Piggut

Artist's rendition

### Home

The Palace of Dreams, the Charnel Steppes, the Eye of Desolation, central Kalgrun

### Might Cost

4 MP

Pigguts are a species of crudely sapient humanoid creatures originating from the oniric landscapes within K'nell's Palace of Dreams. During the Age of Lords, a group was brought into Galbar by Vrog, and disseminated over various lands to scourge the local populations.

## Physiognomy

Pigguts are diminutive, stocky humanoid bipeds, averaging at about two feet in height at adulthood. Their lifespans are brief, rarely exceeding twenty years, with maturity arriving around two. Their bodies are corpulent if well-fed and sagging if not, but remain broad and hunched forward regardless of their state. By contrast, their limbs are short and stubby, legs bent backwards and tipped with cloven hooves while the arms end in hands with three thick fingers. They are covered in coarse pink skin similar to that of hairless swine, with sparse bristles and warts.

The creatures' heads, as suggested by their name, strongly resemble those of pigs, elongated, with flat snouts and rigid leathery ears. The most obvious differences are the teeth, sharper and more pointed than those of swine, and the eyes, which, though dim and bestial, nevertheless betray a rudimentary intelligence.

Pigguts are strictly carnivorous, gaining little to no nutrition from vegetal matter, though the resilience of their digestive tracts when consuming meat is nothing short of prodigious. No matter how unclean, raw, spoiled or contaminated their meals might be, they feast on them eagerly, unaffected by any but the most virulent of infections. This is especially beneficial as cannibalism is a common practice among them. Due to their diet and active lifestyle, piggut meat is lean, hard and insipid, poor in both nutrients and taste.

When a piggut establishes dominance over its pack, its hormonal balance becomes altered, leading to remarkable bursts of growth irrespective of gender. Known as warlords, these individuals can reach up to three or four times their original size, and multiply their mass many times over. One or more pairs of their lower teeth sprout into protruding tusks.

Despite having no visible sexual dimorphism, pigguts are as prolific as they are voracious. Like swine, they give birth to multiple young in a litter. That number usually amounts to three or four, though in large specimen it may reach six or even ten.

## Psychology

While intelligent to a degree and not lacking in low cunning, pigguts are coarse and primitive in their mentality and demeanour. Aggressive and violent by nature, they spend the better part of their time preying on other beings and fighting each other over spoils and authority. Their languages, while developed enough to allow for structured communication, are expressively limited, being used almost exclusively to coordinate hunts or attacks and deliver taunts and insults. Attempts to communicate and reason with them are doomed to end in failure.

Pigguts live in small, clan-like communities of up to a few dozen. Leadership is determined through lethal struggles, and the warlords that emerge maintain their rule with frequent pummelings, violently inciting their subordinates and engaging challengers in combat. With no codes and laws or any drive to form more complex factions, these conflicts often degenerate into disorderly brawls, which typically last until the survivors are too tired to continue. Family units are nonexistent, as mating is an irregular and animalistically brutish activity with no intervening affection; it is not uncommon for children and parents to find themselves on opposite sides in fights.

What does succeed to unite piggut groups better than any other common cause is the presence of other sapient beings, whether hostile or not. In the former case, considerations of survival will surpass their rambuctiousness enough to present a gathered front against opposition; in the latter, victimising others provides a more attractive opportunity. Pigguts are especially fond of abducting the children of other mortals to devour them. Stealing weapons, clothes and other useful items is another favourite activity, as they dislike working to produce their own.

## References

1. ↑ Hermes and Xiaoli encounter pigguts in the dreamscapes of the Palace - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4874342
2. ↑ Vrog conjures the pigguts into Galbar - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4958670
3. ↑ Pigguts are brought to the Eye of Desolation - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4970221
4. ↑ Pigguts are brought to Kalgrun - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5059203