Post by thegreatzakhan on Jun 12, 2023 15:41:47 GMT
Drodarin - The Drodarin are a diverse race that occupied most of Northern and Southern Magnamund during the Age of the Old Kingdoms, when the Elder Magi ruled the land with benevolence and grace. Their common origin is so ancient (probably during the Age of Chaos of before) that various Drodarin sub-races have since evolved quite separately and differently; from the diminutive Kloon of Chaman to the imposing Giants of Starn, from the human-like Patars to the resourceful Dwarves of Boden and Bor. Many Drodarin sub-races are extinct in MS 5000, such as the Moor Dwarves of Sahawat and the Sorarians of Tar Ogashaar.
Most of the Drodarin were decimated during the Great Plague (2514 MS). This terrible pestilence was cultivated by an evil race of druids called the Ceners, and it spread because of the betrayal of one of the Drodarin sub-species, the Patar. Very few Drodarin survived the Great Plague, and their disparate remaining races are no longer the predominant sentient beings inhabiting Magnamund.
Two principal offshoots of Drodarin civilization are still influential in MS 5000: the Dwarves of Bor and Boden, and the Kloon of Chaman (examples of both are described in further detail in Heroes of Magnamund).
The Dwarves - Male dwarves are around 3 feet 11.5 inches to 4 feet 5.5 inches. The Drodarin Dwarves are an industrious race with brave traditions and a natural talent for mining and metalwork. Particularly skilled in armour and weapons crafting.
The Kloon of Chaman - Closely related to Drodarin Dwarves, yet smaller, greener and – as they would argue themselves – quite a lot brighter, the Kloon are an ancient, wise, considerate and resourceful race, whose lifestyle and culture is built upon the acquisition and appreciation of knowledge and wisdom. They are devoted to the accumulation of knowledge and its practical application. They are sometimes called, “The Librarians of Magnamund”. The Kloon are known for their excavation of valuable minerals, their building of fine houses (as domiciles for themselves and as repositories for their vast collection of ancient scrolls and tomes), their study of nature and science, their memorising of stories and folklore, their philosophical recitals, their arts and crafts, and their astute and trustworthy trading.
The Giants of Starn - Around 12-15ft tall. They are typically muscular and have thick, luxurious hair. They wear a variety of clothing which they usually fashion for themselves from cowhides and furs. Their favoured weapons are large clubs that have been crafted from tree trunks, and stone boulders (typically 50lbs) that they have rounded off to fit comfortably in the palms of their huge hands. Their skin, hair and eye colouration is not dissimilar to that of humans.
The Drodarin Giants of Starn have occupied the halls of Mount Vost ever since the Age of the Old Kingdoms. They became an insular race after the Great Plague of 2514 MS which devastated their population. In MS 5000, they shun contact with humans and are only known to trade with the Dwarves of the kingdoms of Bor and Boden, to whom they are distantly related. They live in relative peace and isolation, unless disturbed by those who come into their homelands unannounced and uninvited.
The Ogrons - Ogrons are a blue-skinned race of creatures of Drodarin descent. They have purple blood which can be highly oxygenated when they hyperventilate. They do this before combat in order to pump up their strength and stamina. This ability also permits them to stay underwater for anything up to 30 minutes at a time. They are taller than humans yet smaller than Giants. A typical mature male stands 9 feet tall.
Ogrons are native of the swamps and plains of Caron, but they can be found throughout the Stornlands. Notoriously dull-witted, they are suited to hard labour and can be formidable warriors in battle.
They are often recruited as mercenaries by the rulers of the Stornlands and used as shock troops in the van of battlefield attacks and sieges. They have an innate hatred of Cener Druids, born out of centuries of cruel persecution at their hand.
The Patar (Redeemers) - The Patar are physically similar to humans in many regards, and betray few outward signs that they are of Drodarin descent. They are commonly called ‘Redeemers’ throughout Magnamund. They keep their heads shaved and wear wooden amulets, carved in the likeness of a small fish, hung from a leather cord around their necks. Invariably they wear simple black-hooded robes and never carry weapons of any kind.
