Borhoki

*The Borhoki people are a proud and stout folk, but their story is a tragic one to say the least. It begins thousands of years ago, with the foul creations of Mikoraza, the Mistress of Horrors. When she planted her seed of vile magic in the dark swamps of Hagzissa, the mythical Tree of Horrors sprouted shortly after. Five fruits it bore, sweet and juicy, but filled with the arcane foulness of Mikoraza. The first was eaten by a great lizard, which climbed the tree to feast. Thus, Dragashu, the Father of Dragons, was born. Then, a hairy spider climbed the branches to feed on the second fruit, which birthed Unalaki, the Broodmother, Mother of Abominations. The third to feast on fruit from the Tree was a hungry warrior, which birthed Yddras, the Father of Giants. A curious witch had heard of a strange Tree at the heart of the bog, she picked the fourth fruit and brewed a mighty potion, which she proceeded to drink. Asha-Hamut, the Mother of Abberations was born. But the fifth fruit was not picked. It fell to the ground, and when the flesh of the fruit was rotten and riddled with mold, a great boar came to feast upon the remains of the cursed fruit. Borhos, the Father of Beasts, was created.*

*The Great Boar, whose flesh rotted, with mold and spores instead of fur, grew larger by the day. It devoured plant and animal, trampled hut and tree. The animals of those lands were infected, their flesh turned to poison, their offspring monstrous. The clansmen living in the hills south of the swamp gathered to slay the beast, to stop the destruction it caused to their land. A great battle was fought, and many lives were lost. The beast was the size of a great house, but with sword and spear and fire the battle seemed won. On the hilly banks of the river the boar was slashed and thrown into the water. But the Beast survived.*

*Its blood mingled with the water of the river now known as the Blutstroom. All the people living beside that stream drank from the cursed water, not knowing that they drank the blood of the Father of Beasts, the vile blood of Mikoraza herself even. And so, sickness and death soon followed. Those who survived the plague would be the last of their kind. Their children were born with the tusks of that great boar that had infected them, and they were monstrous to say the least. Strong warriors, but with a dark heart more often than not. The mothers and fathers called them Borhoki, Cursed by the Boar. Many of those first babes were abandoned, laid to rest in the river, to follow the stream that cursed them. To die.*

*The Great Boar had survived the battle, and when the wounded beast awoke on the riverbed, it was hungrier and angrier than ever before. The Father of Beasts grew ever larger, until all of Sestiun knew his name, and feared it. Some of the small Borhoki, the strongest, managed to survive long enough on the river to be found by kinder folk downstream. Those who did, grew to be tremendous warriors with only a single goal: to slay the Monstrosity that had cursed them, and save the lands from his wrath.*

*In mere decades, the Father of Beasts had grown to truly monstrous proportions. It is said the Monstrosity rivaled even Yddras, Father of Giants, in size. Its tusks could uproot mountains, its hooves trampled entire towns. One Borhoki man, of the name of Uryk, would unite the greatest warriors, and be responsible for the Boar's death. The tale of the Slaying of the Beast shall be described another time, but triumph was indeed achieved. On the shores of the sea, where Blutstroom meets the bay, the skull of Borhos still lies. There, Uryk founded Urkhorn, within that gigantic mess of sand and bone and tusk, a place where all Borhoki, and all others without home, were welcome.*