Urazya: Krevborna's Continent

The details of the world around Krevborna have been left intentionally vague so that whoever wants to use the setting can easily place it within a world of their choice. However, the following details on the other nations of my campaign are included here should you wish to use the same context that I do. 

Krevborna is centrally located on a continent called Urazya. If you need to understand where these nations sit in relation to each other, imagine a map of Eurasia; I’m confident you will be able to figure out where the following countries should be placed. 

The detail below will be sparse by design; Krevborna is the main event, this is all just background flavor--with the added opportunity for Game Masters to expand with their own material, if they want.

Yre

Yre is a green isle of bogs, hills, and deep forests at the northwest extremity of Urazya. The island is a patchwork of warring clans, some of which remain pagan despite the best efforts of proselytizing monks and priests from the Western Church. 

Language: Kurgic

Albitza

The White Isle of Albitza is a land of perpetual rain and drear south of Yre. The Middle Kingdom of Albitza seeks to conquer the Northlands and the Wolflands to unite the island into one nation. 

Language: Albitzish

Narske

Narske’s cold northern climate and near-perpetual snow has made its populace resilient and bold. Unable to sustain themselves on agriculture alone, sailors from Narske are much-feared as raiders who pillage the coasts of other nations. 

Language: Narskan

Rhus

Once the mightiest empire of Urazya, Rhus has been reduced to a magically tainted badlands. It is only home to roving monstrosities and once-human abominations. Krevborna’s royal family was originally an offshoot of Rhus’s rulers. Rhus is due north of Krevborna. 

Language: Rhuski

The Khanlands

The Khanlands are a seemingly endless expanse of steppes flowing east from the borders of Rhus. It is the domain of horse-riding nomadic tribes whose leaders are all said to be descended from a single legendary warlord. 

Language: Khandic

The Ustalecht Paladinate

The Ustalecht Paladinate is a confederacy of states west of the Vespermark that consider themselves the rightful heirs of the Eastern Church’s authority. Each state is ruled by a “Lord Paladin,” a knight elected by the resident noble families. Despite the name, not every paladin of Ustalecht is noble or pious. The Paladinate is collectively one of Krevborna’s ancestral foes. 

Language: Ustalechtian

The Rhomish Principalities

East of Krevborna lies the Rhomish Principalities, a collection of petty kingdoms that frequently make war against each other. The holy seat of the Western Church of Holy Blood is the state of Rhom, the City-State of Cathedrals. 

Language: Rhomian

Morgundy

Morgundy sits on the western coast of Urazya, due south of Albitza. Morgundy considers itself the pinnacle of culture on the continent. Recently, a number of peasant uprisings against the heavy taxes levied by the nation’s nobles point toward the possibility of bloody class warfare. 

Language: Morgundaz

Castalonya

South of Morgundy is Castalonya, a warm, sun-kissed land locked in a bitter conflict between two heirs to the kingdom’s throne. Castalonya is a nation of sailors; Castalonyan explorers have even made excursions to the mysterious continent of Merhk in the far west. Pirates rule the westernmost tip of Castalonya, where they maintain an enclave called the Port o' Gulls.

Language: Castalonyan

The Ebrian Empire

The Ebrian Empire borders Krevborna to the south. The Ebrian Empire’s vast reach includes Tystolya, the former seat of the Eastern Church’s Patriarch and Novi Mudraal at the tip of a southern continent known as Akelb. The Ebrians worship a bellicose fire god–considered one of the worst heresies by the Church of Holy Blood.

Language: Ebric

Ontioch

Ontioch, also known as the Holy Land, is the supposed birthplace of the Khristosa. Currently a war-torn land caught between the Ebrian Empire and western crusaders who wish to reclaim it, Ontioch largely lies in ruins.

Language: Ontimaic

Gurkhesh

A land of spices and silks south of the Khanlands, Gurkhesh exists under the colonial rule of trading Albitzan companies. Known as the Land of a Thousand Gods, Gurkhesh’s religious practices are poorly understood by the rest of Urazya. 

Language: Gurkheshi

Nikondo

Nikondo is an island of the far east. Though it has an emperor, said to be descended from a pagan moon goddess, Nikondo is actually ruled by military leaders who oversee a caste of hereditary swornswords. The people of Nikondo fear that bloody civil war is inevitable, as each military leader sees themselves as the one destined to unite the country. 

