The Flearians (Kender Sub-race)

2.) The Oath of the Barrow

[Note: This article stems from Issue #8 - August 26th, 1992 DFC, Titiled: THE OATH OF THE BARROW by Gerrolan Viageiro.]

Not much study has been made of the Flerian culture and civilization. As a result they are often misunderstood, and motives placed on their actions which are simply incorrect. In an attempt to correct this gap in the knowledge of educated folk, I took commission from Rinanni's temple to see what information I might collect for their archives.

What follow are a series of short interviews of Flerians. I would give names except I forget who said what. They all look the same. Truly. I do hope they prove informative.

- Gerrolan Viageiro, Journeyman Bard

* * * * *

"The Oath? Of course I know what The Oath is. What a silly question! Don't have time for this..."

--- --- ---

"Well, here in the city we're a bit less formal about The Oath than the boonie burrows are. If you were to visit one of them and ask for a, um, 'specialist' to help you on a quest or something, they'd put him through the formal Oathswearing, with a time period, a proper gift to the burrow, the works.

"Here we've adapted to fit in a bit. Not that we don't take The Oath just as seriously, mind you. If someone asks one of us to join their group, or we ask someone to join our group, and it happens, of course, The Oath is assumed sworn. It continues in effect until sunrise the day after the brother Flerian, or sister as the case might be - not too many sisters in the city though - leaves the company of that group.

"That it? Got someone waiting for me."

--- --- ---

"What's The Oath? The formal one? Well, it goes like this:

"By all that I hold dear, my burrow and family, my things, and my very life, I do swear to this oath. In exchange for the agreed gift to my family and burrow, for the period stated I will consider this group to be part of my burrow and as such what is theirs is theirs and what is mine is mine and I will not borrow without asking, nor loan without being asked. If I forswear or break this oath, may the mother of all rockwyrms appear in the dark of night to carry me off to the very bowel of hell, there to lay eggs in my paralysed corpse that her larva may feed on my flesh even as the imps of hell feed on my soul. And may all that I hold dear be forever lost, my family and burrow turn their face from me, and my things be given away one at a time to any who pass by. I so swear."

"Just saying it like that makes me shudder... look, I gotta go. Business."

--- --- ---

"Take The Oath seriously? Of course I take The Oath seriously! That part about the rockwyrm is true! And my burrow and family would never speak to me again! And my things!

"I don't even want to think about it. Bye."

--- --- ---

"Burrow? Why do we call it a burrow? Hmm...

"Well, there's wags that claim it's a perversion of 'borrow' but that seems unlikely. Or maybe it's true? You know the legends say the first burrow, the one out there past the hedgelands, Flerome, was once a cave where yelicans lived. The legend is a great Flerian hero found it and liked the place so he killed them all and took it from them. Borrowed it... anyway, gotta dash. Nice chattin with ya."

--- --- ---

"Yeah, in olden times we used to borrow a lot of eggs. The really brave guys would borrow pelican eggs, but mainly we stuck to easier ones like vulture. Vultures are wimps.

"Need to run. Mom said to bring home some eggs."

--- --- ---

"Important to me? Family and burrow. Neat things. Gettin rich. What else is there?... Scuse me... got an appointment."

--- --- ---

"Why do I borrow things? Cause they're there! I need em.

"Huh? Worry about whose? If they aren't family and burrow they aren't important. Gotta run."

--- --- ---

"Honor? Yeah honor is important! I always honor The Oath! Oh, you mean that cat honor stuff? Well, that's... hey, lookit that neat dagger!"

--- --- ---

"Where do we live? We live in burrows. Oh, you mean what places are burrows in? Everywhere. We get around. Speaking of that..."

--- --- ---

"Oh, was this yours? Sorry, it was just lying there. I better run..."

(Hmm..theres some stuff on our Burrow..Want me to explain that more? Its basically kind of an underground community we dug..it has Fungii gardens..lots of glowing stuf..bunks..pretty soon we are going to have tunnels all around the city.)

