Bru-Kin

The greatest life is one that ends in battle.

Overview

Bru-kin generally hate it when you call them half orcs. They consider the name demeaning, and will refer to themselves by any of a dozen other names, such as Bloodkin, Scro, Heathens, Wanderers, Arrakanza, Scree, etc, etc, etc.

Regardless of what they call themselves, all bru-kin trace their racial derivation to cross-breeding between fecund, savage Orcs and other races, most commonly Humans, Dwarves, and Ifrits. Regardless of their long-ago origins, bru-kin are now their own race, and they form their own enclaves and communities and have their own children. Indeed, much of their dislike of the term 'half orc' comes from the negative connotations associated with their orcish heritage, justified or not.

Regardless of their origins, bru-kin in modern times are certainly not dainty shrinking violets. Their cultural heritage and the general disdain they face from other races has forced a good portion of their population into a wildly nomadic lifestyle. Many bru-kin consider these nomads to be the only 'true Bru', with all of the foolishness and tensions such bigotry brings with it. In their racial memory, bru-kin frequently were disdained minorities, and faced very high levels of discrimination, servitude, and exploitation. The modern bru-kin have assimilated these cultural difficulties into their 'native' nomadic culture.

Bru-kin who are not living in other cultures are semi-nomadic wanderers who live out of wagons or ships or barges much of each year. They are always either on the move, or preparing to get on the move. During the spring and fall seasons, bru-kin dominions will settle into one of several kraals to raise crops, tend their children, mend armor and weapons and generally rest and prepare for the summer and winter wars. Kraals are locations that lend themselves to seasonal camps, always containing a source of fresh water and good grazing land for the herds, and decent soil for growing the fast-growing vegetables the dominions plant.

Seen from the outside, these savage semi-nomadic wanderers seem to be brutal, vicious, merciless, conscienceless killers. There is a lot to recommend this opinion.

In bru-kin culture, victory in battle, dominance over others, and status in the kraal are the only things that matter. Bru-kin are not immune to the feelings of affection, kindness, and mercy, but they accord them very little merit. What is important is not how nice you are, what is important is how dangerous you are.

To a bru-kin, marriage is seen as a type of self-inflicted slavery and considered utter madness. Indeed, all forms of slavery are viewed as anathema, and native bru-kin kill any slaves they find out of hand, right next to their owners. Bru-kin, as nomads, do not prize possessions, but what a bru-kin does own is defended with utter savagery. Romance among bru-kin is not unknown, but consists of such things as carving a favored partner's initials into your forehead. Fidelity is as crazy as marriage, but jealousy is considered a sign of flattery. Even between favored partners disagreements all the way up to brutal beatings are considered good clean fun and the act of murdering an enemy is considered titillating. Killing an enemy in battle is preferable to nearly any other act, except perhaps torturing them to death.

Surprisingly, despite the stereotypes, Bru-kin are not all green-skinned. Yes, most of them are some shade of green, ranging from dark, rich olive to brilliant spring-green, but many orcs are also dusky blue, slate-grey, and even occasionally some shade of brown. Bru-kin have very strong facial features compared to almost all other races except perhaps the most animalistic of the totem races. Most bru-kin have tusks to some degree, which can range from multiple massive fangs in both upper and lower jaws that project well past their lips all the way down to no visible tusks at all...but all of their front teeth are canines, giving them a peaceable appearance and a smile like a shark. Tusks are a matter of some vanity among Bru-kin, it should be noted. Bru-kin almost always have black hair, with some variations of brick red, rich brown, and dark green being the most common variations.

Note that Bru-kin have very strong features, but they can be just as attractive as any other race...in their own fashion.

Culture

Despite all of this savagery, native bru-kin are considerably more than mindless barbarians. They have an elaborate social structure, with a hierarchy based on a warrior's perceived prowess. Note the "perceived" in that description. In bru-kin society, performance is paramount, but how you appear also has a lot to do with your status. The ability to command capable lackeys is as important as your ability to weave blades. A warrior may not be the deadliest Bru on feet, but if she can whistle up three guys who are, who are completely loyal to her, and who will cheerfully beat your head in, then she has higher status than you do, whether you like it or not. Many clan chiefs fall into this category, with designated champions insulating them from lower level challenges. Of course, most chiefs are also lethal warriors in their own right, so often those champions are their way of preserving younger warriors from death in a duel when they can die better fighting an enemy.

