Ga'arg

Ga'arg are soulless monsters born from the woe of Haelfaun. They emerge from woespawn, wreak havoc, death, and destruction for a short time (typically one or two days), then return to their spawn.

The plural of ga'arg is "ga'arg."

Physical Characteristics
It is difficult to generalize about all ga'arg. No two ga'arg are exactly the same, but on average, they are taller, heavier, faster, and stronger than a large man-kin. A small ga'arg, however, may be as small as an adolescent man-kin. They usually run on all-fours but otherwise stand and fight on two legs, like kin. The average ga'arg is a mindless beast, but certain, rare ga'arg demonstrate intelligence comparable to man-kin. Intelligent ga'arg may act as leaders, directing others with simple gestures and language. All ga'arg are dangerous, ruthless, bloodthirsty foes driven by a primal instinct to kill, with no fear or regard for their own lives. A typical ga'arg will easily overwhelm a typical man-kin soldier in one-on-one combat, even if the soldier has armor and a weapon. The most reliable method for combating ga'arg is discipline, cooperation, and superior numbers.

Ga'arg are physically varied. Leathery, light brown skin and short brown fur are common. Many have horns, tusks, or claws. Many can detach their jawbones, similar to a snake, allowing them to swallow things as large as a man-kin torso, ribs intact. Their eyes are typically small, blank, and sometimes entirely vestigial. Instead of vision, most ga'arg rely on scent and sound.

Most ga'arg adorn themselves in leather, cloth, or fur scraps from past victims. Injured ga'arg will "paste" patches over their wounds, using their own sticky blood. Tissue will rapidly heal around the patch, integrating the patch into the monster's skin. As a result, battle-hardened ga'arg may have a patchwork appearance and multiple "weak spots" where cloth takes the place of skin. Conversely, a ga'arg might patch a wound using metal plate (such as plate from a victim's armor) turning the creature into a naturally armored juggernaut.

Because ga'arg are soulless creatures who exist only in the flesh, they are technically golam. This makes them resistant to wizrada that relies on manipulating or injuring a target's soul directly -- spells like mental compulsion, twisted perception, mental exhaustion, and certain types of illusion magic.

Ga'arg Behavior
Ga'arg emerge from woespawn for brief rampages, during which they do not rest or sleep. They eat whatever animals or kin they can find and kill. They may collect more kills than they can eat, in which case they will carry the kills back to their spawn. They almost never leave bodies behind.

Most ga'arg fight with their bare hands, feet, claws, horns, and teeth. But some may use weapons. The most common weapon would be some sort of improvised club, such as a tree branch, a piece of furniture, or a corpse. A rare ga'arg might use a man-kin weapon, such as a sword, axe, or flail. All ga'arg are dangerous, but the ones with weapons are often more intelligent and thus more deadly.

It is unknown what exactly happens to ga'arg when they return to their woespawn. At best guess, they appear to leave the River of Ages -- not just going into hibernation, but leaving known reality altogether. In this respect, woespawn behave similarly to fae dells. An individual ga'arg, upon returning to a woespawn, may re-emerge from any future woespawn, anywhere, at any time. Accordingly, even the most intelligent ga'arg lack a concept of "time" as we know it. Their existence, to them, is a series of disconnected, unrelated, instinctive excursions away from woespawns and back again.

Ga'arg identify all living things as prey, except for other ga'arg and woespawn. They will fight alongside each other and alongside other monsters, such as ghuul, but they do not communicate or "cooperate" the way kin do. They can be directed and corralled by gods and creatures of higher intelligence, turning them into rag-tag, chaotic armies. Without strict leadership, however, a ga'arg "army" will quickly disperse into aimless, bloodthirsty individuals.

Ga'arg Mystics
Ga'arg mystics are a special type of woespawn who are not technically soulless, and therefore not technically ga'arg. But they resemble ga'arg and work among them. They sometimes appear among groups of ga'arg as leaders or healers. They are physically weaker than ga'arg, and use magic.

Ga'arg Who Become Ghuul
A ga'arg may "give" itself to a god, thereby gaining a shadow or dream soul and becoming a different class of woespawn. It is unclear if the ga'arg voluntarily "pledges" itself to the god, or if the god selects the ga'arg for sacrifice. Either way, the ga'arg loses its old physical form (in the flesh), gains a new physical form (in the flesh), and gains a soul (in either the shadow or the dream). A ga'arg who gives itself to one of the Forgotten Gods becomes a ghuul.