Language: Nikond

Bloodstone

Bad Books for Bad People, Episode 89: Bloodstone

Karl Edward Wagner’s 1975 sword and sorcery epic Bloodstone is the first full-length outing for Kane, mighty-thewed protagonist of a series of short stories and novels. Jack and Kate navigate a treacherous world of shifting political alliances, alien technology, and bat-monster-goddess girlfriends to figure out where Kane fits in the world of fantasy fiction.

Has there ever been a trustworthy alien intelligence in a fantasy novel? Can a simple outfit swap transform a butch into a femme? Is there a secret (or not so secret) gothic lineage to this fantasy series? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.

Great Novellas and Short Novels

Requests for really good novellas or short novels come up a lot on the Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque Discord, so I made a Google Sheet of some of my favorites, which anyone can access here. I'll add more as I remember them or...read them. 

Total Skull: The Best of November 2025

All the stuff that thrilled me in November.

Bugonia

I am, admittedly, a huge mark for Yorgos Lanthimos's films, but even putting my bias out there ahead of time--Bugonia was just a phenomenal film. In Bugonia, a pair of down-and-outers kidnap a corporate executive because they believe that she is an alien actively working against mankind; their plan, such that it is, is to use her to negotiate with the hidden alien overlords they think are preying on mankind. 

The cast features actors who have previously appeared in Lanthimos's movies--such as Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone--but the overall cast is smaller, more intimate--which really adds to the claustrophobic feel of the film. The mix of black comedy, naturalism, and (I would argue) existential horror is pitch perfect. 

Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin, Stygian Bough volume II

I really enjoyed the first volume of Stygian Bough, an epic collaboration between funeral doom metallers Bell Witch and the dark folk project Aerial Ruin, but the second helping is even stronger than the first. Amazing, and sometimes melancholy sounding stuff, but it's never ponderous; despite having aspects of drone metal, this one wastes no time getting down to business and tearing into the psyche. 

Twisted Metal, Season Two

Twisted Metal is such big, dumb fun I almost cannot believe that its being made in 2025. Isn't this sort of thing illegal now? 

The first season gave me the kind of trash culture apocalypse I crave, but the second season adds both more over-the-top insanity and more touching emotional moments that contrast nicely with the high-octane madness. The new Raven is a blast in this (love a bratty gothed-out hellbitch with a tragic backstory) and introducing Axel from the video game (a buff angry dude who plugs directly into two giant wheels he uses as his ride) shouldn't work, but somehow did. And Mayhem was exactly the kind of plucky, dumbfuck sidekick the main duo needed. If you're at all a fan of my PLANET MOTHERFUCKER game, you need need need to check out Twisted Metal. 

The Ramones

Although the Sex Pistols were my entryway into punk in high school, it was the Ramones that I probably spent the most time listening to. I have extremely vivid memories of having a Ramones tape blaring on my Walkman to drown out the rest of the shit on the bus ride to and from school for a solid year. There was something about the cartoonish hammer-headedness of the band's music that really, really hit me. November found me digging out my Ramones records and yeah man, they're still great. In particular, the first four Ramones are an unimpeachable run--just completely game-changing, right up there with the first batch of Black Sabbath albums as early, genre-defining, won't-ever-be-equaled music.

Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher: Crossroads of Ravens

A new Witcher book brings with it a great deal of excitement (because I love the Witcher series) and a bit of trepidation (what if it doesn't give me what I'm looking for in a Witcher book?). Sapkowski be praised, this one hit the mark easily. Crossroads of Ravens covers Geralt's first season, fresh out of "Witcher school" and walking the path of the monster slayer. Geralt gets a new mentor, makes a great deal of enemies, learns the hard lessons that man is the greatest monster of all and that politics is the vicious playground of the terminally insane, and adds some new tricks to his kit that help him beat ass when needed. It may not be the best thing I read in November, but it was easily the most fun.

Austin Pardun: The Complete Works 2017-2025

Halloween only ends if you let it. I kept the spooktrain a-rollin' into November with this absolutely essential book of Halloween art by Austin Pardun. In the many pages of this book (seriously, this is a THICK tome collecting years and years of artwork), you'll find more than enough skull faces, warty witches, and pumpkin-headed creeps to sate your Samhain cravings. Pardun has an eye for the perfect Halloween color palette, and his tastes run toward the retro; there are plenty of references to VHS fright flicks, pin-up gals, and the toys of yesteryear that you should find thrilling. If you are a Halloweenhead, you owe it to yourself to get this.

