Viridian

Kin to Plant and Bough

The Viridian are a race who have been changed through their bond with The Verdant Expanse, a metaplane known for its lush, vibrant plant life. As a result of their connection with this metaplane, the Viridian have become functionally immortal, with their lives extending far beyond that of regular Humans. However, their memories grow fickle, and they struggle to recall experiences that occurred more than a few decades prior.

Physical Description

The Viridian physically resemble their human ancestors but are distinct in several ways. Their skin often has a greenish hue, ranging from a subtle, pale tint to a rich, deep shade of green. Their eyes are similarly coloured, varying from bright leafy green to a darker, more earthy tone. Rarely, they may be golden like pools of liquid sunlight. They often have hair in various shades of green or brown, sometimes resembling leaves or moss. Some Viridian even have vines or leaves growing amongst their hair. Their bodies tend to be more lithe and agile compared to humans. They have long, pointed ears, and their senses are sharper than those of humans.

Society

Viridian Kin can be found across Terystra, living in both rural and urban environments. They tend to gravitate towards areas with a strong connection to the natural world, such as forests or areas with abundant plant life. In urban environments, they often seek out green spaces, gardens or parks, and integrate well into other societies, often working as gardeners, herbalists, hunters, rangers or druids.

Subrace

When you choose to be a member of this race, you must choose whether you are a Verdant Guardian, an Urban Scribe, or a Shattered Reaver.

Verdant Guardians

The Verdant Guardians are renowned for their bond with nature and their duty to protect the forests in which they dwell. Found predominantly within Manifest Zones connected to The Verdant Expanse, these steadfast defenders of the wilds possess a unique connection to the trees that serve as both a reservoir for their memories and as an extension of their own lives.

Natural Bond

Verdant Guardians' names are intrinsically linked to their connection to the natural world. Their first name is typically inspired by elements of nature, such as plants, rivers, or other natural features. Upon reaching adulthood, each Verdant Guardian forms a bond with a tree, which becomes their Heart Tree. This tree serves as a living repository for their memories, and its species becomes their last name. For example, a Verdant Guardian named "River" who bonds with an oak tree would be known as "River Oak".

Entwined with the Forest

The bond between a Verdant Guardian and their Heart Tree is a defining aspect of their lives. They regularly commune with their Heart Tree, both in person and through a piece of the tree they carry with them at all times. This communion not only allows them to maintain their memories but also strengthens their connection to the forest they protect. In times of need, they unhesitatingly come to the defence of their home and their Heart Tree.

Over time, the connection between a Verdant Guardian and their Heart Tree may deepen further, causing them to take on more plant-like traits. In some cases, they may even merge with their Heart Tree, transforming into a Dryad or Treant. These beings embody the spirit of the forest and serve as its eternal guardians.

Custodians of the Wilds

The primary responsibility of the Verdant Guardians is to protect the forests and the natural balance. They work tirelessly to maintain the harmony between the creatures that dwell within the woods and the plant life that sustains them. In their role as protectors, they may collaborate with druids, rangers, and other nature-oriented individuals who share their commitment to preserving the wilderness.
Their intimate knowledge of the flora and fauna of their surroundings makes them skilled trackers and hunters, adept at navigating even the most treacherous terrain. As a result, they are often called upon to guide travellers through the wilds or to defend their lands from those who would despoil them.

Urban Scribes

The Urban Scribes are a subgroup of the Viridian race, living primarily in urban environments and adapting to the cultures of the nations they inhabit. While maintaining their connection to the natural world, they adopt the customs and traditions of their adopted communities. Instead of a Heart Tree, they rely on Lifebooks to preserve their memories and identity.

Names and Cultural Adaptation

Urban Scribes take on names that reflect the local culture of the nations they live in, often with a touch of their natural heritage. First names inspired by elements of nature, such as plants, rivers, or other natural features, remain common, but frequently the customs of the wider urban community they live in are followed. Last names often reflect the names of the ancestor who first left the forest behind, often a contraction of first and last name, so a Scribe might be called "Jennifer Hawkthorn". This connection to their past is passed down through generations, serving as a reminder of their origins and the importance of their connection to the natural world.

