Before their rite, thyr do not build muscle as easily as they do as adults. They can, however, withstand enormous blunt trauma and have a high resistance to inebriation.

After their rite, thyr have a major growth spurt, eating ravenously for about six months and growing rapidly. During this period, they can build muscles easily. Most are quick to anger, and all are empowered by anger, wrath, hatred, or similar emotions, which cause an intense spike in hormones that increases their strength and endurance, pain tolerance, and speed. If they lose control of their emotions, their eyes fill with blood, and they become increasingly violent until they black out. Their blood, and thus their skin, grows very hot during this time. The heat in their blood is very potent, filled with emotional resonance. They gain strength during this by drinking blood.

Ancient thyr can gain the ability to steal the physical strength of others by ripping out their hearts and eating them, giving them bloodstrength and mijjit-strength.

All thyr can speak to boars, wild dogs, certain lizards, and scorpions.

The tusks of a thyr are very sharp, and their sight and hearing is keen.

Thyr craft several special kinds of weaponry:

• Blood-ax: somewhere between a hatchet and a battle ax, made from bloodmetal, boar-bones, and boar hide thongs, bonded with rage resonance and blood energy, sometimes capped with a feiruan jewel. A blood-ax's blade is very hot, and a wielder will have an automatic counter attack even on a normal parry.
• Tusk-dagger: sharp daggers made from boar-tusks and bones, empowered by hatred resonance and spirits, wielded for acts of vengeance. Tusk-daggers gain +3 to-hit for acts of vengeance, +6 if a ritual has been performed beforehand.
• Tusk-spear: made from thyr-tusks and the wood of a redbud tree with an iron core, sometimes capped with a feiruan jewel, and bonded with hatred resonance. Tusk-spears have a +3/+3 on top of their +7/+7 for strikes against those hated by the wielder.
• Bloodcoil: a whip made from the skin of a wild dog, soaked in dogsblood, and ritually empowered by whipping an enslaved enemy, a bloodcoil burns with the heat of rage. A bloodcoil gains heat as it drinks the blood of those it strikes, +1/+3/+6 for every 100 victims.
• Hide-shield: a buckler made from the hide of an enemy, empowered by vengeance resonance, and drenched in the enemy's blood. A hide-shield gains +1 to defense for every time it is washed in enemy's blood after a battle, capping at +10.
• Thyrleather: armor made from an enemy thyr's hide, empowered by hatred resonance, scorched by boiling thyr blood. Sometimes studded with feiruan jewels or ornamented by enemy tusks. Thyrleather gets +1/+1 for every act of vengeance enacted while it is worn, capping at +10/+10.
• Pigstaff: boar-bone staff ornamented with tusks, fangs, feiruan jewels, bloodied rocks, fragments of bone and metal, etc. used by thyr mystics. A pigstaff gives at least +3 to all mystic arts when used.
• War-drum: a drum made from the hides of their enemies and the wood of a redbud tree. War-drums make Horde Powers easier to access.

Thyr refer to themselves as the Great Horde. They revere an ancient and eternal king, or tzukazi, Horng Toecutter, though some factions favor other legendary thyr. Though most clans--indeed, even individuals--tend to hold long grudges and actively work against one another, legendary kings have united them into the Great Horde. All thyr take pride in the invincibility of the Horde and dream of a time when it truly unites and conquers the world. The culture of the Great Horde is one of violence and control, and only the most powerful, ruthless, and cunning kings manage to unite them.

The Great Horde is made up of 120 clans, and each clan is ruled by a brutal tzukazi. The kings have an elite caste of warriors, called abakuk, who serve them directly. Below the king are the baenkul, and below the baenkul are the knzakahr. Most other thyr are separated by their roles in the clans, which are shaped by their genders.

The Great Horde recognizes four genders: men, women, undavak (no gender), and akua'g (all genders). Most women and undavak are treated as slaves and have little to no rights. Akua'g are usually honored as mystic leaders, unless they fail their Rite of Blood, in which case they, too, are enslaved. Thyr women and undavak are kept separate in the clans, with the slave undavak being forced to be laborers and the slave women forced to be childbearers and keepers. The akua'g who are enslaved are forced to be sex slaves; those who pass their Rite are revered and often feared for their powers. Men take up most of the positions of power, and those who do not are either lower-ranking warriors, hunters, merchants, craftsmen, artisans, or sometimes slaves. Non-enslaved women are usually keepers of the beasts, teachers, hunters, or crafters. Non-enslaved undavak are still menial laborers, but they get some compensation and rights. Women, undavak, and men who become mystics are driven out of the clan.

Each clan in the Great Horde has special symbols that they use in most of their arts. All arts among the thyr are centered on war, violence, or blood. The largest clans have the following symbols: boar's head, tusks, scorpion tail, dog's fang, broken dagger, and brass mask.

Children are raised by women or undavak slaves, depending on their genders (women raise women and akua'g, undavak raise men and undavak). They are taught crafts, arts, and fighting according to their genders and caste. If they survive to age 20, they must undergo the Rite of Blood. If they survive that, they are considered adults and have the full rights of someone of their status and position. Though most thyr are slaves, none are born as slaves. Instead, they begin learning a craft as assigned by their parents. They are only enslaved if they fail at their work, which happens often, as failure is defined by the whims of the powerful. Enslavement lasts for four years at a time or until the enslaved kill their masters. These rules apply even to non-thyr who are taken as slaves in battle.

Thyr live in a constant cycle of violence and vengeance. Grudges are a tradition. Families pass them down. Clans pass them down. New ones arise and evolve. Alliances shift and are always based on self-interest. Love is not impossible or even unknown; it is simply scorned and seen as weakness and a crime. Subtle expressions of love, however, are not uncommon--it is an emotion impossible to avoid--but masked through violence. Abuse is normalized to the extent that most thyr do not know the difference between it and love. It is considered an honor to receive and survive such violence.

In the Great Horde, the ruling class worships the Daggerfather. Though many say he is dead, the worship continues, maintained and wielded by a powerful priesthood called the dagtakt. The lower classes engage in ancestor-worship, led by shamans called no'kahhat. These shamans are always akua'g and always honored, even by the ruling class. Only the no'kahhat may never be enslaved in the Great Horde, a tradition tracing back even before the rise of the tzukazis, it is said.

In rare circumstances, thyr escape the Great Horde's culture of abuse, violence, and revenge. Usually, these are obscure villages or small families led by non-akua'g mystics and other outcasts. Their cultures resemble more matriarchal societies and always ruled by a council of no'kahhat.