Draul

The **Draul** are an intelligent race of bipedal, rock-like creatures native to Thryndaheimr. They are the accidental creations and patron race of the storm goddess Faethir, and roam across the world causing a ruckus where they go in her name. Though often antagonistic and disruptive towards the other races, they are also renowned revelers and protectors of justice, known to plunder villages, bring merriment, and trounce tyrants in equal amounts.

## History

The Draul at no point formed their own written language, and never took on habits of recording their own history. They did have ongoing oral traditions, passing along songs and poetry of the heroic accomplishments of their own and the triumphs of past Draul heroes.

### Creation

The Draul attribute their creation to the actions of Faethir the storm goddess, though the circumstances differ from those of the other patron races: they claim to be an accidental creation of the goddess, emerging from the rubble of a mountain Faethir knocked over in a thundering storm. In awe of the might of the storm goddess fuming above them in the sky, the first Draul then sought to emulate her bellowing, mighty appearance.

## Appearance

Draul are a bipedal race, with long bulky arms, broad shoulders, and short, stocky legs. Their torsos are thick and well-muscled, sparse in body hair but unevenly covered in protective plates of scab-like material. Their heads bear hair that ranges from thick and wiry to thin and fine, with generally scraggly facial hair. Their skin is thick and durable, possessing a clay-like consistency that makes it resistant to a great deal of damage, and comes in various shades of earthy colors from slate grays to clay reds.They have fat, broad noses, relatively small eyes shaded by thick brows, and round flat ears.

Fully grown Draul are are typically two heads higher than an average Vaelja, though growing up to near double that height. They weigh a substantial amount more than most races based on the clay-like material their flesh is made from, though they are rivaled by the Dwargi and, naturally, surpassed by the Jodunn.

## Culture

### Social Organization

#### Mobs

The Draul do not often organize themselves into individual settlements, preferring to roam in nomadic bands called Mobs. Mobs of Draul amble about Thryndaheimr seeking out food to eat, challenges to undertake, foes to scuffle with, or kegs to empty, and are considered antagonistic by many other of Thryndaheimr's cultures. There are others that take the arrival of a Draul mob as a time for revelry and merrymaking, usually those with the ale and food to spare for such an occasion.

Mobs are as a rule unruly, with no clear hierarchy or organization other than the respected and often obeyed word of their chief. The chief is determined by the quality of their might, guts, rowdiness, and 'Faethness'; should they demonstrate all of these qualities as the greatest among a mob, they will be followed as the chief and lead the mob in all their stunts and trouble-making. The chief's word is respected, as their chiefly qualities supposes them as a model to follow and emulate, but mob members are still inherently rowdy and will act on their own whims as they see fit. Justice tends to be doled out to criminal or cruel Draul by group-beatings, usually the offended parties, but an especially rebellious and cantankerous Draul that is too tough to be dealt with by other mob-members will be punished by the chief, which usually takes the form of a savage clobbering and potential exile from the mob.

A chief deemed unworthy by the rest of the mob, for either cruelty, softness, or flimsiness, may be deposed and formally recognized as no longer chief, and may be exiled by group-rule if they were particularly unjust in their leadership. Though oftentimes a more popular and chief-worthy individual may arise to depose the lacking chief, some mobs may temporarily exist without a guiding ruler, and these can lead to inter-faction violence or the outright dismantling or splintering of the mob.

Notable Draul mobs include:

* Thunderchasers
* Earthshakers
* Brawlseekers
* Roughriders
* Kegbreakers
* Lootgrabbers
* Cavethumpers
* Songseekers
* Tidemasters
* Stonerollers

There also exist the Rabblerouser Mobs, which consist of various minor and short-lived mobs. Either lacking strong goals or proper leadership, Rabblerousers are typically destructive and unpredictable, their unfocused goals leading them to demolish things without any sense of direction. Rabblerouser mobs tend to attract the young and restless with promises of action as soon as possible, pushed forward solely by their initial momentum. Typically however, these juvenile mobs disband at the first sign of resistance or boredom and rarely have staying power beyond their first few initial stunts. At worst they may pick on easy targets that fail to gain them any notoriety or they attempt something impossibly difficult before the task proves unmanageable and the mob-goers go their separate ways.