The Importance of Lifebooks

As Urban Scribes do not have a Heart Tree to store their memories, they rely on Lifebooks to keep a record of their experiences and identity. These books contain essential details about their lives, including significant events, relationships, and defining traits. To maintain their memories, they read from their Lifebook daily, occasionally adding new entries as needed.
The Lifebook is often kept in a small coffer along with valuable keepsakes and mementoes that serve to reinforce the memories recorded within its pages. Through this daily ritual, Urban Scribes ensure that they do not forget the core of who they are, even as their memories naturally fade over time.

The loss of a Lifebook is a painful one. Most Urban Scribes know the book by heart and can recreate most of it should they lose it, but they can never be sure they did not forget something in the interim. Keeping various backups is not uncommon.

Integrating into Society

Urban Scribes are known for their ability to adapt and integrate into the societies they join. They often take on roles that involve the written word, such as scribes, scholars, or librarians, making use of their natural affinity for recording and preserving knowledge. They may also be found as skilled artisans, diplomats, and advisors, contributing their unique perspective and wisdom to the communities they serve.
While they may live far from the forests that their ancestors once called home, many Urban Scribes still maintain a connection to the natural world through their Lifebooks, names, and personal pursuits. This connection serves as a reminder of their heritage and the importance of preserving the beauty and wonder of the natural world, even as they embrace their new urban lives.

Shattered Reavers

The Shattered Reavers primarily live within the treacherous lands of Shattered Solace. They are a nomadic people, formed from the Verdant Guardians who survived the destruction of the Silent Wood and the loss of their Heart Trees when Solace was shattered, and adopting a lifestyle that blends hunter-gatherer traditions with piracy. Preying on both the dangerous monsters of the region and encroaching travellers or expeditions, the Shattered Reavers are fierce warriors and survivors in a harsh environment. Whereas other Viridians fight against their fading memories all their lives, Reavers embrace it. A few decades of doing the same thing, of being the same person, is more than enough. Sometimes, it's simply time for something new.

Masks and the Reaver's Identity

Masks hold great significance within the Shattered Reaver culture. The tradition began as a response to the loss of their Heart Trees and the resulting mourning for their forgotten identities. The Reavers initially wore featureless whitewood masks to symbolise this loss. Over time, the masks evolved to carry a deeper meaning, with each Reaver painting their own mask to represent their unique identity, preferences and accomplishments. A complex language of symbols and signs emerged around the masks, allowing Reavers to understand one another's stories and identities at a glance.

As Reavers lose memories and connections to their past selves, they may reach a point where they no longer feel that their mask represents who they are. At this juncture, they cast aside and burn their old mask in a ritual similar to a burial, mourning the person they once were. The shamans of the tribe perform a ritual to help the individual purge lingering memories and prepare for a new life, reducing the confusion that often comes with significant memory loss. The Reaver then takes on a new mask and re-enters society as a completely new person, unburdened by their previous identity. By tying their identiy to a mask, it becomes easier for others to respect the division between the old and new individual. It is considered a taboo to mention someone's past identity within Reaver society, and the new individual is often adopted into a new family after some time.

Names and Identity

Reavers choose new names each time they change their masks, reflecting their current identity, aspirations, or their first significant deed in their new life. Names such as "Crimson Dawn" and "Steadfast Current" are common, embodying the core of their identity and forming the central pattern on their masks. They often have shorter nicknames for ease of use, especially when their full names are lengthy or complex, such as "Petals Carried on the Morning Breeze" being called "Petals".

Society and Structure

Shattered Reaver society is primarily organised by ship, with each vessel acting as a mobile community. Skilled leaders may command multiple ships, creating a small flotilla. Each year, a grand gathering known as the Reaver's Ball takes place, where all the ships come together for a time of celebration, trade, and exchange. Reavers unhappy with their current ship can use this opportunity to join another vessel, ensuring that crews remain dynamic and adaptable.
Permanent settlements among the Shattered Reavers are rare but do exist in hidden safe spots and harbours. These communities are typically led by respected shamans and serve as ports of call for multiple ships and their crews. These settlements provide a semblance of stability within the ever-changing world of Shattered Solace.

