Friday, May 4, 2012

The Goatmen of Kavaja

Goatmen of Kavaja (pronounced ka-va-yah) are an ancient race whose peculiar history dates back thousands of years. Most are known to reside in the hills and mountains east of the City States (Slagovich, Zvornik, Zagora, and Nova Svoğa). There are three main breeds, including goatlings, ovinaurs, and caprines.

Goatlings are the original stock and of outer planar origins. The other two came into existence much later as a result of crossbreeding on Mystara.

Goatlings are muscular two-legged goats with human-like torsos and arms. Although they often wear robes or armor, fur covers their bodies, varying in thickness and in color depending on the environment or seasons. Their horns are generally large and come in various shapes, spiraled like those of a ram or an ibex, straight and coiled like those of a markhor, or any wilder goat-like combination. A much heavier breed of goatlings exists, the Bielgorad, who may remind outsiders of muskoxen, due to their sheer size, the thickness of their coats, and their pungent smell. Bielgorad are equivalent to minotaurs in size and natural combat ability.

Ovinaurs, a cross between halflings and goatlings, are small quadrupeds similar to centaurs. Most live near the City States and are more reminiscent of mountain goats because of their ability to leap from one ledge to another on steep slopes. Others left the region and relocated to Davanian savannas. Ovinaurs' arms and torsos are essentially hairless. If needed, they do wear clothing or armor.

The third breed, caprines, results from a cross between goatlings and dryads. They are goat-legged elves, with skin tones varying from white, to copper, to black, with corresponding lower-body coats. Due to their unusual link with dryads, only male caprines exist. Of all goatmen, caprines are most attuned to Mystaran nature, fairy folk, and wildlife. (. . .)

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4 comments:

  1. Wow! This is alot more comprehensive than I first though it would be. I love the layout and appropriate illustrations and the little quotes within the text. I feel like I am back in the TSR Dragon Magazine years era again. Where is that Roger Moore editorial? ;)

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    1. Glad you like it! The article grew much bigger than I had anticipated. That's due to the existence of the three separate breeds.

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  2. Very nice, Bruce! I haven't had a chance to read in detail yet, but I especially like the geographic info and development of the City States region. (The different feels of the breeds are very well done too.)

    It shouldn't be too hard to pull together a revised map of the area. I'm definitely up for it.

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    1. That's great Thorf! I'd love to see an updated map of the region. I think that the (southern) Hills of Kavaja need just a little bit of refining to reflect the presence of forests here and there. The rest is pretty much okay as is.

      One thing I forgot to do was to remove the clerical option for goatlings. I had included it early on with the idea of doing some checking on Immortals (in particular which would be good ones) but never got around to that.

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