During the Age of the Old Kingdoms, when the Elder Magi ruled the land, they conducted many experiments to develop their knowledge and understanding of nature. These experiments were conducted in a temple located on the Isle of Ghosts in northern Eru. The guardians of this laboratory of the arcane were the Patar. They served the Elder Magi and in return they were entrusted with their new-found secrets of herbcraft and druidic lore. But the Patar betrayed that trust when they knowingly allowed the Cenerese into the temple to plunder its secrets. The Cenerese called upon their Demonlord, Tagazin, who appeared in the temple. It took all that the Elder Magi had nurtured and cultivated and turned it against them in the form of a deadly plague that decimated their race. This fearsome blight became known as the Great Plague. In the wake of their destruction, the Cenerese and Patar rose to power, but their reign was brutally put to an end. A clan of goodly druids, called the Herbalish, who had helped the surviving Elder Magi and the other Drodarin peoples to escape their enemies during the years of the Great Plague, waged war on the Cenerese and were victorious. The Patar fled the temple in shame and the survivors gave a solemn pledge to the Herbalish that they would redeem their act of treachery by devoting themselves to the study of the healing arts and by striving to defeat disease in all its forms. Ever since, the descendants of the Patar have been known as the Redeemers, a holy silent order of pilgrims devoted to a lifetime of prayer. Each new generation has upheld that ancient vow. Redeemers are now employed as the agents and emissaries of the Herbalish throughout Magnamund. They are particularly active in the Shadakine Empire, where clandestinely they help the populace to resist the tyranny of Shasarak, despite the vicious persecution they endure at the hands of the warriors of the Wytch-king.
The Sorarians - The Sorarians were humanoid Drodarin similar to the Patar. They inhabited the plains and hills to the north of the Ogshezar Mountains, a territory which is now located in the Darklands. Unfortunately, the Sorarians were especially vulnerable to the Great Plague and very few survived. These survivors sought sanctuary in the partly subterranean capital of Tar Ogashaar. They grew steadily in number until the Darklords came to Magnamund, whereupon the new Champions of Darkness descended upon the hidden city and annihilated the last vestiges of this once great civilisation.
The Sorarians were gifted goldsmiths and their treasures comprise finely crafted artefacts of pure gold, some of them containing magical powers. The Ogshezar Mountains, which to this day have rich seams of gold, were the source of Sorarian wealth. In MS 5000, the gold of the Ogshezar Mountains has long been forgotten. A vast horde of Sorarian treasures were looted by the Darklords and are now stored in the fortress-city of Cragmantle.
The Moor Dwarves - The Moor Dwarves were the inhabitants of the Empire of Sahawat that was founded at the very beginning of the Age of Eternal Night. They changed physically as gradually they adapted to their swamp homes in the marshes surrounding the Gulf of Tentarium, most notably in the Lower Loga River Basin in Northern Shadaki. They constructed extensive underground chambers and transformed their swampy abode into a subterranean complex with waterfalls that proved them with a constant source of fresh water.
Their underground homes utilised hydraulic pressure in ingenious ways to provide them with excavators, elevators and a myriad smaller devices. Having split earlier than any other sub-race from the original Drodarin stock, they were also the first Drodarin sub-race to become extinct.
The Moor Dwarves were exterminated by Agarash the Damned during his conquest of Southern Magnamund during the first part of the Age of Eternal Night. A few remnants of their civilisation can still be found in the Lower Loga River Basin.
The Krorn - Krorn are ugly hairless humanoid carnivores with overly large, muscular shoulders and twisted sinewy arms that hang down below their knees. They have a shuffling gait due to their short bow legs. Their gnarled and shiny skin is a dung brown colour and wrinkled like old leather. They are ape-faced and have sharp canine teeth, and their deep-set eyes are uniformly black.
