Grugach
5e Race Features
Ability Score Increase
- Your Strength score increases by 1 and Dexterity increases by 2.
- You have proficiency with the spear, shortbow, longbow, and net.
- You know one cantrip of your choice from the Druid spell list. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for it.
- Unlike other elves, you don't speak, read, or write Common. You instead speak, read, and write Sylvan.
- Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
- You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
- You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
- Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
- Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Elves love freedom, variety, and self- expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good than not.
- Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in 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 gray.
Basic Information
Behaviour
Grugach elves are known for their deep suspicion of outsiders. Their behavior towards strangers can range from indifferent to openly hostile, depending on the situation. They view all visitors with caution, believing that most visitors come to exploit or corrupt their land. The Grugach do not align themselves with any cause or faction unless it directly affects the protection of their people or land. Neutrality is key to their philosophy. They do not often involve themselves in the struggles of other peoples unless forced to.
Civilization and Culture
Culture and Cultural Heritage
The Grugach embrace a culture deeply rooted in self-sufficiency, freedom, and an unwavering bond with nature. They view the forest as not only their home but as an extension of their very being. Worship of nature and its cycles is central to their identity, with an emphasis on natural spirits, animal totems, and the balance of life and death within the wilds. The Grugach avoid the use of heavy craftsmanship or technologies common among other elf societies; instead, they rely on tools forged from natural materials such as bone, wood, stone, and metal from the earth, crafting items that allow them to live harmoniously with their environment as an extreme representation of The Faith of the Wild .
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The Grugach value independence and solitude from an early age. Young Grugach elves must undergo an initiation ritual in which they spend several days alone in the forest, living off the land and testing their survival skills. The ritual culminates in a vision quest in which the initiate communicates with the spirits of the forest, often guided by an animal spirit or ancestor’s spirit. There is a strong belief in the guardianship of the forest and its protection against encroachment. Landmark trees—trees that are especially old or sacred—are honored through ritualistic ceremonies. Any Grugach elf who harms such trees is cast out of the tribe. All outsiders, especially those who do not respect nature, are seen with suspicion.
Common Taboos
The most sacred taboo among the Grugach is the disruption of the natural order. This includes the wanton destruction of forests, animals, or any ecosystem. Grugach believe that the land must be respected, and tampering with nature can bring about great misfortune. To abandon one’s kin or tribe for personal gain is considered the greatest betrayal, and any Grugach who abandons their tribe is exiled and often hunted down as a traitor.
History
The Grugach elves originally inhabited the Nocturnis Territory, a region marked by darkness and deep mysteries. However, as the world changed, the Grugach felt increasingly out of place within the more structured and diplomatic elven societies. Over time, they began migrating away from the heart of Nocturnis, seeking the solitude and autonomy that had long been their hallmark. Their migration took them through various regions, with most of their people settling in remote areas where the land was untamed, wild, and free. The culture of the Grugach is intrinsically tied to the land they inhabit, and they found their final refuge in the dense, untamed Grenbel Woods, near the Bammery Falls, where the last surviving tribe now resides. While their numbers once flourished, the Grugach’s isolation has led to a decline in their population. Over the centuries, most of their tribes have either perished due to conflicts, disease, or simply the challenges of their harsh lifestyle, leaving only a single remaining tribe in Grenbel Woods.
Common Myths and Legends
The Grugach also tell tales of the fall of their people, describing how their once-thriving tribes were slowly driven away from Nocturnis by forces of destruction (other factions, corrupting magic, etc.), leaving only a few remaining in isolated areas. The last standing Grugach tribe’s elders speak often of the lost tribes and the dangers of pushing too far beyond the borders of their sacred homeland.
"The forest is mine to protect, and no one, not man nor beast, shall disturb its peace. Tread lightly, for the branches watch, the earth listens, and the wind carries the warning of those who break the silence."
Geographic Distribution
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