Thri Kreen
Description
Thri-kreen are a race of large, intelligent insects often referred to as "mantis warriors". They are found in most areas of Athas and they prefer to roam the plains where they have hunting territories. Thri-kreen have no need of sleep and can remain active through the day and night.
Mature adult thri-kreen are 7 feet tall at the shoulder and 11 feet long. Six limbs protrude from their midsection, two are used for walking and the other four end in hands. The tough, sandy-yellow exoskeleton is extremely hard. A thri-kreen has two compound eyes, usually black with highlighted eyespots, two antennae, and a complicated jaw structure that manipulates food as the thri-kreen chews. The antennae help the individual to maneuver through brush and grasslands in the darkness (they also lessen any melee combat penalty from darkness or blindness by 1; missile combat is not affected). Thri-kreen often wear harnesses and even some forms of clothing, but they never wear armor.
The two subspecies of thri-kreen found in the Tyr Region are the jeral and the to'ksa. Jeral have short necks and antennae. Their hands each have three fingers and the shells of their abdomens are segmented. To'ksa have four-fingered hands, long necks, and long antennae. They also have a long, solid shell that covers the top of the abdomen, and a thin layer of skin that covers the rest of their chitin.
The thri-kreen native language uses several sounds found in humanoid languages, but also uses clicks and grinding sounds. While it is difficult for other creatures to speak this tongue, it is just as difficult for thri-kreen to imitate more standard speech patterns. Thri-kreen speak their own language, but some (perhaps 30%) understand common.
Combat
A thri-kreen wielding a gythka and hurling a chatkcha.
When hunting prey, thri-kreen used their natural and unnatural camouflage abilities to get close and observe. They always spared the time to prepare, using their psionic powers to boost their defensive and offensive capability. They then quickly closed the distance with their speed and jumping prowess, but if the fight went against them, they retreated just as quickly, using their camouflage to hide once more.[3][4]
In melee, the mantis warriors were whirlwinds of violence, preferring their four claws and venomous bites, but also wielding strange weapons. The thri-kreen primarily fought with two types of weapons unique to their kind: the gythka, a double-ended, crescent-headed polearm; and the chatkcha, a crystalline throwing wedge. With four arms, a thri-kreen could wield two gythkas or throw up to four chatkchas at a time. As exotic as these weapons were, they came naturally to trained mantis warriors.[5][3][4]
The majority of thri-kreen are hunters, concerned primarily with finding enough prey to support the pack. Thri-kreen hunters seldom attack other sentient beings for food, but will defend themselves if attacked. Some thri-kreen have strayed from hunting and have begun raiding, these thri-kreen are the scourge of all other creatures. Thri-kreen attack in a well-coordinated group, generally weakening their enemies with psionics and missile weapons before engaging in melee. They also stalk prey and are relentless in their pursuit. Because thri-kreen do not sleep, their ability in siege combat is superior. A raiding party can continue an assault long after their opponents have tired. Though thri-kreen can win most battles by force, they win some through attrition and endurance.
The thri-kreens' chitinous exoskeletons give them AC 5 naturally. Thri-kreen are immune to charm person and hold person spells. Unarmed, thri-kreen can attack with 4 claws and 1 bite attack per round. If using a weapon, thri-kreen can attack with weapon and bite. The gythka, a polearm with a blade at each end, can slash for 1-6 (1d6) points of damage against man-sized or smaller targets, or 1-10 (1d10) points of damage against larger targets. The gythka can be thrown as a spear to inflict 3-8 (1d6+2) points of damage. Thri-kreen also learn special combat maneuvers as they grow older, learning all by the time they are mature adults.
Leap: This ability allows thri-kreen to leap 20 feet straight up or 50 feet forward. They cannot leap backward.
Chatkcha: This is a crystalline throwing wedge. A thri-kreen can throw 2 chatkcha per round, as far as 270 feet. A chatkcha causes 3-8 (1d6+2) points of damage when it hits, and returns to the thrower when it misses. Generally, only adult thri-kreen use the chatkcha. The thri-kreen ceremony of adulthood is associated with the chatkcha.
