Monday, October 12, 2015

Hallucinating Jungle Dogs - Jivaro Tribe pt.2

Dogs are extremely important to the Jivaro, for aid in hunting, protecting the garden crops from rodents, and protecting the house from intruders by warning barks.  The Jivaroan term for dog, Naiwa, is the same word used for jaguar. The Jivaro received dogs as a gift from nunui (earth spirits), so they fall into the women's realm.

When a new litter of pups is born, one of the women of the house sleeps with the bitch and litter to keep the puppies from being possessed by a malevolent spirit.  The woman will breast feed the puppies along with the bitch.  When the puppies mature, they are given the most powerful hallucinogen the Jivaro know (Datura sp.) so the dogs can find a beneficial spirit in their visions to give them power and possibly even make them invulnerable to normal injury and death (although they can still be a victim of sorcery).  

If a man wants to take a dog hunting, he asks one of his wives to accompany him to handle the dog.  The woman, through her connection to nunui, is better able to control the dog and also brings good fortune to the hunt, silently singing to nunui for success in getting game.

At night the dogs are leashed to the bed in the women's side of the house and their slightest barking results in the household head seizing his weapons and preparing to defend the family.
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Jivaroan Dog/ Dog of Nunui (other statistics as normal dog)

(variable power depending on the strength of the spirit acquired during Datura hallucination)

Roll 1d6:  1-2: Weak Spirit, 3-5: Normal Spirit, 6: Powerful Spirit

Weak Spirit Dog
HD:2
AC:4 (15)
Bite: 1d6+1

Normal Spirit Dog
HD:3
AC:3 (16)
Bite: 1d6+2

Powerful Spirit Dog
HD: 4
AC: 2 (17)
Bite: 1d8+2
Special: Immune to non-magical weapons and normal injury

Evil Spirit Dog / Demon Dog (Iwanci Naiwa)

Occasionally, despite the best efforts of the women, a puppy is possessed by a malevolent spirit.  In this case, the dog will run away into the jungle and seek to cause harm to humans.

HD: 4
AC: 2 (17)
Bite: 1d8+2 +poison (save vs. death/ CON save DC 12 or reduced to 0 HP)
Special Abilities: immune to non-magical weapons and normal injury; invisibility (twice a day); change self (once a day - can appear as a human or jaguar, in human guise can communicate in a gruff, barking voice); move silently and pass without trace (at will)

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