Slimekin

OOnir was never very good at wandering the swamps of Viironaa. Their memory was always faulty, and their webbed feet had difficulty in the stony raised parts of the mire. The squelching sound of their steps was a comforting familiar sound, and the slapping of flesh against stone made them uneasy. Maybe that's why the smoothkin wore leather shoes, they wondered; it stopped them having to hear their own footsteps.
That's when they felt something whip towards them out of water. They instinctively jumped, causing the large scaly tail to merely scrape against the stone. They twirled their spear in their hands, and turned to see that the large bush that they had been resting near was actually a camouflaged crocodile. It snapped its large jaws near them, causing them to jab down at its eyes and nose. The creature thrashed a little as the spear made a large gash in its snout near the eye, and it retreated back into the swamp.
OOnir panted, their heart racing and their spear dripping blackish-green blood. They mumbled a prayer to Paarosii, thanking Them for keeping them alive. Reinvigorated, they continued along their journey; they needed to reach Saarol by nightfall to give news of the Valiant Brand's attack before the smoothkin could penetrate deeper into the Confederacy's territory...

People of the Swamps

Many smoothkin and strangers to the Viiro Confederacy have likened the appearance of the slimekin to humanoid frogs. Lanky and dextrous, the slimekin are well-known for the large variety of skin colours they can have, ranging from dark greens and yellows to oranges and reds. Their name comes from the sticky clear slime that they excrete in the place of sweat. Also possessing webbed feet, they can easily traverse the swamps of southern Vesrae that they call home.
The largest number of them, known as the Kroonish, live in the central portion of the Viironaa, close to the capital city of the Confederacy at Saarol. Other lesser known ethnic groups of Slimekin live in other portions of the wet south of Vesrae, including the seafaring Boaalish and the warlike Niisalish.

A Culture of Heroes

The slimekin, the Kroonish in particular, are well-known for their veneration of heroes. A hero of the slimekin is someone who has done an act that has clearly helped a community or saved someone's life. The slimekin, unlike many other hero-centred cultures, don't place a lot of emphasis on how a hero does their good, so mages, priests, knights, rangers and all other kinds of people are equally celebrated.
The need to be a hero drives a large amount of the culture of the slimekin. Nearly every day is the birthday or the holiday of a particular hero, and the Cathedral of Heroism in Saarol is festooned with the deeds and likenesses of hundreds of Kroonish ancestral heroes. Young children dream of being a hero for their home community, and that drives many of them to go off and become adventurers in the wider world.

Power of Belief

The slimekin know that they live in a perilous part of the world, filled with deadly creatures and dangerous pitfalls for the unwary. They are also constantly under attack by the expansionist Valiant Brand to the north and east, so there is no shortage of war for them to get embroiled in as well.
This causes most slimekin to turn to exterior sources for belief. Most place their faith in deities such as Paarosii or OOsani, choosing to become priests or fervent worshippers of deities. Others put their faith in their magical or martial prowess, joining mage guilds or warrior bands that try to fight back against the Valiant Brand or other invasive forces. Still others turn to the dark things that lurk in the swamps, becoming warlocks or necromancers as they desperately try to find some way to keep themselves safe.

Lifespan

55-60 years.

Average Height

1.5-1.9 metres tall.

Average Weight

45-75 kilogramms.

Related Myths

• The Tale of AAnoor

Relationships with Other Races

Other races do not interact often with the slimekin, especially as the xenophobic Niisalish have given the slimekin a bad reputation outside of the region. Most find them quaint or primitive, finding their culture rudimentary and lamenting their lack of a written language. Of course, these perceptions are themselves rather basic and come from the reports given by the occasional smoothkin adventurer or the Valiant Brand themselves.
The slimekin, with the exception of the Niisalish, find other races rather interesting. Due to the small size of their communities, the sheer variety of peoples that exist in the wider world - not to mention the wider multiverse! - is infinitely compelling. That, and anyone who respects and helps their communities can be a hero to the slimekin too.