Species

The Seven Peoples

Seven lineages of mankind walk Arroghe. Humans are the most numerous and hold Gartoren. The other six are older, and each was shaped by the land it held: ice, mountain, cave, forest, coast and jungle.

The Church's Doctrine of Separation forbids marriage between peoples, as reverence for the Totem's design. What the peoples share is the Common Hand, a sign language every people learns, so that trade can cross any tongue.

Whatever their people, every character begins play with one feat of their choice.

Embarri

The Deepkin of the caves, slight and long-limbed, with eyes made for the dark and hands that carve what the rest of the world pays well for.

Farrin

The Oldborn. Tall and broad-shouldered, with a calm that makes others look to them when things go wrong.

Human

The people of the walled towns. They laid the rail, raised the Church, and have yet to find a place they would not settle.

Nimrin

The quiet survivor, the clever forager, the last to fall. You've been underestimated since the beginning.

Orok

Stonekin of the cold north, heavy in the bone and broad in the chest. They winter where others would not, and guard their Totems against all comers.

Vennik

They live in the high passes, where the air is too thin for most, and are said to hear the Totems more clearly than anyone.

Zonii

One of the smallest people in a vast world. That never meant you were weak.

Human

Humans fill the towns of Gartoren and most of the Frontier's camps. The Church, the rail companies and the Watch are human institutions. They stand between five feet and six and a half, and come in every build. They are no stronger or hardier than the older peoples. They spread further, and they make a system of whatever works.

	Human
Ability scores	+2 to one ability and +1 to another
Size	Medium
Speed	30 ft.
Languages	Common, one more of your choice, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Adaptive Ingenuity	Gain proficiency in one skill, tool, or weapon type of your choice.
Versatile Upbringing	Gain an additional language or kit proficiency, or swap for a single Lore specialty.
Resilient Spirit	Once per long rest, when you fail a saving throw, you may reroll it. You must use the new result.

Orok

Oroks are the Stonekin of the cold north, broad-chested and heavy-boned, with deep-set eyes under a strong brow and hands made for hard work. They stand between five and a half feet and six foot two, and weigh far more than humans of their height. They live in highlands and cold forests, hunt and craft and trade furs, and guard their Totems fiercely. They are shrewd traders and loyal to a fault, though lowlanders often mistake their care for slowness.

Their tongue is Orrak: harsh, short syllables spoken from the back of the throat, like stone striking stone.

	Orok
Ability scores	Strength +2, Wisdom +1
Size	Medium
Speed	30 ft.
Languages	Common, Orrak, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Cold Adaptation	Resistance to cold damage. No penalties from extreme cold or high-altitude terrain.
Mountain Grip	Advantage on Athletics checks to climb or resist being moved. Climb rocky or icy surfaces without a climbing kit.
Predatory Focus	When you spend mana to fuel a weapon attack or shove, deal +1 damage. Below half HP: +2. Once per turn.
Intuitive Combat	Add your Wisdom modifier instead of Dexterity to initiative rolls.

Vennik

The Vennik are broad and powerfully built, between five feet and five foot eight. They keep to the high places, the mountains other peoples dare not climb, and breathe air that would leave a human gasping. They are a spiritual people, slow to speak and slower to trust, and they are said to hear the Totems in ways no one else does. Caravans hire them as guides through the passes. Few come down to the cities, and the Church distrusts what they know.

Their tongue is Ulmra: low, breathy, and echoing, carried on long vowels like a chant in a cave. It holds their oral histories, and they use it in meditation.

	Vennik
Ability scores	Constitution +2, Wisdom +1
Size	Medium
Speed	30 ft.
Languages	Common, Ulmra, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Stoneborn Resilience	Advantage on saves against poison, disease, or paralysis. Resistant to bludgeoning damage from blows and falls, not powers, while prone or braced.
Stillness of Ages	When you Hide and don't move on your turn, you are considered heavily obscured even in open terrain until your next turn.
Totemic Anchoring	Once per long rest, when you fail a save against a Totemic Power, delay its onset by 1 round.
Ancient Memory	Proficiency in Lore or Sage. Once per long rest, commune with a Totem to ask one question; the answer comes as emotional resonance.

Farrin

The Farrin are the Oldborn, broad-shouldered and commanding, with strong brows and large, expressive eyes. They stand from five foot ten to six and a half feet and carry themselves with a calm authority that makes others look to them in a crisis. Where Farrin and humans live together they trade and work side by side, and the Farrin often end up as leaders, mediators, or the voice a crowd listens to.

Their tongue is Caldran: smooth, versatile and familiar, the tongue a stranger finds easiest to follow.

