Hidden Face - The Alghul, The Hunger Made Flesh

The Writer

It is no mistery that once, on the days when the sun wasn't feared and Elppa wasn't a place of torment, the woods of Threa were tended and cared by the eldalie, as it is the case of uncountable worlds across the night sky. However, when the world was scarred by The Abyss and nights grew longer, the restless dead came out of their unlighted domains, and the cursed lords feasted upon all life they could grasp upon the earth. The eldalie prayed to a sun they could no longer see for salvation, but most could only find solace in death as the forests of the world withered and life starved. As Threa began it's descent into the agony of death, the beasts of the field desperatelly scoured the earth in search of root or dried leaf to stave off their despair but found none on a land that grew palid with the touch of unlife, and soon the gentle became ruthless, and the tame grew wild as, desperate, nature turned to itself, and not even the green in the world was spared of such maddness.

Abandoned by a sun that would not rise upon the sky and stars that would no longer grant hope upon the nights, cast away from their withering homes now turned feral under the command of the hate crones, the eldalie fled, accepting death as their fate, entombing themselves in the dark depths of the earth along with their sorrow and the bitter taste of betrayal on the mouths. Many accepted death and embraced it, seeking to scape the maddness of the world, but some, some lingered, and their despair turned them as wild as the beasts of the world above. It was in the midst of this red insanity that The King Of The White Kingdom made himself present, stirred by the spilled blood of innocents and the consumed flesh of kinfolk. To these grim survivors, the King granted a sole gift if they were to praise him for all eternity as their sole and only god. And so he was praised, and the survivors were granted the means to turn their newfound hunger into the demise of both those who ruined their lands and who turned their backs when their need was most dire.

Since that day, the eldalie were extinguished, for even when there were many who still drew breath among them, something died forever on them as they embraced The King Of The White Kingdom as their lord and their thoughts turned only to him and to the hunger of Threa, for they could now feel it and partake on it's desire to feast. Forgotten was the bread and the wine, for the tongue grew accostumed to the taste of unspilled blood and the teeth grew to bite on flesh, and the jaws to break bones. No longer were the eyes welcoming the treacherous sun, and pleasing found them the darkness amid coffin and tomb. Threa was enters it's autumn, and as it's green expanses craved gardeners in the past, it's rotten husk now demanded hungry maggots to feast upon the carrion that walked upon it, as she was to be groomed for it's final rest. Everything that is born walks it's path towards death, and he who feasts today is to become the feast tomorrow, and none shall be allowed to break this commandment. In life or death, it is the law of nature, and the alghul, children of hunger, embody the new order of the world, for nothing is eternal and as now the dead feast upon the living, so the living ought to draw nourishment from the dead.

Physical Description

Still distantly related to the elves, the alghul retain an ever so twisted hint of their ancestral beauty in their pointed ears, lithe frames, big eyes, and fair facial features. But that's where the similarities end, for their limbs are as muscled as the ones of a feral predator, and their vertebrae protude from the back of their spine as if their bones were trying to tear open their pale skin, which ranges on shades of light green and grey. In the same way, their hands are broad but bony and elongated, with the fingertips fused to the nails with no discernible distinction, dimly reminiscent of the claws of a mole. Yet, perhaps, the most disturbing feature of an alghul lies on it's fixed manic grin, for it's broad and sharpened teeth, in the likeness of the one belonging to the predators of the sea, are designed to tear the most stout flesh and break the hardest bone, thus making ever so hard for an alghul to keep it's lips closed.

Many mistake the alghul with the ever hungry ghouls, and with good reason, for the similarities in behavior and diet are concerning. However, as ghastly as their visage may be with their feral complexions and their light hair colors, which seem the discolored manes of elder people in the doorstep of death, the alghul are pretty much alive in dire contrast with their undead contesters. Nevertheless, the similarities are not casual, and the physiology of the alghul owes it's peculiar resemblance to undeath to it's relliance on negative energy rather than positive. Some go as far as to say that the constant hunger the alghul share with their undead counterparts is a side effect of the share of negative energy that fuels their resilient forms: an everlasting taste of the entropy they now embody on Threa.

Twisted into the natural predators of those who claim themselves the rulers of the world above, the alghul no longer feel any longing for the food of men or the boons of living nature, thought they can still draw desperate sustenance from such meals if the need is dire, thought they would require five times the same amount to satiate their hunger, since what they crave is the rotten taste of undead flesh and bone, so ripe in the negative energy that now fuels their forms and, while they can derive similar sustenance from the recently slain, it is from those tainted by the curse of undeath that the alghul derive true satisfaction. The older and more rotten, the most appealing.

