Races

Voraath - by T.A. Saunders ©2003 v1.7

A slave race. The ultimate expression of both Shar'Vaire power and arrogance was the creation of the Voraath. A people made to dig in the deep places of the world to bring forth the priceless boromandite ore that is used in all manner of weapons, armors and high grade tools. Not only miners but later, the strongest of them became shocktroopers for the Shar'Vaire. This race initially was obedient without question and protected their Shar'Vaire masters with ferocious vigor when they were endangered.

Then something happened. Something the Shar'Vaire thought they safeguarded against. Something they thought they ensured could never come to pass. However, the most critical lesson of life the Shar'Vaire did not learn or perhaps forgotten themselves was, that Life always grows and evolves past the intent of its creators. It was this coming into sentience that made the Voraath play a key role in the eventual collapse of the Shar'Vaire Empire.

It had been well into the War of the Eternals (the name given to the battle between the Tallis-Shei and the Shar'Vaire) when this sentience came, or at least was realized. Many a Moon Elf had all ready died to spear and blade wielded by these fearsome enemies. Standing at an average of twelve feet tall, with some Voraath reaching fourteen, these creatures were the epitome of durability and efficiency and were incredibly hard to kill either with weapon or spell.

The secret to this was the redundancy the Shar'Vaire designed into the Voraath physiology. Rather than a rib cage, Voraath had thicker ribs that overlapped one another, with cartilage in-between to maintain flexibility while still protecting the over-sized lungs and two hearts that thrummed within their giant chests.

Likewise, limbs could regenerate if severed and grievous injures could heal themselves given enough time. The Voraath's entire skeletal structure was designed in such a way that they could survive crushing blows of rock and ore falling upon them, giving them a phenomenal durability. Voraath were also made impervious to noxious poison gases that could often be found in the deep mines they dug for boromandite ore, gems and precious metals.

The one thing these powerful giants could not do is wield magic. The Shar'Vaire made their skin this strange gold tincture that makes it impossible for them to draw magical energy within their bodies. The Shar'Vaire felt if the Voraath ever did gain sentience and learned magic of any kind that they would become a terrible threat to the Empire.

To further safeguard against such an eventuality, the Shar'Vaire controlled when the Voraath breed. The ‘ability' to produce offspring can happen only four months out of the year and Voraath females can only give birth to one offspring per gestation period (which is six months). This ensured they would always small in number and easy to manage.

Voraath are also not incredibly long-lived. Despite having incredibly durable bodies and two hearts to keep their strange blue-tinctured blood moving, the wear on the body to keep it moving takes its toll. The oldest of the Voraath live to be around one hundred years old. while the average is no more than eighty to seventy five. This short life span was intentional to further assist in their population control.

It would have seemed the Shar'Vaire, after many complex and long experimented upon rituals had finally created a perfect slave race to serve them in times of industry and war. While Shar'Vaire warriors in and of themselves were certainly nothing to scoff at, a thundering battalion of Voraath sent down upon your enemies certain had terror-striking blow to their morale.