Kharakans call themselves The Wanderers at the End of Time. They believe in something they call "purpose," a long-term goal that everybody has. Purpose is not something that can be chosen, it is something inextricably locked with someone's fate. Knowing one's purpose means knowing one's own standing in the world, what should be done and what shouldn't. They are sad that many of the short-lived dwarfs (Kharakans live long lives) are apparently ignorant of their purposes and indulge themselves in senseless squabbles and lead meaningless lives.

In case of the Kharakans, the purpose is and was the battling of the Drakken. They are at the End of Time because they have fulfilled their goal millennia ago. But they also know that the Drakken have retreated and believe that they will return someday. Sometimes they say they are "between time," but only rarely and only to people they trust. In expectation of the eventual return of their enemy, they keep alive the memory of the old times by story-dances and hone their skills as warriors by various contests (see Cyc Tal Wilderlands) and on the hunt.

A long time ago, The Kharakans had fortress-cities in the north (the Kharakan Ruins). But with the Great Desaster (I call it Interregnum because of the temporary dominance of the Wildmen), the climate of the Wilderlands changed and the once arable soil of Karakhan couldn't sustain the people anymore. So they became wanderers, continuously on the move in small groups named after heroes of the past (such as Surka Duskfire) in order to find enough food without exhausting the resources of an area. The ruins of the ancient cities, however, still have great meaning in Kharakan culture.

Ambition, such as found in other races, is foreign to Kharakans. Occasionally, a Kharakan wanders the dwarf-lands to learn about the ways of dwarfs and the lore of the land (Kharakans don't expect the Drakken to return to the Kharakan wastes so they can battle them there), but they tend to avoid cities (too packed, and the doorways are too small) and usually return after fifty years or so.

Kharakans get along quite well with the other residents of the Wilderlands. Their immense size and battle prowess allows even a single giant to face a great number of smaller opponents. The charge of an ogriphant-mounted war party or a Kharakan war wagon is next to unstoppable. Other peoples of the Wilderlands, such as Za, know about this and treat Kharakans accordingly.

Kharakan Culture:

Kharakans laugh when others sing, so outsiders may be surpri of expression.

While wandering, Kharakans use something they call travel-songs. It is a form of meditation that counters exhaustion of man and beast and allows for easier and longer marches. Travel-singing has no melody, it consist of long orations in the ancient language of Karakhan, mixed with the usual chuckling, humming and laughing.

A Kharakan hunting party moves with astonishing speed, sometimes covering more than a hundred miles in a 24 hour march.

The story goes as follows: A Zandir Swordsmage, a Sindaran Mesa Scout, a Kang Tracker (with his soul firmly in the claws of the reincarnated Mordante), a Cymrilian Witch-Thief (Rogue Magician), together with an ageing Sarista and a renegade Arimite Revenant are on a lengthy quest for the base of Solimorrion's Star.

In the Lyceum Arcanum, the Sindaran came across a side-note delicate as this, but since Cymril was becoming kinda hot for them they were glad to be away as soon as possible.

After weeks of travel, spiced with altercations with Aamanian pilgrim knights who (correctly) believe the group to be in the service to a very evil (to Aamanians) entity they couldn't quite put a finger on (Mordante) and a tortured half-bane assassin who's trailing them, they reached the Sad Plains. Ardjun (the Arimite) told them that the Plains are haunted by ghosts, which they didn'; they all had strange and disturbing dreams about fire and being choked to death.

The next night they experienced the same; their dreams and lack of sleep combined to a general feeling of being worn-out and depressed.

On the third evening, while they were looking for a suitable campsite, they didn't hear the wind-voices in the grass, but instead a weird, almost Hi all! A couple of weeks ago I've had my PCs encounter a band of Kharakan Giants.

At first they saw a huge humanoid mounted on an ogriphant coming at them from the camp. The creature was 12 feet tall, brown-skinned, long-limbed, muscular, with a swept-back brow, large, deep-set eyes and a protruding jaw. A thick, black mane fell halfway down its back. It was clad in skins and furs, carried a 15 foot spear and had a huge, single-bladed battle-axe slung across its back. It rode the ogriphant without tack or harness and spoke to itself in a deep, rumbling voice.

I felt uncomfortable about picturing them as the blundering idiots (INT -4, DEX -lots&lots) they appear in Tal 3rd, so I sat down and put a little work to them.

As a base, I used the info on Kharakans (esp. the Kharakan Taler archetype) in Cyc. Wilderlands, I strongly suggest that anyone who wants to include Kharakans read this first

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