Uris

Uris

An Uris

Subtrain	Uris
Pronunciation	🔊 OO-riss
Base Strain	Kuulik
Patron Deity	Tiw (Wodenism)
Eyesight	Low Light
Lifespan	100 years
Location	Kuulik Peninsula, major cities in Otan
Language	Kuulik language
Terrain	All
Skin Color	Gray-Green
Hair Color	Black to gray
Eye Color	Yellow, Orange, Red, Brown

For anyone who's had an older sibling, they'll have some insight as to how the Uris (🔊 OO-riss) Kuulik blend into Kuulik society. They are the martial Kuulik members.

Overview

At a young age, Uris children might challenge one another in a competition of who can hit themselves in the head the hardest with a stick. With encouragement and training from parents and village leaders, they grow to make these competitions more applicable to real life, and heat each other with sticks, and later spells and swords.

There is no time in the life of an Uris Kuulik where some form of violence isn't shaping them. By the time an Uris has been recruited to the battlefield, they will have delivered and received hundreds of small wounds. What an ordinary strain would call "training", the Uris regard as simply "growing up".

When Uris receive their call to adventure, they answer the call with thicker skin than their other Kuulik cousins, having practiced for battle most of their lives. When anyone tells you that they are afraid of the Kuulik, they are most likely imagining an Uris Kuulik, whose martial gaze has the very look of death.

Physical Characteristics

Uris Kuulik have more severe facial features than their other Kuulik cousins and are often slightly larger, standing anywhere from 130 to 150cm (5ft) tall. They have greyish-green skin, and sometimes their complexions can be very dark. They are typically more muscular than other Kuuliks, though this is a result of their lifestyle and not their genetics.

Like the rest of the Kuulik, they sport black hair, which begins to gray in their 40s. Males can start to experience baldness as early as their 30s. Their eyes can be gold, yellow, orange, or red. In rare cases, their teeth sport extended canines. Rumors of their poisonous bite are untrue.

Natural and Latent Abilities

The Uris have an eye for conflict and an advanced sense of when things are "going down". Clues such as clammy palms, accelerated heartbeats, offensive body language, and facial ticks are as easy to read for an Uris as a picture book.

This battle sense can sometimes be applied in the wild, though less effectively. An Uris might notice a group of bovines preparing for a charge, for example, where ordinarily only a Hunter or Shaman might notice such a circumstance.

Common Mutations

The Uris have no common mutations save those few who can see well in low light.

Uris Culture

Core to the Uris creed is to subdue an enemy with the minimum of violence. This seems counterintuitive, but the Uris have an instinctive drive to protect their weaker cousins, the Sawdager and Tenizi. Protection often involves a de-escalation of a violent situation. If a combatant can be disuaded from violence with a look, an Uris will give that look.

Throughout the Uris' childhood training, they learn to mitigate violence with such tactics as disarming or disgracing a leader, overstating or understating their prowess in battle, exploiting weak spots, and the list goes on. While an ordinary warrior is deciding which weapon to grab, a typical Uris has contemplated a full set of tactical options that might apply to the situation.

This penchant for dominance in combat is the cornerstone of Uris culture. Their events and observances celebrate the greatest of their wizards and warriors. Their idle conversations almost always turn into tactical "what if" scenarios. Battle tactics dominate other aspects of Uris culture as well. Their songs are about battles, their sculptures of great warriors and their dances are dangerous if one stands too close.

Lifestyle

The Uris have a strong sense of community and will hold special town hall events in their towns and villages for major announcements. If a new enemy is discovered, for example, these events encourage discussion on how to best deal with this new threat. They will discuss whether to avoid, intimidate, or go to battle as the best possible option.

Town hall events might also be held to commemorate a fallen comrade, announce new marriages and births, or other achievements of the village.

Diet

The Uris are careful with drink, so as not to dull their senses. Unlike stereotypes that portray them eating whole sheep, the Uris are very reserved with their diets. They prefer healthy meals consisting of lean meats and vegetables, sometimes cooked into a stew. They are not keen on starches or sweets.

Mealtime for the Uris is most often a communal event, and foodstuffs are pooled to feed everyone. This prevents warriors from going hungry if their larders are bare, but also allows everyone to share stories of battle and tactics without having to schedule.

Religion

Uris do not practice religion regularly, but when they do, their preferred object of worship is Tiw, the Wodenist god of war. They will utter such prayers as wishing for clarity in battle and a glorious afterlife should they be overwhelmed.

Tiw appears as a human, not a Kuulik, thus limiting the efficacy of the Wodenist faith in Uris culture. Confirmations of Uris souls having survived into the afterlife exist, but these reports are met with skepticism. Is this an afterlife for humans or an afterlife for Kuulik, the skeptics wonder. Thus, the typical Uris will forgo religious oaths in favor of another round of training.

Uris Observances

Uris observances are entirely commemorative of Uris who have either fallen in battle or won great battles and have since passed away. Every few generations, this hero worship is met with controversy as the historical accuracy of the accounts is regularly brought into question and revised where needed.

Uris observances are usually solemn affairs. Food is served, and this is usually toasted with a single shot of alcohol or other stiff beverage. They Uris do not make parties of their observances.

Uris Geography

About three-quarters of all Uris live on the Kuulik Peninsula and the neighboring islands. They are there to protect against rogue intruders and surprise attacks. There are not enough Uris to defend against the full might of most other nations; however, the battles would not be easily won by any nation.

Uris will travel abroad, often in clandestine caravans and disguised as merchants, even reddening their noses to complete their disguises. They will be dispatched to deal with persons or organizations who have wronged or otherwise cheated the Kuulik Trade Company. They are not necessarily assassins, but rather elite combat forces so formed to complete a specific mission, which is usually to eliminate the cheats and recover any missing goods.

These extrajudiciary teams sometimes set up permanently in large trading centers where their unique sets of skills are needed regularly. They, like the Sawdager, eventually learn to blend into the local culture, which ultimately aids their work.

Copyright © 2021-2026 by Robyn Blaber and Will to Power Games. All rights reserved. Content on this website may not be reproduced without written permission of the copyright owner.