Yarhooks are a unique type of monstrous, black dogs created for fighting and defending against magical creatures. They possess innate protection against harmful magic while also instilling an instinctual, unexplainable fear in mystical opponents. Their bites leave nasty, rotting wounds on most supernatural foes, even ones normally resistant to poison and decay. Most yarhooks also have small, white patches of fur above their eyes. These patches are, by some, believed to represent a second pair of "spectral" eyes that allow the dogs to see through magical disquises. 

    Difficult to Breed. Yarhooks are powerful and reliable companions, but are also very hard to obtain. They can only be born from eight generations of black dogs (of any breed), with the ninth litter possesing the desired traits. Unfortunately, the mutations that cause their heightened senses and resistances come at a cost. Almost all yarhooks are born infertile. This makes breeding new yarhooks at a consistent rate difficult and time consuming. Should a yarhook somehow have children with another black dog, the resulting offspring will always be yarhooks. Two yarhooks succesfully mating is exceedingly rare and does not produce stronger yarhooks.

    Grotesque and Sensitive. Given that yarhooks can be born from black dogs of any kind, their personalities and body types can vary wildly. Most breeders will logically choose to breed yarhooks from hunting and guarding breeds, but there can be exeptions. No matter their lineage all yarhooks share some characteristics, aside from black fur and sensitivity to magic. In terms of physical appearance yarhooks will always be stronger and more agile than their non-yarhook parents. They will often exhibit mutations and deformities of varying severity, such as unusually large jaws, unevenly spaced eyes or impractically long tails. While these anomalies are rarely actively detrimental to the dogs health they do make them stand out as weird or even unnerving among other dogs. Most will also gain the afformentioned white "eyebrows". Yarhooks inherit personality traits normally, but their heightened senses cause them to be more suspicious and uneasy around magical places, objects and creatures, particularly the fae, the undead, fiends, celestials and to a lesser extent, ordinary magic users. They react to them in a similar way that a hunting dog may respond to the presence of wild animals, but even more intensly. Without proper guidance and discipline yarhooks can become overwhelmed, turning their natural alertness into paranoid aggresion. Because of that it is very important that a yarhook is well trained and looked after by a responsible owner.

    Go Bark in the Night. Yarhooks are most highly sought after by monster hunters, adventurers and people living in areas inhabited by malicious fae. Homever, any person that frequently faces the unnatural is likely to appreciate their company. As most dogs, yarhooks are loyal, loving and protecting towards their owners (if treated well, of course). Once bonded they will always stand between their companions and the dangers that may come their way, magical or otherwise. Yarhooks are also mostly unwelcome among the more magical peoples (druids, faires, werefolk, aasimars, etc.) as they often find the dogs mere presence quite unnerving. 

This creature is mostly inspired by an entry in the part two of the "Slavic Bestiary" by Paweł Zych and Witold Vargas. As far as I know the idea of yarhooks originates from Ukrainian folklore. I copied the basic ideas like the color of their fur, white patches representing eyes and the ninth litter, but also added some things of my own. The polish spelling of its name is "Jarchuk", and I changed it to be as phonetically similar to the original as possible when read in english. Despite its english name, it has absolutely nothing to do with pirates.

Also, this is my first time publishing a homebrewed creature, so any suggestions and criticisms regarding my writing or balance are welcome.