The Digger Paladins

Just to prove that it could be done, here is the (unedited) game text for the aardvark holy warriors. Ladies and gentlemen, the Digger Paladins.

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The plague that created the Blessed and the Misbegotten lowered many men to the level of animals. It also raised some animals to the level of men.

The Diggers live far to the south. Once they were aardvarks, brought to Alyria by the Progenitors. Now they are something more, a hybrid created by the ravaging plague of the Rape. It is not safe for such as they to wander the land. Men are afraid of that which they do not know, and the Diggers are truly alien to the human eye. For their part, the Diggers are content to live in their burrows and hunt game, far from human lands. It was this way for many years. Peace reigned over the land.

But it could not last. One night the Weeping Moon rose above the lands of the Diggers, and the Outsiders rained down. That night, the Diggers rediscovered war. As the blood tide of Outsiders rushed through their burrows, they stood fast to defend their homes. Many Diggers died that night, which is now known as the Night of Blood. Yet they were victorious, and as they drove the Outsiders from their land, they discovered that they were strong.

They also discovered that Outsiders were quite tasty.

Soon after this, the visitations began. A Digger would awaken from sleep with a faraway look in his eyes. Taking a weapon, he would leave the burrows and vanish into the northlands. One by one, the greatest of the Diggers left the burrows. Each one spoke of having seen the same vision. A great city of iron burning with flame. The Blood Moon rising over a wasteland covered with Digger bones. Dragons circling in the sky. Then a voice calling out, crying for aid, and a unicorn galloping across the sky. And a feeling, an urge, a need, to follow that unicorn into battle.

Thus, one by one, the Digger Paladins left their homelands and journeyed into the world of men, where they did great and marvelous deeds that are still sung in the burrows of their people. But none of them ever returned to their lands in the soft green hills of the south.
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A note to those of you who think that this is too silly:

The Digger Paladins are an entry in a section of the setting chapter that gives examples on how players can add their own setting elements to the world of Alyria. One of my design goals is to have a world that had plenty of freedom for the players, and the Digger Paladins are just one example of what that could look like.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf