Dakkar

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Dakkar
Newdakkar.png
Fauna
Official Name Dakkar
Common Nicknames Dor-Allar, Rockhide
Classification Lesser Race
Habitat N/A
Domesticated No
Current Status Common

The Dakkar are a savage, subterranean Lesser Race of reptilian creatures native to the caverns of Ellador. Worshipers of the Power Arken, these formerly isolated zealots were unleashed when the Dwarves accidentally dug into the Dakkar homeland, unleashing a tide that toppled the Dwarven Empire. Millions of Dwarves died, compounding their losses from the birth of the Isldar on the surface, and while the tide did eventually stop, the world beneath Ellador remains forever changed to this day. Dakkar now mill about in petty kingdoms warring with each other and any outsiders who seek to plunge into the territory they now claim as theirs, and woe to any who encounter them without significant preparation beforehand.

History

The history of the Dakkar is relatively unknown. Fragmented insights gathered from centuries of Dwarven-Dakkar conflict and encounters with the Power Arken themselves offer glimpses of understanding, yet the aggressive nature of the Dakkar raises numerous unanswered questions. It is believed by most that the Dakkar are a more recent Lesser Race. They are by far not as old as the Dwarves they chased from beneath Ellador, with dates from 5000 BC to merely 1000 BC representing this deep uncertainty. The Dwarves themselves claim the Dakkar are creations of the Power Arken itself, and so despise him, and broadly all Arken, for bringing this scourge upon them. This is why so many Dwarves are followers of the Eili alone in the pantheons of Fornoss, keeping loyal to Dáuw's place there. In contrast to the Dakkar’s vague origin, details on the beginning of their contact with Dwarves is more concrete. Soon after the Dwarven defeat on the surface, at the Valley of the Long Song, Dwarven miners digging beneath Aloria in 690 BC suddenly crashed into the traditional homeland of the Dakkar. They encountered a vast magma-filled space rife with internal conflict, and the Dwarves could not have asked for a worse enemy. Within hours, the Dakkar had united in common cause, and proclaimed a holy war in the name of the Power Arken against this new force.

The Dwarven machinery which had accidentally bored the tunnel was jettisoned by the terrified crews, but this did little good. The Dakkar now knew where to climb, and even as the Dwarves tried to collapse the hole they had bored, the Dakkar climbed on as a horde of unstoppable, unquenchable fury. The nearby Dwarven Hold, Skorrun, was destroyed within days, with the industrious Hold of Weavers, Vaadrudd, following soon after. The Dakkar spread like a plague across the sophisticated tunnel network of the Dwarven Empire. Where they were confronted in force, more of them would pour, to seek glory and improvement in combat. Bridges were blown up, explosives deployed, and the Dwarves even supposedly sought communication with the Arken to learn if a deal could be made, but nothing stopped the Dakkar. However, the initial explosive spread slowed considerably when one Oor, what they call their petty kingdoms, broke the pact with the others, and took over most of the Dakkar’s deep homeland. Others went to war against them, and the momentum of the push slowed but did not entirely halt. For the next several centuries, the Dwarves lost more and more ground before at last, the Dakkar were stopped. Their unity was fully shattered, and while they were so close to victory over the Dwarves, and total control of the Gana-Isha, they could not overcome the alliance of Dwarves and Ailor which now stood against them. While the Dakkar still harass the Dwarves and Ailor to this day, there is no evidence of the capacity for a united push like they did centuries ago. Indeed, the Dakkar have slowly lost ground in recent decades, but one’s hopes should not rise too far. There are still several million Dakkar thriving beneath Ellador, and it could only be a matter of time until they embrace unity, and look to conquer the broader world as they once did.

Physical Appearance

The Dakkar resemble armored Allar in many respects. They range in height from 6 to 7 feet, their weight fluctuating according to the armored growth of their rocky scales. Adorned with spikes and external plating, their heads feature a prominent muzzle with notable "fangs" formed out of their plating, emphasizing their sizable maw just below. Their eyes are small, with yellow irises and brown or black sclerae. They have a thick neck which connects their head to the rest of their body, a heavily built bipedal form supporting broad natural body plating as well as further spikes and jagged fringes along their backs, shoulders, and lower arms. Their lower torso and two legs, however, are completely smooth, lacking the same plating as the upper body. Dakkar hands have five clawed fingers, but their feet only have three clawed toes each with a hallux at the back. It should be noted that as a result of their great weight, they often adopt a hunched position when relaxed or in transit, but will stand upright among their own kind or during combat. Dakkar scales come in a range of hues, described below, but are well known for their resistance to heat. They are not impervious to it, but the sorts of heat found beyond their homeland often does little to harm them.

Diversity

The Dakkar are alike in stature and physique, but are harshly divided as demanded by their faith.

The Dakkar are divided into five subtypes (also called Clans), the Firebrand, Collba, Sulptron, Benor and Ossol. These divisions are not what separates them into their Oors, their term for their petty kingdoms, but instead a result of external stimuli on their development. It is thus possible for a Firebrand hatchlet to gradually morph into an Ossol in the right conditions. As for gender diversity, it is not clear if the Dakkar even have the genders of wider Aloria, and knowledge of their family units is very unclear. Below is a list of the five types of Dakkar.

