Oliarc [Creature]

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Slimcreeper
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Oliarc [Creature]

Post by Slimcreeper » Thu Nov 25, 2021 3:07 pm

It's been a while!

Oliarcs

Oliarcs usually resemble statues made of soft stone. In some cases, they may appear as petrified wood or hardened amber, but most commonly they appear to be made of something like sandstone. They may appear to be humanoid or a chimeric combination of creatures, but they always include two heads and a pearlescent node on either a face (perhaps like a third eye) or hand of the creature. Most Oliarcs are about the size of a dwarf, but variations are common. They live in communities called ‘clocks’ of up to a dozen. The weaker Oliarcs tend to the nest, in both its astral and physical manifestations. Because the Oliarcs can burrow through earth, an Oliarc nest can spring up seemingly overnight almost anywhere.
Their origin is largely unknown. There aren’t any reliable reports of them from before the Scourge, but they have been spreading in the years since. Some people think they are creations of mad magicians or horrors or Passions - the usual suspects. In reality, they are visitors from an astral plane that thrive in a sweet spot when the magical level is just high enough for them to manifest but not so high that the Horrors wipe them out. The relatively high mana level has made earth the perfect habitat. They gather victims and store them away in astral cocoons until the magic level changes in such a way that they need to flee. What they do with the victims is unknown. Theories include transforming the victims into new Oliarcs, feeding on them, or using them as batteries to maintain the mana level in their home plane.
They speak to each other in a language like a mighty gale rushing through a sea cave. Other Namegivers are unable to vocalize the language. There are reports of Oliarcs learning to speak Obsidiman and Throalic.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUz ... sp=sharing

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