"The Cast: The Great Enemy"

  The planet has two main continents that are a considerable distance apart, both east and west.  The other continent is smaller, and it's inhabitants, while still descendants of Halvine, have a somewhat darker personality.

  The land being smaller meant more conflict over territory.  The greater number of volcanoes meant more conflict with nature.  They are a rougher, more aggressive people.

  Due to the great distance between the lands, and the limited technology, travel between the continents is rare.  Not much is known of one land in the other, but what little has been expressed by the few "nicer" people who "escaped" the continent has made it undesirable to the general population, so no one is ever chartering any expeditions.

  The other side has long since wanted to expand to the larger continent, but they want to conquer it instead of integrate into their societies.  Fortunately factors have been working against the smaller land.

  They have heard of maljek, but they were never taught it.  Because of this singular fact, they are less evolved in their skills, and without portals, they did not benefit from what Earth has to offer.

  Through history, ships with small armies have been sent to the larger continent, but none have returned, because they were defeated.  At great risk, spies have been sent to gather information on the large continent's advancements.  Some of those spies survive the journey back, but still no advantage has been gained.

Some spies just decided life was better there and simply turned expatriot and stayed.

  The Jaba Wokai originate on the small continent.  Fairly recently, a warlord managed a stunning rise to power.  Rumor has it that one of the spies brought back a sympathetic and evil portal opener, and that the warlord has been secretly getting help from someone from Earth.

  While other kingdoms were still trying the old methods, this warlord secretly began capturing, training, and breeding Jaba Wokai, neither of which is an easy task, even with human help.

  They are territorial, and if you wander too far into their territory, they will kill you.  Otherwise, they will warily avoid you.  If one senses that the threat is not something it can easily deal with on its own, then it will let out a piercing cry to call for help.

  It is practically impossible to kill, much less capture, one with the standard technology of the smaller continent.  With the intelligence and technology of the assisting human, the warlord has begun capturing the creatures.

  One key component in this is a strange, sticky, black, organic muck that produces an odor that give the creatures a slight euphoric sensation.  It's nothing quite on the level of a drug, but it has a long-standing positive association with the creatures.

  The people coat their bodies in this muck in order too not only hide their own scent, but to avoid being attacked.  The effect of the odor is just strong enough to confuse the creatures, rendering them unable to reconcile the fact that something of that smell is threatening them.

  The captured creatures are then trained, but the only way to train them is through pain and intimidation, and only if the trainer is covered in the muck.  The creatures born in captivity are easier to train, but they are typically like trained tigers or bears.

  Since they want the creatures to be killing machines, they do not use a nurturing method of training, so the relationship is never similar to a loving pet/owner loyalty.

  The Jaba Wokai are typically never fully broken, but on occasion a more timid one will be born.  Normally, the parents or others in their group would kill these insufficient specimens, but the trainers prize these somewhat less dangerous Jaba Wokai, because they are easier to train, and they can actually be made to fear the trainer.

  The Jaba Wokai are trained to kill on site anything looking and smelling like the people on the planet.  They use dummies made of straw that has been slept on by people, and they dress those dummies in clothes that have been worn by people.

  The more timid Jaba Wokai can be trained to be the relative equivalent of a guard dog, but with less certainty of obedience.

  As a test, the warlord had one of the more timid ones, and his trainer, sent via portal to a tiny secluded village on the large continent.  The creature slaughtered everyone in the village, but the trainer lost control of it.

  Everything happened quickly enough that the portal could be maintained, so the warlord could watch, so the trainer was able to return.  Instead of trying to re-capture the creature, he decided to let it remain.  He figured it would get killed one way or another, or at the very least, do a lot more killing.

  The grand plan of the warlord was to create an army of hundreds of the creatures to serve as a first wave in his attack on the larger continent.  Once they cleared a large enough area, he could begin building a fortress on the large continent, and from there conquer the land.

  That is his plan, anyway, and virtually everyone on the larger continent is blissfully ignorant of any of it.