Wednesday Werk: Yirgao

In this week's Wednesday Werk, we'll look at the Yirgao.

The Yirgao, also known as the "Horrificus," is a brutish creature from planes beyond human reckoning.  Driven by hunger, pride, and cruelty, the Yirgao see themselves as the rightful inheritors of the planes.  In their warped minds, the Yirgao should be the dominant race of a multiversal empire, spanning countless worlds and planes.  They seek to subjugate and enslave the other races, using them as chattel in their quest for supremacy.

Fortunately, the Yirgao are hardly organized enough to perform this feat.  The Yirgao are barely capable of cooperation, typically falling to bloody in-fighting and cannibalism at any disagreement.

Some scholars claim that these behavior patterns of megalomania and xenophobia, coupled with a Far Realm origin, suggest beholder heritage, while others claim that Yirgao are most frequently encountered in planes where beholders are relatively unknown (typically being replaced by the ecologically similar but less megalomaniacal Eye of Terror).

Yirgao have not been heavily observed, but evidence suggests that they drink blood, possess rudimentary psionic abilities, and regenerate when injured, much like trolls.  Additionally, they reproduce asexually, forming monoclonal lineages; smart Yirgao keep a large food supply handy when gestation is complete, because the young eat their way out of the parent.  As they regenerate quickly, adults can frequently survive this onslaught, although the young will completely devour the parent if other food is not present.

The Yirgao Conquistador represents a Yirgao specimen that is probably part of some conquering horde.  Yirgao fight as an intelligent unit, and will frequently attempt to strike foes where they are weakest, drawing ranged combatants into melee and attacking melee combatants at range (these tactics may fall apart if the creatures are hungry or angry enough).  Frequently, a Yirgao will open with Handaxe before moving into melee, next attempting to grab the opponent with Constrict and then attacking with Longsword.  It will first consider using Blood Drain when falls below 81 hit points, and it will then use it whenever it is able.