Durumgiru (3.5e Race)

Author: Aelaris (talk) Date Created: 21 December, 2010 Status: In progress Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Durumgir

Thick-skinned, six-limbed, wall-climbing lizard-centaurs from underground. (Dwarf analogue.)

Name Notes

Durumgir is the name of the race. An individual of the Durumgir is a Durumgiru. The speak Durumgi, have Durumgi culture. Multiple Durumgir are... Durumgir.

Life-cycle

All Durumgir are born about the size of a halfling (though due to physiology, this only makes them about two thirds as tall), and have male sexual characteristics. They are fully capable of walking, and are about as intelligence as a human 9-year-old. They reach physical maturity in their late thirties, early forties, having spend the childhood years rigorously preparing themselves for adult life. After physical maturity, the Durumgir continue to grow at about an inch of vertical height each decade, and male sexual characteristics continue to grow, eventually becoming fertile at the age of about half a century.

Should the Durumgiru in question continue to grow and thrive, he will continue to grow bigger, slowly, and as the Durumgiru reaches middle age (about 175 years), he will grow slower and tougher, in addition to intelligence and wisdom growing with age. Two or three decades later, his male fertility will begin to diminish, and over the next two centuries his sexual organs will shift to the reproductive track of a female. Once the Durumgiru is large enough, if all goes well he will become fertile as a female (this is more or less when the Durumgiru reaches the large size category). At this point, his gender changes to be considered female.

As the centuries wear goes on, the Durumgiru will become tougher and smarter and wiser, but continue to lose dexterity until she is is completely immobile. Additionally, as she increases in size by nearly a vertical foot each century, her ability to maintain multiple simultaneous pregnancies increases to the point that some truly old Durumgiru birth a child nearly every day, replenishing their own familial empires with ease. Durumgir only get hardier as they grow older, and no maximum age is not known.

Physical Description

Humanoid is a vague term. Are centaurs humanoid? If is, then perhaps the Durumgir are as well. On top of a thick, muscular neck is a scaled reptilian face. Saurian jaws dominate, as do prominent nostrils and multiple ear-holes, but in a particularly striking fashion, they possess no eyes... not even empty eye sockets on the sides of their head. Expression is a matter of the mouth, mostly.

Beyond the head, a durumgir's upper body resembles a massive, heavily muscled reptilian humanoid with a back so steeped with meat that it maintains a perpetually hunched posture. Its lower body, however, continues downwards and backwards, and resembles the body of a absurdly stocky gecko, complete with two sets of legs with four three-toed feet with peculiar grips that allow it to adhere strongly to any surface. The body then tapers into a stubby, almost vestigial tail.

Due to their features, some surface races have speculated that they are related to Centaurs. Any Durumgir will note that Centaurs are obviously a horrible magical melding of human and horse, while their own origins lies with being born of the Deep Stone Mother in millennia past.

Most Durumgir seen on the surface world are adventurers, seeking fame and fortune in a bid to win the favor of a Venerable Mother. Durumgir can carry a lot of stuff (even with average strength, 150 pounds won't even slow a Durumgiru), and prefer the heaviest armor they can find, trusting in thick steel and a hardy body more than in any ability to dodge. Some Durumgir have even taking to sleeping in Medium armor, as to avoid a dishonorable death. On top of the lower torso, there is generally an excessive pile of gear lashed down to the back of a Durumgiru's armor.

Of particular note is their habit of tying their possessions to themselves - while all races expect a dropped object to fall downwards, most races expect it to land at their feet - the Durmgiri have no such expectation, due to their habit of walking on what most people would term walls or ceilings.

Relations

The Durumgir are a subterranean race, generally at war with Drow and other races who threaten them (including most of the subterranean fauna). They are at an uneasy peace with races such as the svirfneblin (Deep Gnomes) and others which do not actively threaten them. They have a special ambivalence towards Kobolds: Both races see the other as kin, and won't normally attack each other, but if they consider each other cousins, they both consider the other to be a demented, wretched cousin.

Of the Durumgir interaction with the surface, two main types are apparent: Trade, and adventurers. While the Durumgir do not trade with other underground races, much of what is common in the deep is often rare or valuable on the surface. Many Families trade worked metal and precious stones to surface races, in exchange for delicious surface-food as well as wood to supplement the oil and coal fires. Durumgir are famed for their workmanship, as many Durumgir seek fame through feats of talent and perfection at the forge.

