Berylfolk - Grey

Hoole and I scrambled away from oncoming arrows and into the thick bramble outside of Kailia. We were warned by the feyblood guardsmen that even half-orcs were not allowed into the bazaar, little less our canine hides. My salvaged cloak tattered by our journey barely hid my blatant form. “Bitchkin” those guards muttered and spat at us as if we were filthy ratlings from the marsh. Tonight was a waste. Without goods from the city, our warped and hulking cousins will starve. We shall approach again in the morning when the humans are awake.

-- Balmy, Travel Notes: Day IV

Despite their fur clad in all manners of grey and blue, the lupine greys are a rare sight for most of Cabochon sticking to nomadic hunting packs and recently claiming the halfling territories for themselves. Hundreds of years scavenging have left them opportunistic in nature caring more about their pack and themselves. Only a few hundred grey adventurers exist, all wearing hooded cloaks to hide their beastly silhouette.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Greys imbue their children with nature-derived names. Such names may describe the demeanor of the child or even the weather around their birth. Names such as Breeze, Balmy, Verdant, or even Blue are common. As generations have passed, Greys also commonly take their namesakes from the Draconic language or even from Common or Orcish depending on their pack.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Berylfolk have developed their strange hues from generations spent in and near the sacred silty lakes that dot the island. The exotic flora found near these banks inspire greys to become natural herbalists. Their penchant for botany and scavenging draws most to reject arcane healing instead preferring natural remedies or simply licking their wounds. Although entrenched in nature, greys have become adept scavengers furnishing and restoring dilapidated structures with foraged material until squalid hovels appear akin to halfling bungalows. Grey houses built from scratch tend to resemble the hulls of ships. Powerful alchemy and maritime pursuits made the once seafaring greys in equal naval competition with the expanding Elven Empire. However, generations of forgotten lore and endless wayfaring robbed these folk of their shipwrighting surviving only as hull-like lodges turtled near abandoned ponds. Lone grey wanderers are often witnessed at twilight bewitched by the open sea longing for a bygone era of their race.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Toward the north of the Catseye lies Beryl Island, a taiga covered subcontinent of bluish animalfolk including the dragonborn, the berylfolk cuni (now hulks) and, of course, the berylfolk greys. Dragonborn are the most widespread and well known of the Beryl Island races and are associated with this location only with their reacquisition of the sacred island several hundred years ago. The two races are continually locked in an ancient schism whose clashes have allegedly spawned both lycanthropes and dragons. Tales of deceit and persecution have spread in both cultures over time and the hate still remains. Sponsored by scorned dragonborn of the Far West and the growing Elven Empire, the halflings jealous of these strange bipedal beasts were able to enslave the Cuni Berylfolk who feared water and refused to leave their homeland during the Beryl Island conquest. Over the course of several generations and beset by strange magic, this unfortunate race was selectively bred robbing them of their mind, will, bipedal form and even their coats now mangy beasts of burden. This horrid violation of nature encapsulates the disgust greys have for halflings and fuels speculation that archaic berylfolk alchemy is responsible for their sudden and swift disappearance. After the rapture of the Halflings, most of the grey packs from across Cabochon rushed to free and rehabilitate their ancient cousins. Seeing themselves as custodians for their distant relatives, the Hulks, greys have brokered silent trades with orcish tribes and rural human villages aiming to reestablish their scattered society.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Berylfolk

Lifespan

70 years

Average Height

5 - 6 ft.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Shades and hues of blue, grey, or brown.

Notable Greys
Azure
Lady Darkfyre

Berylfolk - Grey

Ability Score Increase +2 Wisdom

Size Medium

Speed 30ft

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Darkvision. Thanks to your wyld blood, you have superior vision in the dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Lycanthropic Resistance. Thanks to your species history, you can only willingly succumb to lycanthropy.
Beryl Ancestry. Technically a Draconic race, you can withstand temperatures as low as -40 degrees. Choose one type of favored terrain (arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, etc). While in your favored terrain, you only suffer the effects of exhaustion below your current exhaustion level.
Keen Senses. You have advantage in the Perception skill with sound and smell.
Bite. Your fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Mark the Scent. As a bonus action, you can mark one creature you can see within 10 feet of you. Until your next long rest, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make to find the marked creature, and you always know the location of that creature if it is within 60 feet of you. You can only have one active mark at a time.

Languages. Draconic and either Common or Orcish