Homebrew Arkos Urgal Species Details

"The first I ever beheld an Urgal was quite the sight and struck me deeply in my memory. The dread has always stuck with me. It stepped up onto the peak of a hill, overlooking the battle I had only recently been pulled from as a young man for the injury I had been dealt not long before. I too had been watching the skirmish rage below even as I was tended to. However, his shadow drew my eye to him, for it had fallen across what felt like the entire field to my youthful terror. 

He was massive, the largest sinescale I had ever seen of course, and he was painted in all sorts of twining patterns of white, red, and black pigments. He was a Guide I would later learn, for I was one of the lucky few who lived to learn, and I thought him a monster from the wickedest nightmares of man as he transformed into some strange amalgamation of ram and boar. All tusks and horns it barreled into battle and crushed, severed, and stamped all my fellow soldiers to death.

I have no hate for him though, he was defending his home, and it was an era of all-out war for everyone. Yet never will I forget the destruction capable in each friendly and calm face of every Urgal I have met since then."

— The Great Chronicler 

 

Strong and Swift

Just as Ignis intended Urgals are a powerful foe to behold, with their intimidating stature and harsh features doing half the work even before they have threatened or attacked. However, they are not simple brutes and are more cunning and clever than they are often given credit for, making them just that more terrifying. Males and females have few noticeable differences beyond the obvious, they are of similar heights and weights while being equally strong. It is said that Ignis modeled them after the violent raging rams of the fire plane and thus they have thick twisting horns and boiling blood. 

Urgals coloration ranges from blazing reds to ash grays to the very rare green. Urgals typically have thick forearms with less flexible wrists that can act as good weights for building momentum as well as guards for the abdomen. They also have equally thick calves and large feet for power and grip while charging. While they are not very agile, they can be incredibly fast, once a Urgal has built momentum it is rare to find a force which can stand in its way besides a dragon. 

 

Peirce and Burn

Orcs and Urgals believe suffering through pain by choice marks one's strength of character. Due to this belief Orcai often punish their skin, the piercings they bear a representation of their resolve and will. Branding is often far more complex than simple piercing as the scars often tell stories and mark certain chapters of an Orcai's life and/or a significant accomplishment. Unlike piercings which can be done by anyone (though it is silently encouraged that one should do it themselves) scarification must be done by a spiritual leader to the individual. This does not mean everyone must go to a Guide for their branding but instead means it can be someone that said Orc greatly admires. A spiritual leader in a mentor sense often works here. 

Sometimes it is the Orc or Urgal's family member, sometimes it is the leader of their warband, and sometimes it is their mate. Branding should never be done by the individual receiving it through because the burns are meant to represent you in a purer way, in a way in which you are perceived and thus always must be done by another who witnessed this deed or event. 

Urgals also carve decorative symbols and patterns onto their horns usually it seems just for appearances sake. Though some say it is good luck to carve symbols of war there. 

 

Blessed and Burdened

Urgals are said to be when Ignis particularly favors an unborn child and blesses them. They come out notably different from other babes as they are often gangly and sickly looking rather than the pudgy healthy look of typical Orc babies. A quarter of Urgal babies are typically lost due to complications soon after birth. Mothers are often so ashamed from having lost an Urgal baby that they join a particular tribe of women known as the Black Wraith Tribe, which is a tribe that often hunts Orcai who have done something foul to the children or women of other tribes. Due to this they are a wandering tribe and allowed to go where they please. 

The Urgals who do survive infancy go through painful growth spurt after growth spurt. This leaves them weak and worn oftentimes, even as well taken care of as they are. They spend most of their childhood listening to other children play rather than joining them and are often surrounded by at least one or more Guides within the tribe to undergo training of the mental kind. This is to prepare them for the likely hood that they will one day become guides themselves. Once they are grown and pass their Culling they are automatically brought before the available dragon eggs. Most Urgals are dragon riders, but they are still beloved and respected even when they are not. 

Time passes swiftly for the Urgals who are not blessed by dragon bonds however and soon they will be undergoing their second and final Culling for the right to be a Guide. The ones who make it out the other side rapidly undergo their druidic training and become part of the leadership for the tribe. 

