Karrocks

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Karrock monk

Karrocks were created by the Dwur using ancient Runes of power to be the perfect shock troops of the Baal dragon armies. Constructed of stone they needed no armor, being naturally resistant to blades, fire and necromantic magics, and their fists were equally effective crushing walls or men. They were incredible machines of war, instrumental in achieving the many conquests of the Draconian Empire. But the Karrocks far exceeded their makers' expectations--once mere automatons, they have grown to become truly living beings with the capacity to think, feel, and have children just like other creatures.

Karrocks have a chiseled stone appearance like fine statues, reflecting the great skill of the Dwur craftsmen. They are incredibly strong and hardy, making formidable adversaries in battle. Karrocks traditionally follow the Exemplar Way, a monastic path to self-perfection. Thus, their personalities are austere and strangely gentle with a quiet wisdom as patient as the earth itself.

Regions

Karrocks originally hail from the Alglondor, also called the Shieldlands, a war-torn land with a castle or fortress on every hill. However, their propensity to wander has spread them, albeit thinly, to every corner of Ambar, particularly the mountainous region of Nan-Surinen, the Valley of the Wind.

Population

Karrocks are not commonly seen, being few in number and prone to spend long periods of time in monastic isolation.

Personality

Karrocks are as stone--hard, strong, and patient as the earth itself. Their hearts and minds are calm, strong and unyielding. Karrocks are long-lived, and have a patience gained through ages of meditation that make them pensive and stone-faced with friend and foe alike. Karrocks strive for physical and mental perfection, desiring equilibrium in all things. Since their creation by the Dwur, Karrocks have trained in traditional martial arts and meditation, often spending years dwelling in mountaintop monasteries honing their skills, bodies and minds. Karrocks disdain anything that interferes with their quest for self-perfection, such as excessive personal belongings or leisure pursuits, showing remarkable discipline in their training.

Physical Description

Karrocks are similar to humans, but with completely hairless and have a chiseled stone-like appearance. Their eyes are commonly stone-gray, and their bodies have a chiseled appearance like fine statues. They are incredibly strong and hardy, making formidable adversaries in battle, and their tough skin makes them naturally resistant to cold and minor wounds.

Their rocky skins are able to turn the blade of most weapons, and their great strength allows them to wield huge stone clubs. Karrocks have little need for armor or clothing, and their heavy bodies tend to rapidly ruin any tight-fitting garb or armor. They instead wear loose clothing clothing such as flowing robes or loose pants, or even a simple loin cloth. The robes are often dyed in bright colors, but otherwise Karrocks prefer an spartan lifestyle, and find open displays of wealth materialistic and unappealing.

Karrocks do not need to drink, and only occasionally eat. When they do, they consume rock and stone high in certain minerals, preferably gemstones.

Relations

Karrocks are strongly allied with the Dwur, for it was the Dwur who created their race. Karrocks are perhaps the one race who have earned the respect of the Alu people through their discipline and adherence to the old ways. Karrocks have similar respect for the Alu, and both races have allied in the past against common foes.

Lands

Karrock dwell in mountaintop monasteries carved from living stone. Miles of stone steps lead up to the broad, stone walls and gates.

Religion

Karrocks traditionally follow the Exemplar Way, a path to self-perfection through exacting obeisance to the "Exemplar Virtues" and emulation of the "Exemplar Saints". The saints were holy ancestors who demonstrated the virtues in their lives. Each of the saints is typically remembered for "inventing" a single virtue, such as "Arith the Patient".

Karrock monasteries and shrines are typically named for one of the Saints. Traditionally, each step is carved with one of the Exemplar Virtues or Exemplar Saints of the Karrock Exemplar Way.

History

The Karrocks were created by Dwur Thaumaturgy from the memory of the Dwur guardian Gargoyles. The Karrocks were constructed to aid Baal-Dwur alliance in their hunt to slay the great Wyrms who had driven the Dwur from their mountain halls, the Dwurdelfs.

Language

Karrocks speak the Dwur tongue with a slow, rumbling gait. They also learn the tongue of the local region. They sound like mountains speaking, with deep, powerful voices.

Names

Karrocks often take Dwur Names.

Equipment

Karrocks have little need for material possessions, and their quest for spiritual perfection lends them to ascetic lives. Karrocks have little need for weaponry, but in war they have been known to wield large two-handed mauls, iron-shod staves, great clubs, great hammers, or tetsubo.

Adventurers

Karrocks walk the earth seeking self perfection and exploration of the world and their inner selves. Some Karrocks also feel a need to atone for their deeds in war while serving the Draconians, and actively combat evils and aid the peoples they once crushed under stone heel. They are welcome in all but the most evil of lands, and can provide a solid moral backbone in an adventuring party.

gallery: Karrocks

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