Krorn are a cruel and ungainly hybrid that hails from the Forests of Akamazim and Moggador in the Hammerlands. During the Age of the Old Kingdoms, a group of sentient Agarashi interbred with individuals from an ancient race of Drodarin descent which was close to extinction due to the ravages of the Great Plague. The offspring of this unnatural union, the Krorn, were strong enough to survive the plague and now they inhabit the forests of Magador, Ogia and the Hammerlands. They speak a harsh language passed down from their Agarashi ancestors. Krorn can be very aggressive, especially towards humans for whom that have a deep-seated hatred. In fact, they love nothing better than to devour human flesh. The Krorn were enslaved by the Drakkarim when they first invaded their territories (MS 2850-3152). Subsequently, they have often been used as slave soldiers by Drakkarim warlords, and sometimes by bandits and mercenaries who invade their territory looking to ensnare and kidnap them for his purpose.
The Kaum Giants - A Kaum Giant is a 12-15 feet tall, black-skinned, muscular humanoid, with a smoothly asymmetric face and a body completely devoid of hair that sometimes have deformities. Their organs were modified long ago by the Cenerese to become resistant to diseases, poisons and injury. Some Kaum Giants (20%) have rudimentary spare organs which activate if their main internal organs are destroyed. They are very aggressive mutants and are known to launch unprovoked attacks on humans and humanoids.
The Kaum Giants are the result of genetic experiments which were carried out on captive Drodarin Giants of Starn by the Cener Druids. These cruel and unnatural procedures were conducted in the laboratories of the Cenerese stronghold of Mogaruith in the year MS 937. Corrupted by the degenerate power of the Cener Druids, these captive giants were transformed into formidable long- lived killers with an insatiable bloodlust. The Cenerese had planned to convey them in a flotilla of boats to Bautar and put them ashore near the city of Talon to wreak murder and mayhem in the capital of their sworn enemies, the Herbwardens. Unfortunately for the Cenerese, the plan did not go as they had intended.
The mutant giants killed the crews early on in the voyage, and took control of the flotilla. Instead of sailing a south-easterly course towards Bautar when they reached the Tentarias, they turned to the north-west and sailed to the Mens Sound. Here they entered the wide and sluggish flow of the River Mens and followed it all the way to its source in the remote mountains of Kaum. When they could go no further, the boats were abandoned and the escaping giants took in the forests and swamps of this isolated territory which, ironically, had been a Cenerese stronghold ages ago.
They have since claimed this region as their own, recovering artefacts, temples and old Cenerese laboratories and finding a way to breed which still remains a mystery to the scholars of the Freelands. The neighbouring lands of Halia and Lunarlia have suffered persistent attacks from Kaum Giants for several centuries. The Kaum Giants are capable of using evil Cenerese herb-sorcery, sometimes to devastating effect. Many human settlers have been kidnapped by these giants, and all retaliation has so far proved fruitless for the mountains and swamps of Kaum provide the giants with a formidable sanctuary. In MS 5000, it is rumoured that the Cener Druids have regained partial control over the Kaum Giants and are turning their territory into a Cenerese bastion in the heart of Southern Magnamund.
The Trogar of the Underworld - "A massive creature without neck crouches , roaring with laughter and drinking from a barrel as easily as his companions drink from their mugs."
"However, their companion more than makes up for his companions' limited size - his head would hit the ceiling if he stood up, and he could easily grab around a pillar, yanking it off to use as a club. Even more puzzling is his thick, fiery yellow hide that seems more like bark than skin. You can't see his eyes, because they are buried deep in the furrows of his face. He seems to have no neck, but his head sits directly on his shoulders like a hill in the middle of a plain. From under his nose, which you at first thought was a muzzle, grows a thick, bushy beard that covers his chest, and two giant ivory tusks protrude from the beard, like tree branches."
"The Tall Azgakar leans forward and smiles broadly. 'Indeed! Taglin ended up here helping me when I got into trouble, and then when I told him about an old tale I'd heard, well then he decided to try and take a look. My people, the Trogar, say there's an old city that is built underground here, and it comes from a time when all of us Drodarin were bigger. Rumour has it that the streets are covered by bronin, and lit by lamps of silver! We also looked for another place called Dvargadron, and maybe pick up some more rumours there!' he continues, taking another sid from the skin as Taglin elbows him."
