Briaurs (Action)

Alternate Names: Deer, Deer-Centaurs, Hybsil

Attributes and Schticks

Body: 3-8
Mind: 6-11
Reflexes: 7-12
Move: 8

Starsight

Stance

You can see outdoors at night as well as a human does during the day in the same kind of weather but you do not see color in the dark. You see no better indoors.

Sure Footed

Inherent

The sure-footed are not troubled by uneven ground, cliffs, rock or steep slopes. Maneuver checks to move in terrain are routine.

Twin Body

Inherent

You have developed an independent ability to act between your upper and lower body, which allows you to move your Move meters before or after each Basic Action you take. This allows you to move-move-act, act-move-move, or move-act-move. You cannot use Twin Body if the basic Action is one that in itself allows additional movement or when attacking with a Static weapon.

Description

Briaurs are the ultimate fusion of mount and nomadic tribesman - tough, slim, fast and stealthy nighttime raiders who slip into enemies' camps and then depart like shadows before the dawn.

Appearance

Briaurs are fey with the bodies of deer and a small elfin torso where the deer's head would be.

Their humanoid part is pink or tan, usually a brighter shade of the ruddy or brown fur on their deer lower bodies. Eyes and head hair is either the same as their fur color or of a sharply contrasting color, such as black, purple, green, or white. They have large pointed ears, sometimes furred like a deer's. A few males have vestigial horns and small goatees. Females have a humanoid bust and no ewes.

Briaurs decorate themselves with body paint and fetishes made out of pieces of wood and bone; they are very fond of ribbons, scarves, pendants, and other things that accentuate their speed when they run. Both men and women wear a sash around the torso for keeping small objects in; males tend to wear this over one shoulder while females wear it as a bustier. Briaurs do not like to wear anything on their deer parts, as such things hinder movement.

Role

Briaurs are cautious creatures always ready to take flight at a moments notice. Normally timid and reclusive, a few are hit by wanderlust and explore the world. Cautions by instinct rather than reason, a briaur rarely worries about the future and never about the past; they forget insults and injuries with what might seem like callous disregard.

Briaurs are most active by night. Their excellent night vision puts them at an advantage relative to others.

Briaurs normally subsists by gathering. Briaurs are mainly vegetarian, living off seeds, young leaves, sprouts, berries, fungi, and nuts. They can digest more types of vegetables than a human can and rarely cook their food, but they cannot live off grass or leaves. Many briaurs have taken to gardening. They can eat meat when they need extra energy for exertions like war or travel, but prefer not to; it is said that eating meat makes you dangerously foolhardy. An adventuring briaur will likely be a meat eater due to constant exertion.

Politics

Briaurs live in plains and deserts and are constantly seeking new hunting grounds, new water holes, and new sources of resources for bows and fletching. When traveling they carry their goods in packs or drag them along in litters. They treat other desert tribes with respect and are willing to make peace or raid them as circumstances demand. The territory of a tribe of briaurs generally extends across hundreds of miles, and they are glad to steal cattle, camels, or goats they come across, as they consider domestication of animals a crime. Oddly, they see no contradiction in the fact that they usually immediately butcher and eat the animals they "free" from their owners.

Each tribe has a priestess who functions as a water finder and reader of oracles. The priestess rules in all matters of justice among tribe members and in all matters of diplomacy with other desert dwellers. Raiding and hunting parties of briaurs are led by experienced trackers. These leaders make the final decisions as to where the tribe roams and where it raids.

Integration

Briaurs avoid and fear the genies. They rarely enter towns except to trade for goods they cannot produce themselves. A few exceptional individuals leave the tribes for a time, often returning as heroes and bringers of new ideas. Some briaurs work caravans, usually employed as expert scouts. A few briaurs are said to have settled down and irrigated the lands around oases to create rich desert gardens. Although caravan masters and travelers all know this to be true, no one can say where these oases are. The farming briaurs either swore their discoverers to silence or subject the non-compliant to some worse fate.

Family

All briaurs are polygamous; both males and females may have up to four mates. Briaurs sometimes live in pairs, sometimes in herds. A herd always has a male as the official leader, but his job is often just a front; important decisions are made in unison. Lower status males generally live on the outskirts of the herd, acting as scouts and watchmen.

Briaurs have short lifespans, becoming adults at around age six and considered old at 40. Exceptional individuals might reach sixty years of age, often living as recluses or hermits as briaur herds have little tolerance for infirmity.

Names

Briaurs are named at puberty and names often reflect physical characteristics or traits or some notable deed or event.

Male Names: Darkbrows, Firstrun, Flamestride, Oak, Skipper, Stonehoof, Strongstride, Survivor.

Female Names: Brook, Flamehair, Soothing, Truespell, Whiterump, Whitesocks, Wisdom.

Notes

Deer Furries are unusual for being quadrupeds (actually, hexapods walking on four of their six limbs), but since they are so small, they still only take up about as much space as a human.