The Reaver's Ball

The Reaver's Ball is a pivotal event in Shattered Reaver society, providing an opportunity for the various ships and crews to come together in a time of celebration and exchange. It is a time for renewing bonds, forging new alliances, and sharing the stories of their adventures on the high seas. The Ball is also a chance for Reavers to find new crews and opportunities, ensuring that their society remains dynamic and ever-evolving in the face of the challenges they face in Shattered Solace.

Viridian Racial Traits

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Intelligence: Viridians are quick on their feet and attentive to their surroundings, but their attention spans and fleeting memories make them ill-suited to academic pursuits.
Medium: Viridians are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Viridians have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Viridians can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Keen Senses: Viridians receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Fleet-footed: Viridians receive Run as a bonus feat and a +2 racial bonus on initiative checks.
Lifebound: Viridians are tied to the power of the Verdant Expanse, the power of life strong within them. They gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws made to resist death effects, saving throws against negative energy effects, Fortitude saves made to remove negative levels, and Constitution checks made to stabilize if reduced to negative hit points. Viridians never age past their prime, no matter how old they get.

Fading Memory: The bond to the Viridian Expanse is not without cost. A Viridian's memory is fleeting, their existence forever focused on the here and now, living in the moment like so many other creatures of the wilds. Unless their memory is reinforced in some way, a Viridian suffers a -4 modifier to all Knowledge checks, and a penalty to Intelligence checks to recall their own personal history equal to -1 for every decade into the past the event took place. Each Viridian subrace (see below) has their own unique way of coping with this downside.
Languages: Viridians speak Sylvan and Imperial Basic. Viridians with a high enough Intelligence may learn Common languages only.
Subrace: Every Viridian must choose one of the options below, and add its racial bonuses to their own.

Verdant Guardian

Fading Memory - Heart Tree: Each Guardian binds to a tree within a Verdant Expanse manifest zone when they come of age, forming a Heartbond and making it their Heart Tree. The Guardian may take acorns, branches, bark or leaves from the Heart Tree, and so long as they never leave her possession for more than a week, these never wither or rot. A Guardian must meditate while touching the tree or a piece of it for an hour each day, or suffer from the drawbacks of Fading Memory. During this meditation they store their memories within the tree's boughs, and restore what they have forgotten. If their Heart Tree is destroyed or dies, or if they fail to return to their Heart Tree at least once a year, the bond is broken, and all memories that were stored within are forfeit. Their personality and skills are not altered, but all memories of their personal history fade at an alarming rate over the next week. They may bind a new Heart Tree within any Verdant Expanse manifest zone, but the memories they lost are gone for good. Druids or Clerics with the Nature Domain (or equivalent casters with DM permission) may combine the meditation to their Heart Tree with the daily prayer or meditation needed to receive their spells, doing both at the same time.
Woodcraft: Verdant Guardians receive a +1 racial bonus to Survival and Knowledge (Nature) checks. When making a check within a forst environment, the bonus increases to +2 instead.
Child of the Hunt: Verdant Guardians are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows) and shortbows (including composite shortbows). Verdant Guardians that have the Weapon Finesse may apply it to any weapon with "spear" in the name, even if that weapon does not have the "Light" property. In addition, they treat any weapon with "Sylvan" in the name as a martial weapon.
Tree meld: Verdant Guardians gain the ability to meld with trees once per day as a spell-like ability. This ability functions similarly to the spell Meld into Stone, but the caster melds with a sufficiently large tree instead. Putting fire to the tree or damaging it sufficiently that it is no longer large enough for the Guardian to fit will cause the Guardian to be expelled, and chopping it down will cause them to be expelled and possibly instantly slain. See Meld into Stone for details. The caster level for this spell-like ability is equal to the user’s character level.

