TEXT: 1
  “We are the People.
  As fire, we dance.
  As water, we flow.
  As wind, we fly.
  As earth, we endure.
  We are the People.
  We are the First.”
  Traditional Arak Chant
  RACIAL TRAITS
  Average Height: 5’4 - 6’2
  Average Weight: 125-200 lbs.
  Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom
  Size: Medium
  Speed: 7 squares
  Vision: Low-light
  Languages: Common, Arak
  Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Perception, +2 Stealth
  Arak Quickness: You gain a +1 Racial Bonus to your Reflex 
  defense.
  Furious Hunter: Once per round, when you have combat advan-
  tage against an enemy and are using a weapon that you are profi-
  cient with, an attack you make against that enemy deals an extra 1 
  [W] damage if it is a weapon or 1d8 if it isn’t.
  Poverty: Because of your relative poverty, you cannot start with 
  metal armor or shields of any kind, regardless of class.
  In the language of the Arak, the word “arak” means 
  “the First.”  This is the source of their pride, their noble 
  carriage and their isolation.
   
  According to the other races of the world, the 
  Arak are little more than blue-skinned barbarians who 
  live in the outskirts of the world. If during a conversation 
  
  2
  with an Arak you were to call him a barbarian, he would 
  probably snort and mutter, “What do you know?  You are 
  but a simple T’endrak.”  Unless you spoke Araki, the fact 
  that you had just been given the worst insult that one of the 
  Arak can utter would be lost on you.  If you did speak it, 
  you’d know that he had just called you “a Second.”
   
  That is the core of the Arak worldview. You are 
  either one of the Arak, or you are just a Second…simple, 
  foolish and one of the lost.
  Play an Arak if you want . . .
  to be a member of a race proud of your ancient 
  •	
  heritage.
  to be tough and wise.
  •	
  to strike your enemies with the skill of the expert 
  •	
  hunter.
  to be a member of a race that favors the barbarian, 
  •	
  ranger, shaman and warden  classes.
  PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
  All Arak have blue skin, black hair and reddish colored eyes, 
  with almost no variation among them. Most wear their hair 
  long and warriors wear a single long braid with bands of 
  color that signify the battles they have won. Women, if they 
  do not wear their hair long and loose, will wear two braids 
  and if married, will wear the same bands as their warrior 
  husband, but only in the right braid. If their husband is 
  killed, the bands are then transferred to the left braid.
   
  Arak stand between 5’4” and 6’2”, with males 
  tending toward the higher end. Due to a lean diet, they 
  usually weigh less than humans of the same height. You will 
  see few bulky Arak…even the strongest men in the clan 
  tend to be thin and wiry rather than bulky. They move with 
  practiced grace and have excellent balance.
   
  They tend to wear leathers or simple 
  loincloths for clothing and warriors and clan shamans 
  always drape themselves in the skins of their clan 
  animal. (In the case of the Dragon clan, how they 
  get their skins is a mystery known only to them and 
  perhaps the clan elders of the other clans.) Women 
  sometimes wear a shift or a halter, but sometimes not. 
  Warriors, chiefs and women rarely wear any jewelry, 
  save for the most special of occasions. Shamans, 
  however, always have pendants, teeth, fetishes; bits of 
  carved bone - the usual tools of the trade.
  RELATIONS
  The Arak keep to themselves and rarely interact with 
  the rest of the races of the world. However, they have 
  some limited trade with peaceful societies, regardless 
  of race. Merchants will occasionally be allowed into 
  Arak lands, but only under heavy escort and only 
  for a limited time. Generally, no priests or religious 
  evangelists of any kind are allowed into Arak territory, 
  while Gadianti are hunted and killed whenever they are 
  found.
  ARAK LANDS
  Most of the clans live on the broad, grassy steppes 
  of northwest Diomin.  The Dragon clan lives in the 
  mountains and the Bear clan lives near the sea. Most 
  places in Arak territory have mild summers and cold 
  but not harsh winters, save for the Dragon clan, given 
  the altitude of their main city and the Wolf clan, who 
  winter on the shore.
  
