Sentinelhound
Lesser Smilohound Variant
The Sentinelhound is a canid guardian native to Geba, a close relative of the Lesser Smilohound bred specifically for bonding with humans. Its extreme intelligence and adaptability let it mirror the personalities of the people near it, and it forms deep bonds that reflect the behavior and emotions of its owner with close precision. The adage "A Sentinelhound is a mirror. Remember that" refers to its most notable quality: it cannot be deceived, because it reflects what is actually there, whatever a person wishes to project.
Every Sentinelhound descends from the Lesser Smilohound, and the breed long ago settled into two recognized strains, both far smaller than the wild smilohounds. The smaller strain is the companion and the mirror most households know, standing 0.2 to 1.0 meters at the rear and weighing 20 to 110 kg. It is compact enough for a capital apartment or a relay office and is prized for the fineness of its bond. The larger strain stays closer to the Lesser Smilohound it was drawn from. It is a true working and guardian animal whose heaviest lines reach as much as fourteen feet in length, and its long upper canines have been reduced by breeding. It is far smaller than the breed that fathered it and still enormous for a working animal, and it carries the same mirroring intelligence in a body built to stand between its people and a threat.
Both strains are quick and steady minds, socially as much as intellectually, which is why one name covers a hearth companion and a guardian many times its size. Their mirroring has made Sentinelhounds trusted across the planet in protective roles from companionship to military security, and they are particularly popular among Tactician-Class Engineered for coordination in operational settings. Bred since the Era of Early Dominion, the Sentinelhound is found throughout capitals, relay hubs, and outposts. It suits woodlands, plains, and urban perimeters and is absent from volcanic or subsurface extremes unless it accompanies humans into them. It matures quickly and reproduces in rhythms linked to the human households it bonds with.
