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A Cooshee (elven cŵnteg, sylvan cù sìth), or elven hound, is a large, long-lived dog. It is often found in the company of elves, who use it for both hunting and guard duties. Elves often say "one cooshee is worth five orcs" (hun chŵnteg ydy gwerth bum archau).
To humans, the Cooshee is feared as a harbinger of death and is thought to appear to bear away the soul of a person to the afterlife. When men heard its howl, they would lock up their women for fear of them being taken by fairies.
Description
The cooshee has a thick greenish coat, often spotted with large brown spots or patches. This coat allows it to conceal itself in the forests and fields near its home. Where most dogs crash through the forest, the cooshee moves as silently.
Cooshee weigh more than 160 pounds and often weigh as much as 300 pounds. Their huge paws house equally huge claws, which are curved to ensure better traction in the soft loam of the forestlands. Their tails generally arc over their backs, though they hang between their legs when they are being scolded. Their ears come to a point on top of their heads, giving the cooshee an attentive, intelligent look.
Combat
In combat, the cooshee is a fearsome opponent. Its powerful jaws are enough to frighten any normal person; coupled with its fierce claws and demeanor, the cooshee is a very effective fighting machine. With a party of elves providing distraction with their arrows, the cooshee can become a creature from a nightmare for its prey. Although cooshee can go head-to-head with many creatures, their strength lies in the chase.
Habitat
Cooshee mate for life. If one of the pair is killed, the other generally wastes away. Cooshee puppies bond strongly to their parents, and the parents are highly protective of their offspring. Only a fool comes between an adult cooshee and its children.
Cooshee tend to avoid other "normal" dogs, seeming to find them inferior. In this regard, the cooshee echo their elf masters, refraining from much contact with other races.
The cooshee have an incredibly loud bark that can be heard from far away. However, they only bark to warn their masters or packmates. In almost no other circumstances will a cooshee emit noise.
Cooshee often live to be more than 100 years old.
Ecology
No one seems to know whether cooshee are a naturally occurring creature or if they are a creation of the elves. The cooshee seem almost too perfectly designed for their tasks to be anything but created beasts. However, their affinity with nature, closely mirroring that of the elves, leads one to believe that they are, in fact, entirely natural.
Although elves have had much success in gaining the trust of the cooshee, few other races have been able to establish a rapport with the hound. Even experienced animal handlers of other races find it incredibly difficult to approach one of these magnificent creatures.
