Nosk Gharkin
Avg. Height: 6'10"
Avg. Weight: 260 lb
Avg. Lifespan: 320
Physical Characteristics:
Eyes: | Pupils glow red in daylight, reflect no light at night. | Spines: | Dark brown hues, earthen or walnut brown. | Skin: | Dark green to earthen brown. | Tusks: | Small, curving inward. | Body Type: | Tend to be smaller and thinner than other gharkin. | Clothing: | Loin clothes and grass skirts. |
Region: Vash
Languages: Common, Gharish
Stat Adjustments:
Strength: | 14 |
Reflexes: | -2 |
Endurance: | 13 |
Dexterity: | -2 |
Reasoning: | 0 |
Wisdom: | 4 |
Will: | 4 |
Intelligence: | 1 |
Special: Racial martial arts.
Bonus to Stealth, Foraging and Outdoorsman learn rates.
Penalty to Armor learn rate.
The mysterious Nosk live deep within the rain forests, keeping to themselves and preferring it that way. Their tusks are generally small, curving inward to keep them from getting caught on snags as they charge through deep and heavy foliage. The Nosk are also smaller and thinner than their cousins, ideal for climbing trees and running through tight spaces. Their skin is usually a darker green or earthen brown, giving them natural camouflage in their surroundings. Eye color is something of an enigma to the rest of the Gharkin, because Nosk pupils glow red in daylight, and reflect absolutely no light under the color of night and thus makes differentiation of eye color impossible by any other means than moonlight. Their spines match the dark brown hues of the various tree trunks in their forests: usually a very dark earthen or walnut brown. The Nosk are very untrusting of strangers who wander into their lands, preferring to attack first and ask questions later. Some tribes are also cannibalistic, eating the flesh of their enemies to gain their power. Because of their remote homes and hunting grounds, few Nosk leave and travel the world. Those that do quickly realize how big the world really is and have a hard time assimilating.
Nosk attire is very scant. Little more than loin cloths and skirts of grass are worn. What these Gharkin lack in clothing, they make up for in tattoos, piercings, and accouterments. Tattoos on the chest, back and jowls vary from symbols of the sun and moon, to ferocious depictions of the many animals that live around them. Tattoos across the forehead and palms show rank and social status amongst the tribe. The Nosk also pierce their lips, noses, and ears with pieces of wood, bone, or chitin. Sometimes these piercings complete a tattoo, sometimes they are connected to one another with braided strands of sinew. These Gharkin are also famous for the ritualistic carving of their tusks. It is a rite of passage one must achieve to become an adult. It is painful and requires a trustworthy witness, often the tribes elder or spirit man (shaman). When the rite of passage is completed, the tribe stops the day's activities and celebrates with dancing and a large feast brought forth from the bounty of the forest. The ceremony ends with the burning of all the initiate's belongings, symbolizing the shedding of childish ways.
Unlike other Gharkin species, the Nosk are not particularly fond of raiding or warring with nearby peoples. The rainforest provides a plentiful bounty supplying all their needs and so they have no need of taking things from others. The forest also hides more than enough dangers and powerful entities within it to even allow the Nosk to think about fighting people outside their land. But don't let that fool you. The Nosk are known to be very stealthy and deadly combatants; their constant struggle with nature has made them a force to be reckoned with. If forced to war, they have no qualms with it.