Threat: Varkers

A number of outside forces threaten the security of the Bay, but by far the most well known of these are the ubiquitous varkers.

What is a Varker?

Varkers are a race of thinking beings, like humans and the other races of the Bay. However, unlike the races of the Bay varkers are generally uncivilized. Instead of living in organized towns and villages, varkers live in tiny groups, called bands, in the wilderness. Each band is part of a larger tribe that occupies a region.

In appearance, varkers from different tribes can vary wildly. They tend to be shorter than humans, more on the size scale of hodekin, but some tribes are exceptions. Varkers, especially the local Redfeather tribe, are often described as rat-like in appearance, with elongated snouts and long hairless tails. Redfeather varkers are lightly furred across their whole bodies, and their fur ranges from bright oranges to deep rich auburns. In general you can think of a varker as being like an anthropomorphized rat, mouse, or other rodent.

You can treat Redfeather varkers as a baseline; some tribes tend to be taller than Redfeathers, others somewhat smaller; some have radically different hair colour; much more hair, or much less; some have no tails, or differently shaped tails; some are heavyset and bulky, others slender and lithe. Each tribe is different, and mixture between tribes happens fairly seldom.

What are Varkers like?

The primary thing to know about varkers is that they respect strength. A varker doesn’t fight you because he hates you, but rather either because he sees you as a threat that has to be put down, or because you have something he wants. For a varker strength is everything, and if you have the strength to take something from someone else, then you have earned the right to possess it. Varkers will generally decline negotiations, but they can be reasonable and a show of force will be respected and might lead them to back down.

In general, varkers want the same things as other races: they want to keep their family, band, and tribe protected and safe, and they want to provide for their own as well. Sometimes, if supplies are tight, providing for their own means taking what they need from someone else such as another tribe or the people of the Bay. The fact that needs to be remembered is that varkers are not any more evil that humans, they simply have a different worldview that is sometimes at odds with that of civilized people.

Varker Society

Each tribe is a distinct entity and a varker doesn’t usually show any more affinity for a member of a different tribe than he would for a human, uruk, or alfar. That said, there are rare occasions when tribes will work together if they all stand to gain from it, but these arrangements are always short-lived and usually end with one tribe betraying the other.

Leadership among varkers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, based on strength. A varker will declare himself Ri of the band, and gains the position if none oppose him. If he does face opposition, the matter is solved with simple combat. Nearly all disputes among varkers are solved in this manner; they do not usually fight to the death, instead the weaker individual usually concedes defeat and the stronger is considered the winner of the argument. While each band is led by a Ri, there is also a higher position called an Ardri who leads the tribe as a whole.

Using Varkers in Play

Many different monsters can be used to represent varkers, and you may want to represent different tribes with different races. The best race to use for the Redfeather varkers would be kobolds, as their abilities agree with the baseline rat-like nature. Other monsters that can be used for varkers include goblins, orcs, lizardfolk, gnolls, minotaurs. and anything else you might think appropriate. Don’t be afraid to re-skin more exotic creatures into varkers as well, especially for a champion, Ri, or Ardri.

Monday: The Hodekin Race