  3
  RELIGION
  All religious life focuses on the reverence of a diety 
  known as the One. An important aspect of this is the 
  pantheistic thread which winds through Arak religious 
  belief. They believe all things have essence of the One 
  and because of this, all things are sacred.  There is as 
  much reverence given to building a stone wall as to 
  a marriage ceremony.  All things in Arak life draw 
  strength from their belief of the One and the reverence 
  for the One’s creation. They view themselves as the 
  Custodians of Diomin and as such, are very serious 
  folks.
  NAMES
  All Arak names relate to some sort of event or quality. 
  Since the Arak language is not fully detailed within 
  this worldbook, DMs and players should feel free to 
  be creative.  Watch for full linguistic details in the 
  upcoming Arak Sourcebook. Male and female names 
  are similar in this way.
  Name:                             Translation:
  Zah’ven                            Winter-son
  Alin’zabam                       Dew-of-the-morning
  Se’veli’tavaum                   He-who-walks-in-Shadow
  Ser’veli’laum                    She-of-the-rain
  Mat’zejin                          Eater-of-dust
  Zezhe’syvin’faltzin             Fluffy-bunny-feet
  A word about surnames:
  Children under the age of nine are referred to as a son 
  of or daughter of their mother, as such:
  Zah’ven ser’Zele’ni  would translate as Winter-son, son 
  of Zele’ni, while Alin’zabam sera’Zeleni would translate as 
  Dew-of-the-Morning, daughter of Zele’ni.
   
  After the age of nine, there is a coming of age 
  ritual. Boys who pass through the ritual are referred 
  to as a son of their father. Girls retain their mother’s 
  name, but they change the ‘sera’  to “seri”:
   
  Zah’ven ser’Se’vel’tavaum would translate as 
  Winter-son, son of Se’vel’tavaum, while Alin’zabam 
  seri’Zeleni would translate as Dew-of-the-Morning, 
  daughter of Zele’ni.
   
  During marriage, a woman will traditionally 
  join the pride of her husband and will add the matri-
  arch of the pride’s name to her own; Alin’zabam 
  seri’Zeleni ser’Zezhe’syvin’faltzin - Dew-of-the-
  Morning, daughter ofZele’ni, wife in the pride of 
  Fluffy-bunny-feet.
   
  Because of the complex naming structure, 
  children are required to learn the family trees of 
  their clan, leading back as far as the oral history can 
  reach.
  ADVENTURERS
  Most of the time, Arak do not adventure. However, 
  on occasion an Arak will feel that he is called to 
  venture forth. Common reasons can be a quest, 
  being exiled, rebellion against the social order within 
  Arak society, revenge or Holy War. Like the Native 
  Americans during the mid-1800’s, they are a fairly 
  insular society.
   
  Three sample Arak adventurers are described 
  below.
   
  Zah’ven is an Arak fighter who was exiled 
  by his people for falling in love with a chieftan’s 
  daughter and now makes his home at the Tirasim 
  Outpost in Qether. After discovering a group of 
  cultists dedicated to The Shadow Above, he took 
  on the cult with a group of friends and nearly lost 
  his life. When he regained conciousness, he found 
  himself the only survior of his adventuring group and 
  now harbors a hatred that can only be asuaged when 
  that foul goddess is brought to divine justice.
   
  Se’veli’tavaum is an Arak rogue who could 
  no longer suffer his people’s primitive ways. He 
  traveled the world for years, finding adventure and 
  coin wherever he could. When he returned home a 
  few years ago, he found his brother was exiled for 
  workshipping The Silent Maw. He is now searching 
  the world for his wayward brother with the hope 
  that one day he will admit his mistake and come 
  home.
   
  Alin’zabam was always taller than all the 
  boys and could beat them all at ‘tal, an Arak ball 
  game similar to soccer.  Her mother tried to stop her 
  from playing, but Seri’ulk ‘savin really didn’t care.  
  As she grew older, the boys stopped allowing her to 
  play with them and instead would ridicule her.  She 
  still didn’t care, but someone else did and one night 
  he and his friends showed her their anger.   Battered 
  and broken, she quietly left before anyone found 
  her.  If it hadn’t been for Seri’veli’prathlem (“She who 
  walks backwards”), she would not have survived the 
  season.  Seri’veli’prathlem taught her to survive both 
  in the wilderness as well as in the clans.  She taught 
  her to pass herself off as a  warrior. Now she’s tough, 
  toughter than any man she’s ever come across. It 
  doesn’t endear her with the men, but then again, 
  she really doesn’t care.  After being attacked by the 
  young men of her original pride, she’s become very 
  aware of her surroundings.  Even though she is ever 
  watchful, she is a boisterous person who enjoys life. 
  She feels equally comfortable drinking the local men 
  under the table as she does spitting in the face of her 
  current enemy.
  
