Ashlung Orcs

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The Orcs of the Ashlands have had a troubled history. Their culture was originally no more advanced than any other goblinoid race on Mortend but they differentiated themselves when the Lord of Rot begun his conquest of Mortend. While the Goblins and Giants hid in their caves, the Orcs rose up and joined the Dwarves in fighting back against the Lich and his necromancers. However, after the war was finally over, the Orc race was devastated and the remnants of the Lord of Rot's forces in the area took advantage of their weakened state and took control of the Orcs. They enslaved the Orcs and brought them to the volcanic mountain, Razuth’s Maw. The necromancers forced the enslaved Orcs to live in the shadow of the fiery mountain and build a great monument, the Ash Tower. The Orcs sought the help of their allies the Dwarves but they were ignored. The Dwarves moved into their mountains to lick their own wounds and build their empire back to its former strength, even going as far as denying the assistance of the Orcs all together in the war. The necromancers performed experiments on the Orcs to make them a better work force by expanding their intelligence but forcing them to be reliant on consuming ash to survive so that they could never leave the Ashlands. After being slaves to the ancestors of the necromancers for centuries the Orcs (now called the Ashlung Orcs) picked up many aspects of their culture and added them to their own, but probably the most influential thing the Ashlung Orcs took from the experience, is the mentality that to be free is to restrict the freedom of others. The mistake the ancestors of the necromancers made after ruling over the Ashlung Orcs for so long was getting comfortable in their rule. The Ashlung Orcs took advantage of this comfort and rebelled, defeating their slavers. But victory wasn’t enough, the Ashlung Orcs hunted down and slaughtered every last creature who claimed lordship over their race. Almost immediately after taking over the Ashlands, the Ashlung Orcs started to gather up the other goblinoid races in the surrounding area and push them into slavery. Unlike their original captors or their Dwarven neighbors, the Ashlung Orcs do not treat their slaves with disdain, seeing them as the instrument of their freedom. Physically the Ashlung Orcs stand just over 6 feet tall, are muscular in nature and have dark grey skin, similar to the ash they live in. The most interesting thing about this race physically is where they got their name. When they breathe heavily, even when they are outside of the Ashlands, a small cloud of ash comes from their mouth, looking similar to a breath on a cold day.

## **Ashlung Orc Racial Traits**

* Ability Score Racial Traits: Ashlung Orcs are very strong and durable but they have trouble understanding other races. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, and -2 Wisdom.
* Size: Ashlungs are medium creatures.
* Type: Ashlungs are Humanoids with the Orc subtype.
* Base Speed: Ashlungs have a base speed of 30 feet.
* Languages: Ashlung Orc's native languages are Orc and Goblinoid.
* Ash Reliant: The curse put upon the Ashlung Orcs causes them to be reliant on ashes in order to survive. If an Ashlung Orc goes 24 hours without consuming a handful of hot ash they are considered fatigued until they do so. If another 24 hours pass without this consumption, they are exhausted and must consume twice as much to regain their strength. Finally if an Ashlung Orc does not consume ash within 72 hours they fall unconscious, unable to awaken until brought back into the Ashlands where they can be in the presence of ash directly from Razuth’s Maw.
* Heat Resistant: Ashlungs act as if always under the effect of the Endure Elements spell, but only pertaining to heat.
* Ferocity: Ashlungs possess the ferocity ability which allows them to remain conscious and continue fighting even if their hit point totals fall below 0. Ashlung Orcs are still staggered at 0 hit points or lower and lose 1 hit point each round as normal. Ashlungs count has having the Diehard feat for the purposes of other prerequisites.
* Weapon Familiarity: Ashlungs treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
* Darkvision: Ashlungs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
* Age:
	+ Adulthood: 15 years
	+ Middle Age: 30 years
	+ Old: 50 years
	+ Venerable: 60 years
	+ Maximum Age: 80 years

### **Ashlung Orc Favored Class Bonuses**

* Barbarian: Add 1 to the half-orc’s total number of rage rounds per day.
* Bloodrager: Increase the bloodrager’s total number of bloodrage rounds per day by 1.
* Brawler: Add 1/4 to the brawler’s effective level to determine her unarmed strike damage.
* Fighter: Add +2 on rolls to stabilize when dying.
* Ranger: Add +1 hit point to the ranger’s animal companion. If the half-orc ever replaces his animal companion, the new animal companion gains these bonus hit points.
* Shaman: Add one spell from the cleric spell list that isn’t on the shaman spell list to the list of spells the shaman knows. This spell must be at least 1 level below the highest spell level the shaman can cast.
* Skald: Increase the skald’s total number of raging song rounds per day by 1.
* Witch: Add one spell from the witch spell list to the witch’s familiar. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level the witch can cast. If the witch ever replaces this familiar, the new familiar knows these bonus spells.