Editing Enduk

[[File:Enduk MCSC.jpg|thumb]]
The '''Enduk''' are a [[minotaur]] subspecies native to the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] setting of [[Mystara]]. Unlike their brutish common kin, the enduk are peaceful and friendly, a race of philosophers and sages adept in the mystical and intellectual arts. They can easily be distinguished by their smaller stature and, more obviously, the giant freaking wings on their backs which allow them to fly!

Enduks are depicted and fully fleshed out in the "Orc's Head Peninsula" splatbook, which updates a more obscure region of [[Mystara]] to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition.

{{NotFunny Sourcebook}}

Standing six to seven feet tall, enduks are smaller and lighter than regular minotaurs though still very muscular. Their bodies are covered with short fur ranging from black to light brown. The head of an enduk resembles that of a bull – with horns, a square muzzle, large, heavily-lidded eyes, and a strong mouth filled with large teeth. Long, coarse hair tufts at the throat and shoulders, running in a mane the back. The head of an enduk is most often spotted and splotched with white and black, though features such as the eyes and muzzle are highlighted in brown.

Enduks also possess huge, powerful wings. A typical enduk wingspan measures from eight to ten feet, and when folded, the wings reach from the ground to one foot over the enduk’s head. Feather color varies from white to black, including various shades of gray. The underside of an enduk's wings usually bears a design that they show off by spreading their wings when on the ground. These marks tend to be genetic and can convey information about an enduk’s family.

The enduks have always been a simple, trusting people with a system of deeply felt religious beliefs. When the manscorpions were originally driven from their lands, the enduk agreed to share Nimmur with them. When betrayed by these manscorpions, the enduks fled their homeland and relocated on the Arm of the Immortals with the assistance of their friends, the ee’aar. There they sought to both preserve their simple lifestyle and prepare to battle for claim to Nimmur.

The enduks put family ahead of other concerns. Enduks take a mate for life, rarely taking a second even if the first dies. A couple will average one child every few years - four to six young over their lifetime together. Normally one enduk represents the entire extended family for purposes of organized government, whether it is a local organization or a temporary clan-council responsible for matters concerning all enduks. (The last clan-council to be held was over the matter of returning to Nimmur.) This leader is generally an enduk who has lost a mate, or never took one, and has embraced a more martial and possibly religious lifestyle. Sometimes, a mated pair will devote their lives to such pursuits, both becoming leaders for the family.

Enduk are typically stoic creatures unless enraged. They get along well with all other races except the manscorpions, who have possibly earned the eternal animosity of the enduks. Their philosophy demands an ascetic life of peasantry, which ties in with the enduk religion - worship of their patron Immortal, Ixion, and reverence of their greatest leader, Gildesh. Gildesh supposedly returns every 300 years to live among his people, constantly renewing their faith. In his latest reincarnation, Gildesh led his people back to the Savage Coast to reclaim their homeland. Not the fanatic killers the manscorpions can be, the enduks and their ee’aar allies were only able to gain a foothold. They now hold Um-Shedu and the surrounding land. Enduks in this area are more likely to be mistrusting and militant. Some of their people have returned to the land and become farmers, but the population of Um-Shedu is supported mainly by the enduks remaining on the Arm of the Immortals.

The enduks would like nothing more than to live in peace with their neighbors, raising crops and hunting for meat as needed. However, that choice has been taken from them, and for the time being, the enduks are pursuing this war with vigor. Unless the manscorpions make amends for their actions, the violence is likely to continue until one race or the other is destroyed.

Besides the killing, this conflict has forced the enduks into a higher level of craftsmanship and commerce. The enduks are natural metalsmiths, making some of the best tools and weapons available. Mostly they work with regular steel, but with their return to the Savage Coast, they have begun crafting red steel weapons. Enduks do not make items specifically for trade with other races yet, so most weapons and tools are created for enduk physique. Still, these items are gaining a following in the surrounding lands as trade items.

Enduks possess a rare enmity for the [[Manscorpion]] or "Nimmurian" race - this is because the enduks are the ''original'' Nimmurians and the manscorpions stole their cultural identity after running the flying bull-men out of their ancestral home.

{{D&D2e-Races}}
[[Category: Mystara]]