Trulkor (4e Race)

Trulkor

“

The parasitic light of life shines brightly, feeding on the world...

”

By Nathan Shumate

Racial Traits

Average Height: 5'2" - 6'4"

Average Weight: 144 - 220 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: Darkvision

Languages: Common and Deep Speech

Skill Bonuses: +2 Intimidation, +2 Endurance

Aberrant Mind: You have resist 5 psychic. The resistance increases to 10 at 11th level and 15 at 21st level.

Inured Senses: You have a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against effects that daze, dominate or stun.

Otherworld Origin: You are native to the Far Plane. So you are considered an aberrant creature for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin.

Gelatinous Ooze: You can use Ooze as a encounter power, listed below.

Ooze	Trulkor Racial Power
You concentrate and your body oozes a gelatinous cover which provides you amazing armor from harm.
Encounter  Immunity
Immediate Reaction	Personal
Trigger: You take damage from an attack.
Target: Self
Effect: You gain immunity to the damage type of the attack until the end of your next turn.

The trulkor are an aberrant bunch believed to be one of the many influences which seeped in as a result of the breakage of the Living Gate from the Far Plane. They have bunkered down in the Underdark for the most part alongside illithid colonies. Their existence is rather rudimentary at a glance compared to the more intelligent aberrations or Far Plane dwellers like the gith. However, like the umber hulk, they actually have a surprising amount of structure in their societies. But due to their lower numbers, they have come to primarily reside in small niches of the dark cave systems. Their appearance largely keeps them from venturing outside their dark homes, and those who do rarely do so for altruistic purposes.

Play a trulkor if you want...

• to have tentacles for a head.
• to be an alien creature.
• to be a member of a race that favors the battlemind, warlock, and barbarian classes.

Physical Qualities

The body of a trulkor is humanoid in the roughest sense. They have the limb arrangement and look of a hairless, potbellied human from the collarbone down. They lack a neck, and their head is a mass of tentacles. These tentacles are similar to that of the polychaete worms, as each of those tentacles ends with a very tiny eye. They function also as feelers of smell in addition to sight, and are prehensile enough to grab food. Their mouth is like that of a sand dollar or anemone, centered amid the tentacles. The rest of a trulkor's body is less horrid. They have wide, flat feet and hands, with four digits on each, and thick webbing in between each digit. Their body is very gelatinous and rubbery, lacking a strongly defined shape. When trulkor are threatened, they can release a large amount of thick slime from their bodies as temporary armor. This slime is composed of special reactionary compounds made by the trulkor's sensitive skin. The slime's protective properties adapt to the situation to best protect the trulkor.

Because of their body's production of this slime, trulkor rarely ever wear clothes normally. They typically walk around the Underdark naked. The few who venture out towards the World Above may take to simple clothing to obscure their true nature. Usually, this consists of very rudimentary dress, like a long cloak and drawn down hood. Rarely do they wear shoes, as their abnormal feet cannot fit in most footwear for humanoids.

Attitudes and Beliefs

Trulkor are largely indifferent to their surroundings. They are believed to operate on an alien level of thought, with priorities and mannerisms unlike that of most non-aberrant humanoids. For the most part, they care primarily about survival through progeny. Trulkor do not have sexes and reproduce asexually through the use of other humanoid bodies. Similar to slaads, trulkor infect other beings and change them into trulkor. Within the trulkor head of tentacles are about three which are actually seeds. They can detach and wriggle into a humanoids body by burrowing into the skin. There, it reproduces and devours the host cells, eventually changing the host into a trulkor. Trulkor usually seek out weakened or ill non-aberrant humanoids to infect for lack of resistance. This act of reproduction may seem horrible to most, but to trulkor, it is no different than slaughtering animals for food.

Religion is an oddly important part of a trulkor's life. Their beliefs are fairly practical and less mystical. They reproduce for the reason to dominate, as they believe their eldritch gods had bid them do. As such, they see non-aberrations as obstacles to be used at best, and outright cattle at worst. They refer to creatures who live in the World Above as a parasitic light, and seem intent on snuffing out that "life." Their beliefs do not include things like morals or such. This therefore makes them seem like depraved, animalistic monsters to most.

Trulkor can develop mindsets beyond this, and they are often considered "severed" from the link between them and their gods. These are repugnant exiles to other trulkors, as they begin to develop feelings and emotions like that of non-aberrations.

Trulkor Communities

In their niches of the Underdark caves, trulkor live in small colonies always consisting of an even number. These colonies are set in rough dwellings carved into the stone of the cave walls. Trulkor do not usually live in caverns large enough to house cities like drow. It is believed this has aided their secretive nature. There is little difference between each member in a colony, usually, and all are focused on their own survival for most of the time. They spend their time skulking about, looking for victims to spirit away and infect. There are stories that they kidnap travelers, and even drow, to hold and weaken through starvation and dehydration before infecting them to become one of them.

Outside these abysmal habitats, trulkor are highly alert and suspicious. They are likely surrounded by beings who hold them in contempt as a planar outsider and invader. Thus, they always keep their bodies well obscured and try to never let anyone see them otherwise. Their manner of speech sometimes can be a giveaway, as their mouth makes rasping noises and alien syllables when trying to parse Common sometimes. They usually can communicate nonverbally to their own. Trulkor wandering around the World Above sometimes are looking to spread their influences further than the Underdark. Others say they are driven by some strange revelations from their gods back beyond the reaches of this plane.

Trulkor Adventurers

Trulkor have natural mental capabilities from the Far Realm, but this only carries so far. They have able bodies that are surprisingly fast and lithe, but this is hampered partially by their aversion to using weapons. Trulkor in their own colonies tend to rely on their own psionic abilities as well as the power drawn from their eldritch patron deities. Some who venture out realize the necessity of weapons when they ae alone.

Battlemind: Trulkor's bulk makes them viable defenders. With more focus on their stamina as opposed to brain power, they prefer this method of psionic power over something like the psion.

Warlock: While warlock is an arcane power, trulkor are largely ignorant of this. To them, it is almost divine in the sense that they receive power from their deity in the depths of space. As they are highly religious in this regard, warlock is a common class among them.

Barbarian: Barbarian trulkors are common seen outside the Underdark. They are seen as odd by their Underdark counterparts due to their use of weapons as opposed to even magic.

Three sample trulkor adventurers are described below.

Arzazzn is a trulkor warlock who received a dream from his god to go forth and leave his colony. At the god's behest, Arzazzn has come upon the World Above in search of a lost aberration artifact which will be instrumental in allowing the eldritch being passage into this world from beyond. Arzazzn sees use in the local adventurers who he joins with, and he seeks to have them pave the way to his success.

Glothagia is a trulkor battlemind tasked with protection of the colony. After a raid from shadar-kai from below, however, Glothagia is rendered the sole survivor of the colony. Glothagia soon joined a different colony, and is soon given the task to go find the openings to Shadowfell and seal them so tragedy will not befall this new home.

Huruksslagth is a trulkor barbarian who left his decimated colony after a shardmind invasion. Traveling to the World Above to avoid pursuit, Huruksslagth stopped hearing so much from the god and as a result began to wonder if he was alone now in his thoughts. Without direction, Huruksslagth had taken to living alone, hidden from everyone. When he was discovered by adventurers, he took to working for them in exchange for his life.

Roleplaying a Trulkor

When creating a trulkor adventurer, here are a few points to consider.

Devour the light. Trulkor are highly discriminatory towards non-aberrations, whom they deem parasitic to the fabric of the universe. Their deity is believed to desire for trulkor to overpopulate and thus take over.

The colony first. Save trulkor who may be on the road outside, most trulkor in the Underdark are very loyal to their colony in the sense of survival.

The godhead is supreme. Even trulkor do not necessarily know or care about the true identity of their mysterious god. But they follow its command anyway.

Trulkor Characteristics: Indifferent, depraved, uncaring, self-interested, distrusting, religious

Trulkor Names: Ecipigios, Aznasar, Ragzathr, Brbloopr

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