(Excerpt from “The Droh”)
Written by Tim O'Bryan, Loremaster
Origin & Nature
The Droh are not a biological species in the ordinary sense, but living strata of Qhorai-bound stone, sculpted and awakened by Waymar the Sageborn, deep beneath the mountains known as the Drohkal Range in the Ancient Era. They are Lucaedia’s first true artisans, their forms created from the command:
“Let the stone emulate its maker.”
Each Droh is like a node of the planet’s memory, a thought crystallized in stone. When they move, their motion is slow and deliberate, as though they must persuade their own bodies to yield to their will. Their eyes glow with molten light; their cores thrum with living Qhorai, the literal essence of magic; their forms are crafted from the deepest bones of the world. Their entire existence occurs in the caves and caverns of the Drohkal Range; they never leave, for any reason.
Appearance & Physiology
The Droh appear as stocky, roughly humanoid forms of basalt, obsidian, or ore-veined stone. Their Qhorai veins glow faintly (typically green-gold or orange). When standing still (a rare occurrence), they are indistinguishable from statues, or a pile of inert stones. When moving, dust and pebbles fall from their joints like rain. Their presence is accompanied by low hum, a sort of vibration through the earth.
Consciousness & Hierarchy
The Droh exist in a caste-like continuum of awareness. The vast majority are unthinking, semi-autonomous beings of stone and ore. They do not dream, speak, or submit to any impulse other than the forge. They shape metal instinctively; the act of forging is as natural to them as breathing is to mortals. Each Droh knows what to mine, what to craft, and when to rest, without direction, as if following the pulse of the world’s heartbeat. They are, in fact, re-enacting the very motions of the world’s forging, before the first light disrupted the Void.
There are rare Droh who, through long contact with Qhorai flux or ancient relics, develop limited self-awareness. They can understand speech and expression, and occasionally carve their thoughts into stone walls or metals, their only form of “communication.” Some scholars believe these semi-sentient Droh unconsciously transcribed fragments of Ythren script, implying some sort of connection through the stone and earth, and making them one of the reasons that ancient language survived into the Sovereign Era.
The Droh Speaker
At any given time, one and only one Droh possesses a voice, a singular phenomenon called the Mountain’s Awakening. This being arises spontaneously when the mountain itself deems it necessary
for the Droh to communicate outwardly, usually at the behest of an outsider who has reverently approached a designated spot and uttered the correct intonations.
The Speaker’s voice rings like a forge bell, using a form of vibration through Qhorai. It serves as the sole intermediary between the Droh and the rest of the world: negotiating with mortals, recounting the histories of forged artifacts, and receiving tributes of ore or supplication. When a Speaker retires, their consciousness seeps back into the mountains, and a new Speaker emerges elsewhere after an indeterminate time, sometimes even centuries later.