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  BByy  KKeenn  SStt..  AAnnddrree  
  
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  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Here's a challenge for you. Cross a monster-
  guarded lake, penetrate an immense cavern 
  system, find the legendary fungoid forest, 
  and capture a troll for the menagerie of 
  Mingo the Moneyless. Either that, or be 
  turned into a frog.  
  LLooookkiinngg  ffoorr  AAddvveennttuurree???? 
  
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  The Curses of 
  Arahk Gnahk, 
  The Spellbook  
  of the Uruks 
   
   
  ’
   
   
  TROLLHALLA PRESS 
  
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  –
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  A Trollhalla Press Publication 
  
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  The Curses of Arahk Gnahk, 
  The Spellbook of the Uruks 
   
  Introduction 
   
  As hard as it may be to believe, uruks are related to 
  elves.  Loopo the Mad Mage used his magic to transform 
  some of the Vartae (the Dark Elves) into uruks during 
  the Wizard Wars at the dawn of history. One might 
  think that uruk magic would be similar to elven magic, 
  but nothing could be farther from the truth. As slaves of 
  Loopo, and later as outcast savages in the wildernesses of 
  the world, they lost all their magic, and didn't regain any 
  of it until the coming of Arahk Gnahk, the great 
  Shaman, the culture hero of the uruk peoples. What the 
  uruks never knew, or never cared to admit, was that 
  Arahk Gnahk was really Khara Khang, the wizard-king 
  of Zorr, he who came to Rrr'lff as a friend and disciple 
  of Khazan, but also he who transformed himself into the 
  form of an uruk and went to live with uruks for more 
  than a century in order to try to understand them and 
  bring peace between uruks and elves. Thus, the shamanic 
  magic taught by Arahk Gnahk  is a simplified form of 
  the Flame Magic of the wizards of Zorr.  The basis of 
  the magic is that life energy is a kind of fire, and that 
  fire is spirit and that spirit works magic.  Thus, much of 
  uruk sorcery involves either fire or spirit control. 
   
  Uruks do not write things down or maintain libraries 
  where one might find spellbooks. Most uruk knowledge 
  
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  and lore is handed down from master to student, from 
  parent to child, from older to younger.  Most uruks are 
  pure warriors and do not know even their own kindred's 
  magic. These warriors rely upon charms, amulets, and 
  enchanted weapons that their tribal shamans make for 
  them. Uruks aren't really magically blind--they just 
  combine ignorance with a long tradition of not messing 
  with the shaman's magic. Those few warriors that do 
  transcend their own cultural limitations and learn some 
  shamanic magic often become powerful leaders in their 
  tribal groups. This spellbook exists because Khara Khang, 
  though disguised as an uruk was really human, and as a 
  human he did believe in documenting his knowledge, and 
  because after Lerotra'hh, who was half elf herself, though 
  her sympathies lay with the uruks, wanted a record of 
  her people's powers.  I, Ken Stander, a human librarian 
  for the Goddess in Khazan have collected what knowledge 
  I could find from Khara Khang and a few others, and 
  have compiled this spellbook. 
   
  Uruks worship strength, and their magic is powered by 
  their strength. Thus, most uruk warriors have little to do 
  with it as working magic would weaken them. They do, 
  however, love to have charms and magical weapons, that 
  are either permanently enchanted to gain their power 
  from the world's kremm energy, or that must be 
  
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  recharged by a shaman from time to time. 
  A peculiar side effect of uruk magic is that while casting 
  it drains strength from the shaman, it seems to convert 
  that strength into charisma. Thus, shamans, though not 
  as powerful as regular warriors physically, seem even 
  more impressive when encountered in combat, especially 
  if they are doing magic at the time. The relationship is 
  that each Strength unit converts to 1 unit of Charisma 
  when a spell is cast. Although uruks do have the kremm 
  wizardry attribute, they are mostly unaware of it, and 
  thus it seldom comes into play for them.  Oddly enough, 
  some uruk magic has been converted into human magic, 
  and some uruks have learned human magic, just as any 
  rogue wizard human might have learned it, and when 
  uruks cast human magic, they are affected in the same 
  way that humans are. 
   
  Uruk spells and enchantments are all thought of as 
  curses, because they always cost the user strength.  All 
  enchanted items are thought to be cursed items.  A curse 
  may be cast directly by hand, or from a cursed item by 
  using a trigger word.  The caster must have sufficient 
  kremm and strength to power the spell, but uruks would 
  only notice the loss of strength.  The strength loss 
  manifests as a kind of cold light flickering around the 
  caster in shades of violet, and this accounts for a brief 
  increase in the caster's charisma for about 10 minutes 
  while the effect lasts.   
   
  The uruk shaman is often the chief and usually the most 
  respected person in the tribe. That is because he (and 
  
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  rarely, she) spends much of their time enchanting 
  magical items for the use of the warriors.  Uruk shamans 
  are especially good at adapting their spells to different 
  circumstances.  For example, the control wolf spell can 
  also be used to control bears, panthers, dogs, lizards, 
  hawks, spiders and any other beast, but the Strength cost 
  varies with the power (monster rating) of the animal 
  being controlled, and the charm must also invoke the 
  spirit of the proper animal and contain a bit of that 
  animal's body--fur will do.  A true uruk beast master 
  will often be found wearing necklaces or bracelets 
  consisting of many different charms, one for each animal 
  he wishes to control. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
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  The Curses 
   
  
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  &
  
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  End 
   
   
   
   
  
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  TTrroollllhha
  alllla
  a  PPrreessss  
  BBee  SSuurree  TToo  GGeett  KKeenn’’ss  EEnnttiirree  
  SSppeellll  bbooookk  CCoolllleeccttiioonn  
   
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Tunnels & Trolls (osr)/Supplemental/TnT - The Spellbook of the Uruks .pdf