Dec 14

Urds



A human, an urd, and a kobold. The human and urd are wearing the same clothing.

[NOTE: A "prestige race" is similar to prestige classes in that they must be "unlocked." A prestige race cannot be chosen for a player's first character in TKL. However, a player's second and any subsequent character applications may be a character with a prestige race. Prestige race characters are subject to more scrutiny during the application process.]

Kobolds, the "Sons of Dragons"

Every kobold tribe in The Known Lands traces its roots to dragons. The exact origin varies from tribe to tribe. In some stories a tribe of kobolds hatches from a dragon's egg. In others, the dragons create the kobolds in their own image, as a race to serve them. (Many human, dwarf, and elf songs include a variation of the latter tale, in which the dragons create kobolds as pets after humans and elves domesticated dogs and cats, respectively.. This supposedly explains why their yipping language resembles dogs barking.) Indeed, in their own language the word which the use to describe themselves is k'bollud, which literally means "son of the dragon."

The dragons, as is often their way, have never verified the kobolds' claims. Anyone brave or foolish enough to ask them about it usually receives a snort and a brief chuckle as their only reply.

Nonplussed, the kobolds like to offer up proof of their draconic heritage, and have two favorite reasons in particular. The first is their affinity for traps, one of many tactics they employ when combating opponents larger than themselves (which is pretty much every opponent). The kobolds claim that this affinity stems from their creation, when they were primarily used by dragons to guard underground lairs, before the dragons in an altruistic moment set them free to spread their kobold greatness across The Known Lands. It is certainly true that many kobold tribes worship dragons if their presence nearby is known, and will live as close to the lair as possible and set traps in and around its known entrances. (Whether the dragons consider this a help or a hindrance is another topic on which they are mute.)

The second piece of evidence that kobolds offer up as proof of their relation to dragons is the existence of urds. The true kobold word for these creatures is k'bollud'urd, which literally means "blessed son of the dragon." Even the kobolds themselves usually shorten it to urd, "blessed (one)." Urds are basically kobolds with wings. They are extremely rare - on average, one out of every ten thousand kobold eggs produces an urd. The kobolds are convinced that these winged members of their species are the next step in their development, and that the dragons have intended for them to all become winged one day.

The naturologistopher Dar'ween Men'del studied a few kobold tribes, in the hopes that the kobold tales were true and that the existence of urds would offer more proof of the validity of his controversial Theory of Changeolution. However, Dar'ween concluded that kobolds were probably not related to dragons at all, for the following reasons:

- kobolds are cold-blooded; in fact, they are the only known surface-dwelling cold-blooded bipedal race. Dragons, on the other hand, are warm-blooded, like dracosaurs, lizardmen, and saurials. Dar'ween postulated that kobolds changeoluted from reptiles.
- urd wings look more like a bat's than a dragon's.
- kobolds lay eggs, as do dragons, dracosaurs, lizardmen, and saurials. But unlike lizardmen and saurials, male kobolds have external sex organs. Kobold males have a hemipenis - in layman's terms, they have two dicks. Kobold females have a cloaca, an orifice which is used both for sexual reproduction and the excrement of liquid and solid waste. These characteristics are common to reptiles. Unlike reptiles, however, kobold males are able to use both of their hemipenes at the same time, to impregnate two female kobolds simultaneously - Dar'ween concluded that this was part of the reason that kobolds are so fecund.*
- like crocodiles, kobolds lose and regain teeth numerous times during the course of ther lives. Some kobolds keep their old teeth and make them into necklaces or other jewelry.
- Kobold eggs are susceptible to temperature-dependent sex determination, as are turtles and crocodiles. Dar'ween suspected that kobold tribes carefully selected the sex of the next generation so as to maintain an optimal male:female ratio for purposes of breeding.

While Dar'ween was satisfied that he had successfully determined the true origin of kobolds, the winged urds remained a mystery to him. There are no known winged reptiles - dragons, wyverns, and the winged dracosaurs are all warm-blooded. Dar'ween's best theory on urds was that they were, like the kobolds claimed, the next step in kobold changeolution, basing this guess on an earlier postulated theory - dismissed as the ravings of a crackpot by the academic community - that birds were descended from dracosaurs.

*- Dar'ween once presented the results of his study on kobolds at an academic conference. "Holy gods, they got two wee dicks an'they shite from their baby-maekun hole - ye knoow, et figgurs," was the common dwarvish reply. Most elves were too busy retching from the visual image of a male kobold copulating with two females at once to offer any comment.

