Savages – Kurthal’s Pride

Physical Appearance:
Savages are one of the largest sentient races on Alteria. The older the Savage is, the larger the savage becomes due to their regeneration. A young Savage is generally shorter than an Abyssal, but a wizened veteran savage can potentially dwarf an Abyssal.

Savage skin tones range from green to pale red with a dark green being the most common skin tone. Savages are often capable of identifying where other Savages spent most of their youth. Prior to puberty, a Savage’s skin tone is a grey and as they spend time in particular environments, it shifts to better camouflage them in their surroundings. As a Savage enters adulthood, the skin tone ceases its changes.

Savage hair is often cut in asymmetrical ways – to show off scar trophies, marriage status or availability . The hair colour variants of Kurthals’ Pride has a large range; from a sandy brown to a vibrant red and even some cases of green. Black hair has been seen on a few Savages, but it is quite uncommon.

Savages are often scar-covered. These scars are shown in absolute pride and Savages will go out of their way to display such things, meaning their clothing is almost always ramshackle in appearance.

Savages have pointed ear tips and often pierce their ears as a sign to Kurthal that they are looking for a mate. When they have selected their mate, they exchange one earring with the mate, in order to identify to other Savage that they have a trophy of their partner to indicate to others to not pursue them – lest they wish to engage in a challenge from either party, or sometimes, both.

Society:
Savages start their lives as small things. Hairless and grey-skinned. Savage family units are comprised of multiple males and females, all living within their Prize (A creature the heads of the family killed, skinned, gutted and made a building out of).

As Savages age, they undergo many trials of Kurthal. Most young Savages take down a Savage Boar (Known as Tuskers to the Savages) by the age of nine.

Clans often have disagreements. When this happens, the two who are disagreeing have to prove their cases through a solo hunt. The one who returns with the most impressive trophy is decided to be the victor.

Savages are the only race within The Order to have a natural regenerative properties. This is how a Savage gets so massive. Not only does the regenerative process mend wounds, it also increases mass, height and influences attitude. The largest of the Savages are often referred to as Growtusks (A play on the word grotesque).

Those who become Growtusks are often left maddened. Their mind addled to a point that basic sentences are difficult to form. Often times, Growtusks become violent and are excommunicated from the clan or ritually put down in one last hunt as to prevent them from harming those they used to love.

Savages have a strange ritual wherein if someone saves their life or performs a noteworthy duty for them, they believe themselves to owe that individual a debt. In order to signify this, a Savage will cut off a finger and offer it to the individual as a token, to be used whenever that individual needs their help.

It is considered insulting to not accept the severed appendage. If a Savage walks around with a necklace of twitching fingers, it is not because they are are some violent warlord, but rather, they are owed many debts and are displaying their usefulness for all to see – A common misconception among the other races.

Lore:
Kurthal walked along the empty planes. So much like the void were they that he grew bored. There was no challenge. Nothing worthy of him. But then, Kurthal had an epiphany.

With a mighty howl, Kurthal severed his arm and sprayed his blood about the planes. Where a spatter of blood would collide, a new creature would sprout.

The creatures that burst forth were dangerous, clawed, fanged, and ravenous for combat – much like their creature. These were creatures specifically made for Kurthal to hunt and as his blood soaked into the land, habitats for these beasts flourished, hiding them from the huntmaster as the lush, thick vegetation spread across Alteria’s surface.

Kurthal waited for his arm to regrow and as it did, he watched Alteria spring to life, the creatures hunting one another and preparing for their inevitable combat with the god.

Once his arm was regrown, the God of the Hunt stalked the great Tusker who fell to the God’s mighty spear. Proud with the chase, Kurthal pierced his ear with her tusk and let it hang in the lobe, a symbol of his accomplishment.

He stalked the deadly Sandwurm that tried to drown him in the sands. As he crushed her skull with his bare hands, he nodded in acknowledgement. Peeling the acidic innards of the wurm free, he affixed the carcass around his waist as a belt, to always remember the feeling of the wurm attempting to crush him.

More creatures of his own design he hunter, and more trophies did he affix to his great body, but as he hunted, the realization started to dawn on him that he would always best them, for they were made from him and they were made to be hunted.

One day, Kurthal came across a creation that was not his – a small, two-legged weakling. No fangs did it have to bite, nor did it have claws to scratch. He pondered stepping on it to rid himself of its pathetic nature, but to his surprise, this small, two-legged weakling, with its fellow weaklings, took down a Tusker before his very eyes.

Kurthal became impressed with these non-threatening creatures. He disguised himself as one of their own and walked among them. These weak, unarmed creatures knew what a true hunt was; To go against something far greater than yourself and to be triumphant or die trying.

So impressed was he that he offered them to become his disciples – to learn to hunt, to hunt bigger creatures and to always have his favor. The creatures at first did not believe Kurthal was a God, and so he returned to his form, displaying his plethora of trophies – some from creatures the two-legged pale ones had never seen.

The pale-faced creatures chose to follow the Hunstman and Kurthal gifted them with his essence. Small tusks formed in their mouths, camouflaged hides blemished their skins and the ability to regenerate from great battles became their boon. The only thing Kurthal wished in return, were for these new people, these Savage, to show him what they could do with his gifts. Thus were the Savages born.

Unique Traits:
Savages are capable of regenerating entire limbs in an astounding amount of time. What would be a debilitating injury for some is a minor, week-long inconvenience for Savages. So long as their heart remains intact and their head remains somehow attached to said heart, a Savage is capable of regenerating any loss or surviving any poison.

The only downside to the regeneration is the mass increase. With every wound, a Savage’s physical appearance changes. They become larger, more muscular – as to hunt bigger, stronger creatures, but the impact of the regeneration also dulls mental capacity and as a result, the mind begins to forget how the body must regenerate.

As the mind forgets how to heal the body, the Savages start to become misshapen. The first indication is that the tusks of the Savage become much longer than before, hence the term Growtusk. Every Growtusk begins to deform differently, some growing increasingly muscular on their dominant side, while others’ begin to grow lumpy muscles over top their current ones.

Eventually, Growtusks are removed from their clan in order to protect those that still haven’t lost their mind.

Contrary to popular belief, Growtusks are not immune to the ravages of age. Even with their regenerative capabilities, time still plays a major part. Longer lived than most other races, Savage can survive around 200 years before expiring to the ravages of time.