The other interactions with the surface are adventurers. Most Durumgir adventurer seek fortune below, exploring the endless caverns of the underworld (and often adding a few of their own). A few, however, chose to seek fame and fortune above the surface, under the warm of the unfalling fire, on top the flat upwards boundary of the world. Here they are at a disadvantage - all the more chance to prove their worth.

Note that while most Durumgir make up their own rules for how to treat non-Durumgir, to varying degrees they resent or disapprove of other long-lived races, seeing them as useless people who waste decades that could have been spent so much more productively. Elves commonly receive the brunt of this, particularly the elves who don't do anything.

Alignment

Internally, the Durumgir race is hierarchical and very respect-based. Age is associated with having survived and succeeded at incredible tasks - after all, the other alternative is to die trying. Towards each other, they are extremely Lawful, and, by the standards of most other races, "Good". There are a number of shamed outcasts who have not succeeded at great things, and yet have not died trying - these are shunned by other Durumgir, no matter their age.

However, towards other races, the Durumgir are not all LG. There is no defined way that Durumgir should treat non-Durumgir, and each member tends to come up with his own interpretations. Some see the other races as if they were Durumgir, and treat them with respect based on age and achievement. Some Durumgir find the other races disreputable and lazy, and treat them as if they were Durumgir outcasts, ambivalent towards their suffering or death. Others find out how the races they interact with interact with each other, and while they are on the surface, they do as the surface-dwellers do.

Needless to say, adventuring Durumgir run the whole gamut of alignments, at least with respect to other creatures.

Lands

Durumgir live in settlements the size of villages, towns, and cities - all of tunnels, and all beneath the ground. Unlike the realms of Drow and Deep Gnomes, which are often built in enlarged caverns, the Durumgir have no need for such vistas - instead each city is a fully three-dimensional maze of tunnels carved into solid stone. Gravity has some sway, as things do fall down, but the tunnels themselves may go at any angle, much to visitors' chagrin.

The smallest division of Durumgir society is the Family, consisting of one Venerable Mother, her suitors, her middle-aged and old friends, and her off-spring. A small Family is the population of a village, and a large Family can be as much as a town. Cities, in the Durumgir sense, are collections of several Families living together.

Religion

Durumgir believe they were created by the Great Stone Mother, the same creator as all other underground reptiles. They believe that dragons and kobolds were created by the Great Void Father, the same creator as all above-ground creatures. The Great Void Father and the Great Stone Mother together then made the world, embodying substance and non-substance into the world that is. As children, they are taught that it is the love of the Great Stone Mother that allows them to walk and feel others through the ground, while it is the kindness of the Great Void Father that allows them to feel the shape of the air around the Durumgir, and understand His realm.

When a Durumgir dies, he must return to the earth. This is generally accomplished by the call of the Great Stone Mother (gravity), but in exceptional cases a Durumgir will take measures to ensure this. For example, if they travel to, say, another plane, they might have their friends promise on pain of death to return them to the earth. A quest to return the body of a Durumgir to the Great Stone Mother is considered noble by the Venerable Mothers, and can often be quite impressive - if you retrieve a fallen Durumgiru from the Nine Hells of Baator, for instance.

Durumgir often follow the beliefs of other known deities, with a particular emphasis on learning from and emulating the qualities of said deities. A Durumgir prays not for blessings, but for advice on how to improve himself.

Language

Durumgir speak Durumgi, and if their Family is close to the surface, they learn Common as well. Thus, any Durumgir seen on the surface will know at least those two languages.

Durumgir, being blind, write in a cuniform script on wet clay for day-to-day things, and carve the same script in stone for anything vaguely permanent. Durumgir cannot read writing that is in ink, and will commonly have sighted creatures help them transcribe things.

Durumgir generally think that Durumgi is a pretty language, most other races find it rather harsh and guttural.

Names

Durumgir given names are generally self-made, given from a child to himself. Most of them are Durumgi words, but among other races, they are generally not translated.

Durumgi is not a built language, so feel free to create names and assign meanings to them. For a feel of the sort of names Durumgi produces, consider Gnorak, Baragir, Kn'thed, Thuninir, Hegoroek, Pnthragul, and others. Names are generally only one word long, and due to culture, child Durumgir tend to give themselves impressive-sounding names, using a single word. This can sometimes be hilarious, even to the Durumgir himself (or herself) a few decades later.

