Enduks

Enduks

Ability Scores:

+2 Str, -2 Dex

Enduk Vital Statistics:

Height 66/64
Range 4d6

Weight 220/210
Range 2d210


Age:

Base 20
Range 2d8

Middle Age 100
Old Age 133
Venerable 200
Max 200+1d100


Class Limits:

Fighter/Priest
Fighter/Psionicist
Priest/Psionicist

Thief Abilities:

PP	OL	F/RT	MS	HS	CW	RL
-	-	-	-5%	+5%	-20%	+10%

Enduks are winged minotaurs, the only "true" minotaurs according to their history and legends (others are cursed versions that lost their wings when they turned to evil). Like the ee'aar, enduks are not native to the Savage Coast but come from the Arm of the Immortals, so they too are rare as player characters. The enduk homeland is the Kingdom of Eshu. Enduks once inhabited the Kingdom of Nimmur, but were betrayed and displaced by the manscorpions.

Appearance

Enduks also possess huge, powerful wings. A typical enduk wingspan measures f rom eight to ten feet, and when folded, the wings reach from the ground to one f oot over the enduk's head. Feather color varies from white to black, including v arious shades of gray. The underside of an enduk's wings usually bears a design that they show off by spreading their wings when on the ground. These marks tend to be genetic and can convey information about an enduk's family.

They stand 6 to 7 feet tall and are often well-muscled.

Both males and females have horns; these stick out from the sides of their heads (rather than curling close) and are usually ivory-white, though some are yellow, light brown, or gray. White-furred enduks have pearly horns. Horns are 1d6+12 inches long. They typically have brown eyes, though some have black irises.

An enduk's foot has only two large toes, both with hooflike coverings. Their hands look human but have thick, black nails. Enduks are carnivores and have sharp teeth.

Personality

Lifestyle

Because of their experience in Nimmur, enduks are distrustful of most strangers. The ee'aar are exceptions and are viewed as friends. Enduks hate manscorpions. With most other races, enduks are hesitant and tend toward distrust, but they are generally willing to give each person a chance. Once befriended, they tend to trust more easily; once betrayed, they never forget.

Enduks walk about as much as they fly. Though they often fly to battle and use flight for strategic advantage, they prefer fighting on the ground.

They live in stone structures close to the ground. Their homes are simple and practical but tend to be large, with huge doorways, because of the enduks' size and wingspan. Enduk buildings have doors, but these are left open unless strangers are present or in the case of some threat. Most enduk structures also have trapdoors on the roofs.

Enduk priests choose lifemates for their people. An initial "marriage" takes place when the enduks are about 12 years old, though the pair can put off cohabitation for as much as two decades, to give them time to get to know one another and to seek adventure if they so desire. Once the final ceremony takes place, the enduk couple bonds for life. Any children are cherished and raised in a loving, deeply religious household.

Equipment

Eshu's Armies

Enduks as PCs

Enduks are about as technologically developed as the other cultures of the Savage Coast and the Arm of the Immortals. They are generally good engineers if they choose to take the appropriate skills. Though they once were highly decorative in their architecture, now they choose practicality rather than art as the guiding factor in designing their buildings and crafts.

In combat, enduks like bludgeoning weapons that can be wielded with one hand. The footman's mace is preferred. An enduk must spend one weapon proficiency on a mace or club at 1st level; an enduk wizard is allowed the use of a club but otherwise has the same weapon restrictions as other wizards.

Nets are also popular among enduk warriors. With the exception of the crossbow and the flight lance, enduks cannot take a proficiency for a piercing or slashing melee weapon until they are 3rd level or higher. Enduk fighters, priests, and fighter/priests can take a proficiency in flight lance.

Enduks prefer crossbows and cannot use long bows or short bows. Like ee'aar, they cannot effectively use medium or large slashing weapons (such as the battle axe and many swords), because their wings impede their use. Other large weapons are avoided because they are too unwieldy.

Typically, enduks wear leather armor or bronze plate mail. They cannot fly with anything bulkier than bronze plate and, because they are naturally Armor Class 6, most lighter armor gives them only AC 5, so they are better off wearing leather armor. Banded and splint armor is not made in the enduk homeland. Enduk Defenders can buy bronze plate mail for 100 gp from the church organization in Eshu.

Miscellaneous

In the same round as a melee attack, enduks may attempt to gore opponents with their horns; a successf ul attack causes 1d4+1 points of damage. An enduk that makes multiple melee atta cks in one round cannot attempt to gore.

Enduks can fly at a speed of 12 with a maneuverability class C. They can carry weight equal to that of their body weight without penalty; carrying more weight reduces their maneuverability class to D. Enduks cannot fly if carrying a burden greater than twice their own body weight or if wearing armor bulkier than bronze plate mail. Though they are strong fliers, they cannot fly great distances. They must make Constitution checks every turn of flight after the third. If the check fails, they must land and recover for one turn for every three turns spent in prior flight.

A flying enduk can cover 180 feet per round at level flight; one half of their movement must always be committed in a forward direction. Asce nding is a strenuous task because of the bulk they are trying to raise. The endu k can ascend only 30 feet for every 90 feet of forward movement. Descending, the enduk can glide their full movement both forward and downward, 180 feet each di rection. If diving hard, they can double their movement rate to 360 feet forward and 360 feet downward, never diving at a steeper angle than 45 degrees. Armor d oes not restrict movement rate or maneuverability; however, armor does apply tow ard the maximum weight that can be carried in flight.

