Area Name: Adri Varma Plateau

Continent: Brun

Location: N of Sind; NW of Glantri; W of Wendar

Climate: Dry Desert

Terrain: Badlands

Inhabitants: Sand folk (Ungolwaith)

Population: 2,000 (10% civilized, 80% borderlands, 10% wilderness)

Technological Level: Advanced Stone Age

Cultural Type: Sedentary

Social Structure: Tribe

Government: Tribal Elders and War Chief

Language: The Talk and Elvish

Resources and Products: Minerals and abundant desert wildlife

Imports: Weapons

Exports: Salt and arts

Currency: None

Taxes: None

Social Customs: Tending to be cliff-dwelling folk, they are organized into tribes based on blood ties. All are warriors and are governed by a strict code of tribal honor that places a premium on martial conduct. They domesticate camarillas (a 12-foot long, six-legged, desert-dwelling lizard-like carnivore) and blink dogs. Bastard swords (made by the elves of Wendar) are their weapon of preference. They honor the Immortal Ixion.

Laws: Tribes are governed by a council of elders who administer justice and choose a war chief who serves for life. The only penalty the council recognizes is decaptation. If an act doesn't deserve decapitation, it isn't a crime. The accused has the right to confront his accuser. If elders can't decide, a trial by combat (always to the death) may be called for.

History: They know little of their own history. They are the dwindling descendants of a pre-Blackmoor race. Back then, they were nomadic, and traded freely with (and freely stole from) the Blackmoor peoples, until they became nothing more than high-tech raiders. Although they weren't totally destroyed by the Great Rain of Fire, they lost their access to technology and reverted back to a stone age culture from which they never recovered.

Remnants of the race wandered the empty lands until they came across, and were befriended by, elves living in a stretch of high mountain forests. They stayed near the elves and began to live in a series of caves and tunnels nearby. The cold temperature of the area and the elven customs stabilized their biological changes (see my next post for more info on

this), and they slowly forgot how it used to be - but they still felt the power of the sun's rays.

When the elves started dying from some strange disease (caused by the Great Rain of Fire), they join the sand folk, who didn't seem to be affected by the disease, in their caves. As more elves died, they went further and further underground. The sand folk declined to follow, for they didn't want to leave the sun - which had become an important symbol in their mysticism, although they did not remember why.

Eventually the elves completely disappeared - either dead or lost in the deep caverns. With their friends gone and increasing orc attacks from the south, the sand folk slowly dwindled in numbers. What was worse, births became very rare - their stangnant biology was finally having an effect, though they thought it had something to do with the strange elf disease.

In an attempt to flee the disease, they travelled en masse – west across the glacier-capped mountains. On the other side they found a barren, but snow-free land. Although it was still cold there, no clouds obscured the sun. They settled in the cliffs and rock formations. It was a harsh time. Survival was in doubt as they struggled to relearn their lost skills.

Then an amazing thing occurred. After many generations, the weather became warm enough to trigger their biological change. It caused much chaos, for the change was only a myth of the past. The myth, however, was also associated with a great legendary power (which was a myth based on the memory of the Blackmoor technology they once had, and to which they no longer had access to). They began to believe they were returning to an age of strength.

Also at this time, an abundance of births occurred, which caused a problem of its own - overpopulation. They split into various tribes and spread out. That was nine generations ago. They have since come into contact with Wendar (who found it astounding that they had elven elements in their Talk, and who gave them the new name of "Ungolwaith" or "Spiderfolk" due to their four arms), Sind, and Glantri (who they keep far away from, lest they become the subjects of magical experiments).

Births are not as common as that first year after the Restoration of Life - as they like to call it - nor are they as rare as before then. Not every summer is hot enough to cause a Change, but it is an occasion for great ceremonies dedicated to the sun. They keep the Change as much of a secret as they can from other folk, as it is deeply personal and has great spiritual significance.

Despite the belief that they will become powerful soon, they seem to have a complete lack of ability to progress beyond their advanced stone age technology. This is due to the Immortal Ixion (their Sun-Prince) who keeps a very close eye on them and suppresses the racial memory of the Blackmoor technology they nearly destroyed the world.

Ungolwaith is the name the elves of Wendar gave to the sand folk.

Climate/Terrain: Dry deserts/badlands - specifically the Adri Varma Plateau

Frequency: Rare

Organization: Tribal

Activity Cycle: Any

Diet: Minerals

Intelligence: Average (8-10)

Alignment: Any Lawful

No. Appearing: 2-12 (10-60 member in a tribe)

Armor Class: 3-7 (see below)

Movement: 12

Hit Dice: 1-9

Thac0: 19

No. of Attacks: Up to four (but usually 2)

Damage/Attack: By weapon (+2 due to their great strength)

Special Attacks: None

Special Defences: See below

Magic Resistance: None

Size: M (6' average)

Morale: Elite (13-14)

XP Value: 275

Ungolwaith (sand folk) are a silicon-based, humanoid species. In their youth, their thick, leathery skin is smooth and green, but it darkens to slate gray (or even black) with age. As they age, glandular secretions cause their hides to gradually become encrusted with hard silicon crystals. Young Ungolwaith have an AC of 7. Middle-aged Ungolwaith have ACs of 5 or 6. Elders most often have an AC of 4, and truly ancient Ungolwaith may have an AC of 3. When full grown, they average six feet tall. All have four arms (two sets, one above the other on the torso), and have no hair or an external nose. Each hand and foot has four digits - two "fingers" and two "thumbs."

Combat: Ungolwaith are extremely strong, and inflict extra 2 points of damage with any weapon they use. During melee, each Ungolwaith usually attacks twice, once with his upper arms and once with his lower arms. Commonly, Ungolwaith carry large bastard swords. The war chief carries a ceremonial glaive, though he may use other weapons in actual combat. Ungolwaith have a special affinity for the desert. They can't be surprised in desert country, and they cunning ambushes can be detected only by magical means.

Habitat/Society: All Ungolwaith, regardless of current sex, are warriors and are governed by a strict code of tribal honor that places a premium on martial combat. For more information, see my previous post.

Ecology: The biology of the Ungolwaith is by far the strangest yet seen. All are alternately male or female, with the onset of extremem summer heat triggering a change of sex. This change occurs in all Ungolwaith except for pregnant females.

Being a silicon-based lifeform, the Ungolwaith ingest a type of gruel made of sand and other minerals. This gruel is poisonous to almost all carbon-based lifeforms.

The average lifespan for an Ungolwaith is about 250 years, after which the body quickly decomposes (a matter of minutes) into its base materials.

Also available: rules for creating a Ungolwaith PC using AD&D and/or OD&D rules.

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