Doombearers, also called Doombringers, are Gnolls with white fur and special abilities.
Overview[edit | edit source]
Doombearers are Gnolls whose fur turns white after the tragic loss of their tribe. They are meant to bear the will of their tribe and avert doom, warning others of calamity.[1] They're "Fated", according to Wer. Almost all of them are [Survivors].[2]
Abilities[edit | edit source]
Doombearers have the ability to manipulate luck. They can provide good luck for themselves and their allies, or inflict bad luck on their enemies. A Doombearer unaware of their power can still use it unknowingly.
Doombearers are able to cast arcane magic, by way of storing mana in their fur, even while a giant magicore crystal was suppressing Gnollish aptitude for magic.[3]
Weaknesses[edit | edit source]
They can run out of luck if they overuse their power, and even run a deficit. When that happens, they grow weaker, their fur turning greyer. As a backlash, they suffer bad luck, which they must endure. They can pay their luck debt a little through games of chance, though there must be a real wager for it to work. They will lose most rounds and become progressively unluckier throughout, even when it's incredibly unlikely that they should lose or get such poor outcomes repeatedly.[4]
History[edit | edit source]
During the Long Night, the time period when magic disappeared, Doombearers fought against the horrors that took advantage of magic's absence with their powers.[5]
Long ago, Doombearers presumably led the Kingdom of Gnolls to ruin. For this, the Plain's Eye Tribe vowed to hunt them down, and appointed themselves as custodians of their luck-manipulating powers. They merged the souls of the Doombearers they killed into a Daemon of Luck, bound to the Chieftain to use as they saw fit.
They also started to spread tales that their fur turned white because they caused misfortune, rather than surviving it. They spread tales among Gnoll tribes that they only bring doom, and called them Doombringers. They even suppressed information to the contrary, destroying a Gnoll library to push their narrative and hide the truth. Eventually, "Doombringers" became feared and reviled amongst Gnolls
As white Gnolls and their children were hunted down by Doomslayers, they had to hide or leave Izril to survive. In Salazsar, there is a group of nearly three dozens, organized by individuals acting under codenames.[2]
At the latest Meeting of the Tribes, the truth about Doombearers was brought to light as well as the complicity of the Plain's Eye Tribe in hiding the truth.[1] A battle broke out between the tribes, but ultimately the Daemon was released from its servitude and disappeared, and the leaders of Plain's Eye perished. Shaman Ulcreziek made a deal with Belavierr to save his tribe before he died, and she fulfilled it by turning the remaining members' fur white.[6]
How Doombearers are perceived did not improve much immediatly after the event, as white fur was then associated with the Plain's Eye and their treachery. The untrained and traumatised Plain's Eye remnants accidentally caused misfortune round the site of the Meeting of the Tribes.[7]
Known Doombearers[edit | edit source]
- Mrsha
- Alrric Kerrfa / Coinpurse
- Casklal / Spellcaster
- Wer / Wanderer
- ??? / Shadows
- Sidinel Kerrfa
- Sailt
- Qwera
- Merish
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Shadows and Spellcaster synthesised a special dye to help white gnolls hide. It doesn't smell, itch or make hair dry and crack. It doesn't wash off easily with water.[2]
- The appearance of Doombearers used to be an old trope in stories. They often carried an artifact the [Hero] needed, acted as guides, or issued warnings. They served as figures of great portent.[8]