The Horkval of Aetolia
The Horkval are Aetolia’s insectoid race: chitin-armoured, click-tongued, red-eyed, and the only people on the continent who look at a sheer cliff and treat it as a suggestion. Some characters will never get past the carapace. That reaction is the roleplay. Their otherness shows in the first scene, before they say a word.
At a glance
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Native region | Hive settlements scattered across Sapience |
| Cultural home | The hives (no single city-state) |
| Spiritual frame | Varian (the Satus), who cursed the race into being; the mantis-bound origin myth |
| Distinctive trait | Chitinous insectoid body, click-language, terrain-ignoring legs |
| Suits play styles | Visible-otherness roleplay, hive-culture vs individualist contrast, raw-physicality archetypes |
| Gender lock | None |
Horkval lore and origin
Horkval were not born of a willing creation. According to HELP ORIGIN OF THE HORKVAL, the first of them was a woman in the great unknowing, before purpose and forethought existed in the world. She killed her sleeping mate by a forest pool and fed her unborn child on his blood. Varian, the Satus, watched and spoke a single line of judgement: “Like the Mantis, who eats her mate, so shall you and your offspring be.” Her skin hardened. Her limbs thinned and plated. Her eyes widened and reddened with the blood still on her hands. The race began there.
The cooperative, disciplined Horkval of today are descendants of that curse. Inside the hives, the race is known for determination and teamwork, with social structures that prize the collective above the individual. Outside the hives, most Horkval are strongly individualist and self-aware, and that gap between hive-Horkval and lone-Horkval is one of the more interesting tensions the race carries into roleplay. A hive-raised Horkval comes across as part of a larger machine. One who left, or never had a hive, looks like someone who chose their own shape against the grain.
Their chitin armours them, their legs carry them over terrain others cannot cross, and their eyes show the world in red. Every physical gift came at a cost: Horkval are markedly less suited to magic than other races, with a low starting Intelligence. The body does most of their talking.
Horkval appearance
Horkval are bipedal but unmistakably insectoid. Chitinous plating covers the body in segments, with the colouration ranging across the spectrum that hardened insect carapaces span: deep blacks, oxidised reds, polished bronzes, mottled greens. The eyes are wide and faceted, often red from the founding myth’s bloodstain, though hive lines vary. Mouthparts are mandible-set rather than human-jawed. Antennae or sensory bristles are common. Limbs are thin, plated, and stronger than they look.
The race’s voice is the click-language: a percussive, rhythmic mode of speech rendered through carapace clicks rather than human vocal cords. Horkval can speak common Aetolian when they need to, but among themselves the clicking is the natural register, and many Horkval find it more expressive. Other races who learn the Horkval clicking can join in. Most never bother.
Horkval racial abilities
The Horkval have three racial abilities, unlocked at character creation, level 31, and level 61.
- Clicking (available at character creation). Syntax: `CLICK
`. You can speak the Horkval clicking language, which lets you communicate with anyone else who can understand it. - Hardy (unlocks at Level 31). Passive. Your chitin makes you difficult to bruise or pierce with minor blows. Any blunt or cutting attack that would deal less than 30 damage is blocked completely.
- Leap (unlocks at Level 61). Syntax: `LEAP
`. Your abnormal strength lets you leap over obstructions that would otherwise block your way.
The set is physically themed and works with the race’s lore. Clicking is a social ability with persistent roleplay weight. Hardy is a meaningful damage floor against the kind of small chip-damage that wears characters down outside dedicated combat. Leap rewards Horkval who push into terrain other characters cannot follow them through.
Horkval base statistics
Aetolia uses statpacks, a separate choice from race that sets your five base stats. The values below are the racial baseline before statpacks apply.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Strength | 12 |
| Dexterity | 12 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Constitution | 15 |
| Wisdom | 11 |
Horkval lean hard into Constitution, with balanced physical stats and a low starting Intelligence. On paper the base stats favour durability over magic, but your statpack drives most of the real difference.
How to roleplay a Horkval in Aetolia
- Cultural anchor. The hives. Horkval who grew up inside one carry the cooperative-and-disciplined imprint from HELP HORKVAL. Horkval who left, or who were born outside, lean individualist and self-aware. Pick the side of that line your character sits on, because other Horkval will read your stance quickly.
- Faction-cultural alignment. Independent. No major city-state is Horkval-coded, so a Horkval character can serve Bloodloch, Enorian, Spinesreach, or Duiran without a contradiction. The ORIGIN myth’s violence resonates with Shadow factions if you play into it. Spirit factions can take Horkval discipline and hive-loyalty as virtue. Both readings are valid.
- Visible-otherness texture. The most polarising part of the race in roleplay. Some characters will not get past the chitin. Others will be fascinated by it. A Horkval who walks into a tavern in Enorian is going to draw a reaction before they order. Plan for that, and write into the scenes other races cannot have.
- Common archetypes. Other players will read a Horkval as tough, alien, click-tongued, and hard to read. Some characters play straight into that; others build against it. A scholar Horkval who works through the Int 9 starting penalty by sheer effort is a richer character than the hive-warrior default.
Which Aetolia classes fit a Horkval
Any race in Aetolia can play any class. Race never locks you out. Some class archetypes share a thematic resonance with Horkval lore, which can make for a naturally cohesive character.
Carnifex
Bloodloch’s heavy-armour butcher class, built around brute physical violence and a deep relationship with bone, flesh, and dismemberment. Horkval chitin and raw physicality fit Carnifex’s frame perfectly, and the mantis-bound origin myth gives a Horkval Carnifex a personal mythology to lean on.
Sentinel
Wilderness mastery and beast-bonded combat out of Duiran. A Horkval Sentinel comes across as a hive-departed loner who returned to the wilds the curse first found their people in, with a deep affinity for the kind of terrain Leap exists to cross.
Monk
Unarmed-strike discipline and body-as-weapon training. Horkval physical primacy and hive-trained discipline map cleanly onto Monk’s philosophy. The chitin replaces the armour a Monk forgoes, and the click-language adds an unusual texture to a class often defined by silence.
Praenomen
Bloodloch’s psychic-affliction class, built on raw mental dominance. A Praenomen for a race that starts with Intelligence 9 sounds wrong on paper, and that’s exactly why it can work in roleplay. A Horkval who fights through the racial bias toward physicality to master mind-work makes for a sharp character.