Hurlock — dragonage

Hurlocks are taller and more muscular than genlocks, they often form the strongest division within the darkspawn army. They are known to excel at using two-handed weapons. Hurlock alphas are among the best of the darkspawn shock troops, and are particularly fierce in close combat. A single berserking hurlock can often be a match for numerous opponents at once. They are known to adorn themselves with roughly-carved tattoos to keep track of their kills and deeds, though it is unknown whether or not there is a uniform standard to these markings.

Background

Not known for tactical prowess, hurlocks have to be told where to go. But once they're there, there's no need for instruction. These darkspawn are masters of the blade; crippling, shattering, battering, bruising, slashing, hacking, tearing, ripping, biting, stabbing, and strangling are all easy feats for these monstrosities. Although by no means the most powerful, they are the most infamous darkspawn, as many survivors of a darkspawn raid will only remember the armored, bloodied corpse-like, foul creatures that killed their friends and slaughtered their children. Foul indeed, while not exactly graceful, the job is always done with these darkspawn. Hurlocks are born from broodmothers that were once female humans.^[1]

Known variations

Among their ranks, hurlocks are differentiated by their abilities. The most basic hurlocks are the most common, and serve as heavy infantry. The next iteration is the hurlock alpha, which have slightly more hit points and a higher Strength statistic, as well as some group-effect skills, such as Rally. The next iteration is the hurlock emissary, which is a magic-wielding Alpha Hurlock. The next form is the hurlock omega, which combines the abilities of all three lower forms into a single, dangerous form. The toughest form of all Hurlocks yet encountered is the ancient darkspawn; this is a very old Hurlock who has donned incredibly durable armor and has hit points rivalling the equivalent level of drake, if not higher, and can easily destroy an entire party with minimal backup. So far, they have only been seen in the Dead Trenches.