Introduction
During the Twilight, the Elves had grown decadent and powerful. They had forsaken their peaceful coexistence with Nature and fell into the dark arts of necromancy and sorcery. Among the Elves a great and powerful leader arose, calling himself Azarias, meaning “Life-blood” in the old elvish tongue. A mighty necromancer, Azarias held sway over many (though not all of) his people for a thousand years, gradually corrupting them more and more until they resembled the elves of old in appearance only. Slavery, blood-feuds, assassination, and fear ruled the elven lands.

When Oam (the One-God) grew weary of the corruption of Man, Elf, and Dwarf, he destroyed the world and punished the races for their fall from grace. During the Fall, Oam transformed the surviving evil elves into creatures resembling the necromantic minions they had become so attuned to. Where beautiful pale skin had been the norm, now pale-gray, death-colored skin became the rule. Their eyes darkened, with irises of deep reds, blacks, and sickly yellow-browns, and their fine gold, silver, and red hair had turned to tangled jet-black. Fine elven teeth became jagged and broken, and their nails as black as coal. The slight, slender, beautiful faces of the forest folk became gaunt and sunken in.

Oam decreed that since the Elves had once been creatures of the light, they would now be cast into the shadows. He cursed them with a painful aversion to sunlight, and left them bereft of the fine elven acute vision they had been renowned for. Further, he shortened their millennia-long life spans to just a few centuries.

But Oam was not without mercy and pity. The elves retained their unusual physical grace and dexterity, and he gifted them with exceptional dark vision to aid them in the blackness of the night. He renamed them the Ukani, or “night people” in the tongue of the Elder Spirits.

As for Azarias, Oam transformed him into the demon A’zarka and banished him to the vast desert known as the Blight. He has not been seen in thousands of years.

Culture
Most Ukani are gypsy-like nomads that traverse the known world in caravans, traveling by night and sleeping by day. They have no homeland to call their own, as the ancient elven forest kingdom of Avilasha was destroyed during the Fall. The Ukani are fierce raiders when they need to be, which is often given their lifestyle. They have a very effective light cavalry that utilizes a six-legged warhorse called the Gehennadon.

A “Ruk”(pronounced rook) is a self-made ruler of a (usually) small holding. The lands under a Ruk’s control are called an U’Ruk. These lands are usually carved out of the wilderness or sometimes existing states, but usually at the fringes of civilization. A Ruk will usually settle in an easily defensible location and build some form of fortified dwelling, such as a small keep, from which to rule his domain. Some Ruks are fair rulers over their own people. Some however are just dictators out to grab as much as they can and exploit the masses.

Though not the greatest of metalworkers, the Ukani make a fine sword called the Kha. A Kha is a long, curved sword used for slashing cavalry attacks. Ukani cavalry make no use of lances or spears, which they consider the cowardly weapons of lesser races.

Being raiders, the Ukani prefer light armor. While leather armor is common among them, some prefer scale mail, which the Ukani have developed into a fine art. Ukani scale is lighter and more flexible than regular scale mail, and provides the same protection as chain mail does. Further, these special suits protect the Ukani from the sunlight that so easily burns their skin. Great Ukani Ruks often sport fine coats of coin mail armor. The higher the value of the coins, the more prestigious the warlord.

Magic is not common among the Ukani like it was in the elder days. Most Ukani spellcasters are practitioners of Crafting magic. A very rare few employ Totem magic, and fewer pursue the path of Divine magic. After all, the Gods are, in the minds of the Ukani, responsible for all their ills and therefore do not deserve their respect or devotion.

When not raiding or trading, the Ukani enjoy spirited, if bizarre, celebrations on nights of the full moon. There is plenty of singing, dancing, and drinking as the Ukani remember their past glories before the Fall and the accomplishments of their greatest Ruks. Most “civilized” folk avoid these mini-festivals out of fear they will be captured and sacrificed in some ritual to a dark god. Though nothing could be further from the truth, the Ukani encourage these fears… they just want to be left alone, after all.

Religion
As a fallen people, the Ukani are bitter and have a bit of a persecution problem. They recognize no gods, because after all, it was the gods (or specifically, Oam) who they believe caused them to fall. The Ukani believe that a great warlord, called the Kynin-Ruk, will someday unite the Ukani in a great empire. When those who oppress the Ukani are finally crushed beneath the hooves of their steeds, the Kynin-Ruk will overthrow the gods and the Ukani will be restored to their pre-Fall greatness.

Comments
As you can probably guess, the Ukani are kind of a “black sheep” race. Everybody spits on them, and they spit back. They are hunted, so they hunt. They are often ruthless and callous towards other races out of fear that they will be wiped out if they don’t strike first. As such, they are considered pariahs by the civilized world.

The Ukani feel like they got a raw deal during the Fall. They lost their beauty (they were elves, after all), they lost their homeland, and they lost their civilization. They want all that back at almost any cost. Many Ukani are evil… and many are not. You won’t find many (if any) shining paladin types among them. Fortunately for the rest of the world, the Ukani are not organized beyond a few small unconnected U’Ruks here and there. The vast majority of their kind just wander the world in their caravans, trading here and raiding there, and frightening small children

Players who wish to run an Ukani character should keep the Ukani’s sense of persecution and projection of fear in mind. The accumulation of power, wealth, and status are important to the Ukani. To show weakness is to invite the wrath of the “lesser races” and sow the seeds of one’s own destruction.

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Game Statistics

Required Gimmicks: Vulnerability: Sunlight, Hideous Appearance, Sure-Footed, Darkvision

Darkvision: The character can see in the dark without penalty. He suffers a -2D on awareness rolls in bright light. (This is the same as the Cavernfolk background).

Background: Nomad

Gear

Kha (Cavalry sword): Attack Modifier 0, Damage +2 injury, cost 50*, availability rare

Ukani Scale Mail Armor: Armor Rating 6, Protection fat/inj, cost 100*, availability rare

* If you can convince an Ukani to sell you one.

Gehannadon

Fitness – F
Awareness – B
Creativity – 0
Reasoning – 0
Influence – 0

Gimmicks: Oversized, Toughness (1)

Skills: Athletics, Brawling

Notes: The Gehennadon is a massive, black, six-legged warhorse with an ornery disposition. Most Ukani raiders prefer this beast for it’s durability in combat and swift speed for it’s size. Few Gehennadons are encountered in the wild. Those that are will likely attack any who it feels threatens it or its foals. Most other horses and domesticated herbivores (cows, mules, etc.) are repulsed by a Gehennadon’s presence.