Therak

Character art by Alexander Hyperion (@hyperiondraws on Twitter)

The Therak are a collection of serpent folk, though they vary from being humanoids with a few features to snakes with humanoid torsos. Theraks tend to find themselves drawn to ancient and occult knowledge, and as a result they can be found mostly in Nuzona, Skrolland, and Sinat. They are regarded as experts in giant technology and magic, though they don’t know half as much as halflings do about giant culture.

Basic Information

Anatomy

There are three different subcategories of Therakians. They are the S’therak, who closely resemble humans with patches of scales and serpent eyes, the Hiz’therak who resemble humanoid snakes, and finally the Sne’theraks, who resemble snakes with humanoid torsos.

Genetics and Reproduction

All Therak begin as eggs. The season they hatch in affects the probability of the kind of Therak that develops. The Grower’s Season produces more Sne’therakians, the Sower’s Season and the Harvester’s Season tends to develop more Hiz’therakians, and those born in the Hermit’s Season tend to develop as S’theraks. It is not impossible for one to be born “out of season” so to speak.

Biological Cycle

Hiz'theraks and Sne'theraks shed once a year, usually during the Grower's Season.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Theraks share a deep and profound understanding of the nature of sleep and dreams, with some of them being able to use dreams to send messages across vast distances. This is born out of generations of studying giant artifacts involving dreams and a hypothetical plane known as The Dreaming, where all creatures who sleep go.

A Sne'Therakian

The Elixir of Liberation

Normally, the seasons affect the probability of the kind of Therak that develops. However, long ago, Therakian alchemists discovered an elixir that allows them to change their form to the type of Therakian they feel more connected to, and it has become common practice to do so. The broth is colloquially known as “The Elixir of Liberation”. At your DM’s discretion your character may undergo this process themselves. The exact process is up to your DM to decide, but it should be a deeply personal journey and involve a material component cost of at least 100 GP.