Introduction
The Atrushki are large deer-like humanoids with powerful, strong bodies and impressive antlers or horns. They come from a frozen world called Helenas, and its fate was part of the collateral damage that the Keeper inflicted on multiple dimensions. When the Keeper’s deceptions drove the Athervannir to insanity and the Wayfinder Grace Tharaxes collapsed and splintered into countless consciousnesses across time and space, a brutal and cruel incarnation of the Athervannir emerged in the world of Helenas. The Atrushki, rulers of the world, were cast down and enslaved by the creature known as Moscaris (or ‘tyrant’, and Atrushkian). They discovered the rifts that it had used to find their world and fled to other parts of the Keeper’s Universe, and were eventually discovered by the Graces of the Phalanx, during the Hidden Age in the aftermath of the Devourer War. One tribe of Atrushki escaped into the Mortal Realm and for millennia remained hidden by the magic of the Graces under the White Tree of Khozan in
Ghotharand , whilst another tribe joined their saviours in the Phalanx and served as their most loyal soldiers. The truth about the identity of Moscaris was kept from the Atrushki for millennia, and their innate sense of honour led them to serve loyally. However, as with the Thaladic Graces, doubt crept into their hearts and they slowly learned what had happened at the Battle of Damnation and understood the extent of the Keeper’s betrayal. A bitter civil war broke out amongst the Atrushki, with some choosing to stay loyal to the Phalanx no matter what, and others deciding that honour was best served by allying themselves with the Keeper’s victims and finding ways to support and shelter renegade Graces from the Shuravai. The Atrushki who stayed loyal to the Phalanx are now a small minority, and most of their kin in the Celestial Realm and beyond either secretly support the renegades or occupy Losivaa islands as their own fiefdoms and long for a way to free their home world. Atrushki deeply fear and despise the Shuravai and their servants.
Natural Allies
Atrushki in the Celestial Realm know that they need others to survive and whilst they are a proud and independent people, they seek to forge alliances with others. They don’t believe they were the creation of the now discredited Keeper and instead worship their own pantheon of gods, and they look upon other forms of life as being unfortunate enough to have been created by him. Having suffered the rule of Moscaris, they are inherently opposed to all tyrannical gods and entities and hope that humans will one day awaken to the truth about the Keeper. They form alliances with human strongholds in the Celestial Realm, and have even served amongst them; there are numerous Atrushki among the Solustines, for example. The Atrushki view the Suraians as curious oddities, but are slightly unnerved by their vast knowledge, as most Atrushki lore is passed throughout the tribes orally. They have little knowledge of the Gnomi or the Kairoi, but tend to see them as smaller and inoffensive creatures at the best of times. The Atrushki naturally assume they are there to lead other mortals and sometimes view their non Atrushki comrades as impertinent for having ideas of their own.
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Othrix's Antler
Othrix felt the icy wind against his white fur. It carried a scent that was unfamiliar to him, but troubling nonetheless; on this remote losivaa, Othrix and his human companion Lorma were not alone. The Atrushki bounty hunter and Lorma, the Dothian Fateweaver from the Solustine Kingdom had crossed an almost endless series of bridges to reach the small island that floated in the cold, icy mist. They were a long way from the Frost Margin, but its freezing winds blew hard nonetheless, which was less of a problem for the Atrushki, used as he was to the cold. Lorma looked apprehensively at her companion as he scented the air, seeing his grip upon his spear tighten.
“Othrix, what is it….” she began to say, but the answer came too quickly for either of them. Before the Atrushki could answer, the ground beneath them exploded in a frenzied mass of tentacles. Othrix and Lorma were thrown into the air, landing hard on the icy ground. Othrix’s spear had been thrown far out of his reach by the creature, a Zsulg, which shrieked and thrashed, drawn to the power of Fate that existed in both of them. Lorma lay unconscious on the icy ground, the Zsulg’s tentacles were reaching for her; once it had her it would drag her deep into its pit. Othrix reached up and felt his left antler which dripped blood; one of the outer bone spurs had broken away and lay on the ground close the the foul creature.
Othrix felt a surge of anger, all Atrushki took immense pride in their antlers, and Orthix especially so. He crawled towards the Zsulg and grasped the broken antler spur in his hand. He lept into the pit, on top of the Zsulg, which opened its barbed mouth, ready to receive new prey. Orthix plunged the horn deep down the creature’s throat until it burst out of the other side of its body. As it stopped thrashing and slowly died, Orthix pulled out the horn, which he would normally have kept. Looking at the foul black blood that coated it he decided that this time, on balance, the Zsulg could keep it.
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