History:
The feral are the youngest of the major races of Aabahran. In the year 368,
the aristocracy of Miruvhor executed a massive cleanup of the city. The main
goal of this cleanup was to purge the city of filth, namely the lowest class
of homeless, unemployed, and various other unwanted people in the city. These
people were given an option. They could either be thrown into the Dragon Sea
with the rest of the trash or they could try to make their livelihood in the
Forsaken Lands. While many choose the quicker death by drowning, most of the
soon-to-be refugees opted to be forcibly relocated into the most dangerous
place in Aabahran.
After that, history is not very clear. What is clear is that all the non-
humans, along with some humans, died upon the first night. Somehow, the
surviving humans found a way to make a kind of rugged village in the sands.
The village was not meant to last for long. With each passing day, the effects
of the chaos energy inherent in the Forsaken Lands became more and more
apparent upon the humans. They began to physically transform into chaotic,
half-mammal monsters. Losing most of their humanity, they willfully left their
village and vanished into the sands.
Months later, rumors of feral wandering the Dragon Teeth Road began to
circulate in the taverns of Miruvhor and Rheydin. Soon, many people had
spotted feral in the cities and their existence was confirmed. They began to
come from the Forsaken Lands in greater numbers than their original numbers
would have suggested. A second cleanup was ordered; a joint monster-hunting
expedition manned by the Rheydinese and Miruvhorian armies was quickly formed
and sent out.
It was a slaughter. The mostly human expedition was no match for the demonic
speed and sheer force of fury these new feral brought from the Forsaken Lands.
Even lone feral are incredibly hard to spot and catch, and if cornered, are
more than a match for a handful of ill-equipped regulars. It was only at the
Great Wall of Aabahran, where it was discovered that feral have a weakness to
fire, that the feral were driven back. A line of defense could be manned and
held, but it was impossible to ever take the fight to the feral themselves. It
is in this status quo that the feral find themselves alive in today.
Usual Height:
Feral are slightly taller and leaner than humans, but the extra height is lost
due to their heavily curved spine. Even with the extra height, feral weigh
about the same as humans.
Hometown:
Rheydin, Val Miran, Miruvhor
Religion:
A few feral feel drawn to the various faiths. Chaos, Discord, Scourge, and
Cycle are the most common. Very rarely, a feral may seek salvation in Nature.
Religiously empowered feral are noted for being extreme zealots, even more
fanatic and aggressive than their counterparts in the other major races.
Having nothing in the way of formal education, the feral are not known to be
skilled at using advanced magic. They do have the intelligence and capability,
but it is rarely developed beyond basic cantrips.
Physical Features:
The feral are omnivores with an extremely efficient digestive system, able to
break down bones, plant matter, and other things that most of the other races
would find indigestible. Like most other scavengers, the feral are not very
picky about what they eat, and are very adept at conserving energy, patiently
waiting for the environment to kill their prey. They have been known to be
cannibalistic when forced through desperation. It is not understood how feral
find enough water to sustain their roving colonies.
Humans and feral may not reproduce by normal means. An unusually high
percentage of feral are sterile or barren, but when impregnated, the feral
usually give birth to three or four children at a time after a gestation
period of about seven months. Interestingly, some feral mothers are not able
to produce milk and instead feed their young with their own blood. Child
mortality is very high, with about three-fourths of all feral dying before
being becoming full grown at the age of 12. They are able to reproduce at
about the age of eight. Women generally lose their fertility at around the
age of 30, and any feral over the age of 50 is far into her senior years.
SEE ALSO: HELP FERAL2
help feral2
Society:
The feral are a race of humans that have been mutated by the forces of Chaos.
They share many of the same characteristics as other humans but have diverged
enough socially and physically to be an entirely different species. The feral
are anarchistic, nomadic scavengers by nature, living in loose colonies that
wander their arid homelands. The number of living feral is unknown, but is
estimated to be far less than the other major races, likely numbering in the
thousands.
There are no known permanent settlements of feral in the world. Feral tend to
form roving colonies, similar in style to cats. They live and travel together
but the individual takes care of all of the individual's personal needs. It is
not uncommon for lone or small groups of feral to break away from the main
colony for weeks at a time. They live a subsistence life and have little need
or capability for any political organization.
Unlike other nomads, the feral do not follow game or raise animals, due to
the harsh nature of their environment. Moreover, they do not range between
water sources. They seem to move erratically, operating on a whimsical, day-
to-day basis. Most of their equipment is scavenged or improvised from the
tools of other races. Compared to those other races, the feral have a lesser
need for such tools, as their bodies and the typical range of mutations within
a colony provides a large, natural set of tools for most survival tasks.
The daily life of the feral is very severe. Being based in the Forsaken
Lands, they have three major threats to their survival. The first of these is
the unforgiving environment itself, being an arid wasteland of a desert.
Temperatures are extreme, food and water are scarce, and there is little in
terms of natural resources.
It is not clearly understood how the feral survive the inherent natural
dangers of the Forsaken Lands. The most dangerous of these are the sand
golems, tainted scorpions, and torments that stalk through the night. Perhaps
the feral hide, perhaps the feral hunt them in turn, or there may be a sort of
understanding between the monsters and half-demons. Despite whatever the
case may be, when a feral journeys out from the Forsaken Lands and attempts
to return, that feral is attacked just as any other outsider would be. This
suggests that there is a connection between the area itself and the creatures
that live there.
The second major threat is that they must contend with the chaotic forces that
would see them turned into full-fledged demons. The chaotic energy that is a
part of their homeland is slowly tearing the race apart, making them half-
demon. All feral must learn to live with their disfiguring mutations. Some
mutations cause death while others are so psychologically damaging as to drive
the feral completely insane. Various degrees of mutations, insanity, and
illnesses have become a daily part of the average colony.
The last major threat comes from the outside. Hunters, raiders, and the
occasional army from the Elven Kingdom, Rheydin, and Miruvhor scour the edges
of Forsaken Lands, effectively hemming them. Gaia herself is even attempting
to purge the race should they ever venture into the natural wilderness.
The were-beasts in particular look down upon the feral as their opposite
counterparts. Druids have also been known to be aggressive, fearing infection
of the forests by the chaos that all feral carry within themselves.
Relationships with Other Races:
A vast majority of the feral who leave the Forsaken Lands find themselves
as highwaymen, small-time raiders, mercenaries, and vagabonds. Most races
tolerate the presence of feral much as they tolerate lepers, who are safe only
when out of sight or when they are useful. Many end up on the fringes of
Miruvhor and to a lesser extent Rheydin, where they are mostly treated worse
than animals. Because of this, feral who live with other races are known for
their versatile survival and stealth skills. Due to their natural skills and
fitness, they are a valued commodity for governments and some organizations, but they are rarely treated as more than a particularly cunning, dangerous,
wild animal.
Feral can be the following classes:
Warrior, Ranger, Thief, Ninja, Blademaster, Cleric, Shaman
SEE ALSO: HELP FURY, SENSE MOTION
