Debased Girallon (Basic Lore)

Debased Girallon (CR 1)
True Chaotic - Medium - Magical Beast
At first glance, these apes appear as cousins to gorillas, except with matted white fur and pale-complected, hairless faces. However, as they move, their second set of arms becomes obvious, four arms in total, which they use to great effect in combat and while climbing through the trees. Another distinguishing characteristic of girallons is the presence of jewelry, worn fetishes, tattooing of the face, and the occasional strings of trophies, usually collected from the corpse of a defeated foe. The average adult girallon stands approximately 6 feet tall, and weighs around 450 pounds. Girallons are intelligent among the beast-world, but were not granted the Spark of civilization like some other animalistic races. A few are capable of limited understanding of speech, but only if in the company of civilized folk long enough to pick it up. This is rare, as girallons are quite savage, feasting on the flesh of any who might stand against them, including other girallons. While they have been known to cook their food first, most find this unnecessary, and needlessly complicated when just eating it on the spot is so clearly effective. Some girallons have been known to behave almost spiritually around certain natural sources of power, such as a particularly ancient tree, a faerie circle, or an old cromlech in the forest. They have been known to leave offerings to these totems of spiritual power, though it is unclear what they hope to gain from such actions. Girallons have also been known to use weapons, often picking up a fallen branch to club someone with, or gain some additional reach, but rarely as any sort of pre-planned improvement to their own natural attacks. Girallons are communal animals, living in packs (sometimes called troops). They frequently have a single alpha who leads them and commands their respect, but within the larger packs, there is always a pecking order of lieutenants, and sub-alphas. Each girallon, male or female, asserts what dominance they can in order to gain standing within the pack. This leads to a constant state of internal bickering, and sometimes even blood feuds among those closely matched, until one finally kills the other. More typically, however, these maneuvers for standing in the troop are resolved by 'friendly' wrestling matches (often started without any warning). In cases where the difference in strength is significant, the weaker girallon yields quickly to their superior long before any real injury can be sustained. Debased girallons are those near the bottom of the pecking order of their pack. They are either lazy, or weak (compared to their peers). They often band together with other debased girallons to try to achieve some standing through collaborative strength, though their savage natures often make these unions of convenience quite brief. Inevitably, one girallon will grow jealous with another in the group and the bickering will lead to a breaking up of their unity. In other cases, stronger girallons have been known to coerce the debased girallons into performing menial tasks for them, in exchange for protection. Whatever the circumstance, debased girallons have little hope of bettering their position in the troop, and instead behave opportunistically, looking for anything which might give them some immediate gain or advantage, no matter how temporary.