Homebrew Carponaeous Species Details

Submerged in deep seas and in small lakes, the Carponaeous, sometimes called Fish people, evoke fear and wonder. Many carponaeous aren’t even native to the Material Plane. They hail from a world beyond — from the boundless vistas of the Elemental Plane of Water.

They are immigrants, refugees, scouts, and explorers, their outposts functioning as footholds in a world both strange and alien.

Fins and Gills

From above, carponaeous look much like large fish. Only when they ascend to walk across the ground does their humanoid appearance reveal itself. Standing upright, carponaeous might reach 5 feet tall, and they have long legs that taper to a webbed foot with sharp claws on the end. 

Mucus cover their bodies. Their markings typically denotes membership in a tribe. Males are covered in battle scars which range from big and gross to small and unnoticable, They usually have a skin with a colour more subdued then their female counterpart. Females have more aggravated colors, ranging from a deep blue to green or gray. Their heads complete the fish like appearance, being something like a carp or sturgeon with distinct tribal variations.

Water Guardians

Nowhere are the carponaeous more comfortable than in the water. They can spend years underwater, and some go as long as decades. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic swimmers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons or claws before turning and swimming away.

Once submerged, a carponaeous leaves the water with reluctance. On their native plane, they can swim for their entire lives, ascending only to watch the stars. Those that make it to a world in the Material Plane find it a strange place. They sometimes forget or ignore depths, and they have nothing but pity for those earthbound people forced to live and toil on the ground.

Amphibian Mannerisms

The resemblance of carponaeous to fish isn’t limited to physical features. Carponaeous display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary fish. They are territorial, frequently tending to the surrounding coral, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up. When they deign to ascend from the depths, they often do so near rocks where they can rest for a while and look into the distant horizon.

Many carponaeous punctuate their speech with gurgles, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. A A carponaeous might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; a carponaeouses threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

The idea of ownership baffles most carponaeous. After all, who owns the depths? Even when explained to them, they initially find the notion of ownership mystifying. As a result, carponaeous who have little interaction with other people might be a nuisance as they ascend from the water to snatch livestock. Shiny, glittering objects catch their eyes.

They find it hard not to pluck the treasure and bring it back to their settlement to beautify it. A carponaeous who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses.

Confinement terrifies the carponaeous. To be grounded, trapped underground, or imprisoned by the cold, unyielding earth is a torment few carponaeous can withstand. Even when swimming in a deep ocean or at rest in their cavern homes, they appear alert, with eyes moving and bodies ready to swim away.

Homelands

Most carponaeous live on the Elemental Plane of Water. Carponaeous can be drawn into the Material Plane, sometimes to pursue enemies or thwart their foes’ designs there. Accident might also send a nest of carponaeous tumbling into a world on that plane. A few find their way to such a world through portals on their own plane and establish nests in deep oceans or in the streams of abandoned rivers.

Once tribes of carponeaous settle in an area, they share a hunting territory that extends across an area up to 100 miles on a side, with each tribe hunting in the lands nearest to their colony, ranging farther should game become scarce.

A typical colony consists of one large, open-roofed nest made of stacked rocks and coral. The eldest acts as leader with the support of a shaman. 

 

Great Purpose

Carponaeous enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the ground. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for an carponaeous to leave his or her tribe and undertake the adventurer’s life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their tribes; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the carponaeous adventurer’s chosen path.

Two other circumstances might call an carponaeous to adventure. First, carponaeous have historical ties to the Water Dukes of Blrbl. Exceptional individuals honor that connection and might seek out the missing pieces of the Spear of Seven Parts, the remains of an artifact fashioned by the Water Dukes long ago to defeat the Queen of Chaos’s monstrous champion, Maller the Shark.

When plunged into Maller’s body, the chaos in his blood sundered the spear and scattered its pieces across the multiverse. Recovering the pieces means gaining honor and esteem in the eyes of the vaati who forged it and could possibly restore a powerful weapon for defense against the agents of elemental evil.

Second, carponaeous are sworn foes of elemental earth, in particular the gargoyles that serve Ogrémoch, the Prince of Earth. The Aarakocra word for gargoyle is loosely translated as “flying rock,” and battles between aarakocra and gargoyles have raged across the Elemental Planes of Earth and Water, occasionally spilling into a world on the Material Plane. Carponaeous on that plane might leave their colonies to lend aid to other humanoids committed to fighting earth cults and thwarting their efforts.

Carponaeous Names

As with much of their speech, carponaeous names include gurgles, blurbs, and burps to the point that other peoples have a difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When interacting with other races, carponaeous may use nicknames gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full names.

An carponaeous of either gender may have one of these short names: Braër, Crün, Aür, Deerer, Errk, Rrlm, Grlr, Krgl, Oorr, Slrcrl or Crlandrl

CARPONAEOUS BACKGROUNDS

Backgrounds that are most appropriate for carponaeous include the outlander, the hermit, and the sage.

The small colonies of carponaeous are insular and remote, and few carponaeous live away from their cloud. In the Deep Reef of the Ancient Abyss in the Forgotten Realms, no more than a few dozen carponaeous live away from the knot of their families. Those that do are usually rangers or fighters, constantly patrolling for outside threats.

Carponaeous Traits

As an carponaeous , you have certain traits in common with your people. Being able to swim at high speed starting at 1st level is exceptionally effective in certain circumstances and exceedingly dangerous in others. As a result, playing an carponaeous requires special consideration by your DM.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Carponaeous reach maturity by age 3. Compared to humans, carponaeous don’t usually live longer than 30 years.

Alignment

Most aarakocra are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Tribal leaders and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.

Size

Aarakocra are about 5 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies that weigh between 80 and 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Swimming

You have a swimming speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Claws

Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Carponaeoun, and Wane.