Homebrew Aab'Shagua Race Details

I was late in my career when I crossed paths with the one-eyed man. I thought him a fellow traveller; a transient on the cosmic road that is the Ethereal Plane. But he claimed to be native born! Even with his strange eye and technicolor skin, I scarcely believed the merchant to be truthful. What native life could this place possibly bear? What did they eat? How did they function? All these questions and more I asked him. The one-eyed merchant merely chuckled.

"Here," he said, skipping between languages every few words, "I see you go a-glitterway. Lads like us-wise? Peepers meet peeper, stand out lightshow, we do! Gotta keep swagpackin' choppy. Two-eyes like you don't want none of the boys cloggin' no alleys. But fine things are around! Ether-Place don't have what we need, but it's got the doors to rooms that do. See I say?" Even with a tongues spell cast, I could barely make out the meaning of his words. Apparently his folk use the Ethereal Plane like a sailor takes to the sea. Their 'homeland' is merely whatever city tolerates their presence for the time being. Business must be slow if I had never heard of them before.

"What are your people called?" I asked. The one-eyed man grinned, and his blue iris grew to swallow the entirety of the eye, followed by the pupil. I looked on in shock as a new iris, now yellow, grew from that black orb and opened up a white pupil. In a second his eye appeared to have turned inside out and come back in reverse colors.

"Aab'shagua," the merchant said. He then licked the air in my direction, like a reptile. "Ooh, that perfume you got's mighty flowersome! Lookin' fer a glitter-swap?"

—The Life and Adventures of Xermian Uakis, Extraplanar Explorer

Aab'shagua are not known by most folk of the Material Plane. They are nomads in the most extreme sense. Even the boundaries between the planes themselves cannot stop aab'shaguan merchants from peddling exotic goods from all corners of creation.

An Odd Sight

With their penchant for interplanar migration, aab'shagua are more physically diverse than other races. There is no "normal" aab'shagua. An individual can stand from 4 feet to nearly 8 feet tall and weigh from 80 to 450 pounds. Aab'shaguan skin usually takes human coloration, but may be of any shade of the rainbow. Their hair can be similarly multicolored, and strands of it naturally mat together in wavy, rectangular strips (although aab'shagua are very fond of elaborate and exotic hairstyles). Their skin is utterly hairless everywhere else. A lot of aab'shagua have technicolor birthmarks in perfectly geometric shapes, such as red triangles on the cheeks, or a nonagon with a purple-blue gradient running down along their arm.

But by far their most trademark feature is their giant eye. It is twice as large as a human's fist, and the eyelashes can be longer than most races' fingers. This eye takes up so much space that aab'shagua have no noses. Instead, they smell through their tongue. Aab'shagua lick the air like snakes whereas other races would sniff. Even more strangely, aab'shagua can breathe through their tear ducts like other races breathe through the nose.

Ethereal Collectors

Aab'shagua make a living off of other realms. The Ethereal Plane cannot support their life on its own, so the aab'shagua travel. They ferry items, knowledge, and creatures across the planes for profit, skimming off what they can spare for themselves. Many dress themselves as walking advertisements. Jewels, pins, toy mechanisms, beetles, little elementals, and more oddities often find themselves draped over aab'shaguan shoulders. They know how easy it is to stand out with just one eye, so aab'shagua go all out with flair.

Aab'shagua hold one treasure sacred above all others. It is not something so mundane as a physical artifact. It is a dream, a dream all of this race share. When aab'shagua close their eye to rest, they see only emptiness. No black. No white. Just... nothing. And then come colors. Streaks at first, but quickly growing like flames. All their senses swell with overstimulation into a nightmare past comprehension. When all is lost in formless in heat, and sound, and light, and color, a ring appears...

... a sacred band, forged into the shape of an iris, bearing an inscription that runs into itself forever: WITH LUCK COMETH OPPORTUNITY WITH OPPORTUNITY COMETH WEALTH WITH WEALTH COMETH POWER WITH POWER COMETH DIVINITY WITH DIVINITY COMETH PRIDE WITH PRIDE COMETH FAILURE WITH FAILURE COMETH LUCK...

