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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9551555" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/PLqMG8X.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 399px" />Image from Heroes of Baldur's GateGibberling (Heroes of Baldur’s Gate & Quests From the Infinite Staircase): Calling themselves the zarsh, the gibberlings’ more common title by outsiders arose from their non-stop chatter. Much like how a dog won’t get tired or a sore throat from barking all day and night, a zarsh’s biology and psychology are built to support this. Their language is a tonal one composed of monosyllabic words, where a single word can have many meanings based on the pitch and volume. This is because zarsh developed a need to convey as much information as possible in a short amount of time, as every second counts when evading Khyber’s dangers.The zarsh hail from various levels of Khyber, preferring to remain close to the surface and away from the more dangerous denizens deeper underground. While their origins are uncertain, there is evidence that daelkyr and fiends alike had heavy involvement in their peoples’ development.Zarsh societies are leaderless communes where major decisions are decided by majority vote. Their dwellings are a nonstop chorus of conversation, filled with work-songs, debates over daily tasks, reports of significant events, and a myriad other topics going through the community at any one time. Zarsh are used to holding conversations with multiple people at once, taking in a huge amount of information in a short amount of time, although they have difficulty doing this when speaking other languages than their native tongue. Every zarsh owns a dagger or shortsword among their personal belongings. Such weapons are worn with age and use yet treated with reverence, passed down from parent to child. They serve as a reminder that every member of the commune must take up arms to ensure the survival of the many. There is no distinction between civilians and soldiers in zarsh culture, which has led to instances of tragic brutality when they waged war on each other as well as outsiders.In Khorvaire, the larger-sized races often dismiss the zarsh as primitive savages, believing them to be a devolved goblinoid offshoot. The goblinoids don’t view them much better, thinking them to be one step above animals. However, the zarsh managed to earn some measure of respect in Droaam during the Last War, where they proved surprisingly efficient against Brelish troops.One of the zarsh’s more notable traits is their extreme mental resilience against enchantment. While they may be tricked and intimidated by mundane measures, most magical compulsions cannot find purchase in their minds. Additionally, zarsh have been raised from birth to fight in large units: beyond the advantage of numbers, the presence of their companions instills in them a nigh-supernatural level of alacrity. Spells that would entangle, restrain, or stun may work on an individual zarsh, but when assembled into a swarm they become unstoppable. The zarsh’s war cries were designed to make it harder to concentrate on spells, and when combined with the former immunities made them ideal combatants to send against spell-wielding soldiers and magewrights.These advantages didn’t last long, as their intense fear of fire and light caused great setbacks, but they made enough of an impression in early battles to make a name for themselves in the new monster nation. In post-war times, Droaamish zarsh live in the deep forests and mountains, with some communities in the tunnels beneath the Great Crag and Graywall. They tend to be self-sufficient foragers in the wilds, and manual laborers in the towns and cities. Zarsh don’t work well with others given that other races find their nonstop conversations distracting, but when allowed to regulate among themselves they make for extremely coordinated workers.PS: Gibberlings in 5th Edition have two sets of stats. Technically three, for a Gibberling Swarm. One from Quests From the Infinite Staircase, and one from Heroes of Baldur’s Gate. While both stats differ in several ways, they both have enough similarities that I feel I can include both. Infinite Staircase can reflect gibberlings whose ancestors were created by fiendish overlords, while Baldur’s Gate can reflect those of daelkyr origin.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/OR574xy.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 381px" />Verbeeg (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden): Verbeeg are giants renowned for having humanlike facial features in comparison to ogres and trolls. They have lanky builds which make them more nimble than most giants, and their adroit dexterity makes them surprisingly nimble fighters and athletes to those who underestimate them as yet another “slow, big brute.” Verbeeg have a long history of comingling with ogres and hill giants in Khorvaire, and adopted many of their customs and traditions. But what is distinct about their culture is their reverence for creatures of the natural world, and verbeeg communities specialize in particular forms of animal husbandry which they use for food, labor, and trade. They even domesticated bears and wolves, and have a special social class of rangers known as Longstriders who master primal magic to defend natural sites.In modern times, verbeeg operate farms and ranches in western Khorvaire, and in Droaam have positive relations with the Gaa’ran orcs and worgs. The pacifistic orcs have found it advantageous to call the giants their friends, for the verbeeg don’t shy away from fighting and often took the “speak softly, but carry a big stick” approach in dealing with those who’d threaten the Gaa’ran farms. It’s not uncommon for raiders and exploitative chibs who treat the orcs poorly to find themselves harassed by falcons, bears, and otherwise wild animals who are operating not by instinct but instead by advanced training and tactics.But the verbeeg’s greatest possible threat to their way of life comes not from their warlike neighbors, but the expansionist Dragonmarked Houses. House Vadalis in particular sought to take over their livelihoods, and their industrialized farms don’t have the same standards of ecological respect that the verbeeg are known for. Several verbeeg ranches initially welcomed House Vadalis in good faith, and quickly came to regret the decision as they quickly took the farms over and used mercenaries from House Deneith and House Tharashk to deal with any complaints and dissent. The verbeeg suffered during the Last War as much as anyone, and the older generation are mostly too war-weary to risk reprisal. But younger and more zealous verbeeg seek to carry on the fight.</blockquote>

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