since wood elves often try to clear them out of their forests, and the kech hunt them for food. Their origin is a mystery; they appeared only about five centuries ago, and some suspect the cruel demigod made them, though nothing is proven.