Skrel'eth - Overview
"Pull up to the bar, lad, and get yourself a tankard. What do you mean you've never seen a Skrel'eth before? You can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting a Skrell! No matter though! Not so many of us in these parts as in our homeland, Tarkas. We're hard to miss in a crowd, though, we stand a head taller then most others and this blue skin ain't cause we're holding our breath!" the large fellow guffawed a bit raucously and I laughed along, a shade timidly. In my travels I have found it best not to anger men a foot taller then I wearing armor and with a warhammer on their hip.
He caught my glance at the weapon and reached out to clap me on the shoulder with jocular intent though the contact nearly jarred my eyeteeth loose. "OH, worry not for that lad, I may know well the use of my weapon but I am no brigand or footpad." he chuckled. "No Skrel'eth worth the his Legacy would sink to such things. Looking a bit confused there, lad. Oh! The Legacy." he smiled a little as he continued, "Well, we Skrel'eth, we are all linked together by blood. All of a Clan can remember what our ancestors lived. Not well, mind you, kinda like a vague sensation of familiarity when we do something. But our Loregivers...your people might call them shamans, they are mystics who can help a Skrel'eth look deeper into his Legacy, to see the greatest moments of heroism and valor in his peoples history... And also their darkest deeds." His tone seemed a bit subdued at this last part and I couldn't help but wonder if in his own Legacy he had seen something dark. Before I could ask he was off again...
"So you see, lad, people wonder why Skrell are more likely to do the honorable thing, why they are known for their trustworthiness. The Legacy. Anything we do we know it will be seen by those who come after us. And we do not want to bring shame on our Clan. If a Skrel'eth is known to act in a manner that will tarnish a clan's Legacy they are dealt with quickly. Grave offenses merit grave punishments and even the minor ones are dealt with harshly, though the offender will be given a second chance. There are no third chances." he explained darkly.
"Enough of such talk! My people are not given to brooding over what we cannot change or what has not happened yet. One of our great Loregivers, Tanilak, said that our people's attitude about life was summed up by two phrases. 'What is past is passed.', meaning there is no way to change what has happened already, so best to move on, and 'Do not worry about what might happen, think only of what you must do.' This means that if the outcome could be either bad or good for you, focus on what you have to do to make things go your way. Worrying about something bad just makes it more likely to happen." He finished his tankard with those words but before I could offer to buy him another the barman appeared with a fresh one.
"All in all, my people are simple. We live off the land, eating what we can hunt or forage for, we build simple villages not the cities of mortar and stone that other races seem to favor. We take pleasure in the simple things in life. A good stout, a good story, a good fight, and good companionship. What else matters? And speaking of which..." he lifts his tankard and drains it so quickly that I wonder if there was anything in it in the first place. "My mate is waiting on me." he grins. "Perhaps we will meet again and I can tell you more of my people. Balor's strength to you, lad. Safe journeys."