Wang-liang

Wang-liang were a giant-sized race related to the common oni who inhabitant some of the lands of Kara-Tur.

Description
Wang-liang were humanoids that stood about tall   and weighed some. Their bodies were covered in soft, shiny dark brown or black hair,  which covered a thick, leather-like skin. The hair of their heads was wild and long and often tangled, and males typically sported long beards  beneath their chins. They had wide, cat-like eyes with dual-colored irises of black and red. A wang-liang had only two wide toes on each foot, ending in curved, black nails, while the hands ended in fingers with retractable claws like a cat. A wang-liang's mouth was full of sharp fangs.

Most wang-lang favored light-weight clothing, such as silk or cotton, which was often dyed green or red. Males usually wore simple loincloths and capes; females wore smocks reaching to their knees and neck scarves. For armor, they would wear splint mail, which was specially fitted to their large bodies.

Abilities
Most wang-liang were exceptionally intelligent, by human standards,  and most were naturally ambidextrous.

Like many varieties of oni, they had limited supernatural regenerative powers &mdash;which could be overcome with fire or acid &mdash;and the ability to change shape into the form of nearly any humanoid between about  and  tall  They could turn invisible with only a thought and could always perceive other invisible creatures.

Wang-liang also had a special form of telepathy that allowed them to communicate exclusively with each other. This telepathy could extend even as far as, but thick stone and other dense material could block it. It took an individual wang-liang a minute to establish a connection with another, but once so established, the telepathic link would remain as long as nothing disturbed the wang-liang's concentration.

Personality
As a rule, wang-liang loathed all humans and actively tried to embarrass, harass, torment, or ultimately murder them. They were indifferent to other races, assuming that they were not living among the despised humans. Nevertheless, they were a people who believed strongly in honor and the keeping of one's word. They rigidly upheld the idea of such honor, yet their society was generally one that advanced evil.

Combat
Wang-liang were known to utilize a variety of exotic weapons in combat, including such as the lajatang. Other commonly used weapons included greatswords, katana, longswords, wakizashi, naginata, and bo staffs. They did not use iron or steel; instead, they had developed a technology of hardening otherwise soft bronze. For ranged weapons, they used bows with armor-piercing or frog crotch arrows

They preferred to use their sharp teeth only for eating, but used their retractable claws to also slash like swords, swinging their arms in a scooping motion to tear off large chunks of flesh.

Their intelligence made wang-liang challenging foes. They used many different magical items in combat, for example, biwas of calm or diamond maces. They usually, however, used less common magic items that had been specially prepared for them by the Elder Circle. (See below.) Wang-liang would go to no ends to recover such an item were it stolen.

Females and males were equally likely to be found in a fighting force, as there was no difference in strength between the two sexes.

Society
Wang-liang lived solitary lives or else gathered in tribes of up to 50 or 100 individuals. Temperate forests and mountains were the favorited environments where wang-liang settled.

Wang-liang spoke their own language, and also typically spoke the giant language &mdash;particularly the local oni dialects &mdash;and the common trade tongue of the humans living in their area.

Biology
Wang-liang were carnivores. They favored fish, deer, and other wild game. They ate meat both fire-cooked and raw. They were active both at night and during the day.

Wang-liang lived very long lives, with lifespans reaching two millenia. Despite this, they had extremely low birth rates, which was partly why their race was dying out. A wang-liang female was only fertile once in her lifetime, usually after she had already lived for several centuries. Mixed-sex twins were most common, but quadruplets were also possible though rare. It was not possible for a wang-liang to have an odd number of offspring, and males and females were always born together. Wang-liang were full grown at the age of about 40 years.

History
The wang-liang were once a more populous race, but their kind fell into decline in Kara-Tur as humans became the dominant people. For this, the wang-liang were filled with zealous anger against all of humanity.