Brockshern

In the North East — far from the land where the sun glows and where the air is thin and the frigid winds howl — dwell the reclusive Brockshern. Few folk can claim to have seen a Brockshern Lesser, and fewer still can claim friendship with them. The Brockshern people wander a bleak continent of rock, wind, and cold. Their bodies look as if they are carved from mountain stone and give them great physical power. Their spirits take after the hellish winds, making them killers who wander the frozen lands. Their hearts are infused with the cold regard of their frigid land, leaving each Brockshern with the responsibility to earn a place in a tribe or die trying.

## Driven Competitors

Every day brings a new challenge to a Brockshern. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the Bleak lands in which they reside. A single mistake can bring doom to an entire tribe, while an individual’s heroic effort can ensure the entire group’s survival.

   Brocksherns thus place a premium on self-sufficiency and individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and tallying their accomplishments to compare to others. Brocksherns love to win, but they see defeat as a prod to improve their skills.

This dedication to competition has a dark side. Brocksherns are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a Brockshern slays a great beast, he or she might seek out a larger, more powerful Monster to battle. Few Brockshern adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments.

## Fair Play

For Brocksherns, competition exists only when it is supported by a level playing field. Competition measures talent, dedication, and effort. Those factors determine survival in their home territory, not reliance on magic, money, or other elements that can tip the balance one way or the other. Brocksherns happily rely on such benefits, but they are careful to remember that such an advantage can always be lost. A Brockshern who relies too much on them can grow complacent, a recipe for disaster.

   This trait manifests most strongly when Brocksherns interact with other folk. The relationship between peasants and nobles puzzles Brocksherns. If a king lacks the intelligence or leadership to lead, then clearly the most talented person in the kingdom should take his place. Brocksherns rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and mock folk who rely on society’s structures or rules to maintain power.

## Survival Of The Fittest

Among Brocksherns, any adult who can’t contribute to the tribe is expelled. A lone Brockshern has little chance of survival, especially an older or weaker one. Brocksherns have little pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the Brockshern concept of fair play.

A permanently injured Brockshern is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a Brockshern dies attempting to keep up, or the Brockshern slips away in the night to seek the cold will of fate.

In some ways, the Brockshern drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A Brockshern would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the slow decay of old age. Few folk have ever meet an elderly Brockshern, and even those Brocksherns who have left their people grapple with the urge to give up their lives as their physical skills decay.

Because of their risk-taking, Brockshern tribes suffer from a chronic lack of the experience offered by long- term leaders. They hope for innate wisdom in their leadership, for they can rarely count wisdom grown with age.