ODD ONE OUT

Aab'shagua are even more sociable to other races than each to other. They try to get along with everyone, regardless of alignment, but their extreme strangeness causes other races to keep them at arms' length, if they are acknowledged at all. This rarely bothers the aab'shagua. After all, it's one less thing to tie them down. But beware to act hostile towards their people. Indifference they accept; violence is just a payment returned with interest.

Dwarves. “So. Much. Gold. Oh, dwarves are real kind to us. Too kind. We ought to give 'em a discount... pffft, hahahaha! But realsome, thank ya for your patronage.”

Humans. “Never know what you'll get outta human markets. Half the joy is just seeing how flush with shine they are!”

Elves. “Now there's the quality stock! Magic, magic, magic! Bull market, supposin' you'se in it to buy. How those pretty peepers wanna part with treasure? Too good for our glitter-way, they are.”

Halflings. “Best munchin' from the munchkins, always told! Best food, best cheer, best stories... but not best buyers. Good stealers. They need more gold n' glitter. I'd give the fuzzfeets some thrashing, but how can ya stay mad at peepers so childsome, see I say?“

Orcs. “There's just something so poetic about raiding war spoils. And you'd be gobsmacked on the rates of orc juices in the Hotlike Plane! But all those wasted customers, why it brings a tear to my eye...”

Illithids. “Now there's a race what's wicked smart-wise. Hard to bargain with even without the psychic bits. But if you want to sell in bulk, you go Star-Far. Just wish the Far Realm had more variety in the products. No one wants to buy more tentacles, least of all the folks already growin' them!”

Beholden to the Family

Aab'shagua are inherently no more adept at crossing interplanar boundaries than any other humanoids. Their magical power is a skill that is taught rather than a quirk of their nature. To leave the caravan is to leave the infrastructure that supports their very way of life. It is not a decision made lightly.

Wandering Eyes

Aab'shagua who take up adventuring careers are actually usually the least adventurous of their race. They seek to settle down to a single plane or two, maybe keep some foreign friends for more than a day. The Material Plane usually has the best balance of varied experiences and reliable physics that adventuring aab'shagua seek.

Aab'Shagua Names and Titles

Aab'shagua adopt a 'baseline' name from a common race, such as a dwarven or human one, when they introduce themselves to new people. This usually just lasts until they go by a new nickname the locals give them. Aab'shaguan individuals are usually known by many names, each one used in a different region or by a different race. Among their own kind, they adopt an entire second layer of naming convention.

What little remains of aab'shaguan language is preserved in an elaborate system of names, titles, and honorifics. Aab'shagua refer to each other by these names first, then by the names they've taken from other languages. They consider it somewhat rude for other aab'shagua to not use these honorifics when addressing each other. But at the same time, it is even more rude and vain to demand other races take part in this system. Aab'shagua know full well that their language was lost specifically because it was so long winded and confusing. Even the fragments that remain are mere shortcuts to the original meaning. Many aab'shagua are delighted when other races attempt, of their own will, to address them in the aab'shaguan way. It brings them an almost familial bond to see strangers fumble over the words like children. Perhaps they see a reflection: an outsider so eager to fit in with the aab'shagua as aab'shagua do everywhere else.

Nicknames

Some nicknames given by other races are more common than others. Names that make note of a massive eye, magic items, or sound vaguely alien are by far the most popular.

Xenon, Iris, The Watcher, Twist-tongue, The Glitterman, Zodex, Mumble, Cloud Merchant, Cyclops, One-window, Peeping Tom, Madam Pupil, Zephyr

Family

Family is sacred to the aab'shagua. Without national ties, they depend entirely on each other to survive. Often an aab'shagua will honor their most trusted allies by referring to them with family titles. Most races say that blood is thicker than water, but they have not had to trust in alien beings along interdimensional highways. Unlike other names, family titles have no definite rank in regards to social standing. Names for older family members are generally seen as more respectful, though.

