Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: ADMIN since the phu weren't added to BEASTIARY Message-ID: From: tim@mik.uky.edu (timothy c huesman) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 08:38:04 GMT Keywords: phu +obadu Name: phu Description: The phu are humanoid, appear very human in shape though having smooth, grey skin devoid of any hair. Their eyes are colored almost black, though albinoes among this people can have nearly any color skin and eyes, and ebony skin resembling the drow is possible. One would see a phu bare-chested(either sex) wearing shorts made from the pulp of plants and a hat(shade) atop the bald head. Since those seen are usually trackers, a spear or throwstick is also common along with a knife made from black glass or beaten metal. Bare feet are the norm and this is not varied in the snow and desert lands. Their foot soles are very tough and it is said the blood of the phu is red but full of grey and white specks that serve no known purpose. The phu (never capitalized) are an ancient people in the Known Lands of Nexus. Some believe them to be native to the world, but the phu corrected that thought long ago saying that they came following the godslongpast at the end of the Age of Dreams. They claimed that they were as lice to the godslongpast and had followed them on bridges spanning many worlds, and un-worlds, proto-worlds, and dead worlds. Before the other races began recording their histories the phu were still plentiful across every land mass of the world. Legends from those times tell that the phu were a people in name only, actually being a society of many lifeforms, all having the grey-cast skin and lacking hair entirely. Records and clay figures could be found showing phu resembling flightless birds, animals of the hunt, and huge insect forms. But civilised society was not for the phu, who preferred the tribal ways formed from beyond memory. Over the years they became more scarce found on islands, in unchartered lands, and clustered around the more odd natural formations of the world. Some were absorbed into the societies of man and elf, lizardman, Draga and Drist. Thhe phu were very similar to the other humanoids in shape and the races mixed with minor oddities. When a phu mix was born, he was often not fully formed, sometimes with arms and legs only partially developed. But this corrected itself in a matter of days and by the time the blood was thinned by another generation, this did not repeat itself. Among what is known about the phu is their tracking abilities. These grey-skinned hunters were said to be able to track the great snowcats weeks after the thaw had melted their spoor. They were able to find the sandserpents in the arid lands though they had slipped beneath the sands in hibernation a month before. Among the phu the ability to track took on a mystical significance and their shamans were among the best of that skill. Though the tribal phu lived far from the modern lands, individual trackers would cross the seas in dug-out canoes and for a time trade their tracking abilities for various odd services. How they made the perilous trips in their meager boats was not shared, nor whether there were many casualties at sea, but every year several phu would arrive in their shorts made from plant-pulp, wearing the shade-hats that marked their individual tribe. ANd they would arrive almost anywhere in the known lands without fear of violence, for their skills were a valuable commodity though they might stay only a season. Among the greatest of the oddities that are the phu, is their belief in ritual magics. They claim their dances and music call forth powers from the 'dream-time' and replenish the strength of the land to repopulate the animal numbers and reseed the soil. They also claim that other magics are possible in the places where the godslongpast frequented. Such places will be odd-shaped ridges and vales formed by the godslongpast furious love-making. Or the pits of black ooze that burns that were the privies of the godslongpast. Geographic Range: ANywhere in the known lands when tracking, otherwise on large islands or living near unusual natural formations far from the civilised lands. General Attitude: Aloof, non-hostile, helpful. Created by: Doc Pan (Tim Huesman) tim@mik.uky.edu Availablilty: General AFTER mailing creator for more info. -- Doc Pan tim@mik.uky.edu Tim Huesman