Family name is, of course, the given name of a Durumgiru's mother, and is, of course, made exactly the same way.

Racial Traits

• +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: The durumgir are a hardy race, but agility and fine motor control are nearly non-existent.
• Monstrous Humanoid (Reptilian): The durumgir were made by the gods (or evolution) from reptilian stock
• Medium-sized.
• Durumgir base land speed is 20 feet. Durumgir can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• Durumgir climb speed is equal to their base land speed. Durumgir can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations). Due to their peculiar senses, a Durumgiru can always tell whether a climbing surface can support their weight, and the weight they carry.
• Blindness and Blindsight (Ex): The Durumgir are all blind, with no sight and no eyes. Instead, they possess Blindsight through a constant pulsing of echolocation and the sensation of vibrations through the ground. While this is blindsight, the Durumgir have no maximum range for their ability - instead, they must make spot and listen checks as normal to notice things. Due to the natural of their blindsight, a deafened Durumgiru is instead treated to have only tremorsense (still with no maximum range, and needing spot checks), and for a Durumgiru not in contact with the ground (or for a target not in contact with the ground) the Durumgiru gets a -4 to spot and listen checks.
• Medium Quadruped: +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed, overran, or tripped, lifting and carrying limits one-and-a-half times those of Medium bipedal characters.
• Dead Reckoning (Ex): A Durumgiru always knows where they are in three-dimensional space relative to places they have been. This is negated by teleportation, and similar forms of space-warping transportation. Not knowing where one is can be very disconcerting, and a Durumgiru is shaken until the end of the day, or until it directly recognizes a place it has been before.
• Endurance (Ex): A Durumgiru gets Endurance as a bonus feat.
• Stone-headed (Ex): A Durumgiru nature gives +2 to Will and Fortitude saves, but -2 to all reflex saves.
• Six-limbed Grappling (Ex): Durumgir get natural advantages when grappling, due to having four legs, all of which have gripping abilities. A Durumgiru gets +4 to all grapple checks.
• Weapon Familiarity: Durumgir may treat the Durumgir Poleaxe as a martial weapon, not an exotic one.
• Old Stone Vigor (Ex): The Durumgir do not weaken with age, nor do they have a maximum age. Instead of getting -1 to Str, Dex, Con, and +1 to Wis, Int, Cha each age category, instead they gain +1 to Constitution, Wisdom, and Intelligence, -2 to Dexterity, and both other stats stay the same.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Durumgi.
• Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnomish, Undercommon, and Terran. (Also any other other underground or saurian languages in the setting, including Dwarvish if Dwarves are not replaced.)
• Favored Class: Fighter, or any other class that provides Heavy Armor Proficiency
• Level Adjustment: +0 (For male Durumgir up to age 200 or so. Venerable Mothers have a higher LA.)
• Effective Character Level: 1 (For male Durumgir up to age 200 or so. Venerable Mothers have a higher LA.)

Vital Statistics

Table: Durumgir Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
35 years	+3d6	+6d6	+9d6

Table: Durumgir Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Durumgir5	4'11"	+1d6" +1" per decade of age	200 lb.	× (2d6) lb.

Table: Durumgir Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable Mother3	Stone Grandmother4, 5
175 years	285 years	395 years	Each 100 years more
At middle age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) At old age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) At Great Mother age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) Additionally, a Durumgir gains the ability to bear children as a female at this age, thus the name. Every 100 years past Venerable Mother age, (E.g. 495, 575, etc.) apply another −2 to Dex and +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.)

Special notes on age, sex, and gender: Durumgir are all born with male sexual characteristics, at about the size of a halfling. About 50 years later, somewhat after physical maturation, the Durumgiru's male sexual characteristics become active, and theoretically he could mate at that age. At around the age of 200 years, the Durumgiru's male sexual characteristics begin to fade, and he begins to evolve female sexual characteristics, and eventually become fertile nearly two centuries later. With fertility comes a change in socially constructed gender. Most Durumgir do not manage to live this long, and Venerable Mothers are highly respected. To mate with a Venerable Mother is a great honor for a Durumgir, and the life of a male Durumgir is filled with a quest to prove oneself worthy of a Venerable Mother's interest... this is perhaps related to how few of them live to become Venerable Mothers.

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