Earth Tongue, Great Haunting

Apparently my girlfriend told me to check out this band, I forgot, but then months later someone on my Discord brought them up again and I finally dove in. This heavy psychedelic band is fantastic, melding fuzz-drenched guitars with vocals and performances that have some real fire to them. This kind of inner mind bad trip can be a wandering, aimless affair, but on Great Haunting Earth Tongue keeps the energy high and they never get lost in the haze. I'm really looking forward to their next album in 2026 now.

The Tainted

This post covers the last batch of "ancestries" typically available in my Krevborna games: the tainted. The tainted are deviant branches of mankind’s family tree. They are strange peoples who owe their existences to ancestral curses, the introduction of monstrous bloodlines, or the warping effects of sin.

Bagheeta

The accursed bagheeta trace their origins to the lands of Old Mudraal. The magical calamity that destroyed the mighty necromantic empire of Old Mudraal also created the first bagheeta by fusing human bodies with the feline spirits of great cats. 

After the cataclysm reduced Old Mudraal to a wasteland, the bagheeta left to settle elsewhere. Some now call Krevborna their home, though they take pains to conceal the truth of their tainted ancestry and try to blend into the local populace. Bagheeta usually look fully human, but a bagheeta’s facial features become feline and they gain sharp claws and fangs when they are angered.

Cambions

In the ancestry of all cambions is a progenitor who fornicated with a devil. The fruits of this blasphemous union are a family inheritance of diabolic traits including horns, a tail, and cloven hooves. Not all members of a demonically tainted bloodline are born as cambions; the corruption appears seemingly at random within a family.

In areas of Krevborna dominated by the Church, cambions are shunned at best and hunted at worst. Cambions are drawn toward vices and sin; some cambions valiantly resist this temptation, choosing instead to live as paragons of virtue and restraint.

Dhampir

Dhampir are people with a mixed vampire and human heritage. As such, they are most commonly found in vampire-haunted Sibersk, though they may be found throughout Krevborna. Some houses of vampiric nobles treat dhampir as equal members of the family, while others regard them as inferior, weak-blooded aberrations. 

Though pale and possessing an undeniably morbid aura, dhampir are not immediately obvious as people of inhuman ancestry. All dhampir thirst for blood, though some resist the urge to imbibe mortal essence. Ironically, some of the most proficient vampire hunters in Krevborna are dhampir.

Drakoi

No one is “born” a drakoi. Rather, being a drakoi is a condition, something akin to a dreadful disease—albeit a malady of a spiritual nature. Drakoi are sinners so consumed by their misdeeds that their bodies evidence the foulness of their souls. Since dragons are emblems of sin, it follows suit that the drakoi are human beings who have become dragon-like. Their bodies grow squamous, their teeth elongate into fangs, and their fingers curl into claws; some grow tails or horns.

Despite their sinful natures, the drakoi serve a dual purpose to the Church of Holy Blood: they are cautionary tales that allow the Church to enforce its strictures and are sought-after converts. After all, what could be a better mark of the Church’s power than bringing about the atonement of someone so enmeshed in perfidy that their body has transformed into something biblically monstrous?

Greshnik

Greshnik are the descendants of humans transformed by the eldritch power of Zhylassa, an abomination from the Outer Dark who currently sleeps within the depths of the Khorva Sea. Most greshnik possess normal human appearances when they are born, but during puberty they begin to take on a fish-like forms. Eventually, a greshnik becomes hairless, loses their lips, ears, and noses, and gains bulging eyes, rubbery skin, and gills. 

Greshnik are most commonly found in coastal areas, particularly within the city of Piskaro; they cannot bear to be far from the sea for very long. Greshnik are always plagued with nightmares—they dream of the sea's secrets, of dedicating themselves to Zhylassa’s foul service, and finding the mad sunken city of Fathom’s Reach.

Lycans

Lycans, also known as “wolfbloods,” are humans whose bloodlines have inherited the curse of lycanthropy in a minor, but persistent and incurable, form. Lycans generally pass as normal members of mankind, though their bodies possess obvious bestial traits, such as sharp teeth, yellow eyes, or a profusion of thick hair. When angered or provoked, a lycan’s form becomes more wolfen, sprouting shaggy pelts, claws, and ravening fangs.

