High Ogre Race Packet
“They fight a war they’ll never win, for a future they’ll never see.”
High Ogres are a short-lived race with an unyielding and untiring devotion to the eradication of necromancy and the Undead. This dedication has empowered them with gifts enabling them to resist necromantic effects and shrug off blows that would fell another. With a lifespan better measured in years than decades, High Ogres grow to adulthood upon being able to stand and fight the undead horde. Given the immense task they have been set upon, each High Ogre understands that their war is a conflict that spans beyond their own life and carries onto the next generation, as their forebears have passed it on to them. Their main aim when interacting with the other races is the eradication of necromancy from the face of Fortannis.
Make Up, Prosthetics, and Roleplay
All High Ogres must have their face and exposed skin colored yellow and wear prosthetic tusks in or near their mouth. When in the presence of undead or a necromancer, High Ogres must act as if in discomfort. This can manifest as an annoying itch to rage inducing pain. This discomfort ends when the undead or necromantic threat is eliminated or removed from line of sight.
Racial Strengths
High Ogres can purchase Racial Resolute and Resist Necromancy, pay a reduced cost for Hardy, and pay half cost for Weapon skills. High Ogres have developed the tools to fight undead and necromancy over countless generations, to the point where they can reject necromantic magic through sheer force of will. Their durability and ready familiarity with weapons gives High Ogres quick and immediate capabilities to hold the line against the endless hordes of zombies and skeletons.
Racial Weakness
High Ogres pay double cost for Read Magic. High Ogres weigh every tool for its effectiveness against undead. Celestial magic is a powerful tool, but less so against the forces of necromancy. Others speculate their intense connection with earth magic leaves them unfamiliar with the concepts embedded in celestial magic.
Lifespan and Family
High Ogres reach adulthood in less than 3 years, experiencing a rapid growth and maturity that cuts short childhood and adolescence. Similarly, High Ogres age very quickly, with old age setting in at 20 to 30 years, and it is very rare to see a High Ogre past the age of 40.
Within High Ogre families, it is possible to see multigenerational and multifamily groups form to support the young, care for the elderly, and train the next generation of undead slayers. High Ogres have no preference in either direction when it comes to friendships and romantic partners with other long lived races, though they are honest with themselves and their partners as to the complications of such pairings.
Not Everyone is a Warrior
Fighting necromancy and the undead can be as simple as head on conflict, but that does not mean that High Ogres do not accept that alternate paths lead to the same goal. Simple tasks like farming, mending, and cooking are the small things needed to keep warriors on their feet. Lack of skill in combat or lack of knowledge in the arts of earth magic are not marks of shame amongst the High Ogres. The multigenerational nature of High Ogre families ensures that every person can contribute and feel like they fight the great battles along with their warrior brethren.
To Cull or Cultivate
Earth Magic is a powerful force in the world of Fortannis. It must be wielded responsibly lest the user fall to the temptations of necromancy. With their strong devotion to eradicating necromancy, it is easy for a High Ogre to see necromancers in every town and city, and easier still for suspicion to grow into zealotry when evidence of a necromancer is found but the culprit eludes discovery. More than a few High Ogres have discussed whether the cost paid in innocent lives is too high to justify burning an entire city to the ground to eliminate a lone necromancer.
Keeping Knowledge
In the pursuit of their endless task, High Ogres will collect and keep information and lore regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the undead. While this collection of knowledge, passed between families and warbands, is essential to properly hunting their foe, such knowledge is a target for plunder by necromancers looking to improve their craft. While the temptation of necromancy barely touches the High Ogre people directly, necromancers and the undead look to harm High Ogres first, either through violence, theft, or destruction of their homes.
Lost Knowledge
With such short life spans, and the constant war with necromancers and undead, High Ogres have found it difficult to keep and maintain their histories. Much of what they learn is passed down through verbal tradition with stories told of great troves of magical weapons and rituals wielded by ancient High Ogre heroes. Thus High Ogres place great importance on teaching, sharing information, and storytelling to ensure that as much as possible is preserved for each generation of warrior.
