Legends of Belariath

Ogres

Ogres are best distinguished and known for their huge shaggy bodies and extraordinary ugliness. This pales in comparison to their general lack of intelligence, however. They are slow to move and slow to think, but once they begin an action or a thought process, they become virtual juggernauts due to their natural tenacity and great strength. Ogres are muscular and often appear to bulge both around their bellies and their arms and thighs. Thus, they can take a great deal of damage and make great meat shields for casting races to hide behind in the heat of war. Their preferred weapon of battle is the club; it is easy to wield, easy to replace, and requires more physical action than thought.

However, it should be noted that ogres are considered a ‘hungry’ race; being built in proportion, an ogre male can cause great amounts of damage to almost any female who is not of his own race. And ogres have vast appetites for any female that is not of their own race; given what race they are, this cannot be held against them.

Character Creation

Starter Classes: Warrior, Shaman, Artisan, Entertainer, Layman

Advanced Classes: Warlord, Warrior Mage, Earth Mage

Starting Stats:

	STR	INT	AGI	RES	STA	SPL	LFE
Basic Stats	6	1	1	2	9	2	7

Appearance

By Sterbew Ranticdoiy, Researcher and Scholar.

Physical Characteristics

Ogres can range vastly in hight and appearance. But generally speaking they are tall (average 9 ft) hairy (This phenomenon is likened to the variation of hair among humans, as you are probably aware, some humans have little body hair, while others have hair on their backs, chest, etc. Ogre's seem to have this same condition, except an Ogre's chest hair may grow several inches in length!) and massive. Some ogres have tusks, while others have odd ridge-shaped patterns in there foreheads. All ogres are extremely strong and have thick skin and hard bones. They also have several rows of sharp teeth. Generally speaking, ogres senses are no better then a humans, however some of them do have exceptional senses of smell, allowing them to hunt and track, and detect moving animals from quite far away. Speaking of smell, or more to the point, stench, most ogres are truly foul smelling, do to their general hatred of water.

Ogres tend to use only the most simple of tools, generally clubs or spears. They rarely wear any armour. Indeed, with their thick skin and solid skulls, armor would be a bit redundant, and slow the ogres down even more then they normally are. The males do wear Apstrkojsc, specially designed loin-cloths that protect their sexual organs from damage during combat. The Apstrkojsc also protects them from blows to the groin. Ogres also weave 'pockets' into their body hair, allowing them to carry a great number of things with them as they travel. They also weave ropes from hides of animals and carry bits of iron around with them. We'll discuss their uses for those a bit later.

Habits

Most people don't care to ponder ogre habits. They mostly fight and eat, sometimes both at once. Ogres prefer simple living, shunning even the most primitive of mud huts in favor of sleeping in caves, trees or simply out in the open. If you ever come across a sleeping ogre, don't forget the old adage, 'It is best to let sleeping ogres lie.' As combative and cranky as an ogre may be normally, when woken up suddenly, they can be ten times worse. It is not surprising that 'Waking the ogre' has become a slang term for committing suicide.

Urban Ogres

"So this ogre walks into a bar..." How many jokes or humorous stories begin thusly? But what kind of ogre would you find in a bar? You may have heard them referred to as 'civilized' or 'tame' ogres, but those terms are misleading. While any ogre that can be around others without trying to kill them is tamer and more civilized then their country cousins, by most standards, they are still decisively NOT tame OR civilized by even a barbarian's standards. The urbane ogre, however, is a different type of ogre then those you'll encounter living in the wilds of ogre country. Most (I would be tempted to say all, but their are always exceptions) of these ogres are half-breeds, although it would be unwise to suggest such a thing to their faces! All of them are outcasts, having been first exiled by the ogres, and then somehow surviving a trip through the lands that surround ogre country, which are filled with humans and elves who hate and fear ogres, and will kill them on sight. These ogres are smarter and sneakier then the typical ogre, and may have adapted to 'civilization' by wearing clothes and using money. Still, it is the rare bar indeed into which a full grown ogre may walk, without the bar clearing out immediately!