There are those warriors who rely on raw emotion to empower their bodies in combat, letting anger drive their strength and endurance to unnatural feats. For some, this frenzy for battle becomes so powerful that it taps into something spiritual, something primal, that allows their rage to echo through realms and ages. Barbarians are individuals who can tap into this power, this great well of
Primal Magic and passion, to achieve battle prowess that even decades of study and training would struggle to match. While this rage can get out of their control, those Barbarians that learn to master it can turn their bodies into a living weapon to become some of the most fearsome warriors on the battlefield.
ORIGINS
The first Barbarians of recorded history come from the oral storytelling of
The Tzigani people from the end of the
Age of Antiquity. This gives the practice a root in
Orc culture and is inherently tied to early forms of
Druids and the use of
Primal Magic. This is most evident in the use of
Totems by totem warriors to imbue their bodies with powers and the use of
Primal Magic to induce furious rages that alter the body of the Barbarians. From this origin, this practice has grown and spread across many peoples and cultures - taking drastically different forms as it is adopted by other warriors.
IN SOCIETY TODAY
Today, the practice has been most wholly adopted and altered by the
Shadar-Kai. Seeing the Barbarian’s rage as a response to the
Hollow,
Shadar-Kai warriors are most often Barbarians and have developed new forms and functions of the practice. This means that Barbarians can be found throughout society in the Holy Kingdom of Shar - from sellsword for hire along the roads of the Haraq Desert to the gladiator arenas of Thebes. Bloodsport is a unique part of
Shadar-Kai culture, and with it can always be found a Barbarian in their frenzy - even in the less-sanctioned aerial bloodsports of the
Skyship crews in the Coalition Archipelago. In fact, these warriors are particularly desired by the pirate crews of the region for their ferocity and fearlessness, and can be often found aboard outlaw
Skyships.
While
Shadar-Kai culture has greatly adopted the warrior practice, there are still remnants of its history in its use in communing with lost spirits in the Coalition Archipelago that tie it back to its
Orc and
Half-Orc roots - where a fusion of the
Shadeweave and
Primal Magic meet. These warriors use their rage to connect to realms beyond, like
Orc shamans of old, to speak with spirits and channel them in battle.
Orc and
Half-Orc Barbarians are still common in the modern day, and a Barbarian’s aversion to civilized life and high society lends well to
The Tzigani culture and nomadic practice within the Imperial Fractals. However their strength and endurance makes them invaluable to guilds engaged in strenuous labor across the Silvermark and
Tavaszi Riverlands. While this can lead to damaged property or workplace accidents, the dangers and extreme conditions of the wilds makes these individuals worth the risk - and on many occasions the might of these warriors has saved expeditions into the far reaches of the
Fractals.
NOTABLE SUBCLASSES
The combination of the
Hollow and continued faith to
Shar has created the Zealot Barbarians of the
Shadar-Kai people. This unique fusion of near-
Divine Magic via the
Shadeweave and the raw emotion provided by the
Hollow creates a devastating warrior, whose rage can even take them beyond death to continue fighting when they should have fallen. This makes them some of the most feared Barbarians in the world and the Holy Kingdom of Shar uses them as the primary warriors of their holy army in Emeria.
Storm Herald Barbarians are a unique form of warriors that tap directly into the
Primal Magic of the realm to wield the elements as a part of their rage. They are storms of their own on the battlefield and have their roots in
Giantkin warriors who are native to the realm that Shadar finds itself in, though this connection has also been adopted by members of
The Dawnite faith.
