The Phthral

The human empires of the world have long harbored an innate fear of the darkness and the creatures that lurk outside the light. They are right to do so. The Phthral are ruthless hunters, with an intellect surpassing that of all other humanoid beings. The pain they cause is excrutiating - and their war cries rend hearts.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Phtral are humanoids, with two arms and legs. However, upon injury, they can maintain control of severed limbs due to their nervous system being distributed throughout the entirety of their bodies.

Dietary Needs and Habits

In order to maintain its muscles and magics, a phthral must constantly eat as much as possible, preferring meat to other sources of nutrition. They are incapable of sustaining themselves through farming due to this, and constantly war against neighboring races to pillage their resources. As a result, they are considered highly parasitic.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The Phthral are organized into six tribes: Naerun, Fauer, Gensen, Aacrokog, Dimvilgah, and Zevch. Each is a fundamentally different society, ranging from incredibly warlike to scavengers to peaceful monks.

Facial characteristics

The head is little more than a distributed disk containing sensory features, seemingly synthetic as its ears and nose are imperceptible.

Average Intelligence

Capable of reasoning complex puzzles that take humans hours to solve in mere minutes.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Phthral facial disc is shaped in such a way that sound and light is channeled into its center, allowing them to create a mental image of all that surround them. Additionally, they have infra-vision, allowing them to use eyesight in addition to hearing while in dark locations. Additionally, some clans have developed powerful magic that allow them to weave their consciousness into their surroundings to learn more of them and avoid being surprised.

Civilization and Culture

History

The Phthral are an ancient peoples, originating from the eras long since passed when the Infinite Ones had only just found the Material Plane. Zehk created them to serve as his representation on the strange land, and they were later used as a physical model for humans, as their slender bodies allowed them to flourish and spread. However, when Zehk was banished from Aresa, the Phthral found themselves needing to supplement their diets with the flesh of other creatures, as they lost their main provider. They have since descended into madness, with little connection to their creator besides the dark magic that resides within them.

Historical Figures

The Infinite One Zehk is their creator, and therefore they hold him in reverence; he is the only being to whom they are subservient without ulterior motive.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The Phthral are parasitic, pillaging the settlements of other peoples and siphoning their goods for themselves, as their creator left them with such an aura of death as to prevent them from easily sustaining themselves.

Lifespan

110 years

Average Height

7 feet

Average Weight

175 pounds

Average Physique

Slim, yet muscular

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Unilaterally dark skinned, as though stained, with eye color varying based on tribe.