Eythereal
A species that is almost as old as the Estalar the Eythereal came from a distant universe, away from Shar and Selunes blessing or Vecnas hexes. They did not witness the Primal War , nor did they experience the creation magic many in the Aesthral Sea , also known as the Sea of Stars, did in ancient times.
The Eythereal experienced their own crisis long ago. Their planet of origin was depleted of resources and then fully destroyed. This catastrophe occurred thousands of years ago, and there are barely any accounts or information regarding it. Some Eythereal will tell you that their greed to control their main source of sustenance, known as Eyther, caused a planet-wide war that destroyed and fragmented their people, while others speak of a natural disaster that made their planet unhabitable. The truth lies hidden, even the planet’s original location and name have been lost to the tides of time.
This Eyther is paramount for Eythereal survival since they cannot eat normal food or drink water like most beings in the Sea of Stars. To sustain themselves, they must extract the raw energy, the Eyther of a place or creature, and then consume it. Being a cross between a humanoid and a sliver of a dead star means they must feed on power if they are to survive.
Because of their need for Eyther and the lack of a planet to call their own, the Eythereal began living in Spelljammer fleets, which in turn led them to a life of trading goods across the cosmos. Some fleets even turned to piracy, raiding others to acquire the raw materials and coin needed to create manners to extract Eyther from creatures and things.
Eyther Heritage
As a people without a home planet, the Eythereal are seen as outsiders by most people in the Sea of Stars, for all the good and bad that implies. Thanks to that, they could easily find a place as a ‘neutral party’ for trade deals and cargo hauls. Yet, they could just as easily be seen as untrustworthy, pushing some of them into less savory professions such as piracy and underworld trading.
It is also possible for an Eythereal to draw the life essence of a living creature. This process is often used by pirates who capture humanoids and then use their life essence as a food source. This act is frowned upon by the entirety of the Sea of Stars including most of the Eythereal people.
The need to connect with others moved the Eythereal people to learn common so they could trade for magical artifacts and, particularly, magical monsters that pulsate with arcane energy. They still have their own language that they keep alive as a reminder of their origins, also known as Eythir. Eythir sounds very open and pleasant with many long vowels. Eythereal people tend to speak purposefully and with a very set intonation which is also something that helped them in their trading endeavors.
- Ability Score Increase. Increase is to increase your Dexterity by 2 and your Intelligence or Charisma by 1.
- Age. Eythereals reach adulthood at around 13 years of age and live around 100 years.
- Alignment. The need to survive among people who see them as outsiders made the Eythereal act Neutral just so they could live among the stars with relative peace. They avoid conflict as much as they can. Meanwhile, those who embraced piracy tend to land somewhere on the Evil side as their desperation drives toward horrible actions.
- Size. Eythereals usually range between 5 and 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
- Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Energy Heritage. Your body requires a specific type of sustenance: Eyther . To properly feed, by converting magical artifacts or flesh, you learned from a young age how to identify possible sources of Eyther. You have advantage on all Arcana checks as long as you use it to determine a magical signature of an object or creature (if they hold magic in them or not.)
- Eyther Eater. You do not require food or drink. Instead, every five days you must consume at least one pellet of Eyther or suffer a level of exhaustion every day that you do not. To prepare Eyther, you can perform a one-hour ritual with a magical object to drain it of its magical essence and turn it into an Eyther pellet. It is also possible to obtain this pellet in a gruesome ritual in which you slowly drain the life essence of a living being by targeting a creature with 0 Hit Points or less and executing this ritual for one hour. This ritual is painful and a form of torture, and once the Eyther pellet is generated, the target dies.
- Any magic items can be turned into Eyther pellets, with the most common ones being potions. Artifacts and legendary items cannot be turned to Eyther as their magic is too strong to be reduced to pure minerals.
- Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the Sorcerer spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.
- Damage Resistance. You have resistance to Force damage.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Eythir.
The Eythereal are a unique race with a unique genetic makeup to match. They seem to be part material and part genetic, but wholly unique. While having to survive off of Eyther has made all of this race good at being useful to others.
While occasionally they are seen as untrustworthy to some societies, for the most part they are a welcomed addition. This is due to their hardworking dogmas and reliability to get the job done. On the other hand those that turn to turning others into Eyther are seen as criminals and murderers, often teaming up with Gith pirates to easily secure more races for materials.
Civilization and Culture
Common Myths and Legends
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