Despite the horrific level of violence among bru-kin, they are not a chaotic mass of random impulses. Indeed, chaotic alignments are a minority among bru-kin. Having some like-minded killers at your side when you go to murder that annoyingly chaotic evil guy next door evens the odds wonderfully. True friendship is rare, since such altruism is seen as foolish, but firm and well-defined alliances are common among warriors, and very common among the herders and other members of bru-kin society.

Note that many bru-kin, perhaps as many as a third, live comfortably and easily in other cultures. Such bru-kin may or may not follow the culture of their native kin.

Most native bru-kin society is arranged into a system of dominions. A dominion is the bru-kin term for their tribe or clan, but it has deeper connotations as well. Dominions are ruled by a large and loosely organized council of elders, which is made up of senior warriors who have fulfilled every duty placed before them with distinction. These older, wiser heads determine the way the dominion is run, where it herds, with whom it trades, and where it goes in the quest for blood and freedom.

Growing Up Bru-kin

Young bru-kin nomads, the ones generally having children, are not good parents in any sense of the term. Instead, children are raised by the oldsters, to increase the number of children who survive. Oldsters are the nomadic dominion's oldest members, those who have been ousted from the council of elders, or are no longer able to herd or follow any of the secondary careers most bru-kin fall into. Once the children are old enough to begin training in weapons, usually around age four, they leave the "care" of the oldsters and are given into the tender mercies of a seasoned bru-kin warrior, one approaching the end of their fighting career.

Warriors chosen to train the young are usually older and wiser, and training child warriors is considered the final task they must perform before they are eligible to ascend to the dominion's council of elders. Each such warrior is given between three and ten children, and usually only one or two die in the training. The treatment they receive would be considered less than humane by most, but it is the bru-kin way. The training of the youths ends when they successfully defeat an enemy, defeat an older warrior, or reach age thirteen.

Bru-kin yearlings are usually aged 13 to about 17, and are the youngest bru-kin allowed to go out raiding. By the time bru-kin children achieve yearling warriorhood, they are little more than raving bundles of aggression, with no hint of compassion, mercy, caring, or love. This state of affairs is precisely what bru-kin want, as these yearling warriors are the shock troops of the dominion, while the older, more seasoned warriors serve to direct them, protect them, and kill the enemies while the yearlings mob them. The older warriors are also more skilled, and often intermingle with the younger warriors to aid them in fights. Even with this aid, the survival rate of the yearling warriors is only about half.

With the incredible savagery of bru-kin childhood, the leaders of each Dominion spend a good amount of their time in kraal counting the yearlings and measuring their survival rate. If the Dominion is in danger of killing itself into extinction, the council of Elders will declare more festivals to generate more babies, and if the mortality problem is traced to an excessively murderous bru-kin, that transgressor will be challenged to Gaunt repeatedly until killed.

Native culture Bru-kin never fight fair except in a duel, and often not even then. The typical order of battle is for a rank of the younger yearling warriors to throw themselves wildly into a fray, tying up the sword arms of their foes. The older warriors follow, and strike down the foes thus engaged. This theory serves well, and if the older warriors are quick and skilled the younger gain experience and prowess, while still surviving. There is a complex web of interactions spawned by this system of battle, as the younger warriors come to rely on their elders, and the elders build networks of loyal youngsters, with rewards of loot, status, and equipment. Clever warriors can advance their status by choosing which young warriors to sponsor. Once a warrior reaches a certain age, they usually retire and become a herder, or the highest ranking warriors become teachers and try for the Elders.

Economy and non-warriors

The nomadic herders are exempt from much of the social pecking order, and are usually accorded little thought by young bru-kin. The council of Elders of each Dominion knows better. While herders are universally scorned by active warriors, nearly all herders are accomplished and fully hardened veterans, a fact many yearlings discover to their sorrow. The herders are the crafters of the superb bru-kin leathers and ivory, as well as the source of much bru-kin wealth. They also serve as the breeders of the herds, and collect the stud fees the dominion charges for their animals. Canny bru-kin warriors soon learn to treat the herders with respect, because the herders are the ones who raise the mounts. If you want a good mount, you had better have acceptable relations with a herder. The herders and other secondary professionals develop as much of philosophical thought as bru-kin have, a surprising amount when all is considered.