#### Stomping Grounds

When mobs need time to settle down and collect themselves, they do so at the revered stomping grounds. These sanctuaries are places once touched by Faethir herself, often in a violent and devastating manner, and Draul gather to them like pilgrimage sites. All manner of disparate and bickering mobs are able to coexist with one another while standing on stomping grounds, where they may gather the strength necessary for their journey for the storm goddess' favor. Here, the hag-covens gather and tend to visitors, bartering many services and remedies to passersby. Often this is a time to sing, brag, sleep, drink, and rut before the gathered Draul return to their mobs freshened for their great pursuit; though stomping grounds often bear the marks of their endurance from Faethir's own hands, visiting mobs are mindful to leave them as close to tidy as they found it. Stomping grounds are considered places of great accomplishment and celebration, and though mobs seek out adventures out in the vast wilderness, these old sites tend to to attract mighty deeds commonly enough that most wandering Draul make a note to visit them, so that they don't miss out on anything especially interesting.

Notable stomping grounds include:

* Draulpeak, an ancient plateau said to be the pummeled roots of the mountain Faethir unleashed the Draul from, and one of the oldest tracts of stomping ground on Faethurnn.
* Skullseat, the fossilized remains of a mysterious giant beast supposedly felled by Faethir, its skull hollowed out into a great drinking hall.
* Loot-Heap, the infamous gathering place of the Lootgrabber Mob, where their vast bounties of pillage are stowed and sat upon greedily.
* Jagged Crag, a rocky basin riddled with scar-like craters and ravines that is thought to be the site of a great clash between Faethir and her nemesis, the beast-goddess Skoldr.
* The Footstep, a small valley that bears a remarkable resemblance to a footprint, naturally assumed by the Draul to be Faethir's, perhaps after starting a sprint or a great leap into the sky.

#### Hags and Covens

The activities pursued by most mobs are very physically demanding, and not all Draul have what it may take to succeed among their ranks. The debilitated, lame, elderly and otherwise infirm are known to take up life as hags, caretakers and attendants to the stomping grounds and other places sacred to the Draul. Hags operate in covens, where they teach how to mend wounds, ease pains, and cast rudimentary spells to those willing to learn. Covens take care of mobs and traveling Draul in exchange for goods and the occasional manual labor, providing them relief from their many exertions. In territory of crueler mobs, hags may not hold power through their covens the same way, instead made to be subservient under threat of violence. For that reason, covens are insistent on their importance to providing for other Draul, thus earning their keep.

### Language

The transient mobs of Draul speak various dialects of their shared language, Draulish. Draulish is grammatically fluid, and prone to adopting the linguistic structure and vocabulary of the other races they interact with. Draulish is at its most pure within the hovels of a stomping ground, where non-Draul rarely tread.

It is not said that Faethir speaks Draulish, but Draul linguists, such as those of the Songseeker Mob, cite many Draulish words being inspired by Faethir's battle cries and yawps.

### Value Systems

#### Faethness

Drauls culturally claim heritage from the mighty feats of their goddess, Faethir, and as a whole seek to emulate her qualities within themselves. They are led by those considered most like the goddess, the Chiefs, and the measure of this resemblance is known as Faethness. The attributes of Faethness can vary from mob to mob, who share their own individual stories of Faethir's adventures across the world, but the recurring qualities tend to be strength of body, stubbornness of mind, and depth of courage. One who is forthright in their goals, has the strength to realize those goals, and the bravery to keep at it in the face of adversity is undoubtedly rich in their Faethness, and worth following around and taking inspiration from within any mob. Different mobs may have further additions to their own measures of Faethness, such as the size of one's feet, one's singing voice, one's ability to hold down drink, or even the power of one's odor, and fitting in with a mob may depend on these accessory qualities as well as general rowdiness and strength.

#### Individual Might

The Draul understand the world as inhabited by individuals, who all bear their own forms and amounts of strength. The world is then affected by these individuals who utilize their strength to varying effectiveness to change things, though to what end or degree is up to them. The only means to challenge or alter an individual's influence on the world is to effectively temper and wield one's own might; and so the world becomes an arena of competing aspirants, all ultimately in conflict with one another. Thus the Draul see it a personal responsibility to hone oneself, encourage the growth of peers, and rally against the might of others. Those with the means to alter the world are justified to do so, as Faethir affects the world of her own accord, though rarely out of wickedness. This is an understood truth, that the universe is not naturally just and rewarding of Faethness, but that it must be maintained and sought out by the mighty and defended against wickedness and dishonor.

#### The Legends of Faethir

The many Draul testaments of Faethir's marks on the world serve as rallying points for their mobs, who will attempt to recreate or pursue their own versions of these holy legends.

## In the Outer Cosmos Role-playing System

**Draul** are a character race available to players in the Outer Cosmos Role-playing System, first introduced in the Young Gods supplement book.