_Looking like a mix between a large dog and a lion, the creature glares at everyone who passes the threshold of the temple it guards._ A temple dog is an imposing guardian used by various deities to protect their temples. They are fiercely loyal and territorial. Often depicted in temple statuary, the creature has a largely canine body, soft but short hair, a thick hairy tail, and a mane like a lion’s around a dog’s face with a short snout. **Divine Colors.** Coloration and other features of the temple dog vary to match the deity who created it; sometimes a temple dog’s coloration is quite fanciful. Greenish bronze temple dogs are known, as are those the color of cinnabar or lapis. Even coats resembling fired ceramic of an orange hue have been seen guarding some temples. These unusual casts make it easy for a temple dog to be mistaken for statuary. **Travel with Priests.** As a temple protector, it rarely leaves the grounds of the temple to which it has been attached, but temple dogs do accompany priests or allies of the temple during travel. The temple dog cannot speak but understands most of what’s said around it, and it can follow moderately complex commands (up to two sentences long) without supervision. Temple dogs are notorious for biting their prey, then shaking the victim senseless in their massive jaws.