The Jrid are a race of large humanoid creatures that hold an infamous and violent reputation. They mostly dwell in the underground of
Thedas. They are believed to be soulless, blood thirsty, exceptionally dangerous, and willing to indiscriminately kill or corrupt all in their path.
Some consider the Jrid to be the single greatest threat to all of Thedas in modern history.
They recently engaged
Ferelden in war and annihilated much of the the southern half of the nation before they were eventually defeated. The victory over the Jrid is greatly accredited to the
Wardens, an organization whose main prerogative is to eliminate the Jrid.
History
It is difficult to track how long the Jrid existed in the Uncharted Lands just south of Ferelden due to the lack of historical documentation. At the very least, the existence of the Jrid was one of obscurity for longer than the age of the
Ferelden nation. They only gained recognition after the
Ferelden Rebellions when the Warden-Commander
Malcolinus Flume shifted his organization towards protecting Ferelden against the Jrid. The Wardens, under Malcolinus' guidance, rarely fought the Jrid since the Jrid rarely went north into the
Korcari Wilds, a Ferelden territory. Instead, the few encounters recorded with Jrid were people of their kind patrolling their borders in complete silence. They were depicted as large, stone humanoids whose strength rivaled the strongest of oxen.
They weren't really a threat until something stirred them up into violence and they invaded southern Ferelden and quickly dominated all that opposed them. The Wardens staged an effort to stop the Jrid when the monsters began swarming into the Korcari Wilds. At that battle, the Battle of Dur Themriel, the tides went against the Wardens and it was believed that every Warden had been killed. This threw the nation into chaos and sparked violent unrest and eventually the
Ferelden Civil War. While the Fereldens fought amongst themselves, the Jrid annihilated much of their nation.
They continued to do so for approximately 18 months until eventually the Wardens, lead by the single unknown Warden survivor of the Battle of Dur Themriel, plunged himself and the organization he built up into the heart of the Jrid. He,
Gregory Flume, and his cohorts were successful. Their success drove many of the Jrid insane and the few pockets of Jrid who were still in the Ferelden nation were easily cleaned up.
Believed Origin
Since the Warden victory, the organization has released information about the existence of the Jrid and the threat they still serve.
First, they claimed that the Jrid had some connection to the
Tevinter Imperium. Some of their higher members have speculated that at some point the Tevinter Imperium performed a ritual that allowed seven of their most powerful mages to achieve the impossible and physically walk the
Fade. They also state that, either because of some god punishing them or because of the danger the Fade poses, their actions caused in the destruction of the Imperium. This also leads them to believe that the Jrid may be the people of the Imperium. Such claims have little factual evidence and instead rely upon anecdotes, but many give the Warden organization some level of credence in this matter.
Second, the Jrid only recently invaded and became violent because of some relation to a powerful creature that they referred to as an "Old God". This Old God was a powerful
dragon, warped by corrupt magic and
lyrium, who served as a hivemind for the Jrid. When the Warden high-command was able to kill this being, that was what caused the Jrid to go insane. The group claims that the Old Gods, of which there were seven in total, were worshiped as gods by the Tevinters.
Third, Jrid can only be killed by a Warden. There are many accounts of this amongst Fereldens and thus many accept this as fact.
Lastly, the Jrid are far from gone. The ones that were on the surface and who fought against Ferelden were a small subset of the Jrid that exist. The majority of them exist in the Deep Roads with the purpose to seek out the six other Old Gods. When they find an Old God, a large group of Jrid will emerge from the Deep Roads into the nearest area of the surface and wage another bloody war. Supposedly these Old Gods were trapped into the Deep Roads when the Tevinters entered into the Fade somehow, if some of the Wardens' theories are to be believed.
Abilities
The Jrid that have been encountered have shown no ability to speak nor listen. Instead, they somehow have some sort of telepathy with those around them. According to tales, Jrid can easily take on four of Ferelden's best soldiers at a time. Many of the soldiers that have had the displeasure of fighting them have given them the informal name of "Misery", citing the phrase "fighting Jrid brings nothing but misery". These soldiers also have told stories of the Jrid being sentient beings, but almost construct-like in a way they're not quite sure how to put.
The Jrid cover themselves in colors of black, grey, and occasionally brown. Perhaps those signify something to them, but no one really knows what.
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