Overview[]
Native Plane: Ithia
Type: Humanoid
Description[]
The Dharuk are red-skinned humanoids that stand slightly taller and broader than most humans. Their bodies are robust, thick-skinned and muscular, possessed of great physical strength and the ability to survive and recover from considerable injury. The Dharuk have thick, wide jaws with upward-facing tusks and yellow eyes. Dharuk may have black hair on their heads, which may turn grey with advancing age.
Dharuk do not have genders and as such there is no gender dimorphism in their appearance.
Properties[]
The Dharuk are a race of warriors, and the indigenous inhabitants of Dhar. They revel in war and battle and respect honour and martial skill above all else. They are ambitious and driven to constant war and conquest.
As previously stated, Dharuk do not have genders in the regular sense – rather, at various stages of their life, the Dharuk tend to withdraw from more public life and enter a breeding cycle. During this time, egg-like pustules form on their backs. These eggs are fertilized via airborne cells shed from the bodies of other Dharuk, and upon maturation, these eggs burst open to reveal juvenile Dharuk. Juveniles mature quickly, being sufficiently independent to more or less look after themselves after a single year, and being ready to take to the field of battle after six. Dharuk fecundity levels somehow seem to be directly influenced by mortality rates – tribes that suffer heavy losses in battle often display accelerated reproductive cycles and much higher fertility, and thus their losses are replaced rapidly. This has allowed the Dharuk to remain the dominant species on Dhar despite their endless warfare, and has kept any one tribe from ever truly conquering another.
The Dharuk are a resilient race in other ways as well. Their skin is tougher than boiled leather armour, and they can survive injuries that would easily slay a human. The Dharuk are a long-lived species, with individual Dharuk potentially living three or four centuries before dying... though many of their number die in battle long before this happens. Unlike most species, Dharuk tend to only grow stronger with age, and only in the final year or two of their lives do their physical faculties begin to deteriorate.
Their mental fortitude is just as impressive, as the Dharuk are almost impervious to insanity or feeblemindedness – even to the extent where they can survive a journey through the Warp without losing their sanity.
The Dharuk can drive themselves into a battle frenzy that increases their speed and strength temporarily. For older, more powerful individuals, this battle frenzy even provides temporary physical regeneration, allowing them to shrug off injuries even more easily.
Though they tend to be quite pragmatic in their thinking, Dharuk are just as intelligent as humans are. The Dharuk are expert blacksmiths and so they have access to some of the most finely crafted weapons and armour in Ithia, and are known to be able to build mighty siege weapons to batter down their foes’ fortifications.
Despite being known for their warrior culture, a sizable proportion of Dharuk display magical talents, and are trained as War Mages to support their comrades in battle.
Dharuk have also tamed some of the indigenous fauna of Dhar and use them to assist them in industry and battle, including vicious wolves, Razorpigs, and the lumbering Gourag.
Religion does not play a large part in Dharuk life, but all Dharuk do worship a war deity known as Garrogh, and are known to invoke their name during certain important ceremonies, such as pre-battle preparations.
Lore[]
Prior to being conquered by Morganem, Dharuk society was divided into a small number of large, warring tribes. The leaders of a tribe were determined by an individual’s skill in combat – as their victories and fame grew, so too did their political position. The highest rank a Dharuk can obtain is that of Warmaster – this individual is considered the greatest warrior in a tribe, and he acts as their king in all matters until he is defeated or his reputation surpassed.
This changed with the arrival of Morganem. After observing the Dharuk culture, Morganem sought out the largest and strongest Dharuk tribe and challenged their Warmaster to a duel – naturally, the Warmaster could not refuse. With Morganem’s awesome mastery of sorcery, the Warmaster was easily defeated. In return for a vow of fealty from the Warmaster, Morganem promised that instead of usurping the Warmaster’s place, he would instead help lead the tribe to victory over its rivals.
Morganem was quick to make that promise into a reality. Under his strategic guidance and with his sorcerous aid, the tribe swept over Dhar, conquering the other tribes and absorbing them into its ranks. The various warring factions were soon united under a single Warmaster, who in turn, answered to Morganem. With this, Morganem finally had a powerful, unified army with which to forge his Empire. Using his magic to open Warp Gates, he could deploy the Dharuk to any world in Ithia, and the Dharuk were more than content to have so many more worlds to conquer.
The Dharuk helped Morgnaem subjugate the rest of Ithia and unify it under his rule, and would henceforth be deployed to any world where an overwhelming military force was needed. Morganem would at times also 'loan' Dharuk warriors to some of his subjects, as they made powerful bodyguards and soldiers.
During the events of To the Bitter End, the Dharuk Warmaster was Kurgah Ghar, and he was in charge of Morganem's Dharuk forces. While the Dharuk attempted to stop the Companions' initial assault on Khaal Spire, their normally elite forces found themselves outmatched. Without the support of the rest of the Council of Six, the Dharuk defenses quickly crumbled.
This forced Morganem's hand - he needed to buy time to utilize the Reality Disrupter in a last-ditch defense, but he felt that the Dharuk would not be able to hold the Companions at bay long enough. As such, he made a desperate alliance with the Void Children, who came to his aid and managed to succeed where the Dharuk had failed, holiding the Companions at bay long enough for the Reality Disrupter to fire.
The Dharuk were on-going antagonists throughout the events of To the Bitter End, though as the Companions found each other and recovered their previous power, the amount of threat they posed diminished over time, with the Void Children replacing (or rather, surpassing them) in terms of the danger they posed.
When Morganem was finally defeated, the Dharuk ceased their attacks on the Companions, in recognition of their superior martial skill. They now continue to dwell on Dhar as they had before, returning to their tribal ways, though some of their number remain scattered across various worlds on Ithia.
Trivia[]
The first Dharuk that the player fights in To the Bitter End (not during a cinematic) is a single Dharuk Warrior bodyguard working for Luther Arctus in Greyholm Prison. His combat abilities are far superior to those of the human and elven guards, to highlight the Dharuk's physical superiority over most of the mortals inhabitants of Ithia.