  4
  HISTORY
  At the dawn of time, before the common gods were 
  worshipped, there stood One above all others. He 
  has no other name, just the One and He can be 
  found in all things, from the smallest insect, to the 
  largest creature in the multiverse. All are part of the 
  One and in these modern times, only the Arak seem 
  to worship Him.
   
  When the One created the world, He 
  created a race of people to tend to it. These were the 
  Arak, or the First in their language. They were given 
  the entire world to tend, hunt and live upon.  They 
  were faithful and did their duty. Thus it was for thou-
  sands of years until Cedron the Jackal, of whom The 
  Shadow Above is but an Aspect, came. The Jackal 
  brought change and change is rarely a good thing.
   
  The Jackal brought to the Arak the Fallen 
  Path, a way of thinking alien to the clans and at 
  odds with the One.  At first the Clan Shamans stood 
  strong against him, but the Jackal waited while his 
  lover, the Adder, sought to bring the Spirit World 
  into her embrace.  After a time, one of the shamans 
  allowed himself to be corrupted by the Jackal and he 
  swayed the chieftain of the Jaguar clan and the first 
  son of the Tiger Clan.  Like a mold, a sickness, the 
  Fallen Path was embraced and the seeds of conflict 
  were sown between the clans.
   
  At that time, the shaman of the Dragon 
  clan was a man called Kensin. As the Fallen Path 
  began to spread, he was given a vision by the One 
  and saw how the clans would be split by the Jackal’s 
  treachery.  War was coming, so, in secret, he 
  contacted the shamans of the other faithful clans to 
  form the first and thus far only, Shen’dra’ken, or Spirit 
  Circle.
   
  Kensin then called for all of the the clans to 
  gather at Tez’riin, the Sacred Mountain.  Kensin stood 
  before the gathering and abjured the shaman of the 
  Jaguar clan to renounce the Jackal and his ways.  The 
  Jaguar shaman refused.  Kensin and the others then 
  released the curse that they had prepared during 
  Shen’dra’ken.  Kensin took the Jaguar shaman’s name 
  and stripped it from him. He pronounced the Jaguar 
  clan dead and cast out those who followed the first 
  son of the Tiger clan.  Finally, he marked them all by 
  drawing the blue from their skins and the red from 
  their eyes, that they may be known as the T’endrak…
  the Second People.  The Second People were force 
  marched far from the centers of Arak land and cast 
  out. Then Kensin and the other shamans were put to 
  death for acting without the sanction of the chiefs of 
  their clan.
   
  Since then, the name of Kensin has been 
  both revered and cursed.  The Arak have kept their 
  ways and their faith in the One and they watch the 
  T’endrak warily, knowing that their taint is seductive.
   
  The T’endrak evolved over the years. The 
  remaining members of the Jaguar and Tiger clans fled 
  south and remained the Jackal’s children. The Jackal’s 
  servant, the Bat, twisted their form, melding them 
  with their clan totems. They took a new name: the 
  Gadianti.  The fallen members of the Dragon clan, 
  who so foolishly turned against their own, traveled 
  to the furthest end of Diomin and founded cities - 
  forgetting their tribal roots. Over time, they became 
  the Zeredites and from them other human nations 
  have formed. Two lesser clans, the Dolphin and the 
  Turtle, fled east in boats and settled a wild land, 
  taking upon themselves the name of the Gnolaum, 
  which means eternal in their language. Today, they 
  are commonly known as the Fey.
   
  The only race that cannot in some way draw 
  lineage from the Arak are the Hearthom, or dwarves 
  as they are more commonly known. The origins of 
  the dwarves are a mystery, even to the shamans of 
  the Arak.
  SOCIETY AND CULTURE
  Today, Arak society is divided into five major clans: 
  the Bear, the Wolf, the Dragon, the Serpent and 
  the Stag. There are several minor clans who, for the 
  most part, are allied with the larger clans. The one 
  exception to this rule is the people of the Tiger clan, 
  who still bear the stigma and shame of having their 
  first son (the next chief, should the current chief die) 
  take the Fallen Path long ago.  They are nomads who 
  live alone and are shunned by the other clans.  
   