"It's supposed to be like a 'giant dwarf' 😁 In the story it's called a Trogar." - Lukas Thelin.
Most of the Drodarin were decimated during the Great Plague (2514 MS). This terrible pestilence was cultivated by an evil race of druids called the Ceners, and it spread because of the betrayal of one of the Drodarin sub-species, the Patar. Very few Drodarin survived the Great Plague, and their disparate remaining races are no longer the predominant sentient beings inhabiting Magnamund.
Two principal offshoots of Drodarin civilization are still influential in MS 5000: the Dwarves of Bor and Boden, and the Kloon of Chaman (examples of both are described in further detail in Heroes of Magnamund).
The Dwarves - Male dwarves are around 3 feet 11.5 inches to 4 feet 5.5 inches. The Drodarin Dwarves are an industrious race with brave traditions and a natural talent for mining and metalwork. Particularly skilled in armour and weapons crafting.
The Kloon of Chaman - Closely related to Drodarin Dwarves, yet smaller, greener and – as they would argue themselves – quite a lot brighter, the Kloon are an ancient, wise, considerate and resourceful race, whose lifestyle and culture is built upon the acquisition and appreciation of knowledge and wisdom. They are devoted to the accumulation of knowledge and its practical application. They are sometimes called, “The Librarians of Magnamund”. The Kloon are known for their excavation of valuable minerals, their building of fine houses (as domiciles for themselves and as repositories for their vast collection of ancient scrolls and tomes), their study of nature and science, their memorising of stories and folklore, their philosophical recitals, their arts and crafts, and their astute and trustworthy trading.
The Giants of Starn - Around 12-15ft tall. They are typically muscular and have thick, luxurious hair. They wear a variety of clothing which they usually fashion for themselves from cowhides and furs. Their favoured weapons are large clubs that have been crafted from tree trunks, and stone boulders (typically 50lbs) that they have rounded off to fit comfortably in the palms of their huge hands. Their skin, hair and eye colouration is not dissimilar to that of humans.
The Drodarin Giants of Starn have occupied the halls of Mount Vost ever since the Age of the Old Kingdoms. They became an insular race after the Great Plague of 2514 MS which devastated their population. In MS 5000, they shun contact with humans and are only known to trade with the Dwarves of the kingdoms of Bor and Boden, to whom they are distantly related. They live in relative peace and isolation, unless disturbed by those who come into their homelands unannounced and uninvited.
The Ogrons - Ogrons are a blue-skinned race of creatures of Drodarin descent. They have purple blood which can be highly oxygenated when they hyperventilate. They do this before combat in order to pump up their strength and stamina. This ability also permits them to stay underwater for anything up to 30 minutes at a time. They are taller than humans yet smaller than Giants. A typical mature male stands 9 feet tall.
Ogrons are native of the swamps and plains of Caron, but they can be found throughout the Stornlands. Notoriously dull-witted, they are suited to hard labour and can be formidable warriors in battle.
They are often recruited as mercenaries by the rulers of the Stornlands and used as shock troops in the van of battlefield attacks and sieges. They have an innate hatred of Cener Druids, born out of centuries of cruel persecution at their hand.
The Patar (Redeemers) - The Patar are physically similar to humans in many regards, and betray few outward signs that they are of Drodarin descent. They are commonly called ‘Redeemers’ throughout Magnamund. They keep their heads shaved and wear wooden amulets, carved in the likeness of a small fish, hung from a leather cord around their necks. Invariably they wear simple black-hooded robes and never carry weapons of any kind.
