Sem'serim
(two examples of sem'serim)
All places of eternal solitude hold in them the promise of a life undaunted by tyranny and chase. The Empyrean Sem'serim hop frorm demi-plane to demi-plane, narrowly avoiding capturre and destruction at the hands of nefarious fiends of the Abyss. Their pursuers hold a timeless grudge against them, for the Sem'serim at one time attempted to purge the multi-verse of their evil. In the wake of their failurre is an everlasting pursuit.
Once Were
At one time, long, long ago, the sem'serim shared a lineage with the gnomes of other worlds, although they were taller and less wild than their distant gnomish cousins. Unlike gnomes, the sem'serim tended toward rerligious devotion, rather than the curiosity of invention, or the love of nature. Above all, the sem'serim sought freedom of worship, and the ability to build an ecclesiastical society, where religious authority produced a doctrine of ethics and morals. Sadly, as in the old world they began to achieve their perfect civilization, they also delved too deeply into the process of eradicating evil.
Derelicts of the Planes
Knowing too little of the tenacity and unpredictable resolve of demons, the sem'serim became mired in a blood feud between good and evil, and were eventually overrun and ousted from their homes by the demon lord of deception, Fraz-Urb'luu. They fled using bastardized magics to other dimensions and planes of existence. Over time, as they traveled between realms of the dark beyond to avoid their assailants, the sem'serim began to evolve. They mutated, stretching their lives longer, becoming different beings altogether. Now, they are but the liminality of the crazed and reckless fight to endure within the last measures of life, which cinch in against all promise of possibility.
Burdened Hominids
Existence is a tiresome effort for ser'serim, who spend their days in long quiet research, or in training to protect the collective. Their spellweavers attempt to divine a way to end the blood feud, or at least to predict the next attack. The old religious order a failure, the devout took up new, more obscure godly affections, leading to bizarre rituals.
Carrying little with them, they take momentary refuge in florid demi-planes, adrift darkness and ambivalent isolation. There is no wafting perfume, or smell of smoke or meat. No music. No distraction. Sporadic and discordant prayers whisper muffled amidst the shuffling of martial exercise. When they must interact with humans, the sem'serim wear masks covering their lower half of their face so as not to upset the delicate sensibilities of humans.
Cursed to Extinction
Fraz-Urb'luu has his eye fixed on the sem'serim as the grreatest threat to his realm. In a time before record, he set upon them a curse to become more like himself, but also to take away their power to speak his true name. So their bodies lost the color of life and they grew tails, their mouths were covered over with skin, and their heads elongated to alien proportions. While most of these oddities can be hidden in public, their eyes, having become likened to burning suns, are an unmistakable tell of the sem'serim. Over time, they became infertile and there were no more children of the sem'serim, but they gained unnaturally long life and arre surprisingly strong for their statures. It is thought that the demon lord allowed this to draw out their suffering.
Sem'serim know full well that the time of their people is drawing to a close, but above all things, they fear most that the end of their line will spell certain disaster for the free creatures of the material plane. They believe that they are responsible for opening that most terrible gateway to the Abyss, and seek now to close it forever.
Sem'serim Names & Speech
A name is meaningless to sem'serim, who prize unity and singularity. Sem'serim refer to themselves as Many of One, or simply Sem'serim, and use no pronouns or titles, although the concept does not elude them. Often they speak cryptically when referencing their actions to others, so as to pertain to the whole species. They use phrases such as "Many of One trusts human (you)", or "Sem'serim deny help".
When a sem'serim's only option is to describe itself, it does so with a memory specific to the creature or creatures it is addressing. Sem'serim often let their actions speak for them, utilizing gesture, dance, and other bodily signs to communicate their point.
Sem'serim Traits
Sem'serim are all incredibly similar to one another, especially in appearance. The visible difference between a male and female sem'serim is only discernible by other sem'serim. Sem'serim refuse to wear shoes under any circumstance.
Ability Score Increase. You may increase either Strength or Charisma by +1.
Age. Through alien magic the sem'serim have transcended the aging process, and most often die in conflict.
Alignment. Sem'serim don't vary greatly in their morality. They prefer the order of law, and righteousness of good.
Size and Creature Type. All sem'serim stand exactly 4' 6" tall and weigh precisely 135 pounds. Your size is medium and you count as Humanoid.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, and you have a flying speed of 10 feet (hover).
Celestial Awakening. Your celestial knowledge gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
Save the Light. Once per long rest, when a creature within 30 feet of you fails a death saving throw, you can use your reaction to deal 1 psychic damage to yourself, and grant the creature 1 hit point. This damage cannot be mitigated in any way.
Boundless Existence. As an action, you become ethereal until the end of your next turn, as per the etherealness spell. Upon returning from the ethereal plane you gain 1 level of exhaustion.
Timeworn Grudge. When you are aware that you are within 120 feet of a demon, your base walking speed and flying speed both increase by 10 feet, and you gain advantage on saving throws against fiends whose presence you're aware of.
Uniquely Sustained. Sem'serim have adapted to absorb nutrition and hydration due to their mutated mouth. To ingest liquid(including potions), a sem'serim places their first two fingers into the liquid and absorbs it into their body. To ingest food, they hold it in their hands while meditating, absorbing the nutritional value through their skin and leaving behind a dried out husk where food once existed. Anyone who witnesses this process sees the food essentially lose all color then turn to dust. This takes roughly the same amount of time as eating or drinking for an average human.
Languages. Sem'serim do not have a spoken language of their own, but you do understand spoken Common and know how to both read and write.
The Blood Feud
Fraz Urb'luu rules the blasted plane of Hallow's Heart, a featureless and bleak realm that is the 176th layer of the Abyss. The land is a sea of bleached powder set underneath a moonless and starless black sky, which he commands to take the forms he wishes. Long ago he ruled over this place with the aid of a powerful magical staff, which gave him the ability to deceive and beguile even other demon lords, for which they despise him.
When the sem'serim were still many, they marched on Hallow's Heart and briefly gained victory as they banished the Lord of Deception to Carcerii. He left his staff behind, which the sem'serim took and broke into three parts, hiding them across the material plane. Since negotiatiing his release from the plane of prisons, Fraz Urb'luu would do anything to reclaim his staff, yet without it he sits in a precarious position, constantly competeing with those vying for control of his layer.