  Within the clans are prides, individual 
  families that make up the clan. The pride is 
  traditionally named for the senior female in the 
  family, since all children can be traced to her. 
  However, it is the pride mother’s mate (or in some 
  cases, father or brother) who runs the affairs of the 
  pride, while the mother sees to the stability and 
  solidity of the pride.
   
  It is the pride mothers who, with the 
  clan shaman, name the first son, the young man 
  who will become the next chief.  The chief is the 
  lawgiver of the clan and is the one who leads in all 
  matters.  If, after seven years, the chief is proven to 
  be incompetent, cursed, or not working in the clan’s 
  best interest, the pride mothers and the shaman can 
  (if unanimous in their decision) name a new first son 
  and demand that the current chief meet the first son 
  in single combat. The One will choose the victor and 
  thus, the future of the clan.
  
  5
   
  The Arak capital “cities” are found in the 
  territories of each clan, although they hardly qualify 
  as cities, per se, as each are only slightly larger than 
  villages and most of the clan live outside the village 
  boundaries in loosely knit familial gatherings.
  Gilgal - Tribal area of the Wolf clan
  Addan - Tribal area of the Serpent clan
  Cashal - Tribal area of the Bear clan
  Asshur - Tribal area of the Dragon clan
  Elam  - Tribal area of the Stag clan
   
  There is definite segregation of clan duties 
  along gender lines.  Men are the warriors, the 
  hunters, the chiefs and the shamans. The women have 
  the far more important role…seeing to the stability 
  and health of the tribe. They are the mothers, 
  the herbal healers and the tenders of the hearth. 
  According to clan law women may never become 
  warriors, chiefs, hunters or shamans.  However, 
  there is a legend of the Sisterhood of the Spider…a 
  secret inter-clan society that takes in those women 
  who wish to take on one of the male roles.  It is, 
  of course, strictly forbidden and members who are 
  found are cast out and stripped of their name.  No 
  one talks about it and indeed, it 
  might just be legend - but then 
  again, it may not.
  COMING OF 
  AGE IN ARAK 
  SOCIETY
  When a child is born, it is the 
  custom for the tribal shaman to 
  go into the wilderness for three 
  days to meditate, asking the 
  One to reveal to him the name 
  the child will bear for their first 
  years.  Commonly, this will 
  be revealed to the shaman by 
  something appearing significant, 
  like the rain upon on a leaf, or 
  a walking bear, or a cold wind 
  on a warm day.  Most children’s 
  names are compound words. If 
  the shaman found a cold wind 
  on a warm day, the child might 
  be called Coldwind (or Thalin’serah in Araki).  The 
  child will bear this name until his or her ninth name 
  day (nine years not from the child’s birth, but from 
  the day the child was named by the shaman).
   
  There are times when, if a name is not 
  revealed or the child is sickly, malformed, or is the 
  product of union with one of the T’endrak, no name 
  will be given to the child. This is a shame to both 
  the parents and the child and most parents will leave 
  such children to die in the wilderness.
   
  On the child’s ninth name day, one of three 
  things will happen. If the child is male, he will be 
  taken from the care of the women of the tribe by 
  the shaman at dawn and from there taken into the 
  wilderness for a nine-day vigil.  During the first 
  three days, the shaman will enact rites and rituals, 
  trying to determine if the boy has the talent to 
  become a shaman.  If this succeeds, the shaman 
  returns to the clan with an apprentice. If this fails, 
  the second three days will be spent performing 
  rites and rituals to see if the boy is prepared to 
  become one of the men of the clan, with all the 
  rights and responsibilities which that entails.  If 
  this is successful, the shaman will light a fire using 
  specific herbs and plants that produce a white smoke. 
  This is a signal to the men of the clan to gather at 
  the clan’s traditional place for the Rite of Passage 
  ceremonies.  At the end of these ceremonies and 
  trials, the boy will be given his man-name, casting his 
  birth name from him, like a man who has outgrown 
  his childhood toys.  If the rituals of the second three 
  days fail, the boy’s birth name and clan totem will 
  be stripped from him and the shaman will spend the 
  next three days hunting the boy. If the boy survives, 
  he will be given a choice. He can remain within the 
  clan as one of the muil’sen, which roughly translates 
  
  6
  to Mother’s boy, or he can make his way into the 
  world as one of those most rare Arak, one of the 
  Clanless.  If the boy chooses to be muil’sen, he will 
  serve the women of the tribe in their daily duties 
  and will answer to the clan or pride’s chief’s wife, 
  called the muil’arak.
   
