Savage Bloodshadows

Blood of Tarrian Wilderness Creatures

“Never mistake a frog for a fool. Especially one carrying a musket.”

The Quahogs are an ancient amphibious people uniquely adapted to the infernal conditions of the Boiling Swamps. Standing between four and six feet tall, they possess broad, muscular bodies covered in slick, mottled skin ranging from moss green to volcanic black. Thick webbed hands and feet allow them to swim through boiling channels with ease, while specialized glands beneath their skin protect them from temperatures that would cook most living creatures alive.

Large golden or crimson eyes peer constantly from beneath heavy brows, and expandable throat sacs allow them to communicate across remarkable distances through booming croaks that echo through the mist.

Most outsiders dismiss the Quahogs as primitive savages—a mistake that has cost many merchants their cargo and their lives.

Quahog society revolves around loose pirate flotillas, each commanded by a self-proclaimed Bog Captain. Their vessels are cobbled together from scavenged riverboats, wrecked barges, floating driftwood, giant shells, and even the hollowed skeletons of Behemoths. Though crude in appearance, these craft are expertly maintained and surprisingly seaworthy within the treacherous waters of the swamp.

Magic is woven deeply into Quahog culture. Nearly every flotilla includes one or more Mud Chanters, shamans capable of commanding steam, water, mud, and swamp spirits through rhythmic croaks, drumming, and ritual chants. Their spellcasting is instinctive rather than scholarly, passed orally through generations.

Quahogs are pragmatic rather than openly hostile. They raid anyone they consider an intruder but readily trade with those who earn their respect. Their markets—hidden atop floating reed islands—offer exotic alchemical ingredients, rare swamp fungi, venom, magical herbs, and relics salvaged from cities long swallowed by the marsh.

Habitat

• Floating villages
• Steam vents
• Hidden lagoons
• Mangrove fortresses
• Wreck-built pirate ports

Society

• Organized into independent pirate flotillas.
• Leadership is earned through strength, cunning, and magical ability.
• Respect age, powerful shamans, and successful captains.
• Their oral histories claim they inhabited the Boiling Swamps before the GodWar.

Technology

Quahogs favor practical weapons that tolerate moisture:

• Heavy spears
• Harpoons
• Boarding hooks
• Blowguns coated with swamp toxins
• Rust-resistant axes
• Black-powder swivel guns mounted on pirate barges

Magic

Mud Chanters commonly command:

• Steam and boiling water
• Mud and earth
• Fog and concealment
• Animal spirits
• Healing through mineral-rich waters
• Protective swamp wards

Rumors

• The Quahogs know safe routes through every boiling channel in the marsh.
• Every pirate captain possesses a map leading to one of the lost cities beneath the swamp.
• The greatest Quahog shamans can awaken sleeping Behemoths—or calm them with ancient songs.
• Some Quahogs claim the swamp itself is alive, and that they merely carry out its will.

Quahog Raider

Amphibious Swamp Pirate (Extra)

Quahogs are a race of intelligent amphibians uniquely adapted to the boiling waterways of the Boiling Swamps. Organized into independent pirate flotillas, they raid merchant barges, salvage ancient ruins, and defend the swamp from outsiders with surprising cunning. Though often dismissed as primitive, Quahogs are skilled navigators, fierce warriors, and capable practitioners of swamp magic.

Attributes: Agility: d8, Smarts: d6, Spirit: d8, Strength: d8, Vigor: d8

Skills: Athletics d8, Boating d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, Survival d10, Thievery d6

Pace 6. Swimming Pace: 8. Parry 6. Toughness 7 (1)

Special Abilities

Amphibious: May breathe air and water.

Boiling Water Adaptation: Immune to natural heat from geothermal springs and boiling swamp water. Receives +4 to resist magical fire or steam attacks.

Low Light Vision: Ignore penalties for Dim or Dark Illumination.

Swamp Born: Ignore movement penalties in:

• Mud
• Marsh
• Shallow Water
• Dense Vegetation

Gain +2 Survival in swamp environments.

Sure-Footed: Ignore penalties for unstable footing on boats, floating logs, or swamp debris.

Gear: Typical Quahogs carry:

• Bone Spear (Str+d6, Reach 1)
• Boarding Hook (Str+d4, AP1)
• Blowgun (Range 5/10/20, 2d4, usually loaded with poison)
• Hide Armor (+1)

Tactics

Quahogs almost never fight fair. Typical ambushes involve:

• Hidden canoes.
• Camouflaged firing positions.
• Pit traps.
• Viperweed patches.
• Pounder Fish driven toward enemy boats.
• Hit-and-run boarding attacks.

They prefer to capture cargo rather than kill unnecessarily.

Quahog Pirate Captain

Wild Card. Veteran captains command entire flotillas of ramshackle swamp vessels.

Increase: Spirit d10, Smarts d8, Fighting d10, Boating d10, Intimidation d10

Edges: Command, Inspire, Level Headed, Combat Reflexes

Special Ability

Pirate’s Command: Friendly Quahogs within 5″ gain +1 Fighting, +1 Spirit rolls to recover from Shaken

Quahog Mud Chanter

Wild Card. The mystical leaders of Quahog society.

Attributes: Spirit d10, Smarts d8

Skills: Faith d10, Occult d10, Notice d8, Survival d10

Arcane Background (Magic): Power Points: 20

Typical Powers:

• Barrier (walls of hardened mud)
• Bolt (jets of boiling water)
• Burrow
• Conceal Arcana
• Deflection
• Entangle (living vines and reeds)
• Environmental Protection
• Fear
• Healing
• Relief
• Slumber (hypnotic croaking)
• Stun (thunderous croak)

Swamp Communion: While standing in swamp water or mud:

• Recover 1 Power Point every round.
• +2 to resist Tests and Fear.

Bogspeaker: May communicate with:

• Pounder Fish
• Giant amphibians
• Swamp reptiles
• Certain swamp spirits

This doesn’t grant control, but allows simple communication and requests.

Society

Quahogs organize into Flotillas, floating pirate clans composed of dozens of interconnected vessels. Each flotilla is led by:

• Bog Captain (military leader)
• Mud Chanter (spiritual leader)
• Elders (keepers of history)

Common Vessels

• Pole barges
• Reed skiffs
• Floating forts
• Paddle-driven rafts
• Hulls built from Behemoth shell
• Salvaged steam launches

Adventure Hooks

Toll Keepers

A Quahog flotilla controls the only safe passage through a maze of boiling channels. Travelers must pay in coin, supplies, or favors—or risk being driven into Pounder Fish territory.

The Mud Crown

A respected Mud Chanter has disappeared. Without their guidance, rival Bog Captains edge toward civil war, threatening every settlement that relies on Quahog navigation and trade.

The Behemoth Song

Ancient chants capable of awakening—or calming—a Behemoth have been stolen. Multiple Quahog clans race to recover them before a reckless pirate captain unleashes a living catastrophe.