The War Huri are a race of humans whose ancestors were genetically altered by demons in order to create three tribes of war machines. They are not capable of reproducing with humans, which has lead many to persecute them on the grounds that they are not human.

First Class: Battle Huri

Battle Huri make up the bulk of the army, but usually their appearance alone is enough to deal with most opponents.

Battle Huri have a stronger skeleton and a larger frame than normal humans. The average height is eight feet, and a six foot soldier would be considered very, very short. Bones have a tendency to be bigger and the body is more likely to produce lean muscle than bulk muscle, making the endurance levels of the Huri much higher than ours.

Battle Huri skin is thicker than ours, and is the darkest of all the humanoid skins, near the color of some Deep African tribes. The hair varies from brown to black and is vary coarse.

The most fearsome feature of the Battle Huri are the horns, which grow above the ears. Although these cause a significant hit to the enemy moral, they prevent the use of conventional head gear, which makes the head vulnerable. Generally, though, the enormous height of the Huri makes up for this disadvantage, as most soldiers cannot reach high enough to strike the head without making themselves vulnerable.

Second Class: Scout Huri

Scout Huri are as tall as the Battle Huri, but they feature only a single horn rising from the top of the head, curved forward. They tend to be thinner, and smaller boned. The skin is a little less dark, which creates a muted but dark tone ideal suited for the advanced wood craft of these master hunters and trackers. Scout Huri are famed for bringing down the largest beasts of the forest, and for scouting out some of the greatest tacticians of history.

Third Class: Assassin Huri

Assassin Huri are shorter than other Huri, easily mistaken for very tall humans. Unlike the large protrusions of their relatives, the horns of the Assassin Huri are small and blunted. They form a circle pattern across the brow and around the back of the head. (Different from Darth Maul, whose horns are on top of his head.) Dragon Egg

The hair is less coarse, and grows very quickly. Assassin Huri are capable of controlling the amount of Melanin in their skin, allowing them to change their skin color over a period of time.

Assassin Huri are smaller, like the Scout Huri, and are much more agile that most Huri, combining their extraordinary strength and a more flexible bone structure to perform athletic feats that make them so valuable as Assassins.

War Huri worship the Demonic God of War, and are his chief servants. The Assassin Huri are generally held in contempt, since they strike the back and kill the sleeping and creep in the dark, but never the less, no other Huri is willingly to combat them. Indeed, the Huri are more united and less quarrelsome than many other people. Their close knit families, strong culture, and wonderful sense of humor seem poorly suited for the false god they serve, but as Screwtape might tell you, a little virtue is required to make a great evil.

I can picture these very well, and it gives me the shivers. Not a foe I would want to encounter! Their bit of virtue will make them harder to defeat. You can't, for instance, tear them up from the inside by igniting a civil war.

Why do they worship this god? They must have a reason for the lifestyle they pursue, if they have a mind of their own. Is it tradition? Strong beliefs?

Ah ha! Now I know who your co conspirator is Inesdar. Neil, you have crafted a really cool race here. Because I like them so much, is it possible for one of these guys to become good? I mean, can they leave their pagan Gods, or are they completely corrupt?

Shoot! I thought I had it! I'll find out your secret, but to keep from derailing this topic I will continue discourse through e-mail.

Neil, I have another question. Based on your info the Assasin Huri can wear head gear, right?

Well, it was your idea in the first place. I'm glad we're both getting some good stuff out of it.

Huri can be believers, and many War Huri convert, but for the most part, they ignore words about other gods and follow only the War God. It's in their nature not to question: they have to be the perfect solider.



Indeed, that bit of virtue is very important. They are completely incapable of betraying each other, except when betraying one will benefit the many.

They perceive the war god (demon) as both their ancestor and their creator. The first Huri were born to human women, but their fathers were demons taking the form of humans. (The Huri are still fully human.) The War Huri descend from the same demon that they now serve, and are as loyal to him as they are to any of their kin.



As Inesdar said, it isn't me. Inesdar originated the basic concept for my submission to the Community Story, and I've let it take off from there. (Both the story and the Huri.)

As I've said, they could convert. Unless the War God is killed or shown to be evil, though, it's highly unlikely that more than a few would convert in a given year. There are a few, though. Throughout history the number becomes rather large.



Hm...they could...but I'm not sure they would. Whatever it was would have to be flexible and strong. Because of the place of their horns, it could feel a little bit too tight. I'll have to think about that for a while.

Any other kinds of Huri you'd like to hear about? (Right now I only know about the War God and the Love Goddess ((Love in context of a passionate devotion, the emotion of love. Don't think of the ancient fertility goddess, that's not wear I'm going. I'm trying to maintain a PG 13 rating, not an X)), so I'm open to ideas for Huri from demons that I haven't thought of.)

Perhaps an Ocean God? The Love Godess sounds interesting, but you'd have to elaborate for me to fully understand them.

I get a real essence of like trolls and minotaurs from these races...and that's a good thing. Definitely a great twist on the Anakim (is that the name?) in the Bible, as well. I definitely want to hear more, whatever type they are.

eruheran

You got exactly the essence I was going for.



I'm definitely going to go with the Nature Huri. Tree Huri, Stream Huri, Plains Huri.

I request you proceed to describe those with all speed. Please.

eruheran

That's the problem...right now I've only worked on the "mystical pantheon", the pantheon that the demons don't actively enforce, but maintain only through legend. As far as the actually demonic pantheon, I only know about the Love Goddess and the War God, who have an-interesting-alliance. There are also several dragons (most humans hold dragons to be gods), but the Huri don't serve dragons. So I don't know what Huri I need to serve what gods, beyond the war Huri and love Huri.

(Inesdar, do you remember the giants, the enemies of the gods?)

Well, I've replaced the Death gods with Nether. (see my mythology thread in Culture)

I could run with those other ideas, though.

I think I'm going to have a thread for the giants soon. I'm hoping to take a twist on them that will make them different from the Titans while still preserving the same "enemies of the gods" motif.

Angels...of sorts. (I'm debating whether or not they can reproduce, which does effect exactly how "angelic" they will seem to the reader.

Well, sort of. These would actually be angels who were permitted to enter the world and physically manifest. I was thinking of simply including reproductive ability in their physical forms, as the demons are also capable of reproduction. (Although only with humans, and the child is human. The children of the giants would be fully angelic.)