Urraidhean Dorrachas
Many years ago, the dwarves of Clan Foehammer emerged from a life underground to establish a new life on the surface. Under this new roofless expanse, the clan soon found a world full of monsters no less dangerous than those they had left behind in the Underdark. Thus was formed the Urraidhean Dorrachas, the “Elite Darkness”, so named because of their willingness to embrace that which they seek to destroy.
The Urraidhean Dorrachas (pronounced oo-rien dor-ah-kass) are a secret order of lycanthropes dedicated to the eradication of unnatural evils. These fearsome hunters will track evil creatures and other lycans across vast distances, all in an effort to one day halt the spread of the curse.
Undergoing the contraction and subsequent "Taming" of the curse is strictly voluntary but considered to be a great honor and a noble dedication of one's life. It means giving up any semblance of a normal life and forfeiting the right to sire children from that point forward. For this reason, many dwarves live a “first life” for a number of years as craftsmen, tradesmen, or clerics. This grants the opportunity for them to raise families, establish their vocation, and prepare an inheritance for their families. Most of the order are therefore seasoned veterans with the life experience and mental fortitude required to master the curse; a young lycan blood hunter is very rare.
Once a blood hunter’s children are old enough to start lives of their own, dwarves of the Urraidhean Dorrachas undergo a ritual called the Nochd na Fala, or Night of Blood. It is during this ritual that they receive the lycan blood and bend all their considerable training and willpower to the task of dominating its base impulses.
Once in a great while, even this training fails to be enough as the hunter succumbs to mindless savagery and bloodlust during the Nochd na Fala. Those who cannot control the curse become the geiltean (pronounced "gehlch-ain"; it translates to “untamable”) and must be put down by their brothers and sisters among the Urraidhean Dorrachas. On the extremely rare occasion that a geiltean escapes, they must be hunted down before they can cause harm. This death is considered a mercy. As a matter of honor, geiltean are only put down by members of the hunters who are in their natural, dwarven forms.
Structure
The Urraidhean Dorrachas are overseen by the Cullach ("alpha"), who is also the patriarch of Clan Foehammer. The second, or Dàrnach is typically also the heir to the leadership of the taigh and serves as the Cullach's proxy on all matters related to the Urraidhean Dorrachas.
Organizational structure is nearly non-existent beyond the leadership but internally there is an unspoken hierarchy of experience. Younger or more inexperienced hunters will always naturally defer to the grizzled veterans. Outside the clan stronghold, hunters will most often work alone until a larger threat is identified that is beyond their individual capabilities. In such cases, a group of four to eight hunters, known as a Cete, will band together to eradicate the threat. This is particularly true when an outbreak of lycanthropy is discovered and subsequently dealt with in deadly and efficient fashion.
Tha Sinn na Rogha an da Dhiogha
"hah sheen nah rowah on daw deegah"
We are the lesser of two evils.
Type
Military Order
Alternative Names
Blood Hunters, The Elite Darkness, The Order of the Lycan
Training Level
Elite
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
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