Thunder dogs appear in many legends and are said to be the cause of thunderstorms, appearing to humans during times of trouble. Although the origin of this myth has long been forgotten, the species in subject is believed to be the Deron whose resemblance to ancient paintings is remarkable. In fact this resemblance is noted in their old Latin name, Canis attonbitus, which translates as the thunderstorm dog. It is interesting to note however that the intentions of such dogs in these stories are often ambiguous. Although on rare occasions they may attack people, they are perhaps more commonly harbingers of doom and death. These tales probably originate from long running persecution and the untameable nature of the species.

The oldest known of these legends, and possibly the origin of the thunder dog myths, involved a dog who was distinguishable from all others by its immense size and magnificent mane. The dog was also noted for having a large scar covering the left side of its face and shoulder in the shape of a bolt of lightning. In the legend the dog could control the power of lighting and used it to terrorise the people around the area it lived. The scar was supposed to the result of gaining that power but why it attacked the people was unknown. The legend concluded by a young man tricking the animal into believing he was its friend and asking it how it gained its powers. When the dog refused the man grew angry until it relented and showed him. It turned out that the powers came from a mystical rock and, learning this, the man was able to defeat the beast and save the people.

The actual animals the legends were no doubt based on of course have no magical powers and little information is known about them as they are now exceedingly rare, however all legends have an element of truth.

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Old sketch I must have done in the summer because all I can remember about it was that it was during a thunderstorm and it seemed… appropriate.

I’m currently calling the character Attonbitus, because I never got around to naming him even though he was one of the first characters I developed for this story. Please read into the story above as much as you like, it’s nothing to do with the plot per say, but parts may leak into it at a later date. Think of it as a background story because all animals have at least one story about them, and yes, Derons have their own version of it too.

I got some of the textures from Google.


Oh and what do you think of my new watermark? xD Now you can download my pictures again!


Image and character © Me, ElementalSpirits