Aevar

Long before the Hanging Towers rose into the sky, other peoples had created a home for themselves. There were cloud giants known as the Yaganu, several spirit courts of wind and storm, and the winged people known as the Aevar. Making their homes in the sky out of cloud and elaborate gossamer crystal, these heavenly cultures were, at one time, pervasive across the cloudscapes of the twilight world.

Of the original sky people, the Aevar were the first to directly assimilate into the Epicentral Empire, becoming the de facto envoys for the Eruvenian people to the rest of the cloud kingdoms. Today, they have become firmly entrenched in the political diaspora of Epicenter. They are so intermixed that many of their largest sky cities have gradually become Tower States, themselves.

Aevar are tall, long-limbed, slender people with large, almond-shaped full-iris eyes. They weigh next to nothing, having hollow bones and next to no body fat. Instead of hair, they have plumes of feathers with distinct color patterns. Upon their backs, Aevar have two tremendous wings that fold neatly into a cloak-like arrangement when not in use.

Winged Elf Ancestral Traits

You are a winged elf, one of the long-lived sky people who dwell in the sky cities of your world. Your ancestry gives you a variety of traits which you share in common with all winged elves.

Age. Winged elves grow and mature in parallel with most humanoid ancestries, reaching physical maturity at around 16 years of age. However, winged elves live very long, averaging at least twelve centuries, but occasionally up to thirty. Because of this breadth of history, winged elves consider adolescence to be a period of around a century, meaning adulthood generally begins at around 120 years of age.

Size. Winged elves are tall, with long limbs and slender frames. They tend to reach seven feet in height, sometimes up to eight. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Sky-adapted. Winged elves have dwelled in sky cities for all of known eternity. This has left them uniquely adapted to the sky world in ways other ancestries often (but not always) envy. You gain the following traits:

  • Your feathers give you a nice buffer of insulation that leaves you unphased by most cold temperatures. You have resistance to cold damage.
  • Your bones are hollow, giving you a vulnerability to bashing damage.
  • You need less oxygen to survive. On the upside, this means you can hold your breath for longer, a base of 5 minutes + 2 minutes per point of Constitution modifier. On the downside, you suffer the poisoned condition when you imbibe alcohol.

Exacting Vision. Winged elves have incredible eye-sight, perceiving minute or distant details with ease. You have proficiency in the Perception skill, and you make all vision-related checks with advantage. You can see in dim light within 120 feet as though it were bright light, and you see in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Wings. You have a flying speed of 30 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Art of a paint spill by Pavel @ Unsplash