Editing Autia (section)

==='''Miscellaneous Races'''===

In the east of Autia, there exists a relative of the Ogre clans, though some may not realize that is what they are. Known by the people of Napan as Oni, they are vile and solitary creatures. The product of isolated and desperate remnants of the ogre-kind, they prey on livestock and humans alike. They are of a foul cunning, but what kind of intelligence they truly posses is not certain. Any being that has managed to communicate with one has never lived to tell the tale.

They are believed to be rare, or perhaps they avoid larger human habitations. They are said to have been nearly exterminated within the Union, with any survivors having fled into the Iron Crown mountains, though it is hard to say for certain that none still exist there. Some tribes of the Rig'nood claim to have killed some of monsters when they have wandered down into their lands, but this has yet to be thoroughly verified.

Origin:

The Oni were once members of the Orgrillon race. In far ancient days, the Ogre kind was capable of wielding magic at a comparable rate to any other people. Throughout the ages, as the Orgrillon culture developed and advanced they began to value physical strength and the power of the machine that was their military might. In contrast to this, those of magic potential would often push their people in other directions and pursuits. While still prideful, they saw less value in the hierarchy of the legions and militarizing nature of their wider culture. As time passed, the rift between warrior and sorcerer grew, and it was the warriors that were elevating their people to the heights of their glory. Eventually, those of magic were maligned. What value was there in weaker and less courageous individuals wielding such a disproportionate power that magic offered? They were shunned, outcast, and at times killed for supposed treachery. To this day the Orgrillons still hold the use of magic as taboo. Not all those of magical affinity were destroyed. Many found a home on the fringes of the their empire, far to the east of Autia and even beyond their borders. Here they eakes out simple lives away from the strict codes and laws of their people.

When the calamitous war with the Sartyrians erupted, many of the ogre kind were swept aside and their great fortresses toppled in a cruel foreboding for what awaited their entire empire. Those that were not pushed back north were usually killed, often times hunted. Those that remained survived through tenacity or guile. While the group that would become the Ogres clustered in family groups and hid in dense swamps, others were not able to find security so easily.

In the east, nearly all of the Ogre-kind either fell in battle or were exterminated outright. Only the few that still possessed and practised the magical arts were able to survive. These individuals were, even at this time, few in number and the crumbling of their society scattered them. From desperation, these wielders of sorcery turned their power inwards, infusing their very bodies with magical essence and at times even sustaining themselves with it.

Over the centuries, this changed them in both body and mind. Cruel and reclusive, the Oni are nearly monsters to all who behold them. They are carnivorous, and will eat any living creature they can get their hands on, with a strong draw to wielders of magic for it provides energy to them far beyond what any flesh ever could. They are also drawn to physical locations of power, feeling the arcane energies in the air like a shark drawn to blood. They will often choose to inhabit such places, for they offer them a steady source of the magic they crave. While no longer casters of grand or ornate spells, they have an innate affinity for and resistance to magic, with weaker spells simply sizzling on their skin or even seemingly empowering them outright.

These are solitary beings. Rarely coming together in groups of more than two or three. Their fight for survival has made them distrustful and greedy. They are no less intelligent then their Orgrillon ancestors, but are possessed with a malicious nature. They have a reputation for setting traps for weary travelers, and at times hunting casters for days at a time without rest. In desperate times they may even devour each other. Those who live in eastern Autia may go a lifetime without encountering one, but they are well known and regarded with fearful revulsion.