#aarkar

Name: Aarkar/Eldrakyn

Classification: Hybrids | Draconic Half-Bloods / Category: Draco-Trollus

Origin: Unknown

Current Status: Untraceable / Hidden

Danger: Extreme

Aarkars are neither trolls nor dragons. They are what happens when two species that should never have mixed do so anyway. (Not in the way you think. We don't even know how it happened. Perhaps divine intervention?)

The Aarkars are unnatural hybrids, a mix between Gumm-Gumms and dragons—ancient, intelligent, primal creatures.

I have never seen one alive. Everything I recount here comes from what I have read, observed, and pieced together. But there is solid evidence that they have already walked this world.

There are as many types of Aarkars as there are types of trolls and dragons.

Their appearance varies enormously, but they all share certain common traits: a massive body structure, often quadrupedal or semi-quadrupedal; heavy bones, a blend of trollish stone and draconic skeleton; fangs and claws made for tearing; a bestial posture; and remnants of wings, horns, or bony plates depending on their draconic ancestry (although the vast majority of them did not have wings).

The skull that Gol and I found leaves no doubt. The structure is hybrid. It clearly displays elements of Crimson Goregutter, mixed with a trollish base.

By observing the nearby bones, I was able to create a fairly accurate representation, as you can see.

The Aarkars are strictly carnivores. They hunt. They stalk. They devour. They are also man-eating beasts.

Ancient texts are clear on this point. Some accounts mention that in times of famine, they may consume fruits or vegetables. But this doesn't truly nourish them. They cannot survive long that way. Their bodies crave flesh. Blood.

It would be wrong, and dangerous, to consider the Aarkars as mere beasts. Yes, many of them are described as savage, violent, and driven by instinct.

But they are also as intelligent as a dragon mixed with a Gumm-Gumm. This means: territorial recognition, hierarchy, sometimes even social organization... They understand more than one might think.

The Aarkars disappeared along with the dragons. Or rather, they are surely hidden in the same place. The Hidden World is not only home to dragons. It is home to what the world could no longer accept.

Today, it is impossible to find an Aarkar, just as it is difficult to find a dragon. All the information I present here comes from very ancient texts, fragments of troll chronicles, personal excavations, and a fossilized skull forgotten in some ruins...

One detail obsesses me. The Killahead Bridge isn't just any structure. It's linked to an ancient civilization... a civilization directly connected to the Aarkars.

Gol once managed to steal a fetch. (I didn't ask him how. I prefer not to know.) Thanks to it, we were able to observe certain areas of the Darklands from a distance. And guess what we saw?

Gigantic bones. Collapsed structures. Remains too large for ordinary trolls. Too organized for beasts. Everything suggests that an entire civilization, now vanished, once inhabited these now inhospitable lands.