Armand

Armands were a small desert-dwelling armadillo-like people that wandered the Anauroch desert in northern Faerûn.
==Description==
An armand was a stout armadillo-looking humanoid with thick plated skin that protected them against the desert environment in which they lived. They stood on average 3½ to 4 feet (1.04–1.22 meters ) tall and weighed 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
==Abilities==
These small creatures were uniquely adapted to their native desert environment and able to stand against almost anything the desert might throw at them. With their darkvision they could sense when danger approached and with their paws they were able to dig into the ground to protect themselves from predators.
==Society==
Armands lived in small tribes of a few close-knit family groups and every adult had an equal vote in their decision making. Likewise, all members of the group shared the possessions and resources of the entire group, and they did not believe in the concept of individual ownership. These democratic groups wandered the desert in search of new experiences, as knowledge of the land, animals, and other ways of life was seen as the greatest of value. So it was that those armand who journeyed away from their groups and came back with new experiences were called "wise ones" and had a far greater influence on the rest of the group than those that stayed. Thus, many a young armand left to wander and become "wise ones" themselves.
Most armands avoided fighting as every fight often meant the end of a life and thus the end of experience for that individual. That said, they would most certainly fight if they or their group was attacked and they were unable to hide or burrow away. Indeed, when they needed tom armands were able to become stalwart bastions of defense, refusing to move an inch, instead raking their enemies with furious claws. If a foe was more than an individual tribe could defeat, then many tribes would converge on a known defensible location where they would stand together as one. Each family group was lead by a Warden, each of whom was a particularly experienced "wise one" that had tavelled far wider than most other armands. As each tribe was made of a few groups, it was normal for the tribe to be led by several wardens who together led and advised the rest, although their votes were still only equal to every other adult.
The armand tribes rarely built permanent dwellings, as they were a nomadic people, and lived in large communal tents. Caverns too were seen as good dwellings whenever a tribe happened upon one.
Armands were drawn to those deities who represented travel, nature, and the sun.
==History==
The armands once wandered the great Anauroch desert, even maintaining a permanent presence on the slopes of Azirrhat with trading posts and a large monastery.
With the arrival of the City of Shade in the , however, the armand monastery was destroyed by the Shadovar. They forced the surviving tribes to flee south, through the Scimitar Spires and into the Saiyaddar. There, they were stopped by a great blue dragon named Jyrrathazur, who enslaved the surviving armands. Those who refused to kneel were devoured, and entire clans were lost to the dragon. Then one day the dragon simply disappeared, how and since then the armands wanderedd the land free as the sun upon the sky.
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Races