Homebrew Avariel Species Details

The avariel make their homes in open areas, and take immense joy in flying. They absolutely abhor and detest being inside, underground, or otherwise restricted from the open sky. They are more delicate than their earth-bound cousins, with hollow bones to aid their flight, toned skin from their time spent in the skies and slightly larger eyes that vary largely in both color and tone. Most notable of all of the Avariel's physical characteristics are their wings, broad and feathered they can span up to double their height when fully extended. The coloring of such wings are usually speckled, black, brown, white or in some variety of the former, however, rare few have ever had wings of pure white.

The avariel are very rare in Faerûn, since they have been hunted nearly to extinction by various dragons. Avariel remain in any number in only one place — the Aerie of the Snow Eagles, a secluded mountain home in the north. Avariel maintain good relationships with aarakocra, and those in the Aerie of the Snow Eagles have recently reestablished contact with their cousins in Evermeet.

Appearance

The most striking feature of the averiels is their soft, feathered wings. These wings have spans of anywhere from twelve to sixteen feet and are usually white, but may also be gray, brown, black, or speckled. Avariel take great pride in their wings and spend long hours grooming them. Their skin is pale, often porcelain white, with tinges of blue or faint silver. They have a silver-white or black hair, with other shades being rare but not unheard of. The avariel's eyes are rather large and more expressive than those of other elves are, and they tend to be brilliant shades of blue or green. A few avariel have scintillating violet eyes as pure as amethysts. Avariel stand 5'9” tall on average, with thin, graceful limbs and angular facial features.

The avariel are not merely "elves with wings"; their entire body has been developed to accommodate flight. Their torso is typically larger and stronger than that of their elvish brethren, designed as it is to bear wings. Furthermore, their skeletal structure, composed of light and hollow bones, helps reduce the burden of their weight while aloft. When in the air, they tend to be quite fast, mobile, and agile, due not to their lighter weight and to their graceful flight. On the ground however, they are almost burdened by their wings, sometimes appearing clumsy.

Personality

Avariel are free spirits who would like nothing better than to simply soar on the currents high above the ground, taking in the views Faerun has to offer. Unfortunately, while friendly to those they consider their equals, avariel also tend to be condescending and even downright rude to landbound races. The avariel are usually unaware of this; it's just their natural reaction to treat landbound races as lesser creatures. Given time and enough exposure to other cultures, avariel can overcome their natural bias. At heart they are contemplative and philosophical, religion playing an important role in their daily lives. Even those who spend their lives studying the martial path often set aside these pursuits in order to return to a holier calling. Lastly, avariel are notoriously claustrophobic; confined places, particularly subterranean ones, are decidedly painful to them

Society

The winged elves or sky elves, known as Avariel by other Elven races, were originally a large faction of elves named the Astald who took it upon themselves to make the world a more peaceful place for their Elven brothers and sisters. Moving from region to region they fought war after war, banishing the dragons from the sky control of the skies, assisting in the driving of the Drow to the Underdark, the cursing and then culling of the Fomorians and finally the halting of a great age of darkness from the Lich King Ner'zhul. After a thousand years of fighting the Astald, for their service to the Elven kind, they were granted the gift of flight from Elven god Aerdrie Faenyathe and welcomed them into her heavenly realm. Not one of the Astald were seen until the anniversary of their ascension to the celestial plane, exactly 1,000 years later, the winged elves now called the Avariel returned once more and in numbers, flew through the sky like a great swarm into the world once again.

Avariel society was split into two groups that coexisted together, labeled "warlike" and "peaceful". Young avariel spent time immersed in both cultures (this could last over a decade), so that no matter what sect they came from, they had a deep understanding and respect of how the other half lived.

Warlike Avariel: Avariel warriors were geared towards war and power, answering to war chiefs who governed avariel society equally with the religious leaders. They lived by a complex code of honor and spent their lives defending their race. In combat, these avariel showed no mercy, often using ranged attacks from above and believing that others should know better than to create an enemy of a superior foe such as themselves. They also viewed surrender to be dishonorable (for both themselves as well as their enemies), holding the idea that when a warrior drew blood, it was a promise to honor them with their combat skill, and slaying them was fulfilling that promise. To leave a defeated foe alive was to humiliate them.

Peaceful Avariel: The other side of avariel society included scholars, philosophers, and artists. Intellectuals who believed in solving problems through reason and diplomacy, these avariels spent much time researching magic and history, contemplating religion, worshiping Aerdrie Faenya, and producing art for the sheer joy of creation.

Avariel Traits

This race is sort of a mix between an elf and an aasimar

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and one other score of your choice increases by 1

Age

Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. Avariel live longer than most elves. They typically claim adulthood and an adult name at around 100 and can live for 1000 years.

Alignment

Avariel, like their elven brethren, love freedom, and no freedom is quite as great as soaring through the skies. They lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others' freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good or neutral. It is within avariel culture to not interact with the world outside their enclaves in their attempt to keep their race as pure in both bloodline and culture as possible.

Size

Avariel range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender but muscular builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a flying speed of 50 feet.

darkvision

Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Wings

You have a pair of wings that grant you a flight speed equal to your walking speed. Broad and feathered, they can span up to 12-16 feet when fully extended. They are usually white, but could be black, brown or speckled.

Languages

You can speak, read and write Common, Elvish and one other language of your choice. In addition, the avariel have their own unique form of sign language based around aerial movement that is less subtle than those of non-flying races, having been developed primarily for communication during flight.