When Heaven discovered the existence of the Broken Races, a great deal of
energy was expended trying to heal them - nearly as much as was spent
trying to destroy them. Heaven had some success, but found that the
generations of inbreeding had corrupted the races nearly as badly as Hell's
influence. Eventually, they abandoned the attempt, leaving half-repaired
mortals roaming the globe.
The Druedain are the failed attempt to restore Orcs. Built like orangutans
but no more hairy than humans, they prefer to live in the wilderness, far
from the other races. They have a stone age culture; common skills include
Ranged weapon(Short bow), Survival(region) and Knowledge (Natural Poisons).
About 10% of the Druedain can acquire a 6th Force; these Druedain are taught
enchantment and the Corporeal Song of Sacrifice by the their elders.
The Druedain may only enchant stone items; they concentrate on creating
Talismans but are famed for their ability to create golems. The golems
created by the Druedain are invariably made of stone, and are more powerful
than normal; a Druedain may invest 1 or more of his Corporeal Forces into
the creation at no extra cost in time or materials. The Druedain still has
access to these Forces, however, if the Golem is destroyed the Druedain
takes damage equal to the body hits he would lose permanently if he had lost
the Forces (and assuming that the attributes lost all came from his
Strength). A Golem created by a Druedain can only have Corporeal Forces.
The Orcish Disadvantages were stripped from the Druedain during Heaven's
attempt to repair them. A Druedain may use the Corporeal Song of Sacrifice
on an Orc to regain those Disadvantages; if he does so he is
indistinguishable from an orc, and the orc appears to be a Druedain.
Attempts to use this ability to infiltrate the Orcs have invariably failed,
due to the hatred orcs have of other tribes of orcs. Where it is useful is
when an orc wishes to changes sides in the war. If a dying Druedain can be
persuaded to use the Song on the Orc, and then goes to Heaven while the Song
is still in effect, the Disadvantages are destroyed by the Light of Heaven.
Unfortunately, the Druedain do not know this, as the corpse retains those
Disadvantages, and they believe that the performer has become an orc
permanently. Nonetheless, many dying elders are prepared to do this, hoping
that their sacrifice will strengthen their tribe.
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