Venom: This venom is delivered through an older thri-kreen's bite. Anyone bitten must make a successful save vs. paralyzation or be paralyzed. Smaller than man-sized creatures are paralyzed for 2-20 (2d10) rounds, man-sized for 2-16 (2d8) rounds, large creatures for 1-8 (1d8) rounds, and huge and gargantuan creatures for only 1 round.
Dodge missiles: A mature thri-kreen can dodge missiles fired at it with a roll of 9 or better on 1d20; they cannot dodge magical effects, only physical missiles. Magical physical missiles (arrows, thrown axes) modify this roll by their magical bonus.
Psionics: Some thri-kreen have psionic wild talents. There is a 50% chance that any thri-kreen will have a psionic wild talent, described in The Complete Psionics Handbook.
Magical items: Thri-kreen can use most magical items, though those designed for humanoid creatures cannot be worn properly, so do not function for a thri-kreen.
Habitat/Society
Thri-kreen hatch from eggs. Those who hatch from the same group of eggs are considered a clutch. The bond of a clutchmate goes beyond family or friendship. When thri-kreen enter humanoid society, they still feel compelled to belong to a clutch and often accept humanoids as clutchmates.
In their natural habitats thri-kreen organize into hunting packs. There are no permanent thri-kreen communities. Each pack consists of several clutches and ranges over a wide territory that the pack considers to be theirs for purposes of hunting. Small packs consist only of mature adults. Packs of more than eight thri-kreen are about two-thirds mature adults and one-third other age categories (in about equal numbers).
Thri-kreen clutches and packs are organized along a strict order of dominance. The toughest member is the leader, the second most powerful is the second in command, and so forth. A thri-kreen can challenge a superior for dominance, initiating a contest. The combatants fight until one surrenders or dies. Afterward, the matter is settled and there are no lingering resentments, because all thri-kreen agree that a strong leader makes a strong pack. The challenger is doing what is best for the pack, not seeking personal gain, and after a challenge, both individuals can go about their business, confident of their status within the group.
When thri-kreen are not engaged in hunting, they make and repair weapons, teach skills to their young, and create works of art, usually sculpture. Thri-kreen also decorate their chitin with etchings or sometimes paints. Thri-kreen also pride themselves in the quality of their weapons, especially the chatkcha. Many chatkcha are decorative as well as functional and have designs carved into them. Some chatkcha become heirlooms and are passed on from generation to generation within a pack. If an heirloom chatkcha is lost or stolen, thri-kreen consider it a point of honor to recover it.
Thri-kreen are monogamous and never betray the bond between mates. Mating usually takes place late in the year at the time of the ascending sun. From 10-30 eggs are laid approximately 30 days later. Eggs not eaten by predators hatch about 60 days later. Thri-kreen advance one age category per year until they become mature adults. A thri-kreen seldom lives for more than 35 years.
Ecology
Thri-kreen are carnivores. They seldom hunt other intelligent creatures for food, but will do so in times of need. Mantis warriors have a well-known taste for elves, which keeps both races at an uneasy peace at best. When raiding instead of simply hunting, thri-kreen are rarely interested in items with monetary value, usually concentrating on those things they can eat. Thri-kreen packs carry little that could be considered treasure, though their weapons and tools are considered valuable by some. Thri-kreen chitin can also be used for armor by humanoids if care is taken.
Abilities
Thri-kreen had superior physical abilities compared to a human, with high strength and great agility. They were faster on their feet, and naturally and supremely good at jumping. They were quick enough to deflect or dodge an incoming projectile. Their carapace was naturally armored, being tough and resistant to impact, and its sandy color helped them hide in sandy or barren landscapes. Thri-kreen typically grew to be skilled in their senses, hiding, jumping, climbing, and balancing.
A thri-kreen's four claws and a bite from its mandibles were dangerous natural weapons. They secreted a paralyzing poison from their mouths, sufficient for a single venomous bite per day. This could hamper a victim's agility, or cause paralysis for several minutes.
Thri-kreen were naturally psionic beings, possessing psionic energy and knowing innately a number of powers. A thri-kreen could manifest the powers chameleon and know direction and location thrice each per day, and greater concealing amorpha and metaphysical claw once each per day.
They could see in the dark through darkvision, and did not sleep at all, making them immune to sleep spells and the like.
Personality
Thri-kreen had no clear or definable personalities as humans would know them. No emotions could be discerned from their insectoid faces or their patterns of behavior, though rapid twitching of their antennae or mandibles indicated agitation.[3] Acting spontaneously, they were unpredictable and always of chaotic alignment, showing no inclination toward good or evil. These traits made them utterly alien and inscrutable to other races, and folk unfamiliar with them regarded them as savage and brutal monsters.In fact, thri-kreen simply viewed themselves and other beings in terms of the relationship between predator and prey. They saw themselves as noble hunters, and were wholly focused on survival and the basic needs of existence, a life in which the weak died and the strong survived. They were not cruel or evil if they had no need to be, but nor did they go out of their way to aid others if they did not have to.[3] By instinct, they saw humanoid beings as food first and as trading partners or allies second.
Their alien thought patterns made it hard for them to understand the advanced concepts or sophisticated social rules of other races.[3][4] They lacked ideas of devotion, honor, or loyalty, but they respected skill and strength and recognized the convenience of working with talented hunting companions. They maintained no traditions, and saw no benefit in the traditions of others. They valued little that humanoids made.
Relations
Thri-kreen and loxo waging a territorial dispute on the Shaar.
Predictably, it was also very difficult for thri-kreen to deal with others,[4] and they were hard to negotiate with.[5][3][4] They neither avoided nor sought out other races, but merely existed alongside them, sharing territory without conflict. They appreciated folk who lived off the land, respectfully hunted prey, and cared for the environment. Farmers and city-dwellers were seen as "not-hunters", not worthy of attention nor hostility. However, they would treat with others—the Krakk't tribe sent one of their number to the Hill of Memories each year to meet with human, centaur, and wemic representatives of the Shining Plains, where they discussed issues.
However, those who overhunted, despoiled the land, or otherwise wasted natural resources, such as gnolls, orcs, and others, were seen as dangers to be driven off or destroyed. A thri-kreen pack would attack without pause or consideration for their own safety. They typically did not attack without provocation, however. Nevertheless, there would always be some vicious examples—as in any species—who would attack and kill strangers without pause or thought, purely for the sake of it. Either way, when they did attack, it was without mercy or guilt.
Humanoid realms sometimes made alliances with thri-kreen neighbors that encouraged the mantis warriors to oppose folk from a rival realm or assist in some activity, if they could be persuaded. Some collectors valued thri-kreen harnesses and their exotic weapons. Some trophy-hunters even mounted whole thri-kreen exoskeletons for display, even having them magically animated like undead skeletons. A thri-kreen's head could even be hollowed out and worn as a helmet or mask.
Society
Thri-kreen mated in the spring. The females dug egg chambers and laid clutches of up to 120 eggs, before reburying and abandoning it. The eggs hatched in mid-summer; the larvae looked like miniature adult thri-kreen. They survived on instinct alone, discovering hunting and tool-making skills and how to survive, but 90% of larvae perished[5] before reaching adulthood after only 5 or 6 summers[5][3][4] Thri-kreen were short-lived; if they survived their harsh lives, they could be considered middle-aged at 12 or 16, old by 18 to 20, and truly venerable at 25. No thri-kreen lived past 35 by natural means.
Thri-kreen were distinctly not social in nature.[5] Each thri-kreen developed deep personal attachments to only a small handful of other thri-kreen, their clutch-mates. They would defend these companions at all costs, even at the cost of their own lives. All creatures outside this small band were viewed as strangers and enemies, though a wandering thri-kreen didn't advertise such beliefs for the sake of peace.[4] They formed small and independent packs, almost always of their clutch-mates,[5][3] but sometimes lone young thri-kreen or survivors of failed packs would join existing packs or find each other and establish new packs.[5] Rarely, a few packs would ally to combine their strength when they faced a more dangerous threat.
They had very nomadic lifestyles, with packs journeying great distances within their extensive territories over their relatively short lifespans. Permanent settlements of thri-kreen were completely unheard of.
Thri-kreen packs spent their days foraging and hunting for the food and other supplies they need to survive.[3] They could survive on relatively little food and water, and were carnivorous, pursuing a variety of creatures as prey.[5] Thri-kreen tribes like the Krakk't typically hunted rabbits, horses (which they considered a delicacy), and other herd beasts.[9][18] They also especially enjoyed the taste of elves.[5][18][5] Leftover meat they dried and saved to eat later, but when times were tough, they would eat carrion or even cannibalize each other, even their young.[5]
Sometimes—usually requested by a thri-kreen leader, but not always—a thri-kreen left their pack to explore lands outside their territory, on the basis that the information gained would be useful for the pack's survival. Such lone thri-kreen often fell in with others who wandered the land, simply in order to survive. In the process, they learned their ways and bonded with them, adopting them as new clutch-mates. Most became caravan guards across the plains, but rarely a wandering thri-kreen joined with an adventuring party.
Thri-kreen are formidable nomadic hunters who respect the land and hate creatures that despoil it. They will attack anyone who disturbs their home.
The pack is the single unit of organization among the thri-kreen, generally having 2-24 individuals. The pack is always on the hunt, never idle —there are no permanent thri-kreen communities. The socalled thri-kreen nations are, in fact, not organized as such, nor are they thought of as nations by the mantis warriors.
The nations are human conventions to delineate on maps where the thri-kreen thrive and dominate.
Variant forms of thri-kreen include the civilized tohr-kreen (of which there are six subspecies) & the mentally and physically altered zik-trin.
When Thri-Kreen are born they immediately imprint with the person they see first. Sometimes this allows other races to utilize them easily as slave labor. Thri-kreen do not have families in the traditional sense, they are born to clutches, a group of individuals that work together to survive. Thri-kreen believe in the survival of the clutch above all and will fight their leader if they think they are endangering the clutch. Those that lose their clutch for any reason sometimes adventure with other races eventually forming a new clutch bond.
The thri-kreen society is very organized, and they have a strong hive mentality when in groups. Not much more is known since they have a difficult time associating with the humanoid races.
Culture
Thri-kreen were not religious[17] and had no established faith, nor gods of their own. Instead, they preferred druidic traditions of nature worship and thri-kreen druids served as spiritual leaders for their kind.[3][4] Thri-kreen druids were usually attuned to nature deities like Malar and Silvanus, those with portfolios of hunting and natural resources. A few thri-kreen however, likely influenced by humanoid neighbors like the Shaarans, saw the benefits in Akadi or Tempus, and became their clerics.[3]
They placed little value in possessions. What few treasures or trinkets they had were kept for their usefulness or decorative purposes.[5]
Language
Thri-kreen had their own language—simply called Thri-Kreen—made up of whistles and clicks and snaps of their mandibles. Typical thri-kreen names were Chak-tha, Chit'al, Drik-chkit, Gulnik, Kacht-ta, Kat'chka, Kiktul, Klaktuk, Krik, Pak'cha, Pik-ik-cha, Pok, Ptekwe, Tak-tha, Tal'tich, Tilnak, and Tik-tik; there were no gendered names and no surnames.[3][4]
Thri-kreen whose packs ranged close to humanoid civilizations often picked up a little of their languages too, usually Common, but Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Halfling were all possible. Those who dwelled in the Shaar typically also picked up Shaaran.[3][4][14]
Thri-kreen lands
Thri-kreen preferred climates that were dry and warm, but could manage in temperate conditions. They also favored arid and open landscapes that provided places where they could easily camouflage themselves, such as against dry grass, sand dunes, and rock. Thus they could be found in deserts, grasslands, plains, savannas, and scrublands, places many other folk would see as uninhabitable.[5][3][4] When they did rest, they dug lairs that were little more than bare and lightless holes in the ground.[5]
Their best known territory was perhaps in the Eastern Shaar,[3][14][8] where thri-kreen controlled the hills and lowlands a short distance north of the Toadsquat Mountains. They occasionally ventured further north, but to avoid confrontations with humans, they rarely went as far as the Council Hills.[8] Their nomadic population was relatively small, divided into a number of packs that trekked the open grasslands and plains, hunting and following the migrating herds.[3][14][8] Thri-kreen were especially well suited for the hot, dry environment of the Shaar, and here they flourished.[8] They were known to be an untiring, well-disciplined, and fearless group, well-armed with gythkas and chatkchas and potions of cure light wounds.[14]
Because of this, the thri-kreen were dominant in their territory, but they ignored other races within it and did not attack unless provoked or their resources were threatened. Otherwise, they remained reclusive and tried to avoid confrontation if they could. In return, however, most other races of the Shaar feared them and also steered clear of them. Centaurs and wemics of the Shaar liked them not and stayed away, while the loxo, also seen as alien by their neighbors, better accepted the thri-kreen and trade with them from time to time.[3][14][8] Some Shaaran human tribes got on well with both loxo and thri-kreen, others less so, according to how close their territories were, but the Shaarans only interacted as much as the thri-kreen permitted them.
The small Krakk't tribe of thri-kreen dwelt in the Rushing Hills and ranged into the Shining Plains east of the Vilhon Reach.
Thri-kreen were also sighted on the more barren parts of the plains north of the Lake of Steam or in ruins found there.
To the east, thri-kreen were very rarely sighted in the central steppe of the Hordelands, and in the Quoya and Raurin deserts.
Thri-kreen also lived in the badlands and harsh deserts of the far northwest of Maztica. The Azuposi people told fanciful stories of these mantis warriors, claiming among other things that they mined precious gems and metals—and devoured these riches for food![13]
Combat
Thri-kreen make and use a variety of weapons.
Chief among them are the gythka, a polearm with wicked blades at either end, and the chatkcha, a dasl crystal throwing wedge which returns when thrown. They also fashion many forms of clothing, but never wear armor.
Dasl is made from thri-kreen venom, modified by the zik-thok (fejik) plant. Creation of dasl is a racial secret and is only suitable for making three-sided weapons such as the chatkcha and gythka.
Thri-kreen can use most magical items such as wands, rods, staves, weapons, shields, and most miscellaneous magic, but this is rare.
Those items, however, designed to be worn by demihumans, such as rings, girdles, armor, and cloaks, will not function for a thri-kreen because he simply cannot put them on.
Thri-Kreen Ships
Leaf Ship
Thorn Ship
Average lifespan
29–35Homeland(s)
Shaar
Shining Plains
Lake of Steam
Hordelands
Quoya
Raurin
Northwest Maztica
Average height
4.5–7 ft (1.4–2.1 ms)
Average weight
100–375 lbs (45–170 kg)
Skin color(s)
Sandy brown, sandy yellow, to pale green
Distinctions
Insectoid appearance, six limbs, psionic
Jeral - Sandy Yellow - cultured
J'hol - red-shelled kreen with small abdomens, the most humanoid in appearance
J'ez - kreen with black shells and toothy maws
Tondi - a race of unusual purple kreen that look something like giant flowers or exotic rock formations
T'Keech - dark green chitin identifies them as having once dwelt in areas with plant-life (They don't get rot disease in moist areas unlike other kreen).
To'ksa - Sandy Yellow - barbaric
Zik-trin (Means changed Kreen)
zik-trin'ta are scouts and the write up of Tohr-kreen
zik-trin'ak built specifically for combat.
Zik-chil - These are a cousin species that retain the ability to manipulate their enzymes and change other Kreen. They create the Ziktrin.
Trin- Primitive Thri-Kreen, walk on 4 legs
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