Godfather: Ogutt, Godmother: Ushetta, Family Elder: Meto'opashel, Parent: Mu'tek, Mother: Mu'da'eel, Father: Mu'la'ar, Cousin: Kooz, Brother: Brosh, Sister: C'thosh, Twin: Dui'iud, Step Sibling: Nectolor, Stepfather: Et-Mu'la'ar, Stepmother: Et-Mu'da'eel, Grandmother: Loi'da, Grandfather: Loi'la, Child: Li'uamo, Grandchild: Loi'uamodaz, Best Friend: Gan'ohm

Tradesman

Aab'shagua trade far more than they create. This, as well as a population spread incredibly thin across reality, means aab'shagua artisans must be jacks-of-all-trades. The following names refer to an individual's renown and wealth, but not their actual profession. Aab'shagua do not differentiate between smith, barber, chef, or engineer. Anyone of any race with anything is just another merchant, whether they know it or not. The following names are ranked from lowest to highest honor.

Jirafay, Jimada, Kirput, Baza'agandaza, Rozitt, D'trombo, Oxtur'ui, Quezt'apolopul'itan, Netru'muato, Cholutab, Ua'gazinshi, Aab's'thogua

Military

"Military" is perhaps the wrong word. "Mob", "raiders", "pirates", and "thugs" are more appropriate.  Without permanent homes to defend, aab'shagua maintain combat units almost solely for pillaging realms that outright attack them. Aab'shagua fear these groups, for they take their race's attitude of extremes and point it toward violence and greed. Many aab'shagua who have earned the following titles prefer to be addressed by family names, but the illustrious title of Gund'godda requires by tradition that one be known by all previous military titles for some time. These names are ranked from lowest to highest.

Puopop, Hei'ipoi, Klici'iktapak, Ta'thuat, Su'ikiami, Crizma'hanua, Huxtapurudi, Kanza, Nu'unkethrom, Gund'godda

Religious

Aab'Shagua have no gods of their own, but are deeply respectful of all pantheons. Being travelers of the planar systems, they know the value of divine interference. Most religious names come from old words for 'servant' or 'friend'. In order of lowest clergy to devoted demi-god, here are the religious names of the aab'shagua. 

Gua'av, Gua'eer, Hupta, Shoshui, Kila'alama, Iuah, Vro'qua, Vro'shagua, Vro's'thogua, S'thogua

Arcane

Planar travel requires magic. A lot of it. None are more revered by aab'shagua than their wizards. And many wizards do they have. From the street side magician to a mighty archmage, here are the arcane names in order of least to most powerful.

Yui'wa, Yui'lo, Yui'bo, Yui'soth, Yui'chogda, Yui's'thogua, Yui'thocitur, Yui'pobohuilana, Yui'motohuitegshe'i'ima, Zoh

Aab'Shagua Traits

Your aab'shagua character has these traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your intelligence increases by 2.

Age

Aab'shagua reach adulthood in their late teens and live up to three centuries.

Alignment

 Aab'shagua tend toward extreme alignments. Few are neutral on any matters.

Size

Aab'shagua vary widely in height and build, from barely 4 feet to almost 8 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Primordial and three extra languages of your choice. Aab'shagua must learn the tongues of the peoples they live with. They commonly contort these languages to their breaking point, creating bizarre dialects and slang unique to their race.

Highsight

Aab'shagua have highly acute senses. You gain darkvision up to a range of 60ft, and a bonus +1 to perception and investigation.

Oddball

Your unnatural appearance does not go unnoticed easily. You have disadvantage on deception checks made to convince creatures that you are someone else. This disadvantage is not incurred if your face is obscured or magically disguised, such as by a disguise self spell.

Strangers To Nowhere

You always know what plane you are on. When you see a creature travel to another plane, you know which plane it travelled to.

Arcane Appraisal

You have advantage on persuasion checks made to buy and sell magical items.

You can cast identify without a material component once, regaining this ability after a long rest. This does not count against your spells known or spell slots. When you cast the spell this way, your eye appears to unfurl on itself, turning inside out and reversing its colors.