Due to their size, the wings have an AC rating 3 points worse than the enduk itself. Also, armor never covers the wings, possibly widening this gap. The wing s cannot be hit by a frontal attack unless the attacker is taller than the enduk . If attacked from the side, an attack too low to successfully hit the enduk's AC but high enough to hit the wing AC is applied to the wings. Wings cannot be specifically targeted except in a rear attack; a successful attack from behind a lways hits the wings. Wings also suffer an extra 1d6 points of damage per round if exposed directly to flame. The wings will keep burning until the enduk loses more than 75% of its normal hit points or action is taken to extinguish the fla mes.

Recovering from direct damage to the wings takes 1 full week for each 10 of t he ee'aar's total hit points. Cure spells will heal damage but will not regrow f eathers, so flight is still not possible. Regeneration and heal spells will repl ace feathers. Magical healing always applies to direct wing damage last. As the percentages fall below 75% and 50% (or 50% and 25% as applied to direct wing dam age), the ee'aar regains the ability to glide and, then, fly. Also, an enduk re gains additional hit points for healing wing damage according to its Constitutio n bonus. (An enduk with a 16 Constitution heals an extra 2 points per week.)

Enduks cannot fly above 10,000 feet, but could glide from that altitude, if necessary.

Enduks prefer fighting on the ground because they suffer a -2 penalty to a ll attack rolls while airborne. Weapons must weigh 12 pounds or less to be used in aerial combat, and while crossbows can be fired from the air, the enduk must land to reload. Enduks may not hover, and so they are restricted to passing atta cks, sometimes gaining the advantage by gliding down on an unsuspecting enemy. T hey can land and quickly spring to the attack, gaining a +1 bonus on their surpr ise rolls.

Language

Classes and Kits

The following kits are appropriate for enduks: It is rare, but possible for enduks to become Inheritors. They may be Local Heroes and Swashbucklers; fighters may be Defenders, Honorbound, Wilderness Warriors, or Myrmidons. Enduk wizards may opt for the Militant or Mystic kit and their priests are almost invariably War Priests. Those few who choose to be thieves may be Bandits or Scouts. White-furred enduks are usually inducted into the Order of Eshu, a group of honorable knights (fighters and fighter/priests) who use the Defender kit.

History

Long ago the enduks were created when a herald of Idu rendered a great service to his patron. As a reward for Gildesh, his servant, Idu formed a race with some of Gildesh's features. Gildesh was a shedu, a winged bull with a human head, and he ruled over Idu's newly created followers, who for practical reasons had been given winged humanoid bodies and the heads of bulls. These were creatures of exalted goodness who lived to serve Gildesh, which means the defender in their language, and further the ideals of Idu_the sun. Centuries later, Gildesh had enough followers to found a kingdom in the western part of the Orc's Head Peninsula. It was called Nimmur, which means the homeland.

Over the centuries, envoys of other Immortals quietly influenced some of Gildesh's followers, introducing greed and violence to the Nimmurians. One of those, a warrior known as Minoides, betrayed Gildesh over a holy treasure and killed him. As he died, Gildesh cursed his murderer and his treacherous lackeys, who fled Nimmur and lost their wings. They became the evil minotaurs of the world. Gildesh was not truly dead, just banished to another plane by the death of his mortal body. Idu suggested that he give his followers time to learn and grow on their own and Gildesh agreed to return only every third century. During his absence, the manscorpions arrived and were welcomed by the peaceful Nimmurians. They were beset by the orcs of the Dark Jungle. The manscorpions aided them during the struggle, only to turn against their allies once that fighting was done. When the manscorpions overran their cities, the enduks were forced to flee and with the help of the ee'aar, they relocated to a vast plateau hidden in the mountains of the Arm of the Immortals. The Eshu plateau was infested with monsters but the enduks and ee'aar working together eradicated them. The enduk were ecstatic about their new, secluded land where they could honor their Immortal patron, Idu, and their spiritual leader, Gildesh. The kingdom was named for the priest-king Eshu, who ruled ancient Nimmur at the time of their flight to the Arm of the Immortals. Upon pacifying the northern end of the plateau, he had the great fortress of Gildesh built to hold its entrance. He died several years later at the Battle of Urduk, when several hordes of orcs attempted to find a way onto the plateau. Idu's herald Gildesh returned a decade ago and is now ruling for another mortal lifetime. Today, the enduks are a peaceful race of farmers and soldiers who live simply. They grow crops in the rich soil, hunt boar and deer and fish in their many rivers. As before, they build villages, cities, temples, and fortresses, though not such grand ones as they once constructed in ancient Nimmur. It is a particular goal of the enduks to try to retake Nimmur. To that end they often send adventurers to the Savage Coast to harass the manscorpions and plan raids. In the last decade, heavy attacks by the orcs of the Dark Jungle, which occupied much of Nimmur's army, created an opening that allowed a combined force of enduks, ee'aar, and a few repentant manscorpions to seize the city of Um-Shedu. Thus far, they have held the city and hope to use it as a staging base from which to retake the whole country.

The Kingdom of Eshu

Capital: Sardon (Pop. 11,200 enduks and a handful of visitors from elsewhere)
Royal Army: 12 Storms
Ruler: Priest-King Gildesh II, Herald of Idu
Patron: Idu

Flora and Fauna

Like Aeryl, the region is rich in farmland and hunting areas. Although it is very well watered, thus having richer soil, Eshu supports almost exactly the same flora and fauna as Aeryl.

The City of Sardon

Though large, the city of Sardon is remarkably uninteresting. Architecture is spare and practical, and the streets are straight and wide. The only buildings of real interest are the palace and temple complex. These are built along patterns established in Nimmur, the large palace intended to serve both as a court and as a counting and storage facility and the temple resting atop a three-tiered ziggurat.

The Enduk Pantheon