Yssaril

Long ago, many civilizations dismissed the Yssaril as a “primitive” people ripe for exploitation. That was before they fought the Lazax Empire to a bloody stalemate, eventually forcing it to withdraw from the Yssaril homeworld of Retillion—and before the Yssaril began to use their talents for infiltration and covert operations to play against the Great Civilizations and earn their own spot on the Galactic Council. Now the Yssaril are citizens of the galaxy, but many still remember their historical mistreatment at the hands of others.

Yssaril are amphibious bipeds with mottled, green skin and large, lamp-like yellow eyes who typically grow to just over a meter in height. They have a natural chameleonic ability that allows them to blend into their surroundings, and they can even suppress their body temperature and slow their heart rate to make themselves hard to detect with thermal readers and bioscans. This ability combined with their small stature makes them exceptionally good at sneaking and spying, although plenty of Yssaril choose to follow other life paths.

Why Play a Yssaril?

The Yssaril are the perfect species for someone who wants to make a spy or a scout. Their high Cunning means they’re good at a wide range of skills, from spotting things, to wilderness survival and tracking, to lying. Likewise, their starting rank in Stealth and their Chameleonic ability means that even with an average Agility, they’re very capable of getting into places unnoticed. Their only major drawbacks are their low wound threshold and Brawn, which make them a bit less capable in a straight fight, and their low Presence which limits their options in social encounters.

During the Lazax’s attempted colonization of the Yssaril homeworld of Retillion, many Yssaril ended up being captured and shipped throughout the galaxy. Thousands of years later, this has led to Yssaril populations on many different worlds and with a range of different allegiances. This means that while many people believe the stereotype that every Yssaril is a secret member of the Guild of Spies, many Yssaril have no particular loyalty to Retillion. Of course, more than a few Guild spies have claimed to be from distant colony worlds or other societies as a part of their cover story. If you want to play a stealthy spy, a dangerous and highly lethal assassin for hire, or a young street kid who wants to defy stereotypes and become a heroic soldier, then playing a Yssaril is right for you.

Names of the Yssaril

Yssaril generally have two names, although both are personal names and neither refers to their family or tribe. Each name is usually short, with one or two syllables, and uses a lot of harsh consonant sounds like “t,” “k,” and “g.”

Some examples include:

✦ So Ata
✦ Zo Cou

✦ Ne Ruk
✦ Thil Nit

✦ Sik Kril

Yssaril

Starting Abilities

1	2	2	4	2	1
BR	AG	INT	CUN	WILL	PR

• Starting Wound Threshold: 8 + Brawn
• Starting Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower
• Starting Experience: 90

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Special Abilities

• Starting Skills: A Yssaril starts with one rank in Stealth. They obtain this rank before spending experience points, and they may not increase Stealth above rank 2 during character creation.
• Diminutive: A Yssaril is silhouette 0.
• Chameleonic: Once per session, you may spend a Story Point to add s s to the results of a Stealth check your character makes, or to add f f to the results of a Vigilance or Perception check another character makes to detect your character.

Source

Embers of the Imperium: 37