  • Firebrand Dakkar: The most common species of Dakkar are the Firebrand Dakkar, natively raised around magma, lava, and the more traditional territory of the Dakkar species. Their armor plates are dull red or grayish brown while their softer skin is reddish orange. Various other parts of their body are either dull or vibrant orange.
  • Collba Dakkar: The Collba Dakkar are rare, and covered in pale blue or grayish plates with a similar skin tone. They grow up either surrounded by rare meteorite metals buried deep in the earth or precious minerals. They are commonly religious figures and advisors of the Dakkar people, and in Dwarven belief, Mages, though the use of Magic by the Dakkar remains a question unanswered today.
  • Sulptron Dakkar: The Sulptron Dakkar are the result of Dakkar developing close to sulfur vents, gas deposits, and other similar materials. As a result, they always possess off-yellow colorations with pale skin and armor tones. They were often the most difficult to defeat opponents of the Dwarves, and were often lauded as champions of their people, though they are far rarer today. It is broadly believed that their close proximity to toxic substances activates a Dakkar youth’s metabolism and keeps it in overdrive, allowing a Sulptron to develop their impressive form. The drawback to such intense physical development, however, is an inability to reproduce.
  • Benor Dakkar: The Benor Dakkar are the next-most common group of Dakkar after the Firebrand Clan. Their bodies feature light gray and white colorations as a result of being raised near deposits of Quartz. Their rocky formations and spikes also tend to be rounder, meaning they rarely scratch things on purpose.
  • Ossol Dakkar: The final and rarest Dakkar variety are the Ossol Dakkar, a variety raised among the ruins of the Dwarven Holds, and the refined metals found therein. These conditions turn their skin and plates a dark gray or gray-green color. Their armor and rock formations tend to be stronger than those of the other varieties, while their plates can be polished to shine like actual metal. The Ossol are the modern champions of the Dakkar, and they are commonly faced by those leading efforts to retake Holds or other Dwarven ruins.

Life Span and Development

The nature of Dakkar reproduction is unknown to wider Aloria. While it is broadly assumed the species lays eggs due to their vaguely reptilian physiology, some Dwarves contend to have seen small lizard-like creatures bursting forth from a severely injured Dakkar, suggesting an internal incubation and live birth. Others still suggest that the Dakkar are unnaturally spawned through some strange ritual in honor of the Arken they are obsessed with. What is certain though is that Dakkar young do exist, called hatchlets. This term remains in place even when they have reached their young adult phase, and only stops being used when they have reached a point of combat proficiency to take down five adult opponents. Some leave this stage far earlier than others, but in general they achieve the physical state of young adult status by ten years old. At this point, however, their development plateaus. They slowly mature into full adults over the next thirty years, and are then capable of living up to as old as a hundred and sixty years, though few ever reach such an age. The might makes right society of the Dakkar means most leaders are deposed and killed before the age of sixty.

Mental Overview

The Dakkar are savage and mindless, without exception. They are born for war, and they are expected to bring death in war, or die in the effort, their life weighted by the victories in dueling arenas, brawls, and on the field of battle with the Dwarves and their allies. There is also honor to be had in slaying dangerous animals, but the Dakkar killed most of the hostile wildlife from their homeland centuries ago, and they have been making quick work of the threats once foreign to their territory which trickle in from “The Cold,” their term for the surface world. Information about the Dakkar's peculiar underground society, culture, and diet remains scarce. The craftsmen among them, who forge Oor crests and weave cloth belts from materials salvaged from the dead, are just as lethal as any other in their society.

Territory and Groupings

The Dakkar are divided into a number of Oors, petty kingdoms each ruled by an Oorad, their term equal to that of a king. Essentially warbands, Oors claim a region, settle there, but then look for ways to expand through conflict, or through spreading “The Heat” by carefully transposing magma and lava to melt through cave walls, and then setting up in the created or revealed space when everything cools down. Dakkar faith is also a massive driver in their society. They are practically monotheistic, aware of other gods, but considering them weak, lesser or unimportant compared with the majesty that is the Power Arken. What he did to earn their devotion and trigger their entire society’s ceaseless quest to become the perfect warrior in his image, is unknown today. Oors can number from a few thousand, to the largest, the Obbsa Oor, which is believed to be around 50,000. All and all, the Gana-Isha, their term for the tunnels, lava caves, and underground of Ellador, is no longer safe for other Races, so long as the Dakkar remain so numerous.

Trivia

  • The Dakkar are said to literally turn to stone when exposed to the surface conditions of Ellador. The truth is not far off, as tests by the Dwarves observed by Ailor, show that a Dakkar’s physical hue rapidly pales, and their armor cracks or chips, sometimes even crumbling entirely away. Their nostrils, mouths, and eyes seal up, and they appear to enter some attempted state of hibernation, though one they never awaken from.
  • Dakkar have a terrible sense of smell, but most have learned to exaggerate the gesture from encounters with creatures like Trolls. They know it inspires fear in terrified, isolated or hiding sentient prey, so will often sniff around when tracking down survivors or scouts.
  • Dakkar rarely use weapons, largely discarding the high quality, but dusty, Dwarven weapons all around them to favor their own brute strength. After all, such tools did not help the Dwarves to hold the Dakkar back, and one’s own personal strength should not rely on weak tools.

Accreditation
Writers HydraLana
Processors WaterDruppel, booette
Last Editor HydraLana on 09/30/2023.

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