Society

While descended from elves, who are almost universally known for their complex traditions and refinement, the alghul retain very few hints of that past glory on their present form as a culture. Nevertheless, old habits are hard to bury for when, in ages past, their ancestors embodied the advent of life and surrounded themselves in the green of the world, the alghul have embraced their place as the heralds of death and now strive to make their abodes below the earth to praise the inescapable autumn of life in every possible expression. As such, the hunger folk have taken residence in the vast catacombs that hide under The Grey Wastes, in proximity to the cities of the cursed lords. There, the alghul have built grand cities of marble, in the shape and image of the resting places of the great lords from old, showing they do remember the higher days of their kin. Nevertheless, where the fresh green of gardens and the color of sun worshipping flowers would have been, fields of dusty orange mold and orchards of somber dark brown caps, as big as trees, take their place. The alghul find the foul smell of decay and rottenness these creatures yield as alluring as common folk would upon stumbling with the scent of a working bakery or a barrel of ripe fruit.

Despite the distant echo of glory and civility the alghul may display on their abodes, it is the hunger that which ultimately drives and motivates their actions. Stalking the outskirts of the cities of the damned in organized raids, it is the primal thrill of the hunt and unrestrained gorging what the alghul truely crave, for is in this primitive savagery that it's true nature shines. They live and thrive for the hunger, so all other things are secondary, and if short of choices, an alghul isn't above consuming their own kin if the necesity grows dire, for the hunger folk consider their own flesh a rather bland yet palatable morsel which gains a far sweeter and seasoned taste upon death. Pragmatists to the bone, an alghul is loathe to waste anything, and the death of a kinsfolk is celebrated with a feast in which the fallen is the main meal. Nothing can be more insulting to an alghul than denying it the right to feast upon the remains of a beloved comrade, for the very act is considered both a display of good manners and respect for the fallen fellow. In fact, the worst insult an alghul can fathom for a fallen foe is to relinquish the opportunity to taste it's corpse, an act that is direly frown upon on the hunger folk culture and that may even result in exiling.

Relations

Oftenly mistaken with the ghouls and ghasts, the alghul share the same rejection the gavra, with their tortuous shapes, experience from the living folk. However, where the gavra may find themselves merely repelled or denied any civility, the alghul tend to be feared as savage predators and some societies who suspect that an alghul is roaming the local graveyard organize hunting mobs in order to get rid of the hunger folk. On the other hand, and in absolute reverse fashion, more open minded societies find fast allies in the alghul, as the hunger folk are eager to trade whatever they can if they can ensure an steady supply of fresh carrion. In fact, some communities see the alghul as protectors of the living since, by eating the dead, they ensure no unliving monstruosities ever come to be.

Contrary to what many may think, the alghul hold no ill will towards the gavra, only a sizeable amount of curiosity. The gavra are not dead, but smell like preserved dead, which makes for an exotic and alluring aroma to the carrion scent ability of the alghul who, by consequence, find the gavra as sitting over a blurried line in between appealing meal and exotic romantic companion. It is the vampires and their half-human offspring, the dhampir, whom the ought to fear the most of the alghul, for they see the undying lords as the ultimate prey and the tribal hunger folk have waged skirmish war upon them since their inception, claiming The Grey Wastes as their own. Content with this state of things, the alghul rarely, if ever, venture to the seas, so they have no dealings with the singing haunts.

Alignment & Religion

As being the result of a divine intervention according their origin myths, the alghul worship The King Of The White Kingdom, an enigmatic being said to come from the depths of The Abyss itself. Religion is central to an alghul existance as it explains and gives purpose to the hunger that constantly plagues the mind and senses of the hungry folk.

Alghul aren't evil per sé, but chaos is strong among them, and so most of them tend to be chaotic neutral, thought many grow more wicked as the hunger gets a stronger hold upon them, sometimes even driving their brittle psiche to rupture into hopeless insanity, to which they are, perhaps, slightly more prone than most other sentient creatures. Because of this, very few alghul take to pursue the path of power true arkane lore, instead leaning towards unholy piety when seeking to rise above their peers. Nevertheless, it's debatible if this keeps them from loosing their sanity any less than if choosing other ways to commune with the unknown.

Adventurers

While the life of an alghul could be summarized mostly as a briefly interrupted thrill of blood splattering and frenzied disembowelling, some aren't satisfied entirely with this. Perhaps an sliver of what they once were crepts back, now and then, prompting the alghul to seek something else than the war against the unliving, something that cannot be found in the entombed depths of their cities. Sometimes, a particular alghul is way too chaotic and feels constrained in the hierarchy of the tribes, or perhaps, tired of the same tastes, sets it's aim to even greater prey and glory than what can be afound in the meager outskirts of the cities of the damned. One way or the other, the alghul were the gardeners of the world in a distant past, and some of them still retain the love for wanderlust that used to be a trademark for many of their kin in the past.

