Elynthi
Nosferian’s Blessing
May Nosferian guide our yearnings and keep them within the bounds of honor,May Nosferian guide our actions and keep them close to our hearts and his,
May we follow his scent along the path to purity,
And our suffering not go unpaid.
May his servants ever obey us, so long as their use is wise,
May his servants never betray us, so long as we honor his name,
May honor soar in family, friends, and fellows,
And our revenge remain near at hand.
May we honor Nosferian, our lords’, and fathers’ names,
May we relegate our desires to the rear of our minds,
May we suffer to retain our humble place,
And to his eternal flames we aspire.
— traditional blessing of Nosferian’s Church
Personality
The Elynthi are an honor bound people, but this honor has strange twists within it. The honor of the Elynthi is one of appearances, not self-enlightenment. They carry themselves with great reserve and dignity. As long as they appear honorable to the world, their shadowy political dealings do not phase their sense of honor. They will follow through upon honor bound agreements, but twist every letter of the agreement to their own advantage. One might say that the honor of such an agreement is in securing the most beneficial wording, not in upholding it. They have little concern for the safety of others, except for their family and those they consider friends (a difficult position to earn). These people they treat with respect and will defend with their lives.
Elynthi live with their extended families, with the oldest member of the family (male or female) serving as the head. These families tend to remain small, for they bear children once every two hundred years or so. Elynthi twins are rare and triplets unthinkable. A pair of Elynthi that marry must choose one family to which they belong, forever forsaking familial ties with the other. (They may still remain friends and allies.) For this reason, and the fact that Elynthi are exceptionally particular about their mates, marriages are rare.
Physical Description
The Elynthi’s appearance resembles a hybrid of Soulmeliti and feline features. They stand between five, and five and a half feet tall, weighing between a hundred and a hundred and thirty pounds. Females are slighter than males. They have fine fur, which looks like skin pigmentation from a distance, or even upon casual inspection to the untrained eye. This fur is generally sable in color, although it becomes speckled with silver as the Elynthi age. Some Elynthi fur has highlights of auburn, chestnut, smoky gray, snow white, and even orange. Their faces appear slightly rounded, and their ears sit at almost forty-five degree angles on their head. Elynthi ears are pointed and triangular, with long tufts of hair emanating from the point. Their almond shaped eyes range from deep golden, through emerald, to crystalline blue, and flicker with constant alertness. They have pronounced, yet narrow, canine teeth. Their bodies are lithe and wiry. They have high ankles and low knees, and walk almost in a crouch. They can, however, spring great distances in an instant. Elynthi have two to two and a half foot tails about two inches thick. These tails move of their own volition often displaying the emotions of the Elynthi.
The Elynthi prefer lose fitting robes, tunics, and pants of silk, cashmere, and calico. Most of their clothing is black, deep blue, forest green, and other full bodied and dark colors. The ceremonial guard of Elynthi priests is deep crimson robes, embroidered with black symbols. A Samurai’s ceremonial wear, on the other hand, is a finely wrought suite of chain mail armor, woven from blacksteel, with the win blades across his waist. Elynthi do not wear shoes and dislike riding beasts of burden. Most common Elynthi wear loose fitting smocks of calico and wool blends, which are durable, warm, and soft.
Elynthi are impeccably clean.
Relations
Most races dislike the Elynthi out of fear. Indeed, a race that worships a demon-lord as if he is the only god on Tarien, would chill the soul of most mortals. Soulmeliti have a particular, historic animosity with the Elynthi that has, in several instances, lead to full-scale war. Orks and Goblins also have great fear of the Elynthi, as it is a tradition for wealthy Elynthi to keep these “beastial” races as slaves. Of all the races, only the Flind have any real relations. As neighbors, the Flind have borrowed much from Elynthi culture. They are, however, weary of Elynthi influence, as they have often meddled in the politics of Pash-ti .
Alignment
Elynthi society is extremely structured, thus lawful. At the same time, most Elynthi seek to exploit this structure for their own means, and are therefore evil. Elynthi with differing views are rare, and almost always flee their homeland – if they can escape.
Elynthi Lands
The Merdenkal Peninsula, in the far northeast of Tarien, is a land of rolling hills and dense forests. Home to the Elynthi for over three millennia, it is an almost alien land of unusual architecture strange rituals. While a Flind might consider traveling to Merdenkal, his appearance would cause whiskers to raise. Other races would immediately cause alarm – unless, of course, they were properly enslaved.
Religion
The Elynthi are monotheistic, believing in Nosferian, the lord of suffering. While Nosferian is really only a demon-lord, to the Elynthi he is their savior, delivering them from the bondage of the Soulmeliti Forests and helping them settle in the Merdenkal Peninsula. He lends his faithful Demons to aid in their labors. The believe Tyloma to be an anti-god, and all other gods to be facets of puny imaginations. This advanced sense of religion, along with the “civility” of their society, has given many Elynthi the appearance of a superiority complex.
Language
The language of the Elynthi is a derivation of Soulmeliti, sprinkled with a flavor of Infernal. It’s florid script and mesmerizing sound reflect the grace of the Elynthi. It is a language of poets and philosophers, and some of the greats works in literature and religion were written by Elynthi. A speaker of Soulmeliti can understand about 25% of the language if he tries.
Names
Elynthi names are long and rolling, full of purpose and description. Several Elynthi words often make their way into names, as most Elynthi introduce themselves with their full title. Of paramount importance is the word “Shal”, which means “Of the lineage of”, which precedes the surname. Additionally, the words “Dara”, (literally “Father of Suffering”) is an honorific used with priest, while “Kal” (literally demon among men) is an honorific used with Samurai. Thus, an Elynthi will introduce himself as Kal Moshin Shal'Madogin or Dara Teshar Shal'Tuiz .
Adventuring
Elynthi typically adventure for one of two reasons. Those that wish to leave their homeland and its strangling, demon-worshiping life behind, or those that wish to expand the power of the land, their race, and their family. Those that adventure for the first reason often face racial hostility brought about by the generalizations of their race, while those that adventure for the second reason make tenuous allies and dangerous enemies.
And Nosferian, in his mercy, has allowed the inferior animals of intelligence to believe their hocus-pocus and parlor deities. He maintains the illusion by granting power to false names.
Sunset over the Bay of Sorrow in the Merdenkal Peninsula
Related Organizations
Elynthi Racial Traits
- Ability Scores: +2 to Dexterity, +1 to Strength. Like the cats that they resemble, Elynthi are exceptionally graceful, agile, and surprisingly strong.
- Size: Medium Elynthi have no bonuses or penalties for size.
- Speed: Elynthi have a base natural movement of 35.
- Darkvision: An Elynthi can see up to 60 feet in dim light as if it were brightlight and in darkness as if it were dim light.
- Alert: Elynthi are always aware of their surroundings and gain the Alertness feat.
- Natural Athletics: With feline grace the Elynthi are natural acrobatic. They gain the Acrobatics proficiency. Additionally, their jump distance is doubled.
- Martial Arts: All Elynthi study the martial arts in their youth. They have proficiency in unarmed combat.
- Stealthy: Elynthi are adept at blending into their surroundings. They have proficiency in Stealth.
- Automatic Languages: Elynthi
- Bonus Languages: Choose two of the following: Flind, Infernal, Orkish, and Soulmeliti. Some Elynthi may have reason to know Eldorian or Galencian as well. An Elynthi may elect to spend one of these slots to learn to read and write one of their languages instead.