 

Untamable Wildfire and Undying Embers 

If Orcs are made to be undying embers, then Urgals as a whole were crafted to be untamable wildfire that rage as devastating forces in battle. Unlike their Orc brethren Urgals don't have good lifespans, averaging ages of 50 when it comes to dying of natural causes. Due to the fact that their existence is caused by mutations in the Orc bloodlines and are not a breed of their own, their bodies are not able to support their immense size and strength for long. The Orcai simply accept it as a fact of their existence, stating things like "Urgals are Ignis' hottest flames, born to burn bright and fast." or "The ram never lives as long as the boar." However, the things Urgals accomplish in their lifetimes are almost always set into their history through spoken tales. They are the fiercest and most powerful foe you will ever find in a sinescale race. 

Funnily enough however they are also some of the most relaxed of the Orcai when not fighting. Due to their taxing, mutated biochemistry they are regularly pumped with melatonin when at rest as opposed to being pumped full of adrenaline as they are for battle. Urgal are oftentimes sleepy and subdued when they aren't fighting because of their bodies attempts to keep them from both injuring themselves through activity and to recover from the daily wear and tear on their joints through sleep. Because of this and their very existence being seen as blessing from Ignis, they are often voices of reason within their hotheaded tribes. 

 

Orcai Names

When Orcai are born they are typically given names that relate to what a parent hopes for them to accomplish, an act or attitude. Once they become adults however by making it through the "Culling" they are now gunning to earn a new name, their "deed" name. This name may only be given by Guides in the tribe after the young Orc has done something worthwhile. The Orcai language is loosely based on the Icelandic language. 

Child Names: Harka (Harsh), Mordni (Killer), Jall (Clever), Felnur (Feller of Darkness), Von (Hope), Bardaga (Battle), etc.

Adult Names: Goltavi (Boar Slayer), Felnur (Feller of Darkness), Himveida (Sky Stalker), Verjaheim (Defender of the Homeland), etc. 

Arkos Urgal Traits

Born of fire and blood Orcai are a combustive race who burn bright and bold, respecting the cycles of life in all its beauty.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength rises by 2 and your Constitution rises by 1 (You may place these points however you like but this is a typical Urgal bonus)

Age

Urgals reach maturity around age ten and live for another 30 to 40 years on average. This growth cycle is very unlike that of their Orc parentage and thus is why they are often considered a different species even when in reality they are just a mutated Orc. In Orcai society Urgals are often the very rare few who live till they die of natural causes. This is due so many of them becoming Guides within the tribe and gaining druidic powers which supplement their loss of physical power. 

Size

Urgals range from 7 feet to 8 feet tall and often have hulking builds, though sometimes they can grow into a just as tall but more gangly and agile form. Their horns don't typically add much to their height unlike the appendages of the Wild elves, instead their horns typically curl about their head like a ram's horns do. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Fear the Fire

You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Gift of Ignis

You can tolerate significant amounts of heat and are resistant to fire damage. Oftentimes this trait is useful in dragon care. 

Boiling Blood

Before attacking an Urgal may decide to access the burning power within them and slash their weapon across their skin, coating it in boiling blood. You roll the flat damage die of your weapon as damage against yourself. When you attack this turn or the next one you may add the max of your weapons die (6 for a d6, 8 for a d8, etc.) to your attacks damage, this damage is treated as fire damage. 

Untamable Wildfire

You can take the Dash action as a bonus action. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Whenever you use this trait and make an attack on the same turn you may add your proficiency bonus as damage to a successful hit. 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Orcish and one other language. Orcish is a rich, stout sounding language with lots of deep rumbling trills and clicks. Orcish literature is not common but when it is used it is a symbolic system built upon words rather than letters. Most of Orcish history was lost after the Ascension and now is instead kept through storytelling, however the most interesting part of their language is what is called the "woven language" or the method of storytelling through the use of color in their Blood Cord or the woven length of boar hair that depicts their family lineage usually kept outside their caves.  When it comes to their music, they often favor drums and vocalizations which is often accompanied by the stamping of their feet or the pounding on one's chest.