Here is a little Lore I wrote for Flerians(If you want I can send you more..)

Kelwop Research done by Blister Peddlersklan

Kelwop: Kelwop is a rock-like mineral found in underground damp areas. It was first discovered by Kelwop Befuddled when he led the digging to a new subterranean city.

Kelwop is rather rare, but when found is very plentiful. Kelwop maintains a very lightweight matter which is from the constant dripping of water in certain caverns over hundreds of years. This creates micro holes small enough to keep its form but reduce the weight. It is still a strong material. It also maintains a very polished texture and a strange glowing aura which no one has been able to explain yet.

Kelwop has been used for a variety of uses to flerian in the past. Its very common for them to chip or carve almost any house hold item out of them. Mugs, silverware, platter, weapons, tools. Some Usils believe the Kelwop mineral is responsible for the strange glowing aura which comes from many of the flerian's inventory. They even believe exposure to this mineral has given them their night vision.

One flerian fashion designer long ago used this mineral as a fashion statement when she had it hammered into small dust and sprinkled upon a Noble Lady's gown. She was quite popular until she ran into an accident with a dragon's maw. Kelwop was also a popular weapon made into a long lance for a flerian who somehow got knighted. Although, on his first joust(In a Noble Knight's game) the flerian was lynched for lifting the other jouster's purse with the lance.

Ok, heres our official description:

The Flerian Race Note: There are a number of scattered Flerian communities spread throughout the known world. Anywhere that they can sneak a burrow in will soon expand and become home to a fair number of them. Appearance: Flerians are short, slightly built humanoids who have long dexterous fingers, which seem ideally suited for picking pockets. Their facial features are somewhat narrow and sharp, with large round eyes. Flerians move almost continuously, and all members of the race look somewhat similar to one another. This makes identifying an individual Flerian somewhat difficult, should it become necessary, for whatever reason, to give a description of a particular Flerian.

Eyes: Brown, Amber, Black, Aqua, Green
Hair: Green, Aqua,Rainbow, Purple, Peach, Turquoise
Temperament: Flerians are very hestitant to trust anyone outside their own race, but to members of their own race they give unquestioning loyalty. They have a peculiar sense of ownership, which enables them to view anything that is not nailed down as theirs, and if they can pry it loose, it's not nailed down. They do have an exceptional sense of honor, which stems from the training they receive in their family group or commune. Because of the close living quarters, they have to deal with one another using a very specific code of honor. The Oath of the Burrow is invoked whenever a Flerian joins an adventuring party. The group agrees to pay the Flerian's home burrow a mutually agreed fee (which can be waved if so desired by the Flerian) at which time the Flerian will accept the members of the party as though they were members of the home burrow. This means that the Flerian will not invoke his peculiar sense of ownership over the possessions of the members of the party for the duration of the agreement.
Tendencies: They are very inquisitive, so much so that they often get into trouble due to their curiosity. A Flerian is barely capable of using magick as their curiosity causes them to have an incredibly short attention span. Long, arduous study of anything is simply not possible for a Flerian.
Background: Flerians by nature are communal individuals, and live in communities similar to those of humans. Many are burrowers and rarely build structures to live in. Close contact and sharing of possessions between community members is commonplace in a Flerian society. This attitude is not held toward other races and Flerians are often taught at a young age to acquire as many posessions as possible. Posessions are a sign of social significance in a Flerian community. It is natural that an individual brought up in such an environment would make a good thief, as many Flerians do.
Advantages: Excellent intelligence and dexterity. They move quickly.
Hindrances: Poor at magick. Their small size does not permit them to carry very much.
Abilities: They can move quickly and deftly.
Alignment: Orderly,Entropic
Profession: Preferred: Thief or Clerical Order of the Hand
Also: Bard, Clerical Order of the Heart
Rare: Clerical Order of the Sword, Fighter, Barbarian, Forester, RuneMage