Auriok

Auriok
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Auriok.jpg}}|150px]]
History
Founded on	Mirrodin
Status	Functionally extinct, some individuals survive on Zhalfir
Membership
Notable members	Arek, Bolgri, Dafri, Jor Kadeen, Ria, Yavash
Races	Humans
Associated Colors

The Auriok were a white-aligned human ethnic group who dwelled on the Razor Fields of Mirrodin. The Auriok were rendered functionally extinct from the Phyrexian destruction of Mirran culture, with a handful of refugees remaining on Zhalfir.

Description

The Auriok were tall people with stiff white hair and muscular frames. Like all creatures of Mirrodin, their bodies were composed of flesh and living metal — in their case, gold ("aurum" being Latin for "gold"). Auriok skin was a naturally deep bronze, flecked with glimmering, deep golden, and silvery metal. This was then reinforced with gold panels and jagged plates. Auriok of both sexes wore little, preferring loose white robes, tunics, or loincloths. Each young Auriok chooses a reviled figure from Mirrodin's history, their banesaint, to exemplify evil, a cautionary tale of choices to learn from and not to follow. When applied to a living person, the term was used as a slur or curse.

Each Auriok tribe was led by a champion responsible for the well-being of their people. Auriok weaponsmiths were known as "edgewrights," a term borrowed from the plane's leonin. Steelshapers were valued in times of war because of their ability to create weapons from the ample metals of their home. The Auriok regarded the Cave of Light as sacred ground, and each generation a handful of Auriok girls were brought there to train as wizards. Auriok magic was a strong force on Mirrodin; to cope with the dangerous artifact creatures that ravaged the Razor Fields, the Auriok perfected many spells to combat the constructs. Bladehold soldiers invented a technique called mirroring, in which one used one's reflection in the surrounding blades of razorgrass to confuse an enemy and gain positional advantage.

The Auriok were not a unified nation; each settlement was essentially its tiny city-state, with rules and governance largely unto itself. In place of an official military force, Auriok settlements were protected by the Accorders, a troop of traveling Auriok soldiers and spellcasters that moved from community to community as needed. The Accorders enforced Auriok law impartially, following the principles of the Accord of Equity, a sort of statement of rights for the Auriok people.

History

Warriors and diplomats in equal turns, the Auriok survived by trading with other races with whom they came in contact, attempting to make peace with other races who could help them survive. They lived in scattered settlements across the Razor Fields, with Bladehold as the largest, serving as a center for commerce and artisanship. Once, they warred with the leonin whom they shared the Razor Fields, but they managed to forge a permanent peace with them. The Auriok came into constant strife with the Moriok, nim, and other creatures from the Mephidross when the swamps began to expand, as well as the artifact armies of Memnarch. They were also in competition with the vedalken for spare parts and artifacts.

While never allies of the Vulshok, both tribes united in the face of Phyrexian destruction. They were the most resistant to compleation, both voluntary and involuntary, but their death rates were high all the same.

Notable Auriok

• Arek, False Goldwarden
• Bolgri, a hero of a children's story
• Dafri, an Auriok champion
• Jor Kadeen
• Ria, Hero of Bladehold
• Yavash, an Accorder

Gallery

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  3D model of an Auriok resistance soldier.

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  3D model of an Auriok resistance soldier.

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  3D models of Auriok and Vulshok resistance soldiers.