Half-Vistani

Human Variant: Half-Vistani or Giomorgo

“28 Vorhexen.--There is a chance of escape, or at any rate of being able to send word home. A band of Szgany have come to the castle, and are encamped in the courtyard. These are gipsies. I have notes of them in my book. They are peculiar to this part of the world, though allied to the ordinary gipsies all the world over. There are thousands of them in Hungary and Transylvania, who are almost outside all law. They attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or boyar, and call themselves by his name. They are fearless and without religion, save superstition, and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany tongue.” - Bram Stoker, Dracula

Giomorgo are the offspring of a nomadic Vistani gypsy and a giorgio or non-Vistani. An offshoot of humanity, the Vistani are a separate people by both choice and nature.
They are feared throughout the lands of Ostoya for their magical powers, especially the Evil Eye. Half-Vistani possess some of the magical powers inherent to their heritage but their magic is weak as their blood is diluted.

Not Of The Blood

Lean and quick-witted, few trust the sly giomorgo. While technically human, Half-Vistani are less diverse and varied than humans, being slightly taller and thinner on average. They range between 5-and-a-half feet to a little over six feet tall and weigh 120 to 200 pounds.
Half-Vistani favour their Vistani parent and have angular, aquiline features. They possess dusky or olive skin, and almost universally have dark hair and eyes. Vistani hair is straight and thin but a few giomorgo have wavier hair.
Some half-Vistani attempt to appear human, dressing in the local fashions and rejecting Vistani garb. Others proudly clad themselves in the bright Vistani colours, wearing baggy trousers, loose shirts, and colourful vests accessorised with long scarfs around the head or waist. While dressed as such, they can pass as a Vistani to a human giorgio, but any true Vistani will recognise them as giomorgo on sight.

Between Two Worlds

Giomorgo are passionate and pessimistic by nature, haunted by unhappy childhoods. The cultural divide runs deep, so few giomorgo ever grow up knowing both parents. It is rare for the Vistani to raise a giomorgo; most often the Vistana parent moves on in the night, abandoning the child to a giorgio family. Often the child is given to the other parent, but sometimes the infant is just left on a convenient doorstop or in front of a church. Giomorgo children may be cared for but never truly accepted. A giorgio family fears the child will develop the talents of the Vistani, while a giomorgo is not truly “of the blood” and is unable to share the Vistani experience.
The mixed heritage of the Vistani has its cost: Giomorgo are prone to insanity and most suffer from a unique form of lunacy. During nights of the full moon, half-Vistani become irritable during the day and feel the irresistible urge to run free under the night sky. This restlessness and anxiety is known as lunatio (or moon madness) by the Vistani.

Home on the Road

Vistani are nomadic, never staying in the same place for long. They travel the world in painted vardo: a horse-drawn wagon. Though few Vistani leave Ostoya for long, there are tribes that travel the entire continent. While giomorgo do not suffer the same irresistible need to travel, they still feel an innate wanderlust.
Many half-Vistani find work that allows them to travel, such as in merchant caravans, mercenary companies, traders, messengers, or even travelling carnivals. Some have a home that they return to when not travelling, while others simply live on the road.
Those giomorgo that do not take to the road live among humans. There are no communities of half-Vistani. Some try to blend into humanity living within human cities and settlements. Others live on the edges of civilisation, making a living farming or ranching where they are not continually reminded they are an outsider.

Seeking Meaning

Giomorgos often take to adventuring out of a desire to find a purpose in life or forge a legacy, frequently after being denied a place in their family trade or lineage. Many giomorgo become adventurers after falling in with other outsiders and outcasts, accidently become adventurers while seeking happiness in new lands or foreign nations.

Giomorgo Names

Giomorgo typically only have a given name. Those raised by giorgio are often given local names, and some are allowed to keep their giorgio's family name. Others are denied the family name and identified by their homeland or community. Giomorgo raised or named by Vistani are given traditional names and lack a family name, instead being identified by their lineage.
Male Names: Bela, Grigori, Iosif, Karol, Ludovic, Nicu, Pyotr, Simione, Stefan, Vasile.
Female Names: Ana, Eliza, Isabella, Lena, Natasha, Papusza, Rozalina, Sofya, Ursula, Yvonne.

Giomorgo Traits

Vistani blood gives your giomorgo character a number of traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Giomorgo reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.
Alignment. Giomorgo no more inherently good or evil than any other humans. However, most spend their lives alienated from society and grow to distrust authority. As a result, giomorgo favour chaos over law.
Size. Giomorgo vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Evil Eye. You can cast the animal friendship, charm person or hold person spell once with this trait. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. If the target succeeds on the save with a critical success, you are blinded until the end of your next turn. Once used, you can't use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.
Moon Madness. During the days of a full moon, while you are indoors or underground, you have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and Intelligence (Investigation) checks. Additionally, in order to take a short or long rest you must first make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or find yourself incapable of finding respite.
Nature Affinity. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Survival) check related to navigation, identifying tracks or starting a fire, you are considered proficient in the Survival skill and may add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write two regional languages of your choice. If raised by the Vistani you also speak Patterna, but if raised by humans you gain one extra language of your choice.
Subrace. Vistani are divided into three tasques, each of which is comprised of several different tribes that are essentially extended families. The natural talents and inclinations of a giomorgo depend on the tribe of their parent. The children of two half-Vistani have the tribe of only one parent. The children of half-Vistani are never true Vistani: the introduction of human blood irreversibly taints the bloodline.

Boem

The hallmark of Boemians is ostentation. They specialize in entertainment and similar services. While travelling, Boem caravans are filled with music, and members of the tasque sing as they go about their daily business. As proud as they are passionate, the Boem privately lament having to play the fool for superstitious townsfolk. When the Boem are camped, and there are no outsiders present, the Vistani are more tense and brooding, and prone to telling tales of tragedy and singing songs of horror.
The two Boem tribes are the Corvara and the Naiat. The Corvara are natural con artists but have little natural showmanship, and instead offer unsavoury diversions such as gambling, narcotics, and cockfighting. The Naiat are skilled at training animals for show, with their dogs and horses raised to perform tricks and stunts.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Sly Wit. You have proficiency in the Deception skill.
Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with one set of tools of your choice: forgery kits, a musical instrument, or thieves' tools.

Giamarga

Less common than the pairing of a Vistani and a human giorgio is one between a Vistani and an elf. Known as giamarga, most of these are normal half-elves, but some take after their Vistani parents and have the abilities of a giomorgo.
Unsurprisingly, giamarga are most common in the southern lands of Charneault, where there are still elves. A curious number are also found near Ulstenburg, Runeheim, and other lands bordering Ostoya.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put you to sleep.

Kaldresh

Vistani of the Kaldresh tasque are practical, concerned with trade and crafts rather than mysticism or entertainment. Kaldreshites have an unusual talent for finding conflict. Whenever blood is about to be spilled in battle, it seems the Kaldresh have arrived and are ready to sell weapons and supplies.
The three Kaldresh tribes are the Equaar, the Kamii, and the Vatraska. The Equaar are animal breeders and trainers, and their caravans are surrounded by small herds of animals. The Kamii are known for their metalworking, which has been said to rival the craft of dwarves. The Vatraska are healers and herbalists, but are known for their potions as much as their poultices.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Desensitised. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with herbalism kits, land vehicles, or an artisan’s tool set of your choice: brewer's supplies, carpenter's tools, jeweler's tools, smith’s tools, or woodcarver's tools.