Many herders follow second careers, as priests to the primal herd Spirits, or to one of the Great Gods. Some of them turn to magic, leave the native bru-kin culture, and enter larger society.

Customs and day-to-day life

Bru-kin have many festivals and holidays in their wild and violent native culture, most of which are dedicated to the various primals they revere, such as Storm, Herd, Death, Fury, etc. The year is divided into the standard calendar, but bru-kin pay little heed to it, instead preferring the more primitive seasons reckoning, since a large part of their culture is taken up by their customs. Bru-kin festivals usually take place in the kraals, although there is usually plenty of activity outside the kraal so that the normal levels of bru-kin aggression and violence can be satisfied.

Native bru-kin have little in the way of formal laws or rules, but many deeply held customs.

Three of the most important bru-kin customs are linked, the first being the Wandrar.

The Wandrar

The Wandrar is the bru-kin belief that it is perverse to claim land and live upon it solely. Bru-kin bitterly recall the prisons and fortresses of their racial tormentors, and have little love for settling down in such ways. For this reason, during the Winter and Summer each dominion packs up all of their herds, wagons, and belongings and drifts where they wish, grazing and trading and raiding other Dominions as they go. In the Spring and Fall, each Dominion chooses one of their kraals and stays for the season, resting, repairing, birthing and raising the young, etc.

Bru-kin dominions can be viewed as hybrid mixtures of military units, tribes, and sports teams. As a result, many dominions have deadly rivalries that can go back generations. It is during the Wandrar that these feuds are pursued with single-minded and deadly effort.

The Challenge

The second custom is the so-called "challenge." Bru-kin consider it to be extremely cowardly to attack a dominion in a kraal, to the point of actual taboo. The reason for this is obvious, as it allows them to recuperate from the latest Wandrar. Thus, during the Kraal seasons, the only warfare allowed is by challenge, which is a battle arranged to settle feuds, debts, arguments, and the like. This way, the warriors get to assuage their love of battle while the kraals remain inviolate.

During a Wandrar is when all of the warfare between Dominions (as opposed to challenge battles) is done, when all of the Dominions are out on the road. All that happens between the Dominions during the kraal times is spying, which bru-kin carry out with their typical enthusiasm.

In the battles between the Dominions, it must be emphasized that literally anything goes, and the savagery of these conflicts will make a strong man pale. Even with this savagery, most of the Dominions realize that battling too much will weaken them as surely as battling too little, and so tend to be conservative in their attack plans, sticking to probing raids and harassment of their hated enemies. The occasional pitched battle is cause for great rejoicing, and the destruction of a Dominion is an event which will draw great status to the Dominion which destroyed it.

New Dominions form frequently, usually from bands of survivors or by large Dominions splitting. Very rarely, there will arise a Khan, or over-chief, who will weld dozens or hundreds of Dominions together and go on a Conquest, crushing every dominion in their path and causing much havoc among the greater culture the Bru-kin live among. These Khans usually last a few years, fall in battle, and things continue as before. Conquests have grown rare, and typically only occur in frontier areas, or lands where the Bru-kin can interact with monstrous Orcs, Gnolls, or Hobgoblins and pick up...bad habits.

The Gaunt

The third most deeply held custom of bru-kin culture is the Gaunt.

A Gaunt is a challenge issued from one bru-kin to another, usually because the difference in status between them is too great for a duel to be reasonably fought, or because the challenger wishes to count coup on the challenged without having to kill them. A gaunt is always publicly witnessed and is occasion for drinking, revelry, crude jeering, and gambling. At its core, the Gaunt is a way for the two bru-kin involved to prove which one is the meaner, nastier, tougher, and crazier.

During a Gaunt, the two foes face off at several feet away, and the challenger goes first. The point of a gaunt is self-mutilation, with either participant able to quit at any point. Each of the two of them injures themselves in turn, daring the other to do something worse or more painful to themselves or admit defeat. These spectacles are gruesome in the extreme, and death of one or the other party is not unheard of. Dying in a Gaunt gives victory to the survivor, as well as great status to both participants.

It is customary to begin a Gaunt with something relatively minor, like slashing a forearm or biting a cheek, enough to draw blood. Later on, more severe mutilations are common, such as slitting or ripping a nostril, cutting or ripping off an ear, driving a knife or stick through a cheek, cutting or tearing off of a finger, etc.

In the end stages of a hard fought Gaunt, ghastly disfigurements are common, such as biting off one or more fingers, gouging out eyes, biting off tongues, amputation of feet by standing in a fire, breaking of the knees and elbows, self-disembowelment, self-immolation, etc. A Gaunt that progresses to this level will usually end in the death of one or both of the participants. The scars left by a Gaunt are flaunted proudly, as signs to future challengers not to mess with this person. The only exception is scars which are too crippling, such as having no feet or the loss of both eyes. In those cases, the healers are called in and the impairments are repaired as much as possible.

Any Gaunt must be approached with some caution, since the status to be gained must be weighed against the future impairment you might have. Winning a hard Gaunt over something stupid is not as good as losing a Gaunt over something important. Indeed, losing a hard Gaunt and living brings its own status, as the loser can point to her horrific scars and say, "See that? I did all that and still lost. You should see the other guy!" Most native bru-kin participate in at least one Gaunt in their life, and often as many as two or three. Some especially pugnacious bru-kin may have as many as two or three Gaunts a YEAR. These bru-kin are little more than walking masses of scar tissue, barely recognizable as human, and are quite mad by any rational standard. As long as they are able to fight well, they are greatly respected in bru-kin society.

Lifespan and burial

Bru-kin can have a lifespan as long as a human, with a childhood, adulthood, middle age, and dotage. In native bru-kin society, very few bru-kin survive more than a year or two in their dotage, as such weakness is far too tempting a target for younger bru-kin.

Even young bru-kin tend to have fairly high mortality, but if they survive past being a yearling, they tend to live as long as any other humans do until they reach their dotage. Native bru-kin can interbreed with other humans and races, but this sort of thing is severely frowned upon. Not to mention, it would take a very open-minded person of any other culture to put up with what a bru-kin considers normal. Bru-kin tend to have quite a lot of money compared to most races, since they have very little to spend it on. Bru-kin love dancing, singing, and drinking, but very rarely do anything to excess, because attacking and killing a drunk is considered great sport.

At the end of their lives, bru-kin oldsters are usually murdered in duels by members of the Council of Elders, to teach the children the basics of performing coup-de-graces. Bru-kin typically strip the bodies and leave them by the road, occasionally with a spear stuck through them. Their souls return whether they are buried or not, after all.

Relations with Others

Many bru-kin serve in the armies, guard units, or town watches of other cultures, usually in dedicated bru-kin units. Native bru-kin have learned through bitter experience to respect the weak-willed, soft-bellied, cowardly customs of the rest of their fellows. Crimes committed by bru-kin are invariably punished by drugging the offenders and publicly executing them in the most humiliating of ways. A popular method involves drowning facedown in a puddle before a large assembled crowd. Such a death causes crushing shame to all bru-kin who see it, and a Dominion that produces such criminals rarely lasts a dozen seasons after they cause other dominions so much embarrassment.

Native bru-kin player characters are considered to be either yearlings or young warriors who have decided to travel and see the rest of the world. Non-native bru-kin player characters are treated usually as a member of their native race.

Starting Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	4 ft. 10 in.	+2d12 in. (5 ft - 6 ft. 10 in.)	150 lbs.	+(2d12x7 lbs.) (164 - 318 lbs.)
Female	4 ft. 7 in.	+2d12 in. (4 ft. 9 in. - 6 ft. 7 in.)	110 lbs.	+(2d12x5 lbs.) (120 - 230 lbs.)

Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
14 years	+1d4 years (15 - 18 years)	+1d6 years (15 - 20 years)	+2d6 years (16 - 26 years)

PC's

Bru-kin characters have no alignment or class restrictions.

Standard Racial Traits

All Bru-kin have the following Standard Racial Advantages:

• Attributes: Bru-kin may choose to gain one of the following ability score bonus sets when creating their character. No ability score may ever be modified above a 20 or below a 7.
  • +2 to two different ability scores, -2 to one ability score
  • +2 one ability score, and +1 to three different ability scores, -2 to one ability score
  • +4 to one ability score, -2 to one other ability score

• Size: Bru-kin are Medium creatures and have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

• Type: Bru-kin have the Humanoid type, with the Spiritual subtype.

• Base Speed: Bru-kin have a Walk speed of 40 feet (due to the Fleet-Footed standard racial trait; see below).

• Languages: Bru-kin begin play speaking Common and Orc.

• Bonus Languages: Characters with a positive Intelligence modifier gain one bonus language per +1 of their modifier, selecting from the following list: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Giant and Tengu. Once the character's intelligence is high enough to have acquired all six of these bonus languages, they no longer gain bonus languages for increasing their Intelligence. Characters can also learn new languages by placing ranks in the Linguistics skill.

• Normal Vision (Ex): Bru-kin, like their Human kin, require bright light to see without penalty. Creatures in dim light gain concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 6 or less on the d20) against Bru-kin trying to target them.

• Fleet-Footed (Ex): Bru-kin have a base walk speed of 40 feet instead of the standard 30 feet for sized-medium races.

Major Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Major Racial Traits:

• Scars and Glory (Ex): Bru-kin with this racial trait receive damage resistance 1 versus all types of physical damage (DR 1/-). This bonus increases to DR 2/- at level 11, DR 3/- at level 21, and DR 4/- at level 31. This stacks with DR x/- gained from class abilities, feats, magic items, armor, equipment, and spells.

• Sure In Battle (Ex): Once per round, a Bru-kin with this racial trait may perform a 5-foot step as a swift action, in addition to any other 5-foot steps they may perform this round. This 5-foot step can be performed even if the Bru-kin has already used a move action to move this turn. Note that 5-foot steps cannot be combined to make a single 5-foot step into difficult terrain; they are separate actions. At 16th level, they receive a +1 dodge bonus to AC until the beginning of their next turn, any time they expend their swift action to use Sure in Battle.

• Hunter (Su): Bru-kin with this racial trait gain Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. At 11th level, the Bru-kin gains Scent with a range of 30 feet. At 21st level, their Darkvision improves to a range of 120 feet. At 31st level, the Bru-kin gains Perfect Scent with a range of 120 feet.

• Natural Skald (Ex): Bru-kin with this racial trait have a fine howling voice, one made to echo over a battle like a horn of doom. When a Bru-kin with this racial trait uses any effect, spell, item, class ability, etc., associated with the Evocation, Enchantment, or Abjuration schools, the save DC of any effects is increased by a +1 training bonus. This bonus increases to +2 at 21st level.

• Endless Reserves (Ex): The Bru-kin with this racial trait gains one additional hit point per level, and can sleep in any type of armor without becoming fatigued.

Minor Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Minor Racial Traits:

• Lessons of the Gaunt (Ex): Bru-kin with this racial trait gain Intimidate as a natural talent. When a skill becomes a natural talent, it is remapped to the ability modifier of the Bru-kin's choice, instead of the modifier normally used by the skill.

• Xenophobe (Ex): The Bru-kin with this racial trait despises other races even more than most Bru-kin. They speak only Common and do not gain any bonus languages from possessing a high Intelligence score. In addition, they learn only one language per 2 ranks of Linguistics they possess. However, their distrustful nature gives them a +1 training bonus to Will saving throws. This bonus improves to +2 at level 11, +3 at level 26.

• Aggressive Charger (Ex): When a Bru-kin with this racial trait performs a charge attack, they gain a +1 training bonus to the to-hit roll, and a +2 bonus to the damage if it hits. At 11th level, these numbers improve to +2 to-hit, and +4 to damage. At 21st level, it becomes +3 to-hit, and +6 to damage. At 31st level, it becomes +4 to-hit, and +6 to damage.

• Gaunt Guile (Ex): Bru-kin with this racial trait have a talent for making their Gaunt opponents take bigger risks than are strictly necessary to win. Bru-kin with this trait gain a +1 training bonus to Bluff checks. This bonus improves to +2 at level 11, +3 at level 21, and +4 at level 31.

• Unflinching Valor (Ex): Bru-kin with this racial trait gain a +1 training bonus on saving throws against fear effects. At 11th level, this bonus improves to +2. At 21st level, it improves to +3, and at 31st level, it improves to +4.