Standard Racial Traits

* Ability Score Racial Traits: As natural predators of the unliving, alghul posses quick reflexes and acute senses, but their feral countenance makes most folk wary of them. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom and -2 Charisma.
* Size: Alghul are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Type: Alghul are humanoids with the elf and half-undead subtypes.
* Base Speed: Alghul have a base speed of 30 feet.
* Languages: Alghul begin play speaking Common and Necril. Alghul with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).

Defensive Racial Traits

* Elven Immunities: Being related to elves, the alghul retain some of their trademark immunities to certain spells and effects. As such, alghul are immune to sleep effects and gain a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against spells of the enchantment school and a +4 against all kind of mind-affecting effects, as the huner that festers inside the hunger folk is a force hard to silence or deceive. Nevertheless, in contrast with their ancestors, the alghul do sleep and do not enter in a meditative trance upon resting.
* Blightchild: Having twisted their physiology to draw nourishment from rotten flesh and decomposing matter, the alghul have developed notable natural defenses against many kinds of maladies that would make short work of any normal living being forced to lead a dietary path like theirs. The alghul receive a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, and a +2 racial bonus against ingested poisons and effects that would make them to be nauseated or sickened.
* Negative Resistance: Since the alghul are based on negative energy, they suffer no penalies from energy-draining effects, though they can still be killed if they accrue more negative levels than they have hit dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels they've gained are removed without any additional saving throws.

Feat & Skill Racial Traits

* Stalker: The hunt comes naturally to the alghul. As such, Perception and Stealth are always considered class skills for them.

Offense Racial Traits

* Bite Fighter: While alghuls are civilized enough to use crafted weapondry, the first weapon they ever learn to use is their own jaws. Because of this, alghul gain a primary natural bite attack that deals 1d4 + 1-1/2 the alghul's strenght bonus on damage rolls. In addition, an alghul can deliver a paralytic venom through it's bites on it's foes. The fortitude save DC is 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Constitution modifier; the frequency is 1/round for 6 rounds; and the effect 1d2 Dexterity damage; with only 1 save required to cure it. The alghul can use this poison a number of times per day equal to it's Constitution modifier (minimum 1/day), does not provokes attacks of opportunity and is always considered armed.

Senses Racial Traits

* Carrion Sense: Since their primary diet consists of carrion, the alghul can use a modified version of the Scent ability, but only for corpses and badly wounded creatures (creatures with 25% or fewer hit points).
* Darkvision: Underground dwellers, the alghul have developed darkvision up to 60ft. 

Weakness Racial Traits

* Light Sensitivity: As their eyes have adapted to the darkness of the deep, alghuls are considerably sensible to bright light. As such, they are dazzled as long as they remain in an area of bright light.
* Unnerving Presence: Possesing the distorted visage of a feral elven creature, and consantly radiating an smell of fresh carrion, the alghul are almost universally reviled and feared, for way too often they are mistaken with the dreaded ghouls and ghasts. More importantly, alghul physiology is fueled mainly by negative energy and, as such, even common beasts react harshly towards this sensation of antinaturality on them. As such, alghuls suffer a -4 penalty on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Handle Animal skill checks, but gain a +2 bonus on Intimidate skill checks. Additionally, all NPCs and animals start with an attitude one step worse than normal when dealing with the alghul.
* Negative Energy Basis: While alive and biological entities in all respects no different from most living beings, alghuls animating force stems now from negative energy and, thus, share with the unliving the quality of being harmed by positive energy effects. Worst even, spells and effects that would raise the dead (such as the spell Raise Dead) can potentially destroy the alghul by the sudden and massive influx of negative energy on them. Whenever such happens, the alghul must make a Will saving throw against the spell or effect DCs or be destroyed beyond hope.

Other Racial Traits

* Carrion Eater: The signature trait of the alghul amid the creatures of the darkness is, without doubt, it's diet. In order to survive, an alghul must consume, at least, 1 pound of carrion every day. If carrion is not readily accesible, an alghul can begrudgingly derive nourishment from eating food more suitable for the living, thought he will consume it with great disspleasure and will require 5 times the normal amount a humanoid would requite for survival. Then again, this merely staves off the malfunction of the body as an alghul rapid digestion and negatively bolstered methabolism is cappable of astounding feats of efficiency, allowing it to consume an almost indefinite amount of matter and regenerate damage from it. An alghul that is able to consume the entire body of a medium dead creature (or aproximately 120 pounds of carrion) in one sitting needs only to wait 1 hour to regain an amount of hit points equivalent to 25% of it's current maximum hit point total. An alghul, however, cannot gain more hit points than it's current maximum total in this fashion. Despite this, alghuls are known to indulge in gorging themselves to the brimm for the mere sake of sating their ever present hungers, and the primal pleasure they derive from the sensation of splattering blood, breaking bone, and tearing apart viscerae and flesh alike.

- The Writer.