Urban Scribe

Fading Memory - Lifebook: Urban Scribes write their personal history down within a Lifebook. Lifebooks are both more and less than a diary: they do not contain an exhaustive list of everyday events, but contain all the information a Scribe needs to remain who they are and remember the important bits. Often, they keep the book in a special coffer along with important mementos. A Scribe needs to study and update their Lifebook for an hour each day, or suffer from the drawbacks of Fading Memory. Lifebooks are partially written in magical script to make the process feasible to maintain, and have much in common with spellbooks. An Urban Scribe who is a wizard (or equivalent caster class, with DM permission) may use their Lifebook as their spellbook, weaving spells in between the story of their life, and combine their hour of working and studying their Lifebook with the time needed to prepare their spells each day, doing both at the same time. If so, copying the spellbook in its entirery also makes a backup of the Lifebook. A Scribe may make mundane backups of their Lifebook at the cost of 24 hours of work, and 10 gold. Each Lifebook uses its own unique shorthand, requiring a DC 30 Linguistics check at the end of a week of study to decipher. Someone in possession of a deciphered Lifebook may use it to get a +4 to all Sense Motive checks against the Scribe. They are also automatically aware of the Scribe's core values and most treasured moments. If a Scribe loses the last copy of their Lifebook, they may attempt to rewrite it from memory. Make a DC (5 + amount of weeks since Lifebook was last studied) Intelligence check for each decade the Scribe is trying to recall, starting at the most recent decade. Remember to apply the stacking penalty from Fading Memory. Keep rolling until you run out of applicable decades, or until a check is failed, whichever come first. The new Lifebook only contains information up to a number of decades into the past equal to the amount of succesful checks made; memories of events later than that are permanently lost.
Practised Memory: From youth, the necessity of keeping and studying a Lifebook serves to train the Scribe's mind. They do not suffer from the -2 Racial modifier to Intelligence that other Viridians suffer from.
Bookbound: Scribes know their way around cataloguing and referencing written information. They receive a +2 Racial modifier to all Knowledge checks, and may make Knowledge checks Untrained, but they only receive these benefits if they have adquate written records to consult.
Magical Linguist: Urban Scribes gain a +1 bonus to the DC of spells they cast that have the language-dependent descriptor or that create glyphs, symbols, or other magical writings. They also gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against such spells. Scribes with an Intelligence score of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—arcane mark, comprehend languages, message, read magic. The caster level for these spell-like abilities is equal to the user’s character level.

Shattered Reaver

Fading Memory - Mask of Self: Reavers wear featureless masks, painted and decorated to represent their accomplishments and achievements. Once they no longer see themselves within their mask's reflection, they cast them aside, and become someone new. So long as a Reaver wears their mask, they remain secure in their knowledge of self and do not suffer from Fading Memory. Wearing a mask is not without a downside, and may disturb or unerve certain individuals in civilised settings, potentially levying penalties to social skill checks. Whenever a Reaver is struck by a critical attack, their mask breaks if the die confirming the critical rolled a natural 20, and the attack did any amount of lethal damage. The mask is also destroyed when the Reaver rolls a 1 on saving throws against AoE effects that deal fire, acid or sonic damage. A Reaver may make a new mask with an hour of time, 5 gold worth of materials and a DC10 Craft (wood) check. Reavers consider it incredibly morbid to have backup masks already painted and ready to go; their mask is their face, and how could someone have multiple copies of their face lying about? It's simply not done.
Reavers lose memories over time like other Viridians, but they do not stress it until the divide between who they were and who they are becomes too great. A PC Reaver who undergoes the ritual to abandon their current identity and become born anew may either be retired from play for good and become an NPC, or might gain a new personality and retrain some or all of their levels, at the GM's discretion.
The Way of Masks: While wearing a mask, a Reaver has a +1 Racial bonus to all Will Saves. However, while unmasked, a Reaver suffers from a -2 Racial Penalty to all Will Saves instead. She also gains 'Reaver Masks' as a free language. (See Languages.)
Ship-born: Reavers gain a +2 to Profession (Sailor) checks, and to Craft checks to make objects out of wood.
Inured to Hardship: Reavers receive a +2 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion, as well as any other ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, and hot or cold environments.
Reaver Tactics: Reavers are proficienct with Throwing Axes, Boarding Axes and Javelins. They gain the Opening Volley feat. (Opening Volley: Whenever you deal damage with a ranged attack, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus on the next melee attack roll you make against the opponent. This attack must occur before the end of your next turn.)