Ethron
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| STR | 23 |
| INT | 17 |
| WIS | 25 |
| DEX | 17 |
| CON | 17 |
| CHR | 23 |
| Resists | Cold |
| Vulnerable | Lightning |
| Bonus | +2 move per level |
| Special | Swim, Water breathing, |
A small, amphibious people, the ethron were one of the first lineages shaped after the Sundering, and are as colourful as the plants they love and call home.
Biology
Ethron are shorter than humans, ranging from four to five feet tall. They are stocky in build, with dense musculature and a layer of subcutaneous fat; this latter is more prominent in ethron hailing from colder waters. Their hair and skin are full of chlorophyll, which change colour to suit the ambient environment in which they reach maturity. Most ethron that non-ethron encounter in Avendar are therefore the same variegated green of Avendar's forests, but ethron in nearly every colour exist, with green and blue being the most common, brown or gold being uncommon, and red or white being very rare. Once set, the overall colour of an ethron's skin or hair remains the same throughout their life, but the shade may shift with age. They are stocky and fat in build, with dense musculature under a layer of blubber. All ethron possess gills and are able to swim and breathe underwater, and will regenerate movement more swiftly in well-lit places thanks to the chlorophyll in their skin and hair. On land and in the water, they may move silently so long as they are outside of a city.
Culture
The ethron worldview tends to be ordered around the concepts of birth, growth, and death, as well as an innate reverence for the natural world as reflected in their gods: Nariel, Elar, and Lielqan. Though generally kindly disposed and peaceful, this reverence for nature is enforced violently when necessary and without hesitation by the ethron. As a result, ethron tend to shun large cities and stone structures, instead lifesculpting their dwellings into and around their local plant life.
Ethron tend to live in extended family groups called clans. Most clans live within Avendar's forests, but several are found underwater within deep lakes and around the rims of Avendar's seas and oceans, stretching from Alensha to Daphoa. All are matriarchal, ruled by one or more elderly clanmothers. The underwater ethron clans tend to be more aggressive, and many engage in vigorous piracy.
Eqiril
The Eqiril Clan is in Qilarn Forest, northwest of Var Bandor. They live in harmony with the forest, shaping their homes from the oak trees. They are primarily hunters and druids, and act as wardens against incursions of Gamaloth from the south.
Qali
The Qali Clan is centered in the Chanisal Monastery, south of Var Bandor. In a symbiotic relationship with the village of Eril, the Qali clan emphasizes Elaran beliefs of abundance, generosity, and conservation.
Eril
Eril Village, although governed by the Eril ethron clan, welcomes many other lineages within their walls. The Eril are known for their openness, stability, and willingness to trade.
Aanqa
The Sisters of Aanqa are not related by blood, but treat each other as family all the same. Worshipers of Leilqan, they live by the Sea of Lidraeu. Militant defenders of life, they despise the undead and all others who would squander the Sunset's gift.
Religion
History
Shaped by the goddess Elar from plants into creatures of flesh, the ethron have acted as stewards of Avendar's natural world ever since their creation. During the War of Fire, Elar urged the ethron to flee the destruction, but the goddess Lielqan intervened upon seeing they could not, making them into the amphibious creatures they are now. Millennia later when the shuddeni attempted to invade Qilarn and Morn during the War of Night, the timely warnings of the goddess Nariel allowed the ethron to annihilate the shuddeni forces, driving them out of the forest and creating a barrier between the invading shuddeni and Gaald. Lielqan is also the source of most resurrections and the ethron remain the stewards and gatekeepers of this art, teaching it to outsiders on the condition it be made available to any sapient being that requires it. Though other sources of resurrection exist, Lielqan's remains the most widespread.