	Farrin
Ability scores	Charisma +2, Strength +1
Size	Medium
Speed	30 ft.
Languages	Common, Caldran, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Commanding Presence	Proficiency in Influence or Sage. Once per long rest, reroll a failed Charisma check.
Ancestral Bones	Once per short rest, when you fail a STR or CON save, roll a d4 and add the result.
Urban Survivor	Proficiency with one kit. Advantage on Sage checks to detect lies or tension.
Voice That Carries	Allies within 30 ft who can hear you have advantage on saves against being frightened.

Embarri

The Embarri are the Deepkin, slight and long-limbed, between four and a half feet and five foot two, with reflective eyes made for the dark. They live in caves and the deep places under the world, and their lives are bound up in ritual and symbol that outsiders barely understand. Their carvings fetch a fortune in any market. Their rites unsettle the Church, and some folk say they are more shadow than flesh.

Their tongue is Ishku: murmured and secretive, all clicks, hisses and whispered breath, like leaves or scraping bone.

	Embarri
Ability scores	Dexterity +2, Wisdom +1
Size	Medium
Speed	30 ft. Climbing 30 ft.
Darkvision	60 ft.
Languages	Common, Ishku, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Natural Contortionist	Advantage on checks to climb, vault, or move through tight spaces. Move through spaces as narrow as 9 inches without squeezing.
Twilight Familiarity	60 ft darkvision. In dim light, make Sage checks as if in bright light.
Instinctive Mapping	Proficiency in Survival or Sage. Once per short rest, automatically detect direction of north or nearest open passage underground.
Quick to Ground	Fall up to 20 ft without damage if not wearing heavy armor.

Zonii

The Zonii are the Leafwalkers, living where the forest meets the sea. They are small, between three and four feet tall, with long fingers and toes and dark eyes that catch the light. Fishermen hire Zonii guides to read dangerous water, and their herbal remedies are sought in every port. The Church trusts them least of all the peoples, and calls their ways pagan.

Their tongue is Keleni: high, quick and fluid, like birdcall or tumbling water, and paired with gestures and quiet clicks.

	Zonii
Ability scores	Dexterity +2, Intelligence +1
Size	Small
Speed	25 ft.
Languages	Common, Keleni, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Naturally Stealthy	Attempt to hide even when only lightly obscured. Advantage on Subterfuge checks in natural terrain or tight quarters.
Familiar With Giants	When you occupy the same space as a Medium or larger creature, ranged attacks against you are made with disadvantage.
Keen Balance	Advantage on checks to avoid being grappled, shoved, or restrained. On success, move 10 ft without provoking opportunity attacks (once per short rest).
Totemic Acuity	Proficiency in Lore or Sage. When detecting or interpreting mana fields, reroll a 1 once per rest.

Nimrin

The Nimrin are the Smallfolk of the jungles and remote islands, the smallest of all the peoples at a little over three feet, with large hands and feet and wide, alert eyes. They are masters of the dense places, nearly invisible in undergrowth, and shrewd in a trade. Others call them tricksters, or forest spirits.

Their tongue is Nirrik: rasping and guttural, spoken in slow pulses from the nose and chest, like breathing through dust.

	Nimrin
Ability scores	Wisdom +2, Dexterity +1
Size	Small
Speed	25 ft.
Darkvision	30 ft.
Languages	Common, Nirrik, and the Common Hand
Feat	One of your choice at level 1.
Scavenger's Cunning	Proficiency in Survival or Lore. Attempt to harvest useful components from slain creatures or the environment with a DC 12 WIS check.
Low World Eyes	30 ft darkvision. In complete darkness, sense outlines of terrain and warm-blooded creatures within 5 ft as if lightly obscured.
Tucked and Silent	Move through the space of any Medium or larger creature. If hidden and unmoving at end of turn, gain +2 AC until you move or act.
Enduring Body, Enduring Mind	Reroll a failed CON save once per long rest. Against poison, disease, or environmental pressure, choose to automatically succeed instead.

Languages

Every character speaks Common, the human tongue, and knows the Common Hand. Each of the older peoples also speaks its own.

Tongue	People	Sound
Common	Humans, and everyone	The human tongue, spoken across Gartoren and the Frontier.
The Common Hand	Everyone	A sign language built to bridge every tongue. Silent, and readable at a distance.
Orrak	Orok	Harsh, choppy, short syllables.
Ulmra	Vennik	Deep, breathy, solemn, long vowels.
Caldran	Farrin	Smooth, versatile and familiar.
Ishku	Embarri	Clicks, hisses and whispers.
Keleni	Zonii	High, fast, staccato.
Nirrik	Nimrin	Guttural and nasal, chant-like.

Humans learn one more tongue of their choice.