The Path to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions... and Demon Sex

Fittingly it was Dar'ween's descendent Wa'tso'ncri'ic Men'del who developed what is considered the best theory to explain the origin of urds. Upon arriving in Mjinte, Wa'tso found that the city was practically crawling with urds, without a kobold in sight. He soon discovered, upon speaking with many urds, that unlike some of the other "advanced" humanoid races found in Mjinte, urds breed true with each other, though they are not as fecund as their kobold cousins - while kobolds usually a dozen or so eggs two weeks after fertilization, urds lay one or two eggs roughly a month after successful intercourse. Also (and this was gleaned only after plying numerous urds with copious amounts of alcohol), like most reptiles urds can only use of their hemipenes at a time (most prefer to alternate).

Out in the wastelands of Kswantu, Wa'tso also found more urds than usual - the savage tribes had about one urd for every hundred kobold births, a hundred times the normal rate. He noted that most of these urds became their tribe's witches, warlocks, or sorcerors - they seemed to have a natural talent for these magicks. Wa'tso, having been trained a wizard, tried to compare notes with these urd spellcasters, and it was then that he discovered a vital piece of information.

Witches and warlocks are in the business of manipulating the forces of Hell. Sometimes that means summoning a demon or a devil. Most people assume that a witch or warlock will attempt to summon a balor, or a succubus, or some other powerful incarnation of evil. And in fact, that's what most people try to do.

But kobolds are not most people. Being the piece of gum on the shoe bottom of the intelligent races gives them a different perspective. When a kobold witch summons a demon, she aims low - an imp or a quasit. Imps and quasits are not all that powerful, but they are smart, and cunning, and manipulative, and know "the right people" in Hell - this is why so many evil mages like to have them as familiars, or at least as advisors. So a kobold witch will summon an imp or quasit, and demand that they pass word along to a more powerful fiend. The imp or quasit will demand payment, at which time the witch picks up her tunic and reveals a glistening cloaca. Imps and quasits, not being particularly picky, are usually more than game. The deal is sealed, and the imp or quasit goes back to Hell, where more often than not he completely forgets about the kobold witch. Two weeks later, the witch lays a clutch of eggs, which hatch into kobolds. But sometime in the future, a descendent of one of those kobolds will have the demon blood in him or her awaken, and will be born as an urd. The wings of urds are not draconic at all, but bat-like, just like their imp and quasit forebears.

To add insult to injury, Wa'tso also studied the kobold language, which is spoken by both kobolds and urds. Though his knowledge of the language of dragons was limited to a few words gleaned from ancient tomes, he determined that the two languages were unrelated. Indeed, he discovered that the dialect of Mjinte urds, which is more complex and has a larger vocabulary than standard Kobold, contains grammar and loanwords taken from Infernal, the language of Hell, which is of course spoken by imps and quasits. The urds also developed a written form of the kobold language.

Urds and Mjinte

When the thouls founded Mjinte, they did not seek out urds as they did ogrillons and some of the other "advanced" humanoid races. Perhaps they did not find the urds to be challenging from a eugenics standpoint - while urds are rare among kobold tribes, they breed true with each other, so if you have enough of them they will multiply. But the urds began showing up as the city-state was being built, having left their kobold tribes in search of a new challenge. (And truth be told, many urds got tired of being mocked by kobolds for being able to use only one penis at a time). At first the thouls didn't know what to do with them, but the urds quickly proved that they were vital to the running of the city. In the first centuries of Mjinte's existence wizardry had yet to come to Kswantu, which made sorcerors the only practitioners of arcane magic (there existed minstrels, but they were not bards in the sense of the spellcasting character class). And urds are as naturally talented at sorcery as they are at witchcraft. The urds set up societies for sorcery and witchcraft to teach these arts to anyone of any race who showed an aptitude or interest, but even today the majority of Mjinte's sorcerors and warlocks are urds.

But the urds' true contribution to Mjinte is in mercantile matters. While the intellectual, calculating thouls are good at many things, in general they make horrible merchants. Urds, on the other hand, could sell ice to grugach and sand to ferrel'felai. They are talktative, they are persuasive, and they are often underestimated because of their size. Most of Mjinte's merchants are urds, and the largest mercantile companies are urd clans (though most have a few thoul employees on board to satisfy certain laws). And though the thouls take credit for it, in truth it was the urds who sealed the deal which brings a constant stream of saurial-hunted dracosaur meat to the city-state.

