Background The Drahkorn were the first and chosen race created by Drahthor to reside within his asteroid realm in the void. Physically, they resemble their God, sleek black exoskeleton, four dilapidated yet simultaniosly well muscled black limbs, a large elongated curved head with sharp peary white teeth at the base and three small black orbs ascending each side of the head. They also have a long segmented tail that ends in a wicked and sharp blade, and from tail to head they can be anywhere from 10 to 18 feet in length.
Stat Block: Coming soon? Looking for someone familiar with 4.0 to help me here?
Society It is first important to note that the Drahkorn are asexual beasts. They have no genders, and their only means of reproduction is a biannual event wherein worshipers of Drahthor are reborn as Drahkorn on the banks of the Lake of Fire(For a long period of time this meant that the same souls were merely being reborn as they died and thus the Drahkorn's numbers remained constant). Newly born Drahkorn have no memories of their previous lives, though how Drahthor judges their souls determines how strong their new forms are. Later in life, as they become older and stronger many Drahkorn are able to regain partial memories of previous lives, though only The Herald retains complete memories of all of his former selves.
Upon being reborn, the Drahkorn are already almost fully grown and physically mature, their mental maturity normally takes several weeks to reach (mental maturity counting as when a Drahkorn's mind has developed language and the ability for self sufficiency). They are immediately accepted into existing cells that have lost members within the past cycle, or rarely entirely new cells are formed with one or two elder Drahkorn and the rest being newborns. The cell is the basic unit of Drahkorn society, designed in an attempt to parallel and replace some of the fuctions served by the traditional family structure. As such, cells normally live and act together as a single coherent body, also fuctioning as a shared economic force. Normally, governing and dominance are determined within a cell through a combination of strength, intelligence, and force of personality. The most common arrangement is to have a single head who directs its cellmates, though power sharing or even total egalitarian governing methods are not unheard of.
All Drahkorn are members of the theocratic nation state of Xanthor, ruled over by The Herald. Within the theocracy, cells function in a highly regimented timetable. They live in a 10 cycle (the time period between the ceremony of rebirth on the lake of fire, roughly approximate to half a year) system, wherein four cycles (2 years) would be spent within the city of Xanthor working in construction, administration, basic economics, etc. Next the cell would move through a series of teleportation circles to one of several dozen smaller Drahkorn settlements (anywhere from several dozen members to several thousand) wherein they would help run the local trade, be it farming, mining, refining, alchemical experimentation, etc. This would normally constitute another 4 cycle (2 year) period of time. Finally, the cell would move beyond the edge of Drahkorn controlled lands in live in the wilds of the caverns for 2 cycles (1 year) in order that they might reitain their connection to the land and never grow dull.
Given that the average Drahkorn is capable of living up to 750 years (a figure only rarely reached given the extreme conditions found in the wilds) most Drahkorn go through this rotational system many times in their lives. The cells are not specifically concentrated into one field of work or study, in general different cell members accept the class and trade that they feel called to, so often a cell can have a mixed group of sorcerers, clerics, paladins, and others that work in many different industries. While in the cities, the cells would spend a total of half the day perforrming their pertinent duties before returning to their cell for the other half to live and sleep as a group. Effectively, this means the Drahkorn have a 12 hour work day, 8 hours for sleep, and 4 hours of their own time while living in the cities. As such, it is out in the wilds where most cells develop their strongest bonds, and many Drahkorn look forward to returning to a less regimented, yet more deadly lifestyle with relish every 5 years.
In case of war, the entire populace is expected to be ready and able to fight, though normally troops would be drawn from the populations currently in the city. The only exception to the above mentioned system would be the Obsidain Guard. They function as a standing army from birth until death, and while they cutivate other skills meant to help them become more rounded individuals they are completely dedicated towards the practice and perfection of warfare. The Obsidian Guard makes up 1/10th of the Drahkorn's total population and are based out of the floating Fortress of Malkor within the city of Xanthor. If war were to break out these Drahkorn would serve as the elite shock troops and leaders of the rest of Xanthor's units (should it be neccessary to send them).