Taller than their shorter genlock cousins, the hurlocks are roughly of human size but are possessed with considerable strength and constitution. The shock troop of the darkspawn, 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.
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Hurlocks known as "Emissaries" have also been known to appear during a Blight: these darkspawn are the only ones recorded as being capable of human speech and are often capable of employing magic spells.​