Lycans often heed the call of the wild and find themselves drawn to places of fierce natural beauty. Forging a life in the savage wilds is frequently a lycan’s best bet for continued survival. 

Nefari

Long ago, a flight of angels tasked by the Word and the Light with keeping watch over mankind were tempted by great lusts and seduced their charges instead of safeguarding them from sin. The nefari are the progeny born from these sacrilegious trysts. Even though the initial nefari have interbred with mankind over generations, the taint of the fallen angels remains within their bloodlines; children born to angelic-infected lineages are invariably nefari.

Each nefari possesses the divine power of the Word and the Light’s angelic servants. They are universally comely, perfectly formed and terribly beautiful to behold. A nefari can draw upon their heritage to manifest angelic wings and halos of divine light that prove their otherworldly nature.

Savage Worlds Stats

Below are some notes on using these ancestries in Savage Worlds.

Bagheeta: the stats for the rakshasans in the Fantasy Companion are almost there, but swap Ancestral Enemy for Amorous. 

Cambions: the infernals in the Fantasy Companion are already a great fit.

Dhampir: the graveborn in the Fantasy Companion is a good fit, though I wonder if the Sunlight Sensitivity shouldn't be replaced with something else. Not that dhampir in Krevborna aren't actually undead.

Drakoi: the dragonfolk in the Fantasy Companion work well for this, especially given the variant possibilities.

Greshnik: To make a greshnik character, use these abilities and penalties:

• Aquatic: Aquarians cannot drown in water and move at their full Pace when swimming.

• Low Light Vision: Aquarians are used to the darkness of the depths. They ignore penalties for Dim and Dark illumination.

• Night Terrors: Because of the horrific dreams that assail the greshnik, they subtract 1 from all Spirit rolls.

• Outsider: Greshnik subtract 2 from Persuasion rolls made to influence those who aren’t her own kind. 

• Toughness: Life in the depths of their watery world has made aquarian flesh dense and resilient. Add +1 to their Toughness.

Lycans: to make a lycan, use this assortment of ancestral abilities and penalties:

• Accursed Ancestry: Lycans suffer a -1 penalty to all Spirit rolls.

• Bestial Rage: The beast is always ready to spring forth and cause carnage. All lycans possess the Berserk Edge.

• Bite: In their bestial forms, lycan fangs cause Str+d4 damage and may be used on grappled foes.

• Bloodthirsty: Lycans never takes prisoners unless under the direct order of the person they consider the leader of their "pack." 

• Claws: In their bestial forms, lycans have claws that cause Str+d6 damage and are AP 2. 

• Easily Angered: Lycans subtract 2 when resisting Taunt attacks.

• Heightened Sense of Smell: A keen sense of smell gives lycans +2 to Survival rolls made to track if the target has a scent and the trail is no more than a day old.

• Hunted: Lycans must always be wary of monster hunters who might mistake them for full-blooded werewolves. 

• Low Light Vision: Lycans ignore penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).

• Monstrous Weakness: Attacks made with silvered weapons deal +4 damage against Lycans.

Nefari: The celestials in the Fantasy Companion are well-suited for the nefari.

The Last Stand of Grigori Trask

We finally wrapped up the Krevborna campaign that started in July of 2024. There were many times when I thought this one might just be scrapped; now that it's done, it's a weight off my shoulders. I had some fun, but not nearly enough to consider continuing this one further.

Characters

Panthalassa, primordial necromancer

Heck, revenant

Garazi, witch

Daytona, dhampir gunslinger

Khamaat, mummy mage

Events

The characters went into this one with a plan that they would ultimately abandon. They had their ally Nightsong, a diabolic bard, spread a tale of a mummy (Khamaat) who had raided the Church of Saint Brathis in hopes of luring the witchfinder Grigori Trask into an ambush. The plan had an obvious flaw: Trask had a score to settle with the rest of the group, and had no idea who Khamaat was--so it was unclear why he would be moved to take action here. I went with it, but I also gave Trask the kind of companions I imagined he would bring with him if he were after a mummy: he brought a pyromancer.

When the characters arrived at Vargas Bryn, the village where the Church of Saint Brathis was located, it was winter. They entered the church and saw a young mother, her child, and a shifty looking man praying in the pews. They let the bystanders go, but the church's priestess, Mother Signy, refused to leave. Threats of violence could not sway her; she had fought in Ontioch crusades and had taken a vow of pacifism--they could kill her and she would not fight back. 

In the church's crypts, they found the jawbone of Saint Brathis in a reliquary. Khamaat was nearly destroyed when she attempted to take it; as it turns out, the undead shouldn't handle holy relics. Daytona found another artifact within the church--a spearhead once wielded by Saint Othric. It would latter come in handy.

The group set up their ambush, but they hadn't put much thought into how they would defend the church from attack. Their unpreparedness became obvious when Garazi's familiar reported three riders entering the village and heading for the church. One of them dismounted, and entered the church; the others stayed atop their horses outside. Panthalassa tried to summon a giant spider to attack the interloper, but he sprinted to where she was hiding behind the altar and thwacked her with the flat of his sword, dazing her.

The others came piling out of their hidey-holes, but they were too far away to rescue Panthalassa. The interloper was none other than Wayland Morgaunt, the most famous monster hunter in Krevborna. He had been drawn to the church after hearing Nightsong's ballad second-hand. Wayland considered killing the "monsters" in the church anyway, but between their assurances that they wouldn't harm any innocents and the revelation of Panthalassa's ties to Nightsong and Serafina, he decided to just ride off and let this one go. Before leaving, he did give the characters valuable intel: he clued them into the fact that Trask was bringing a pyromancer and that the witch hunters had a captive: Thomasina Laurant, Panthalassa's pirate girlfriend.

The group decided that their plan to stage an ambush in the church was now untenable, so they mobilized to meet Trask's march on the road into town. And meet them they did. Trask's band consisted of Martin (a Church pyromancer, formerly a romantic interest of Garazi's), a gargoyle, a flesh golem, Wagner Highcross (Daytona's vampire gunslinger rival), and Trask himself (who was responsible for Heck's untimely death before returning as a revenant). 

The rest of the session was basically one huge brawl. Martin's fire magic made short work of Panthalassa's summoned creatures and did tremendous damage to Khamaat, who is highly flammable. Daytona found himself getting shot to pieces by Wagner. Heck was dogpiled by Trask and the gargoyle. The flesh golem's presence was so unnerving that several party members succumbed to fear. Garazi was miraculously unscathed by the flesh golem's attack.

Using the holy spear from the church, Daytona destroyed his rival; it was a good thing he had it too because that weapon was one of the few things the party had capable of actually killing a vampire. Khamaat released Thomasina from the cage in the back of Trask's wagon; Thomasina was able to grievously wound the gargoyle so that Khamaat could finish it off. Panthalassa convinced the flesh golem to stand down. Heck took Trask out, but as he fell he levied one last hammer blow that took Heck down. Garazi was able to heal Heck, who them punched Martin's face into pulp.

Battered and bloodied, the group made their way to an inn, where they were joined by Nightsong. It became apparent that the group's cohesion and willingness to fight the Hellwar was now at an end. Heck had picked up a nasty delusion that Trask was still alive--he wanted to continue seeking out his (actually deceased) nemesis. Garazi refused the offer to become the Devil's bride. Daytona wanted to get back to his lover. After delivering a satanic artifact, Khamaat really had no goals left to pursue. Panthalassa--had more pressing matters to attend to for the moment. Everyone went their separate ways, their chapter now concluded.

The Created

Today's blog post continues the exploration of non-human people you might play as characters in Krevborna. This time we're looking at "the created." Products of sorcery or mad science, the creatures within this category are artificially created beings that range from unique individuals to entire species engineered by design.

Golems

Most golems are unintelligent constructs built to serve their creators, but occasionally a golem achieves sentience or develops their own free will. The materials make to craft golems vary wildly. The “cauldronborn” servants made by witches are comprised of fungal matter and the viscera of slaughtered swine, while the automatons made by rogue inventors are constructed from iron, clay, or corpses. A golem might also be an ambulatory statue, an animate scarecrow, or a wooden marionette given life. Because they are not viewed as “real” beings, golems have no fundamental rights in most regions of Krevborna.

Gargoyles

At the height of the Church’s power its theurges used divine magic to animate the stone gargoyles carved atop its cathedrals. Created to defend holy sites, gargoyles have no lives of their own—until the places of worship they are charged with defending are destroyed. Most gargoyles die in defense of their bastions of the faith, but those few who survive discover that they now possess free will. Most fly away to parts unknown and are never seen again; a few remain to seek meaning in an existence now bereft of sacred duty.

