The Great Council

When the Terran homeworld became open to the Pathways, the animal races were eager to meet these seemingly similar beings. As a way of showing the Terrans that they thought of them as one of their races, the greatest of the animal worlds staged a raid. Unfortunately, the Terrans didn't see this as a friendly gesture and began a real war against the animal races, which they called "Furries."
Faced with this new threat, the animal races brought together the greatest leaders of their kind in order to protect their kin from the Terrans. Because of their animal natures, the Furries decided it would be best to unite, then attempt to negotiate.
Each side sent two delegates to negotiate a treaty. From the Furries went Darkmane the lion and Whitewing the owl. From the Terrans, Silric, called The Mountain, and Galvin, then called The Flame. The Furries represented themselves as the Fur Federation to the Terrans, showing that they were united and ready to fight if necessary. However, fighting would never occur.
The four delegates met and immediately recognized each other as friends. They spent more time trying to solve each other's problems than working out a treaty. In the end, both sides would go back to their homeworlds, announcing that it was all a big misunderstanding, wouldn't happen again, and would bring answers to the problems they faced.
From that point on, the two races, Terrans and Furries, met once a year to help solve each other's problems. This meeting became known as The Great Council and lasted for almost two decades until the Terrans lost their representatives to The Adept War. After that, the Terran society began to decline and the Furries, whose society was growing, saw no reason to continue the meetings. Today, The Great Council is nothing but legend.

Blacktooth Rat
Chief Engineer
Xillah-4

Sometimes when the Wanderers opened a world to the Pathways, they'd discover a race of intelligent, anthropomorphic animals living there. These animal races intrigued the Wanderers in that they were intelligent, but barbaric. After educating these cultures, the Wanderers would leave, setting the Pathways to another of the animal worlds.

After the Wanderers left, the animal worlds would war with each other over resources. No more lives than necessary were ever lost. In fact, death was avoided whenever possible. Eventually, these wars became more organized. A planet would send in a group of warriors to try to steal resources, instructing them to strike to wound, but not kill. Clubs became a favored weapon and young warriors would often try to get assigned to these raids as a way of proving themselves.

After a few trials and tribulations, the animal races (called "Furries" by the Terrans) became a united group of planets and dubbed themselves the Fur Federation. They opened trade routes, created schools, and tried to catch up to the rest of the galaxy in terms of technology.

The term Furries refers to any animal character. This does not mean that the animal has to be a mammal. Furries can be reptiles, birds, or even insects. Their background has granted them the ability to be resistant to chemical compounds in limited amounts. Because of their animal nature and fine understanding of the subtle things like body language and scent, Furries are significantly better at street skills than other races, and can purchase their first few cheaper than other races. However, this same animal nature tends to keep Furries from acclimating to modern weapon use easily. They're loud, have no finesse to them, and ruin the idea of the hunt. Furries buy modern weapon skills, such as rifles and pistols, with an additional +2 to cost.

Costuming/Makeup:
Furries are as diverse as they are alike. Whatever species the Furry is, the make up must reflect that animal. If the Furry is a tiger it should look like a tiger. If the Furry is a snake, it should look like snake. Furries tend to dress practically, with clothes close-cut to keep from getting caught up. Colors, on the other hand, know no bounds amongst Furries. Most tend to match the colors they wear to their fur, feathers, or scales.

Race Opinions:

• Terrans: Like us and yet... not
• Rinn: They are like the ones who came before, though they deny it.
• Burgunns: They're like badgers. Try taking them on on their turf and you're guaranteed to lose.
• Mutants: Only in these times can these misborn creatures survive.
• Technoids: No feeling, no free thought... no life.
• Ork: They make excellent brothers in battle, if a bit overzealous.