Gnolls

All took the mask willingly. To those not understanding what it entails, the mask is inert. It is made of thick stone. It depicts a snarling dog.

Once donned by the willing, it cannot be removed. One wearing the mask is utterly loyal to the one who offered them the mask. If this chain is broken, they are free but retain their subordinates. All await this day, but are powerless to hasten it.

Domesticated animals and crops despise them, and wither in their captivity.

This is one of the paths a man could walk to leave mortality behind.

HD 1* / AC as Armour / Damage as Weapon

*Supernatural HP - the body is as loyal as the mind, unwilling to die despite horrific wounds.

Expanded, revised & collected:

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Wraiths

A single stone out of place is all it takes. A tendril of darkness will worm it’s way in, and coil itself around the corpse like a lover. Such a tether denies the spirit rest. Beneath the barrows, they forget who they were. The honest mistake of a twisted stone becomes a deliberate betrayal.

Draped in their funeral panoply they emerge under cover of night - seeking those who denied them rest. Sunlight banishes them to their tomb - and opening that to the sky would destroy them utterly.

They are careful to never be seen emerging - and to open all of the barrows is sure to invite more restless dead.

Those they slay are bound to them as thralls, and will rise with them every night - a poor imitation of what they were promised in death.

HD 2* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage as Weapon, applied to Constitution.

*Incorporeal - Cannot be harmed bar by Silver Weapons (Quadruple price, -1 to hit corporeal foes) and Magic.

A single stone out of place is all it takes. A tendril of darkness worms it’s way in, and coils itself around the corpse. Like a lover. Such a tether denies the spirit rest. Beneath the barrows, they forget who they were. The mistake of a twisted stone becomes a betrayal.

In their funeral panoply they emerge - seeking those who denied them rest. Sunlight banishes them to their tomb - and opening that to the sky would destroy them utterly.

They are careful to never be seen emerging. Opening all of the barrows is sure to invite more restless dead.

Those they slay are bound to them as thralls, and will rise with them every night - a poor imitation of what they were promised in death.

HD 2* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage as Weapon, applied to Constitution.

*Incorporeal - Cannot be harmed bar by Silver Weapons (Quadruple price, -1 to hit corporeal foes) and Magic.

Expanded, revised & collected:

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Giants

The only art left to the giants is self mutilation.

The ruins they haunt are filled with blacksmiths, poets and sculptors, trapped in bronze cages. All eventually starve.

HD 10 / AC as Unarmoured / Damage 2d6

Expanded, revised & collected:

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Orcs

There is never an orc.
There are always orcs.

Within the belly of each is a burning nugget of iron. Carve off a limb and embed a slug of iron. Wait a week as muscle forms, cramping in agony around a splinter of white-hot pain.

Their black blood ruins metal, corroding it beyond repair. Arms and armour used against them will be useless in 3 days.

Left in the Sun, they die in hours.

At night they slink from the mountains for meat and metal.

HD 1 / AC as Armour / Damage as Weapon

Expanded, revised & collected:

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Druids

our mouths are full of soil
hands beneath these hills
grasping flint and barrow
worm-sinews

road-breaker
fort-burner
legate-eater

the woods are deeper than
maps and dreams and empires

HD 2 / AC as Unarmoured / Normal Damage - 1 Spell from Vivimancy or Cunning Craft

Spell schools from ‘Wonder & Wickedness’ and ‘Marvels & Malisons’ respectively.

Expanded, revised & collected:

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Minotaur

To make a minotaur, start with clay. Form a pot in the shape of the head of a bull. The mouth must be wide enough to scrape the temples as it is pushed over the head.

Once donned, the wearer cannot eat. Their moans of hunger will echo through the pot, distorted into braying and roars. As they grow more emaciated, the remaining flesh becomes harder, turning all but the surest blows. They will be able to tear men in half.

They cannot see through the pot, and so swing their clay heads left to right, listening for you.

Now loose them into your labyrinth to stumble and squat and hunt in the dark.

This is one of the paths a man could walk to leave mortality behind.

HD 4* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage with Advantage

*Supernatural HP

Expanded, revised & collected:

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