Aarok

Description

Roaming the countryside in massive herds, the Aarok quietly goes about their business searching and gathering food for their families. Although they own no possessions, the Aarok is a sentient creature of very advanced intelligence. They prefer to spend their days in telepathic communication with the rest of the herd. Matter of fact, for any telepathy-endowed race nearby, it sounds like a large and noisy gathering. As they search the surrounding area, they constantly update the rest of the herd with new information. It may seem that they would be overwhelmed with everyone "talking" at the same time but, somehow, they can filter out all the noise and hone in only on the news that they need.

The major benefit for the mind-sharing among the entire group is that they can solve complex problems extremely quickly. The sharing also allows them to partition information across multiple minds so that, in case of death, the knowledge is not lost. There is no definitive answer about whether the mind sharing happens when Aaroks meet other herds. When talking with mages that have encountered them, they indicate that this is not the case; that Aaroks can only mind-link with their own group.

Even though they prefer telepathy, they are still capable of speaking the common elemental language. Communications with others are more about information sharing. Since they don’t need any possessions, their only desire is to obtain more information. The new data is shared with the group and passed down through the ages.

Interaction

When someone first meets an Aarok, they get the sense that they are dealing with an animal or ignorant race. Walking on all fours most of the time, the Aarok looks like any basic beast of burden or grazing animal. They will use this to their advantage when gaining new information from others. They will play “stupid” in order to get the upper hand in information gathering and negotiation.

Combat

As a pacifist, the Aarok will avoid conflict. If it occurs, they have two major forms of attack: trampling and striking with their legs/forearms. The trampling would happen if there is a large group of them around. The mind-link would notify the other members of the herd of who the target is.

Where the Aarok is alone, it is always surprising that they can stand on their hind legs. When that happens, they are usually around 8’ tall and easily walk and swing with their forearms for a short period. Although not great fighters, they would prefer to run away as opposed to using this method.