Siziks

Siziks are the results of strange experiments carried out in the laboratories of Creedhall University; these experiments birthed a species of ratfolk with minds equal to those of humankind. Some siziks managed to escape captivity and have sought shelter in the city's sewers, but a portion of that cohort has fled Creedhall altogether. 

So far, the sizik have managed to keep their existence secret from the majority of mankind. They venture out of their warrens only under the cover of night to scavenge for food and goods. The most militant of the sizik want to strike back at the scientists of Creedhall University and free their fellows who remain test subjects in torturous laboratories.

Urska

The urska were sorcerously engineered by the vlaak as an attempt to design a race of impeccably loyal soldiers. Similar to humanoid bears in appearance, urska are generally regarded with awe and fear. Since the fall of the vlaak, they have founded their own enclaves in Krevborna’s northern reaches or joined communities willing to welcome them. Urska sometimes rally under the banner of a strong leader who commands their stalwart loyalty. Such leadership roles are only ever assumed when an urska manages to best all challengers in deadly, ritualized combat. 

Urska often favor attitudes best characterized as stoic and militaristic, though they also love crude humor and raucous bouts of feasting and drinking to excess. Urska generally cannot tolerate dishonesty; when an urska gives their oath, they would rather die than betray their word and bond.

Savage Worlds Stats

Below are some notes on using these ancestries in Savage Worlds.

Golems: the Construct ancestral ability is a must, but beyond that every golem character should be a unique creation dependent on the materials used to construct them and the purpose they were constructed for.

Gargoyles: here are the abilities I'd recommend for a gargoyle character

• Construct: They add +2 to recover from being Shaken, ignore one level of Wound modifiers, don’t breathe, and are immune to disease and poison. Wounds must be mended via the Repair skill. Each attempt takes one hour per current Wound level and ignores the “Golden Hour.” 
• Armor: +4 armor.
• Flight: The species can fly at Pace 24 and may “run” for 2d6″ of additional movement. 
• Claws: Str+d6.
• Camouflage: +2 to Stealth against stony surfaces.
• Reduced Core Skills: Gargoyles possess no core skills.
• Can't Heal: No capacity for natural healing or self-repair, but may otherwise be healed normally.
• All Thumbs: −2 penalty when using mechanical or electrical devices. If he rolls a Critical Failure while using such a device (and it doesn’t already have a built-in effect), it’s broken. 
• Can't Swim: −2 penalty to the Athletics skill when swimming and each inch moved in water costs 3″ of Pace. 
• Illiterate: Cannot read or perform higher math.
• Outsider: Outsiders subtract 2 from Persuasion rolls made to influence those who aren’t her own kind. It also means the character has few or no legal rights in the main campaign area. 
• Monstrous Form: They can only wear customized armor and subtract 1 from Trait rolls when using non-customized equipment and vehicles. Items can be customized to work for the character for 100% of the base cost.
• Attribute Penalty: -2 penalty to Smarts rolls.

Siziks: The ratling ancestry in the Fantasy Companion is perfect right out of the book.

Urska: here are the abilities I'd recommend for an urska character

• Blunt: Taught that might makes right, urska struggle with diplomacy and tact. They have the Mean Hindrance.
• Claws: Urska claws cause Strength+d6 damage, adding +4 if the character runs at least 5” (10 yards) and hits with them.
• Cold Resistance: Urska receive a +4 bonus to resist cold effects. Damage from cold is also reduced by 4.
• Heat Weakness: Urksa suffer a –4 penalty to resist heat effects and take +4 damage from heat and fire. 
• Hulking: Urska are tall and broad, adding +1 to their Toughness. They are Size +1.
• Martial Code: Honor is very important to urska. They generally keep their word, don’t abuse or kill prisoners, and feel duty-bound to respect those who have bested them.
• Tough: Urska starting Vigor is d6, increasing the limit to d12+1.
• Uneducated: Urska society favors physical prowess over intellectual ability. Smarts rolls are made at −1.
• Unwieldy: Their muscular frames causes urska to subtract two when using equipment designed for smaller beings, and they cannot wear humanoid armor or clothing. Equipment, armor, food and clothing cost double the listed price. 
• Very Strong: Urska start with Strength d8, increasing their maximum Strength to d12+2.