  For girls, the rituals are even more intense. 
  To most T’endrak, Arak society appears to be 
  patriarchal, where the women have a subservient 
  role to the men. Say this to an Arak woman and 
  she will likely smile a secret smile and allow you 
  to think just that. Appearances can be deceiving. 
  Using the Holy Words (which each shaman must 
  memorize and recite) on holy days, a title is 
  given by the One to the women of the Arak. It is 
  eden’raetan and it translates to Heart of the Tribe.  
  This is why the ritual for the girls is so much 
  more intensive…it falls to them to keep the tribe 
  growing, healthy and stable in day-to-day living. 
  Hunters come can go, they are expendable, but 
  only eden’raetan may create life,and thus bring 
  strength to the clan.
   
  Whereas a boy’s rite of passage begins at 
  dawn on his name day, a girl’s begins at the rising 
  of the full moon before her ninth name day. The 
  shaman will come to her and take her to a secret 
  place known only to the women of the tribe. 
  There, for the next three days, the mothers of the 
  clan will enact rituals and impart knowledge to 
  the girl. On the first night, her birth name will be 
  taken from her and for those three days she will 
  exist in a place between life and death, a place 
  that is a bridge between the worlds.  There, she 
  will be taught, through words and visions, the 
  history of the tribe and the duties that she will be 
  expected to know when she becomes a woman of 
  the clan.  On the second night, things turn darker, 
  as the women of the clan psychologically assault 
  the girl, attacking everything from her looks to her 
  carriage in an effort to reduce her pride to a heap 
  of rubble. On the third night, psychically battered 
  and broken, the girl is gathered by the women of the 
  clan who perform a most sacred ritual…the healing 
  circle. They will pour all of their love, hopes, wishes, 
  dreams and strength into the girl and at the end, 
  they will present her to the One with a new name, 
  her woman-name and she will be born anew into the 
  clan.
  Heroic Tier Feats
  Feats in this section are available to Arak characters of 
  any level, as long as they meet the prerequisites.
  Primal Blessing [Arak]
  Prerequisite: Arak
  Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to your Reflex
  defense, and a +2 bonus to saving throws against
  primal effects.
  Primal Hunter [Arak]
  Prerequisite: Arak
  Benefit: When you wield an axe, bow, or spear, its
  weapon damage die increases by 1 die type. 
  Primal Survivor [Arak]
  Prerequisite: Arak
  Benefit: When you are bloodied, you gain a +2 
  bonus to saving throws.
  Paragon Tier Feats
  An Arak character must be at least 11th level to select 
  any of the feats in the following section.
  Primal Heritage [Arak]
  Prerequisite: Arak
  Benefit: You gain resist 5 primal and a +2 feat
  bonus to saving throws against primal effects.
  Primal Killer [Arak]
  Prerequisite: Arak
  Benefit: When a bloodied foe grants combat
  advantage to you, you gain a 1d6 bonus to the 
  damage roll.
  
  7
  Credits
  Design: R. Hyrum Savage and Christopher T. Miller
  Editing: Carlos Paradinha, Jr.
  Typesetting: R. Hyrum Savage
  Art: Derek Stevens
  Special Thanks: Annie Savage, Stan! and Chad 
  Cunningham
  All characters, character names and the distinctive 
  likenesses thereof, are trademarks owned by 
  R. Hyrum Savage and licensed to Super Genius 
  Games.
  This material is protected under the copyright laws 
  of the United States of America. Any reproduction 
  or unauthorized use of the material or artwork 
  contained herein is prohibited without the express 
  written permission of Super Genius Games.
  This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to 
  actual people, organizations, places, or events is 
  purely coincidental.
  No portion of this work may be reproduced in any 
  form without written permission.
  Gods of the Shroud material is ©2008 One Bad Egg, 
  LLC and is used with permission, 
  http://www.onebadegg.com/egg/gods.
  ©2009 R. HyRum Savage
  All rights reserved.  Made in the U.S.A.
  Visit our website at
  www.supergeniusgames.com
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Party/4th Edition/OtherWorld Creations/Fantastic Races - The Arak.pdf