Tarek

''This muscle-bound humanoid has a square, big-boned head, massive brow-ridges and a domed muzzle full of sharp teeth. Big, hairless and smelly, it also has long, powerful arms that drag along the ground while it walks.''

Combat
Tareks move with jerky, awkward strides, except when engaged in combat. Then they exhibit a style and grace usually uncommon in creatures of their size and build. To watch them engage in combat is to watch fluid motions that are as artistic as dance – unless the viewer happens to be on the receiving end of the deadly spectacle.

While tareks will use weapons, they shun armor of any sort, instead relying on their tough hides and natural combat agility to protect them.

Description
Tareks are muscle-bound brutes that are known for their great constitution and will to live. They look dull-witted, with their squared heads with sloping foreheads, and are about as smart as the average half giant. Their features lend them a fearsome presence that has earned them a well-deserved reputation as dangerous foes. Tareks have a distinct musky odor that can be detected from as far away as 30 ft.

Xenophobic, hateful and hostile, tareks frequently find themselves in conflict with the other races of the Tablelands. A tarek is so fierce in its love of life that it can continue to fight when lesser races would have succumbed to their wounds.

Tarek Society
Tareks are children of the earth and have been known to wage great wars against the gith, with whom they compete for territory and whom they see as defiling the earth by their very presence. They also hate elves because of their association with magic and its effect upon the earth they hold so sacred.

Tarek communities often support themselves by raiding, and visitors are not welcome. Unless a group of visitors includes an obvious elemental earth cleric, the tareks will attempt to drive them away. In rare instances, members of a community will be sent out to trade with a merchant caravan, but few traders will blindly conduct business with these representatives. More often than not, such representatives are a decoy for an unseen raiding party.

Tareks place great value in honor and physical prowess. For a tarek, Strength is a fundamental issue. The raw, competitive nature of their lives means that a tarek must be aware of his position in the tribe at any given time – and this position is determined through physical contest. When joining a group, it is quite normal to expect the uneducated tarek to use physical force to determine his place in things. The more cosmopolitan among the species have learned that other races sometimes take offence at this behavior.

The tarek language is much like that of the dwarves – harsh and guttural, and very fearsome in tone. Non-tarek speakers have been known to suffer from throat pains after half an hour of speaking the tongue. Tareks are fiercely protective of their language and proud of the Strength needed to speak it. Tareks will teach their language to other races, but the pupil normally has to undergo the regular tarek method of assessment first in order to determine his worth (i.e.: a beating).

Tareks as Characters
Tarek characters possess the following racial traits.
 * Str +4, Con +4, Int -2, Wis -4, Cha -2
 * Medium: As Medium creatures, Tareks have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Tarek base speed is 30.
 * Darkvision: Tareks can see in the dark up to 30 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and tareks can function just fine with no light at all.
 * Racial Weapon Familiarity: All tareks treat the handfork and the heartpick as martial weapons.
 * Bonus Feat: Tareks receive the Teamwork feat for free.
 * Ferocity: A tarek is such a tenacious combatant that it continues to fight without penalty when disabled or dying (see the Injury and Death section in the Player's Handbook).
 * +3 natural armor bonus
 * +4 racial bonus on all Intimidate checks.
 * –2 penalty on Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information and Perform and a –4 penalty on Hide checks, due to the tarek‘s musk odor. The musk odor has a radius of 30 ft. and the penalties do not apply outside this area.
 * Natural Weapons: Slam (1d4)
 * Favored Class: Fighter.
 * Automatic Languages: Common, Tarek. Bonus Languages: none.
 * Level Adjustment: +2