Dakuin

Lurkers of the Styx

Throughout his days Athreos had seen foolish mortals try to escape death, their fate in the afterlife. Athreos would only chuckle at those who would run, as those who ran were now chum in the waters. The Dakuin were created by Athreos, to prevent those from escaping death, to be reminded that there is no escape. Taking inspiration from Thassa’s creations, Athreos shaped the Dakuin as humanoid sharks, the ultimate hunters on both land and sea. With them hunting down runaway souls, Athreos could finally do things of consequence, like take those who have paid the toll to the afterlife.
Because of the escape of Phenax from the underworld, Athreos was furious at the Dakuin. He couldn’t believe that they had made such a foolish mistake happen and let someone actually escape the underworld. Athreos realizing he can only do this job himself, banished The Dakuin from the River Styx forcing them to find a home somewhere else.

A New Tale

Without a home, The Dakuin wandered aimlessly with nowhere to go. One day, what seemed to be years of aimless wandering, they found a place they could finally call home, something that reminded them of the River Styx….the Shadowfell. It was perfect for The Dakuin, and as soon as they settled down they were attacked by the native horrors…which only confirmed their love for the place more. The Dakuin would eventually converse with the Shadar-Kai of the realm and would start a trade agreement with them, which would eventually birth the Shadowfell’s own magical tattoos. Some Dakuin have since wandered from the Shadowfell, looking to leave their own mark in the world and spread the great tales of their people.
However not all the Dakuin felt comfortable going to the Shadowfell and kept wandering looking for a place that could be more welcoming as they were tired of fighting. A portion of the Dakuin ended up in the feywild due to its welcoming nature and vibrant colors. These allows the Dakuin to become natural enforcers of the Feywild to persevere the traditions and culture of the feywild. The Dakuin ended up learning greatly from the Satyr's which would give birth to the Feywild's own magical tattoos.

Tattoo Fanatics

Even though the Dakuin were split after leaving the river styx both clans ended up taken an interest in magical tattoo's and they have adopted them into their culture. Each Dakuin is born with a tattoo that grows alongside the Dakuin and eventually becomes a part of them. It isn't odd to see a Dakuin with multiple tattoos covering their body.

Shark Tales

Dakuin have a complex history due to there tribes being split between the feywild and the shadowfell. After being banished from the material plane due to being the wardens of the afterlife and letting Phenax escape. Dakuin were bansihed from the river styx, half the tribes ended up in the Feywild and the other half ended up in the Shadowfell. This gave rise to two different tribes of Dakuin which made for each tribe to adopt a different style of tattooing.

Dakuin Names

Dakuin names are way often very harsh sounding, and often contain k's, s's, z's, and similar sounds. Female names tend to be slightly more melodic, but this is often only because most female names end in a vowel. Those who don't are often just as harsh and sinister sounding as their male counterparts.
Male Names: Xarkes, Srosh, Vuthrakess, Kretak, Gothranesh, Kriss, Uluz
Female Names: Grapjuze, Sharra, Krassiza, Rulza, Irjuta, Hargu

---

Features & Traits

Ability Score Increase
Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age
Young Dakuin grow quickly. They can swim hours after being born, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.

Size
Dakuin are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet and a base swimming speed of 45

Jaws
Your powerful jaw is a natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you can deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Amphibious
You have the ability to breathe in both air and water.

Blood in the Water
You can use a free action to sense weakness in your enemies. You can activate this ability before you attack an enemy that doesn't have full hp. You gain advantage on all attack for this round on a target without full hp. Once you use this feature you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Perfect Hunter
Right after initiative is rolled you can choose to adjust your initiative roll to be higher or lower by up to your proficiency bonus.

Planar Origins
Upon picking this race decide if you were born in the Shadowfell or the Feywild. Depending on your choice add the appropriate tattoo to your inventory.
If born in the Shadowfell add: Shadowfell Minor Tattoo - Aurora (Gain proficiency in survival)
If born in the Feywild add: Feywild Minor Tattoo - Aurora (Gain proficiency in deception)
These tattoos don't require attunement and can't be removed from your person in anyway shape or form.

Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan. Aquan is the speech spoken in the elemental plane of water. The plane of water is one of the four elemental planes besides fire, wind, and earth.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/1161296-dakuin