Sarkrith

The sarkrith wage a war that few understand. Beings of logic and cold calculation, sarkriths cannot abide the unpredictable although undeniably powerful forces of magic. To the sarkrith, peace means control, and magic in the hands of anyone is a symbol that the sarkrith do not have control.

The regimented society of the sarkriths has room for other races aside from those tractable enough to be obedient citizen-slaves. Patient and deliberate, the long-lived sarkriths never send soldiers into battle without planning and forethought.

On most worlds, the sarkriths have yet to come into real power. Their hidden subterranean city-states, while powerful, do not yet hold the numbers of sarkriths necessary to put the magic-wielding races surrounding them to the sword.

Combat

Thanes and spelleaters have dramatically different combat tactics. However, both have the following ability.

Mask Scent (Ex): Once per day, a sarkrith can mask its scent, which prevents it from being detected with the scent ability. This ability lasts for 1 hour.

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Spelleater • Thane

Spelleater ⬆️

The heart of the sarkrith race, spelleaters drive the sarkrith’s hatred of magic and its effects. Spelleaters rarely travel without a squad of thanes for protection.

Like thanes, spelleaters are physically powerful, scaled humanoids with reptilian features, and they stand over 9 feet tall. Spelleaters have light blue skin that dulls almost to gray as they age.

Other creatures find it almost impossible to negotiate with spelleaters. Spelleaters expect obedience from other creatures, and they have a difficult time even grasping the concept of an exchange of equals. One is simply stronger or weaker than another, and thus the chain of command is established. Since spelleaters are so obsessed with individual might, powerful creatures such as dragons sometimes attempt to establish dominion over groups of them, but spelleaters are never loyal to other races⁠—​in their eyes, all nonsarkriths are tainted by magic’s foul touch.

Spelleaters speak Common, Draconic, and Infernal.

Combat

Spelleaters are as cold and calm about battle as they are about everything else. Never seeming hurried and never making decisions based on emotion, spelleaters always direct thanes and their own attacks against spellcasters or other individuals obviously using magic.

When fighting in groups, spelleaters coordinate their attacks: Half their number strip their foes of magic with their dispelling rays, while the others attack with their bows.

Dispelling Ray (Su): Spelleaters can generate a ray that cancels magical effects on anything it touches at will. This ray has a 75-foot range. The spelleater must make a ranged touch attack against the target. If the ray hits, it affects the target as a targeted greater dispel magic spell cast by a 20th-level sorcerer.

Spell Absorption (Ex): Anytime a spell fails to beat a spelleater ’s spell resistance, the spelleater gains hit points equal to the level of the spell. These hit points first heal damage that the spelleater has taken. Extra hit points are treated as temporary hit points, and expire after 1 minute.

Thane ⬆️

Thanes are tasked with guarding the sarkrith protectorates from physical attack. Like all sarkriths, thanes hate magic. Fierce, loyal, and cruel, thanes understand nothing but orders. When confronting those they deem less powerful, they speak only in the imperative, and when dealing with spelleaters and others that they have been bred to obey, thanes respond with instant obedience.

Scaled humanoids with heavy, reptilian heads, sarkrith thanes stand 9 feet tall and weigh close to 800 pounds.

Sarkrith thanes speak Common and Infernal.

Combat

Brutal and efficient in combat, sarkrith thanes use size and numbers to crush smaller foes. Unless an adept orders otherwise, thanes pick one foe (usually the closest) and concentrate their attacks until that foe is down; then they move to the next foe. This simple tactic makes them predictable, if dangerous, adversaries.

Adaptive Resistance (Ex): Any time a thane takes damage from a spell or effect that deals energy damage, the thane gains resistance 10 against subsequent attacks involving the same energy type. This resistance lasts for one day.

Adrenaline Boost (Ex): A thane can take an extra move or attack action once during a round. A thane can use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Constitution bonus (9 for an average thane).

Antimagic Field (Su): Once per day as a free action, a thane can create an antimagic field around itself. The field is always centered on the thane and has a 5-foot radius. The field lasts for a number of rounds equal to the thane’s Constitution bonus (9 for an average thane).

Resist Blows (Ex): Sarkrith thanes treat all damage dealt by bludgeoning weapons as nonlethal damage.

Source: Fiend Folio, page 145. Changes applied as per the D&D^® v.3.5 Accessory Update. Corrected all weapon damage for creature size and composite bow damage for Strength limit. No range was given for the spelleater’s dispelling ray, so it was assumed to be the same as a Close range spell cast by a 20th-level sorcerer (to match that of the effect). The thane was missing a feat for its hit dice, so Weapon Focus (greatsword) was added and its Attack and Full Attack entries adjusted accordingly.