Race Preview: Nothrog

In the wastes and plains of the harshest territory of the Accordlands, the tribes of Nothrog roam. Although some may consider them “primitive’ based on their choice of lifestyle, it is a mistake that is never made twice. The Nothrog are some of the greatest tacticians and military strategists in the Lands of the Accord, and they are both intelligent and cultured. Nothrog tribes simply prefer a wandering lifestyle, using their excellent skills with the sword to conquer and pillage as they make their way across their broad homeland. These skills are constantly honed, as all Nothrog are constantly at war. It is their calling, their art and their ardent pleasure.

The Nothrog specialize in group tactics, using every soldier at their disposal to present a unified force. They are known to use siege engines and unusual equipment, keeping their military secrets to themselves. Their sorcerers and clerics are rare but dangerous, skilled at healing as well with offense, they make an ideal support unit for the Nothrog legions. On the whole, most Nothrog tend to be warriors, scouts and soldiers, ready to give their lives for the legion that has been both mother and father to them.

Everyone in a Nothrog “legion’ (the extended family unit) knows how to fight, or can contribute to the fighting. Children are taught the art of sabotage, how to drag the wounded from the battlefield, and how to defend themselves in close quarters. Men and women are no different in a Nothrog legion, how one fights and the prizes they conquer are the defining “worth” of a Nothrog. Both sexes are extremely muscular, usually armored in studded leathers or other less restrictive protective gear.

Nothrog lands are harsh and unforgiving, and the villages in the region are maintained by captive races such as humans, kobolds, or other beastlings. When a legion conquers another place or people, they may enslave them and keep them on their lands, or they may move them to pre-existing villages deeper in that legion’s territories. Those unfortunates are then given the obligation to provide the wandering patron tribe with all of its non war-based needs such as clothing, food, medicine, and other support. The Nothrog tribe itself has the capacity to blacksmith, do combat medicine cast shamanistic spells, and other warlike tasks, but they rarely bother to learn tailoring or husbandry. If it were not for the parasitic relationship between the Nothrog tribe and these slave-villages, the Nothrog would starve to death.

The Nothrog legions travel though the easternmost Lands of the Accord, and for the most part, they keep to themselves. The various legions fight when they come too near one another, as much to prove their dominance as out of any real interest in “defending their territory.” Nothrog rarely consider the earth to be divided or segregated but they will fight over almost anything, throwing caution to the wind in order to test their skill, courage and cunning.

The most important lesson of Nothrog society can be summed up in the war chant of the Scarab Legion: everything dies. As with all things that are derived from the Nothrog, their basic philosophy of life is simple. Life is war. The two are inseparable, and there is no way to have one without the other and no desire for such a state.

• +2 Strength, –2 Dexterity: Nothrog are exceptionally hardy, but tend to become muscle-bound.
• Darkvision: Nothrog can see in the dark up to 120 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and Nothrog can function capably without any light at all.
• Combat Prowess: A Nothrog may not be flanked in combat unless there are at least twice as many enemies as allies in his threatened area. Rogues at least four class levels higher than the Nothrog’s character level ignore this ability.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Nothrog. Bonus Languages: Deverenian, Elf, and Giant.
• Favored class: Fighter.