Quaraphon

Quaraphons are twisted aberrations that seem almost to exist as a parody of centaurs, crudely aping their forms and lifestyles.

Quaraphons are belligerent, swaggering creatures that wander the open plains looking to hone their fighting prowess on anything that seems to be a challenge. Quaraphons spend most of their time wandering in nomadic groups, hunting herds of large, dangerous animals such as bison and elephants. Because the creatures require a huge amount of food, the range of a quaraphon herd can be enormous and often infringes on the territory of other plains-dwelling races. Most times, these territorial intrusions turn violent, although occasionally the members of a herd will temper their brawling nature to trade with others. While rather dim, quaraphons love weapons and armor of all kinds and will attack anyone that enters their territory bearing such items.

A quaraphon stands 9 to 10 feet tall and weighs 650 to 750 pounds. Its skin is deep azure blue and is covered with warty knots. The head of a quaraphon is unusually large, and includes two mouths, one on top of the other, and four eyes. The placement of the eyes varies with each quaraphon—some arrangements are uniformly even and horizontal, while other quaraphons look as though their eyes were randomly placed on their faces. Despite this strange physiological feature, quaraphons are alert and do not seem hindered by the odd placement of their eyes. Quaraphons speak Giant.

A quaraphon is an unsubtle combatant that relies on its brute strength to discourage any serious resistance. It first lets loose a deafening bellow before charging in on its victim. Quaraphons commonly become barbarians, marrying their natural strength and aggressiveness with the brutal style of that class. Such quaraphon are called "Bullies" in their own language.

Quaraphons live in nomadic herds that roam the open plains and hilly expanses. Most herds have between 30 and 100 individuals, with at least half being females and children. Although omnivorous, quaraphons prefer meat, and the males spend most of their time tracking large game, while females graze for nuts, berries, and tubers to supplement their diet. Constantly on the move, quaraphons travel light and prefer not to burden themselves with large amounts of material goods.

The leader of a quaraphon herd is known as the bullmaster and is always the largest and strongest member. The bullmaster spends most of his time watching out for younger quaraphons that vie for his lofty position. The bellows of dueling quaraphons can be heard for miles around, lending a chilling quality to the desolate plains. However, while males are definitely in charge of the tribes, elder females also have a serious say in matters—a bullmaster would be foolhardy to make decisions without first consulting the eldest female of the tribe. Females are also the most likely to become spellcasters, particularly druids and clerics.

Quaraphons have a deep distrust of arcane magic, and ascribe all manner of superstitious belief to its practice. For this reason, no “sane” quaraphon willingly associates with sorcerers or wizards, and one is cast out from the tribe if he or she befriends any such characters.

Once every ten years, all the quaraphon herds converge at a prescribed location, following an ancient migratory path. This gathering, called a herdmeet, is an enormous, raucous affair where trade is conducted, hotheaded males compete in boisterous games, and young females are traded between herds to build alliances and reaffirm friendships. Other creatures are strictly forbidden from attending herdmeets, and any that are caught will be used as “live game” in the next round of hunting.

In Eberron, Quaraphons claim the plains and savannas of Xen’drik as their private hunting grounds. They hunt and feed on the various breeds of dinosaurs that roam the plains.

PC Stats

+10 Strength, +12 Constitution, –4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom.

Large size. –1 penalty to Armor Class, –1 penalty on attack rolls, –4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium creatures.

Space/Reach 10 feet/5 feet.

A quaraphon’s base land speed is 40 feet.

Darkvision out to 60 feet.

Racial Hit Dice: A quaraphon beings with nine levels of aberration, which provide 9d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +6, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +3, Ref +3, and Will +6.

Racial Skills: A quaraphon’s aberration levels give it skill points equal to 12 × (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1). Its class skills are Intimidate, Listen, Spot, and Survival.

Racial Feats: A quaraphon’s aberration levels give it four feats.

+7 natural armor bonus.

Natural Weapons: Bite (1d6) and hoof (1d6).

Special Attacks: Deafening Bellow (Su): Once per day, a quaraphon can let loose a cacophony of noise from its two mouths. Any creature within 60 feet of the quaraphon takes 2d6 points of sonic damage and must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or be deafened for 1d6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Automatic Languages: Giant.

Favored Class: Barbarian.

Level Adjustment +5.