Bakari

Description

The Bakari are a race of powerful and dangerous red-skinned brutes that live in the region known as the Spellscar in western Gothir. The Bakari were the result of a Wellspring eruption on Lekaren 12, 238 AE. The eruption not only devastated the western half of the continent, charring the landscape, but also transformed the Ettinor population living there into these red-skinned creatures.

Background

After the Wellspring eruption which transformed the Ettinor of western Gothir into the Bakari, the Ettinor living in the other regions of Gothir assumed the worst, that the anomaly had created the Bakari and that they had killed the Ettinor in that region. This led to a long and brutal campaign by the Ettinor to reclaim the region now known as the Spellscar, which would ultimately fail. The Ettinor were beaten badly, and forced to retreat to the frozen north lands. However, word of this anomaly reached the Sorcerer's Cabal before long, and a call to arms was put out among other nations including The Commonwealth and the Synodical Republic, leading to the formation of a military campaign to reclaim Gothir, called The Spellscar Crusade.

The Spellscar Crusade recruited volunteer soldiers from all over the world to fight back against the Bakari. However, despite an overwhelming response from independent adventurers, mercenaries, and heroes, it would not be enough. No matter how fast they killed the Bakari, more would always crop up out of seemingly nowhere. It was inferred that the Bakari must reproduce and mature at a very rapid rate, otherwise they couldn't possibly have the numbers to replenish their forces so quickly. So the Spellscar Crusade retreated to Ebondel, leaving the southern settlements to their own devices, in order to shore up their defenses and research the Bakari through a series of covert missions.

Something discovered during these covert missions that horrified the Ettinor to learn, is that Ettinor who are bitten by a Bakari are afflicted with a potent infection which, after about 24-48 hours, will transform that Ettinor into a new Bakari. Once this discovery was made, Ettinor were forbidden from participating in the campaign, seeing them as liabilities. This has caused a great deal of tension, with the warrior race of Ettinor wanting to fight to reclaim their homeland, but being forbidden from it.

Abilities

The Spellscar Crusade is under the belief that the Bakari must reproduce and mature at a rapid rate in order to replenish their ranks. However, this is not accurate; the Bakari can reproduce by biting an Ettinor, thus converting them into a Bakari within a day or two -- but with the Ettinor's retreat into the north lands, this has seldom happened. The Bakari do however reproduce by other means -- Akronite. When a Bakari dies, their spirit does not go to an afterlife or become absorbed by The Void, as many monsters are. Instead, their spirits linger, much like some mortal races do when they have unfinished business. These spirits wander Gothir in search of Akronite deposits.

The metal, naturally attracting spirits, is not hard to locate, and once they do, they can "possess" the ore, much like a Soulbinder binds a soul to a Soulstone. While inhabiting the Akronite deposit, they have the ability to create a growth on the ore deposit, appearing like a tumor, that expands as the Akronite draws in Flow from the environment; and once enough energy has been consumed and the growth has enlarged enough, a new Bakari body emerges. This spirit retains its memories and "personality", if the Bakari could be said to have a personality.

This ability does have a weakness though -- Soulbinding. When a Bakari dies, a Soulbinder can bind their spirit to a Soulstone, thus preventing them from escaping. As Soulstones are not pure Akronite, a Bakari cannot regrow their body from them. Once contained within a Soulstone, a Soulbinder can beckon and control the Bakari spirit as they would with any other spirit -- however, if they beckon the spirit enough to the point where it fades, the Bakari's spirit will be destroyed. A Wraith Soulbinder can also consume the Bakari to destroy it instead.

Beyond these unique regenerative abilities, the Bakari are incredibly fierce warriors; outrageously strong and vicious. Even the most skilled monster hunters have struggled to kill one.