Tanarukk

[Lysha]

Tanarukk

Regions: Silver Marshes, Orc.
Racial Feats: Fiendish Bloodline, Healing Flames, Improved Energy Resistance, Improved Natural Armor.
Racial Prestige Class: Orc warlord.
Racial Hit Dice: 5d8
Level Adjustment: +3.

Breed from orc slaves and demons, tanarukks are a powerful and evil strain of planetouched who are spreading across the North. Because of their orc blood they breed rapidly, and there are more tanarukks than any other kind of planetouched. Entire tribes of the creatures have taken root in the Nether Mountains and continue to breed true, so in another twenty years they will be a serious threat to the tenuous peace in the North. With evil parentage on both sides of the family, tanarukks are almost always evil, without a drop of human blood in them to influence their disposition.
Tanarukks are the descendants of orcs and tanar'ri (vroks, in particular). Similar to tieflings, tanarukks are a mortal Faerunian creature with the bloodline of an evil outsider. They breed true with their own kind or with pureblooded orcs, and even orcs with one tanarukk grandparent have all the abilities of a tanarukk. Theoretically tanarukks could breed with goblinoids or even ogres and produce strange crossbreeds, although these are likely to be sterile.
Unlike most planetouched, tanarukks have a fairly uniform appearance, resembling short, stocky orcs with stooped postures. Their hair is coarse, whether on their heads or the odd patches that grow on other parts of their bodies. They have sharp teeth and prominent lower tusks, with their lower jaw protruding farther than their small snouts. Their eyes are red and glow when angry. Their foreheads are low and ridged with horns or scales; their skin varies from gray-green to dun brown.
Tanarukks have the same life expectancy and age categories as an orc. They use the dwarf height and weight ranges on Tables 6-5 and 6-6 in the Players Handbook.