Guunthar

Illus. by Brandon "Rogue" Williams

Description
These creatures are big ugly brutes that are very muscular and stand about 8 to 9 feet tall. Their skin is greenish and warty with an almost slimy texture, and is sparsely covered with wiry hairs. They have large heads that seem to rest precariously on their shoulders without the presence of a neck. No hair grows on their head, and this only seems to be so that they can show off what kind of funk they have accumulated. There are no ears on their head, only small holes where they should be, and these are usually filled with some kind of scum that has built up for years. Guunthars have large teeth that don’t seem to fit right in their mouths, but they allow them to pulverize their food. They are almost always dirty, and believe that baths are for the weaker races. Guunthar mentality dictates that they could never come to their end by something as small as a little germ.

Origin
Guunthars are from all over the world, but have preferred to keep to the hills or mountainous regions. Their cities are only known as small collections of motley hovels or a string of caves, never having a very large population. Very few of the guuntharian cities remain in the world, as most of them have been destroyed by the Darkyns who see them as unfit places to inhabit. Those cities that still exist were either not found in the original conquest of Caxtrin, or are seen as places the Darkyns would rather not go.

Most guunthars have taken residence in large cities around the globe, and can be found almost anywhere. Though their population is not very large compared to the other races, they have made their way into almost every society. They are not warmly welcome by most commoners of any city because of their stench, but who’s going to make them leave?

History
It is believed that long ago, the guunthars were born from beautiful creatures that were widely respected and highly feared. Their barbaric ways and unethical lifestyle got them to be sent to a fate of ugliness by the Gods, and have remained this way since.

The other races of Caxtrin don’t exactly like the guunthars, but they can be tolerated to a certain degree. Even other guunthars aren’t very close to those of their own race. Others easily manipulate them, and it was no problem for the Darkyns to take over the hovels and caves that were once known as towns to the guunthars. These so called towns were laid to waste after the realization of there being no worth to them at all. The guunthars willingly followed the religion of Deltayn, but the Darkyns weren’t quite sure how to react to this. They were pleased that there were inhabitants on Caxtrin eager to follow their God, but highly unsatisfied with their lack of intelligence.

Beliefs
Guunthars don’t have enough brain capacity to actually understand the concept of a God or religion, and the only magic they believe in comes from a dead squirrel or animal droppings. If a guunthar actually believes in a higher being, they can easily have their minds swayed toward a different deity by the mere suggestion of it, but this usually won’t last very long until they forget whom it was they were supposed to follow. If there is a strong willed or intelligent guunthar (if that exists), he or she will most likely put faith in Torwind. Priests of this race will only follow this God, and will usually wave around a dead squirrel, a bag of fish bones, or some strange thing to cast magic, thinking that Torwind’s spirit is inside of the item. The justification of it being magical is that something happens somewhere almost every time they do it!

Habits
Every guunthar enjoys a good pillaging, burning, or looting of small farms or villages. This doesn’t happen very often anymore, but when 3 or more guunthars get together, nothing good can come out of it. Mostly, they are loners, and don’t like to associate too much with others of their race. After all, if everyone in your family were this ugly would you want to stick around? When they do get together, it is simply for mating purposes or to make themselves feel more intelligent. They can get along with others, but their stupidity and stench can cause them to be highly disliked.

Some guunthars have even been seen as comical despite their eccentricities and foul bathing behaviors. This is probably because the easiest way to deal with these creatures is to sit back, watch, and chuckle from time to time.

Abilities
Guunthars have +25% Poison Resistance.

Once per combat, a guunthar can Thunk an opponent for twice the normal amount of Add Dmg given from STR. The use of this ability must be called before ATK is rolled.