During the Age of the Old Kingdoms, when the Elder Magi ruled the land, they conducted many experiments to develop their knowledge and understanding of nature. These experiments were conducted in a temple located on the Isle of Ghosts in northern Eru. The guardians of this laboratory of the arcane were the Patar. They served the Elder Magi and in return they were entrusted with their new-found secrets of herbcraft and druidic lore. But the Patar betrayed that trust when they knowingly allowed the Cenerese into the temple to plunder its secrets. The Cenerese called upon their Demonlord, Tagazin, who appeared in the temple. It took all that the Elder Magi had nurtured and cultivated and turned it against them in the form of a deadly plague that decimated their race. This fearsome blight became known as the Great Plague. In the wake of their destruction, the Cenerese and Patar rose to power, but their reign was brutally put to an end. A clan of goodly druids, called the Herbalish, who had helped the surviving Elder Magi and the other Drodarin peoples to escape their enemies during the years of the Great Plague, waged war on the Cenerese and were victorious. The Patar fled the temple in shame and the survivors gave a solemn pledge to the Herbalish that they would redeem their act of treachery by devoting themselves to the study of the healing arts and by striving to defeat disease in all its forms. Ever since, the descendants of the Patar have been known as the Redeemers, a holy silent order of pilgrims devoted to a lifetime of prayer. Each new generation has upheld that ancient vow. Redeemers are now employed as the agents and emissaries of the Herbalish throughout Magnamund. They are particularly active in the Shadakine Empire, where clandestinely they help the populace to resist the tyranny of Shasarak, despite the vicious persecution they endure at the hands of the warriors of the Wytch-king.
The Sorarians - The Sorarians were humanoid Drodarin similar to the Patar. They inhabited the plains and hills to the north of the Ogshezar Mountains, a territory which is now located in the Darklands. Unfortunately, the Sorarians were especially vulnerable to the Great Plague and very few survived. These survivors sought sanctuary in the partly subterranean capital of Tar Ogashaar. They grew steadily in number until the Darklords came to Magnamund, whereupon the new Champions of Darkness descended upon the hidden city and annihilated the last vestiges of this once great civilisation.
The Sorarians were gifted goldsmiths and their treasures comprise finely crafted artefacts of pure gold, some of them containing magical powers. The Ogshezar Mountains, which to this day have rich seams of gold, were the source of Sorarian wealth. In MS 5000, the gold of the Ogshezar Mountains has long been forgotten. A vast horde of Sorarian treasures were looted by the Darklords and are now stored in the fortress-city of Cragmantle.
The Moor Dwarves - The Moor Dwarves were the inhabitants of the Empire of Sahawat that was founded at the very beginning of the Age of Eternal Night. They changed physically as gradually they adapted to their swamp homes in the marshes surrounding the Gulf of Tentarium, most notably in the Lower Loga River Basin in Northern Shadaki. They constructed extensive underground chambers and transformed their swampy abode into a subterranean complex with waterfalls that proved them with a constant source of fresh water.
Their underground homes utilised hydraulic pressure in ingenious ways to provide them with excavators, elevators and a myriad smaller devices. Having split earlier than any other sub-race from the original Drodarin stock, they were also the first Drodarin sub-race to become extinct.
The Moor Dwarves were exterminated by Agarash the Damned during his conquest of Southern Magnamund during the first part of the Age of Eternal Night. A few remnants of their civilisation can still be found in the Lower Loga River Basin.
The Krorn - Krorn are ugly hairless humanoid carnivores with overly large, muscular shoulders and twisted sinewy arms that hang down below their knees. They have a shuffling gait due to their short bow legs. Their gnarled and shiny skin is a dung brown colour and wrinkled like old leather. They are ape-faced and have sharp canine teeth, and their deep-set eyes are uniformly black.
Krorn are a cruel and ungainly hybrid that hails from the Forests of Akamazim and Moggador in the Hammerlands. During the Age of the Old Kingdoms, a group of sentient Agarashi interbred with individuals from an ancient race of Drodarin descent which was close to extinction due to the ravages of the Great Plague. The offspring of this unnatural union, the Krorn, were strong enough to survive the plague and now they inhabit the forests of Magador, Ogia and the Hammerlands. They speak a harsh language passed down from their Agarashi ancestors. Krorn can be very aggressive, especially towards humans for whom that have a deep-seated hatred. In fact, they love nothing better than to devour human flesh. The Krorn were enslaved by the Drakkarim when they first invaded their territories (MS 2850-3152). Subsequently, they have often been used as slave soldiers by Drakkarim warlords, and sometimes by bandits and mercenaries who invade their territory looking to ensnare and kidnap them for his purpose.
The Kaum Giants - A Kaum Giant is a 12-15 feet tall, black-skinned, muscular humanoid, with a smoothly asymmetric face and a body completely devoid of hair that sometimes have deformities. Their organs were modified long ago by the Cenerese to become resistant to diseases, poisons and injury. Some Kaum Giants (20%) have rudimentary spare organs which activate if their main internal organs are destroyed. They are very aggressive mutants and are known to launch unprovoked attacks on humans and humanoids.
The Kaum Giants are the result of genetic experiments which were carried out on captive Drodarin Giants of Starn by the Cener Druids. These cruel and unnatural procedures were conducted in the laboratories of the Cenerese stronghold of Mogaruith in the year MS 937. Corrupted by the degenerate power of the Cener Druids, these captive giants were transformed into formidable long- lived killers with an insatiable bloodlust. The Cenerese had planned to convey them in a flotilla of boats to Bautar and put them ashore near the city of Talon to wreak murder and mayhem in the capital of their sworn enemies, the Herbwardens. Unfortunately for the Cenerese, the plan did not go as they had intended.
The mutant giants killed the crews early on in the voyage, and took control of the flotilla. Instead of sailing a south-easterly course towards Bautar when they reached the Tentarias, they turned to the north-west and sailed to the Mens Sound. Here they entered the wide and sluggish flow of the River Mens and followed it all the way to its source in the remote mountains of Kaum. When they could go no further, the boats were abandoned and the escaping giants took in the forests and swamps of this isolated territory which, ironically, had been a Cenerese stronghold ages ago.
They have since claimed this region as their own, recovering artefacts, temples and old Cenerese laboratories and finding a way to breed which still remains a mystery to the scholars of the Freelands. The neighbouring lands of Halia and Lunarlia have suffered persistent attacks from Kaum Giants for several centuries. The Kaum Giants are capable of using evil Cenerese herb-sorcery, sometimes to devastating effect. Many human settlers have been kidnapped by these giants, and all retaliation has so far proved fruitless for the mountains and swamps of Kaum provide the giants with a formidable sanctuary. In MS 5000, it is rumoured that the Cener Druids have regained partial control over the Kaum Giants and are turning their territory into a Cenerese bastion in the heart of Southern Magnamund.
The Trogar of the Underworld - "A massive creature without neck crouches , roaring with laughter and drinking from a barrel as easily as his companions drink from their mugs."
"However, their companion more than makes up for his companions' limited size - his head would hit the ceiling if he stood up, and he could easily grab around a pillar, yanking it off to use as a club. Even more puzzling is his thick, fiery yellow hide that seems more like bark than skin. You can't see his eyes, because they are buried deep in the furrows of his face. He seems to have no neck, but his head sits directly on his shoulders like a hill in the middle of a plain. From under his nose, which you at first thought was a muzzle, grows a thick, bushy beard that covers his chest, and two giant ivory tusks protrude from the beard, like tree branches."
"The Tall Azgakar leans forward and smiles broadly. 'Indeed! Taglin ended up here helping me when I got into trouble, and then when I told him about an old tale I'd heard, well then he decided to try and take a look. My people, the Trogar, say there's an old city that is built underground here, and it comes from a time when all of us Drodarin were bigger. Rumour has it that the streets are covered by bronin, and lit by lamps of silver! We also looked for another place called Dvargadron, and maybe pick up some more rumours there!' he continues, taking another sid from the skin as Taglin elbows him."
"It's supposed to be like a 'giant dwarf' 😁 In the story it's called a Trogar." - Lukas Thelin.
