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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9556706" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/pvBvKb7.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Barghest: Natives of Mabar, these wolflike fiends slip into Eberron when that plane’s coterminous and also via linked manifest zones. They are fond of hunting mortal and fey souls, taking on the forms of goblins to lull people into a false sense of security by posing as a weaker creature. They are hunters par excellence, their blindsight allowing them to sense others regardless of visibility, they can be nigh-undetectable with effortless use of Pass Without Trace, and telepathy lets them silently communicate with allies. Their limited ability to call upon enchantment magic and cast Dimension Door evens the odds in getting out of risky situations. Combined with the fact that fiend-worship bears less of a social stigma in Droaam, summoners and some magically-inclined chibs often use barghests as spies and assassins, particularly for getting rid of targets who have a fair chance of being resurrected or in generating distrust and hatred against or within goblinoid communities. Such periods of alliance and servitude are short-lived, for barghests relish freedom and take the opportunity to run off and go into hiding once their terms of service are up. They’re too rare and distrustful of each other to make lasting societies of their own, so they often live solitary existences in Khorvaire’s wilds or in disguise among goblinoid communities, using their social skills and enchantment to bend others to their will.During the days of the Empire of Dhakaan, barghests were called “Gek’shera,” or “Thieves of Valor.” They are so named for two reasons: the first is that by taking the forms of goblins instead of striding openly in their true forms, they were disrespecting the sacredness of a warrior fighting honestly. And in taking the souls of the fallen, they were viewed as seeking to erase the participants in a battle’s history in the most hated way, in wiping out the trace of their foes. In the millennia since, barghests have taken on various other explanations by various cultures, although they are invariably treated with fear and disdain. A barghest’s fear of fire given its ability to banish them back to Mabar is often attributed to ancient enmities against Dol Arrah, the Silver Flame, Siberys, or whatever entity of light and morality is dominant to a certain culture.The barghest’s ability to assume goblin form has been the subject of scholarly debate. As for barghests themselves, they either don’t seem to know or care about their origins. And they lie and give contradictory information to summoners to encourage disinformation. One theory is that barghests in Khorvaire are modeling themselves off of that continent’s longest-running empire, and are choosing a people associated with societal longevity. Another theory is that barghests, being fiends, also enjoy engendering hatred and mistrust. By taking the form of a now-disenfranchised group, they can make them into scapegoats for the barghests’ killing sprees, and many acts of repression and violent bigotry against goblins often use a supposed barghest sighting as an excuse. The fact that barghests are also commonly mistaken for lycanthropes has led to many tragedies during the Silver Crusade, something the fiends were all too happy to take advantage of in order to weaken the Church of Silver Flame’s hold in communities.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/FS1Jz0X.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 433px" />Norker: Called Tessur’dar, or “unyielding people” in Goblin, norker are short like goblins but much more physically resilient given that their calloused skin and fortified skeletal structure acts as natural armor. Their presence dates back to the Empire of Dhakaan, where they were deployed as frontline infantry in warfare while overseen by hobgoblin officers. During times of peace and in post-war Khorvaire, norkers often worked in manual labor such as mining. The term norker comes from the phrase ‘nork,’ a popular onomatopoeic war cry among their people. It is said that norkers were made from a Dhakaani ritual of “living artifice,” where the essences of stone and metal were combined with goblins to make them stronger in battle. Norkers are fond of telling this to others, and gravitate towards martial occupations as a means of earning money and respect for their families. During the Last War, norker warrior societies were often referred to as “naked militias” based on the fact that many intentionally eschewed the use of armor and even clothes in battle as a means of displaying their tough nature. Traditional armies’ reluctance in equipping norkers with proper gear beyond clubs, shields, and slings made them take pride in being able to make do with so little.Norkers can be found in small concentrations wherever goblins live. In Droaam, they are looked down upon by bigger and stronger monsters, although they’ve earned a particularly ornery spirit that makes them poor slaves. Many chibs opted to simply kill them, often treated as little better than vermin. This has caused their numbers in the country to be quite low. With the Daughters of Sora Kell declaring nationhood, norkers along with goblins and kobolds are one of the hags’ more loyal political blocs.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/BEZwsHb.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 288px" />Image from Ptolus: City by the SpireOni: One of the most powerful species in Droaam, oni make up a disproportionate amount of chibs and political authorities in the country. Cousins to ogres, their physical strength and assortment of magical powers make them skilled fighters, which many oni families used to cement their own dynastic lineages in western Khorvaire.Khorvairan oni attribute their personal powers and social status to being blessed by the Dark Six. They credit the Devourer for teaching them to harness the power of the storm by giving them flight and the ability to conjure Cones of Cold. They teach that the Traveler taught them to take the forms of various humanoids and giants, while their ability to rapidly regenerate wounds is from making regular sacrifices to the Keeper to give them more time on Eberron. And they invoke the Shadow’s name as divine right to rule, saying that if a worthy contender comes along then the god would back the winning side in a power struggle. This has often been used by successful rebels, oni and non-oni alike , just as much as it has been used by keepers of the status quo. The oni themselves see no contradiction in this: conflict keeps society from becoming stagnant, and while Droaam may be hag-ruled they are still sitting in privileged positions.Oni are most fond of using glaives in battle for their reach, and the weapon has major cultural significance based on the Tale of Agrin. The Tale is a poem about an oni who defeated a seemingly-invincible demon. A seer said that the only one who could harm the demon was the demon itself, so Agrin fashioned a polearm by taking one of the demon’s shed teeth and fashioned it as the blade of a glaive. Agrin’s example teaches the virtues of cleverness and using an enemy’s strength against them, and it is customary for oni to fashion their own magic glaive as a coming-of-age ritual. The glaive’s ability to change in size based on the oni’s form is part of the ritual, and in line with the lessons of adapting to different circumstances.Although learned behavior from rulership and Droaam’s violent history encourage many oni to act as tyrants, their capability to take on other forms and turn invisible lets them walk among other people unnoticed, providing insight into what it’s like to be a much smaller creature and to learn how they’re regarded by those they rule over in supposed confidence. This has led some oni to develop a more understanding and empathic attitude, leading to some more enlightened chibs to try and rule fairly. But it just as likely convinces oni to hold onto the power they have all the tighter, convinced that softening the grip will lead to them becoming the oppressed instead.</blockquote>

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