Wildlings

"Ya see that mark? It’s evil! We shoul’ burn it ‘fore it gets worse!"

Rural villager discovering a Wildling’s brand

Displaced beings far from home, Wildlings face distrust or outright hostility in many parts of the Eye. They carry features of various beasts, horns, sharp furred ears, teeth, scales, claws. Some resemble the beasts they hail from more than others, while others were lucky to get by with some light scaling and small claws. However, a mark stains their soul and skin alike, a mark that displays their home, the Realm of Yore.
Wildlings hail from the domain of an Aeon known as The Huntress. Blessed (or cursed depending on who you ask) with bestial traits that pull them towards the wilds, they appear in many shapes and sizes. One need only think of some kind of animal or beast, and they can be certain that a Wildling has adopted traits from it in some manner.
While they are overtly humanoid, at least usually, the various monstrous parts and traits garner ire from many. It usually isn’t enough to result in outright hostility or being attacked, but mistreatment and a lack of trust is to be expected. What pushes these initially inhospitable reactions towards violence is the revealing of the Huntress brand that stains both the spirit and body of a Wildling - a mark that exudes strange energies from Yore, the anchor between all Wildlings. This mark is often seen as an omen of misfortune, or something connected to the more negatively inclined planes.

Racial Modifiers

• Characteristics: Wildlings gain a +1 bonus to CON and PER, but suffer a -1 to WP. Wildlings share close ties to the great beasts they hail from, gaining their resilience and honed senses, but find themselves drawn towards the unknown, often with a negative outcome waiting for them.
• Night Vision: Wildlings ignore any penalties caused by natural darkness, and reduce penalties from magically induced or absolute darkness by half.
• Huntress’ Mark: The strange brand of the Huntress that imprints on both the physical and spiritual bodies of a Wildling renders it difficult to hide from supernatural senses. They receive a -20 to any roll to avoid supernatural means of detection. When a Wildling is detected through supernatural means, the mark resonates (often with physical pain, but doesn't strictly need to be painful) and the Wildling becomes aware of said detection, though they gain no information about its source. Even if someone is unable to sense or see supernatural energies, being within close proximity of a Wildling can feel slightly unsettling to some; unaware that they are in fact feeling the energy exuded by the brand. If Hardy is taken through Nature's Call, the +20 bonus to PhR is ignored when resisting supernatural forms of detection unless the Blood of the Great Beasts blood legacy was acquired.
• Nature’s Edge: Wildings gain a +20 to any two Athletic or Perceptive abilities of the Player’s choice. For this purpose they may also choose Stealth or Hide.
• Nature’s Bite: Wildlings may start with a natural weapon befitting the creature of their heritage, but using the weapon without penalty requires proficiency. When acquiring additional proficiencies the natural weapon is counted as an unarmed weapon regardless of what kind of weapon it is. If the Blood of the Great Beasts legacy is taken, this natural weapon works with Monster DP as normal.
• Nature’s Call: Wildlings take after the great beasts pursued by the Huntress to add to her collection. As such, a Wildling takes on traits of many different creatures, from insectoids to the leviathans of the deep. If a Wildling takes the Blood of the Great Beasts blood legacy, these choices are counted as already acquired and can be improved with Monster DP as normal. Choose two of the following traits:

Trait	Benefits
Winged	Natural Flight 6.
Digging	Subterranean Movement and the ability to breathe while submerged in soft terrain (dirt, sand, etc).
Swimming	Aquatic Movement and Aquatic Breathing.
Armored	AT 2 to everything but Energy.
Vigorous	+2 to their Regeneration, which stacks with bonuses from Advantages, magical items, and their Constitution score.
Hardy	+20 to Physical, Poison and Disease Resistance.
Agile	+1 to Movement and +10 to Initiative.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While all Wildlings are at least bipedal, the wide range of variance in what monstrous traits they may have renders it difficult to describe the scope of the race. The most common Wildling has fewer traits; perhaps some wings, claws or hard scales, gills or other such things that don’t overwhelm the humanoid form. Some luckier Wildlings can blend into society just fine. The outliers are the Wildlings that are more monster than humanoid, with large wings, massive claws, teeth, and eyes that pierce the night.
What has been attributed to all Wildlings is a brand that is physically present on the skin somewhere on the body. It resembles a burn scar, deep and etched into the surface, and no amount of mortal healing or effort has ever successfully removed one. Should the skin or limb that holds the mark be lost, it simply appears elsewhere on the body, often with a short burst of pain as it embeds itself.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Regardless of what traits a Wildling has, they share a nearly identical dietary need to most races. They are omnivorous, and have the same lean towards specific food based on climate and locale. What does change, however, is the amount of food that needs to be ingested. A Wildling eats anywhere from one and a half times to twice as much food as a Human of similar size would need. While not fully understood, this is believed to be connected to the Huntress’ Mark and the energy it exudes.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

There have been Wildlings throughout the history of the Eye, but they have never had a true culture of their own. Instead, they simply integrate into whatever culture is present should they be allowed. While not always seamless, they often adapt rather quickly to a new culture upon first finding themselves in the Eye. An imprint of the past pressed upon them, but an unknown future they may decide themselves. In a way, it is an expression of freedom that a great beast may find in the wild.
The closest the Wildlings have to their own culture are sparse recollections of the Huntress’ domain, untamed wilds stretching as far as one can imagine and the imagery of beasts freely choosing to do as they please within this space. Others see memories of the Wild Hunt that paint the clear depiction of a tribal settlement headed by the Huntress herself as she looks after her prized collection. The Wildlings that hail from the latter tend to have an imprint of a tribal society on them, but with enough dedication it too can be overwritten by the local way of life.

History

When one looks upon a Wildling, it is not strange to entertain ideas and thoughts of how something that closely resembles Elves and Humans could be mixed with that of a beast. How could such traits of the great beasts, reptiles and even leviathans intermingle with a humanoid form? One might have difficulty prying their mind from certain mental imagery, especially when it comes to Humans, however, this is furthest from the truth. In reality, the unique visage of the Wildlings is entirely at the whim of their home, a domain in Yore lorded over by The Huntress.
A Wildling is a unique blending and warping of a soul belonging to former trophies of great beasts from across The Eye that The Huntress and her Wild Hunt collected. Whether or not the trophy was collected in recent time or the distant past is irrelevant. As a direct result, a beast collected centuries past could return to The Eye as a Wildling, far displaced from the period it was stolen from. Throughout the year on The Eye, the veil between it and Yore wanes and sometimes a Wildling finds themself displaced and left behind; others are warped in the process of passing through the veil. As a direct result of the rather traumatic process of entering The Eye from Yore, they are left with spotty memories of the domain they came from, and grip tightly to the familiar feeling of the mark on their body and soul as they explore this new world.
The Huntress herself is a cumulative representation of the great hunters throughout the history of The Eye, from small game hunters to the ancient hunters that contended with grand supernatural threats that some can only envision in their wildest dreams. She represents both the care of nature itself, and the thrill of the chase that drives hunters to pursue their quarry. The Wild Hunt that accompanies The Huntress on her excursions into The Eye is composed of Wildlings or caricatures of historical hunters and figures, oftentimes with spectral beasts of previous hunts aiding the chase. These spectral hunters and beasts are seen as omens for evil to come for many superstitious cultures, as they are typically seen savagely chasing down a beast of some kind before mysteriously vanishing along with it. In truth, the beast they seek is typically stolen away from The Eye during the hunt.
The domain the Wildlings hail from is an endless expanse of forests, deserts, taiga and mountains with an expansive sea with unimaginable depths. The ideal world for one that seeks to attune themselves with nature, or for a beast that seeks the freedom of the wilds they call home. However, not all Wildlings are from the wilds, as some are naturally born on The Eye, either from a mortal race and a Wildling, or the unlikely union of two Wildlings that found each other. When a Wildling is born naturally they still share the Huntress' Mark of their parents - no one escapes their branding.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Humans

Wildlings have a varied relationship with Humans (and most other humanoids, for that matter) as they can have vastly different interactions and experiences depending on where they are. Some may look at them with a sense of curiosity, seeing a tail or scales, a horn or slitted eyes; while others may instead look upon them with fear or distrust. In extreme cases, this can quickly lead to violence towards a Wildling should their mark be revealed in more superstitious parts of The Eye.
In other cases, Wildlings are sought after by some Humans for other reasons. It is often attributed to the uniqueness of a given Wildling, while there may be more of them, none of them will be quite like this one. A rare few others simply embrace the fact that some of their monstrous traits are appealing, despite how that may be viewed by the public.

Elves

Wildlings are most at home around Elves, and vice versa. The monstrous traits of a Wildling are an expression of nature despite its twisted origin, and Elves are one of the few races that are not unsettled by the mere presence of the mark. A more sensitive Elf, on the other hand, is still likely to keep some distance.

Attribution

Written and contributed by CatChatter with permission.