Bugbears

The bugbears of Etharis weren’t always ferocious and violent. When the Arch Daemons appeared in the world, Tormach believed he could make minions of the goblinoids. Bugbear warriors forcefully opposed his efforts to subvert goblin tribes to his will. Tormach commanded his servants to craft a disease that would render defiant bugbears into vicious drones, a grim task those minions completed with great success. Tormach’s Rage, as the disease has come to be known, spread quickly. Most bugbears of Etharis are now victims of this mind-altering plague. The disease causes a bugbear to become more resilient while increasing muscle mass and capacity for aggression.
Bugbears infected with Tormach’s Rage experience a powerful, instinctive urge to spread their illness. Infected bugbears have enhanced olfactory senses that allow them to smell whether a creature carries Tormach’s Rage. When they discover a bugbear without the disease, they fly into a frenzy. The sickness is virulent enough that even if a bugbear survives the fight or kills the infected aggressor, it’s unlikely to do so without contracting Tormach’s Rage.
Rage-infected bugbears have only recently gotten the disease. A bugbear who contracts Tormach’s Rage can’t expect to live long as the illness compels the victim to acts of aggression that ultimately end in the bugbear’s destruction. The infection lasts until death, although magic and rare herbal knowledge can counteract it.
Very rarely, an infected bugbear lives long enough that Tormach’s Rage exhibits advanced symptoms. At this stage, the disease further accentuates the bugbear’s muscular system, granting increased strength and speed. Bugbears who live this long have little impulse control and ability to reason.
Still there are some Bugbears which are not infected yet. Still willing to fight Tormach, they build gangs to fight other infected ones and other servants of the Arch-Daemon. Some of those rebels even went to humanoid communities, risking being killed, to create normally unlikely alliances. while some accept the strong goblinoids gratefully others drive them away forcefully as they are more known as brutal monsters.

Scientific Name

Elder race

Lifespan

80 years

Average Height

6‒8 ft (1.8‒2.4 m)

Average Weight

250‒350 lb (110‒160 kg)