In Mjinte, most urds live in the docks district, near the warehouses which store the goods they buy and sell domestically and overseas. In fact, the urds themselves live in similar warehouses. Urds, like kobolds, have no sense of privacy - everyone in a clan lives together, eats together, and even mates together. Urds understand the concept of monogomy, and see other races at least attempt to sustain it, but it doesn't apply to them. Urds mate in large communal orgies - an urd will know who his mother is, but neither urd nor mother may have a clear idea of who fathered him. This is a concern in urd society, because all of the children are raised together by the clan. Similar to saurials, urds do not discriminate between genders, and males and females share work and child-rearing tasks.

More on Urds

Urds look similar to kobolds. They vary in height from two to three feet, with scaly, hairless hides, reptilian heads, and tails. Urds weigh between thirty and fourty pounds; males are usually slightly taller and heavier than females. Urds are set apart visually from kobolds in two ways; the most obvious is the leathery, bat-like wings sprouting incongruously from their scaly hides, constant reminders of their demon heritage. The second is their coloration; while most kobolds are a rust-brown or reddish black color, urd scales range in color from red to purple to blue. Their eyes have the same color range as their scales, but an urd's eyes and scales are not necessarily the same color.

Personality Traits

Loquacious - Urds are a talkative race, no matter if they are speaking Kobold (which reminds most people of dog-like yipping) or some foreign language. This is part of what makes them so good at selling things.

Public - Urds put everything out there. They are horrible at keeping secrets, about themselves or others. Urds have no sense of privacy - it is hard to develop one when you live with a few hundred of your relatives. Sometimes it is difficult for them to understand the concept of "personal space" - they do not mean to pry, or to be close talkers, or to look over your shoulder while you are reading, but they will probably do it anyway.

Overachieving - Urds unconsciously try to make up for their short stature by being the best in whatever they do, or by trying the unknown. Now that the western Known Lands is known and accessible to Mjinteans, many urds have traveled there to explore - and in a sense conquer - this new frontier.

Classes

Barbarian - barbarian urds have usually left Mjinte to go live with tribes of savages in the wastelands of Kswantu, where they are usually favorably treated by kobolds. Alternatively, they were born into a kobold tribe and have lived the majority of their life there.

Urd Stats

Ability Adjustments: +2 Charisma, -2 Strength

Darkvision: Urds can see in the dark up to sixty feet.

Small Size: Like halflings, gnomes, and varags, urds count as small size creatures. An urd gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but uses smaller weapons than medium-sized creatures use, and lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.

Natural Weapons: Urds gain the Weapon Proficiency: Creature Weapon feat as a bonus feat. They have a two clws and a bite attack which they can use when not wielding weapons. All three attacks do 1d3 damage each. These attacks gain a +1 enhancement bonus for every five hit dice the urd reaches; at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level the urd’s natural attacks gain a +1, +2, +3, and +4 enhancement bonus, respectively, out to a maximum of +5 at 25th level.

Trap Proficiency: Like their kobold cousins, urds have an affinity for traps. They gain Skill Focus: Craft Trap, Skill Focus: Disable Device, and Skill Focus: Set Trap as bonus feats.

Wings: Urds have black, leathery bat-like wings which allow them to fly short distances, like a chicken. They also use their wings to quicken their walking or running movement, granting them an increase in movement rate.

Demonblood: Urds are related to imps and quasits. As a result, they gain Fiendish Heritage as a bonus feat.

Favored Class: Warlock.

Effective Character Level (ECL): 1

OOC Notes:

- Urds in TKL are slightly different in origin and abilities from the urds found in standard D&D.

- Urd wings will not show up during character creation. Once your character has been created, the team will add the wings via bic edit.

- A clarification on the fliying ability of urds: as stated above, urds can fly about as well as a chicken can.  The longest recorded chicken flight was thirteen seconds long, and covered roughly three hundred feet.  Chickens will sometimes fly into trees to avoid danger.  Similarly, urds can fly no further than three hundred feet horizontally and twenty feet vertically in a single flight.  This assumes that the urd is completely unencumbered - these distances are reduced to one hundred feet horizontally and five feet vertically if lightly encumbered.  Unencumbered or lightly uncumbered urds can also use their wings to glide from heights, slowly descending to the ground below to take no damage, much like a Feather Fall effect.  Heavily encumbered urds, however, can neither fly nor glide.



Tags: