Homebrew Astral plane Avali Species Details

Biology

The Avali tend to have down like feathers all over their bodies with longer feathers on their heads, arms and tails. Being descended from ambush type predators, they are generally earthen toned anywhere from dark browns and bright golds all the way to light blues and dark greens.

Physiology

Avali are not mammals, but instead more similar to prehistoric Earth dromaeosauridae. Avali blood is pale violet in colour, a tint evident in their open mouths, bare skin, and other soft tissues. Male and females are most easily told apart by their feathers, as there are no other external differences. Females tend to have muted, two-tone feathers, often with speckled patterns, while males have brightly coloured, iridescent bands across much of their body.

The Avali are superficially similar to dromaeosauridae of ancient Terra. A typical adult Avali stands around 3'3"-3'11" tall, and laid out are about 4'11"-5'10" from nose to tail tip (Of which half that length is a long, counterbalancing tail) and are covered in a thick layer of insulating feathers. The average healthy avali weighs 28lbs-40lbs/13kg-18kg. Their wing feathers allow them to glide extensively and even fly on their homeworld of Avalon, with it's relatively low gravity and thick atmosphere, but are far less useful on higher gravity worlds. Avali on other planets are often only able to make controlled glides and break falls on their own, and cannot truly fly unaided.

Ammonia Biology

Unlike other races, the Avali rely on liquid ammonia as the primary solvent in their biology, which makes them extremely well adapted for cold environments, but renders what humans consider Goldilocks worlds similar to Earth intolerably hot. It is important to note that the Avali are still carbon-based organisms; their systems merely use liquid ammonia instead of water.

The boiling point of ammonia under standard pressure is -27 Fahrenheit/-33 Celsius. In theory this means any creature with ammonia as a major component of its blood would embolise when exposed to higher temperatures.

However, this is only true under "standard conditions," which includes Earth's surface atmospheric pressure. Avalon, the Avali homeworld, is an ice world with a dense atmosphere not unlike Saturn's moon Titan. It has a surface pressure around 50% greater than Earth, pushing the boiling point closer to -17 Fahrenheit/ -27 Celsius. 

Secondly, by its very nature, the pulmonary system of a creature tends to be significantly higher pressure than its surroundings. In the case of humans this is around 1.1-1.2 times higher than atmospheric pressure, which serves to further stabilize the Avali's ammonia blood at warmer temperatures. 

Finally, the Avali have highly specialized toughened arteries, raising their standard blood pressure to around 2 atmospheres. These features and adaptations serve to keep Avali blood stable at significantly higher temperatures than might be expected, with their blood only boiling at around -4 Fahrenheit/ -20 Celsius. These anatomical peculiarities came about as predatory adaptations, allowing them to have a higher core body temperature (and thus metabolism) than most of their prey. Their increased core temperature is further stabilized by their thick plumage.

Their pressure adaptations are so extreme, however, that they struggle to survive in the polar regions of their own world without proper protective clothing. Their body fluids will freeze quicker than expected in extreme cold, which is why they typically thrive in the warmer, arid, icy tundras of their own world.

Skeletal Structure

Avali have lightweight collagen and calcium based skeletons. Their bones are hollow much like Earth's flight-capable birds. These hollow bones, combined with the low gravity and dense atmosphere of Avalon allow Avali to fly in favorable conditions, and glide otherwise.

Feathers

Like terrestrial birds, they possess a range of specialized feathers: their upper body feathers are slicker and oilier to protect from snowfall, while their lower body has lighter, fluffier down feathers that helps insulate the core body. They also possess pulviplumes, specialized down feathers that regenerate continuously. The outer barbules break off and help to oil and powder the other feathers, keeping them in pristine condition. This same "powdering" mechanism has the interesting effect of also treating fur, making fur hide a popular clothing lining.
Their crest feathers (those on the head), respond well to the application of heat, causing them to curl towards the heat and become permanently deformed. In this way it is possible to "style" their crest feathers in a way analogous to hair styling.

The long feathers, such as those on the arms and crest, have a healthy blood supply at their roots and can bleed profusely if they are broken off or pulled out, though this does not pose a significant health risk. Feathers lost in that way will regrow after several weeks. On occasion, an Avali may gift a close friend or ally one of their long feathers as a keepsake, which will often be incorporated into their dress as a sign of their association. For example, an instructor may gift a feather to a recently graduated pilot, showing the instructor's recognition and approval.

Ears

While the Avali possess large eyes, this is purely to provide some measure of eyesight in the very low light levels of their homeworld; their primary sense is hearing. Their four long, independently mobile ears can pick up sounds from multiple directions at once. Avali auditory processing is capable of tracking multiple sound sources simultaneously. This uncanny hearing gives the impression of blind sight, being able to "spot" and track creatures outside of line of sight. It also enables them to converse in parallel with their pack-mates, each member serving as a separate processor to find a resolution to the topic at hand.

Reproduction & Growth

Avali are born from eggs. Eggs are usually only produced in single batches due to the amount of nutrients and energy required for a female to create one. Eggs are left in the care of a communal hatchery, where the young kits are then raised and educated by the tribe rather than their natural parents. Avali eggs typically take 4-5 months to hatch.

Technology

Much of the Avali technology is left on their home planet of Avalon, and the Avali who live on less technologically advanced planets have adapted to their more traditional style of life. An Avali may have remnants of their technologically advanced life remaining, usually through the form of some simple body and neural augments, but they often chose to mimic the society around them as to not be seen as outsiders. Due to this natural affinity for technology however they tend to gravitate towards more advanced societies. Even so they will usually find technology comically simple, though their understanding of magic is limited and as a result they will be quite fascinated by it.

Independent Avali societies that kept to their technological advances can mostly be recognized by their weaponry. Avali "aerotech" weapons are essentially compact nanoprinters; the weapon rapidly forges an ultra-lightweight crystalline compound, which is then pushed outwards along a rail that carries it away from the print head to be used as a blade or weapon. The blade is extended to a predetermined length and pattern, after which the hilt stops printing. The material that composes the blade is is not especially strong but carries a sharp edge. When it strikes a target, the material tends to break up and shear away exposing a fresh, even sharper surface below, ensuring that the otherwise fragile blade remains razor-sharp throughout the stroke. This process damages the blade very quickly, but lines of weakness are included in the structure like a box cutter, allowing older blade sections to snap off and fresh sections to be extruded. These same lines of weakness make it possible for the operator to twist the blade sharply within a wound, causing it to shatter and leave long, razorlike shards inside the victim. Such wounds often cause intense blood loss and are very difficult to treat.

Culture

Like their independent kin, the Avali tribes pride themselves on having their own individual customs, life and architectural styles as much as is compatible with the needs of the central government. A trait readily maintained thanks to the relative seclusion of independent colonies and the societal need for integration of newcomers.

However, as a species, there are still certain cultural norms most tribes display. It should be stressed, that while tribes are an important concept culturally, the vast majority of Avali are not necessarily in a tribe at any given time. As a post-scarcity, post-labor economy the population is ensured a minimum standard of living (A standard that many species would consider borderline Utopian).

Packs

Evolved from relatively small and flimsy pack hunters, that later formed nomadic tribes, Avali society displays a strong tiered hierarchy; at the lowest order, packs of 3-6 individuals, bonded from a young age. While the individual pack members often have a range of skills, the pack tends to become specialized towards certain tasks which becomes their role in a tribe.

Pack members are rarely genetically relatives, but nonetheless, those raised together form extremely close bonds; most packs then go on to form their own internal memetic cues which, in tandem with their incredible auditory processing, enables them to process information and exchange ideas extremely quickly.

The loss of a long-term pack member is extremely crippling to a group's performance; as is isolation from their pack. Replacement of pack members is possible, but unusual, given that surrogate packs lack the initial bonds and memetics of the previous group, and pack fragments of correct age and temperament to fill the gap are rare.

Tribes

Packs in turn form into tribes, large groups of individuals with a shared purpose and containing packs with complementary skill sets towards the tribe's overall goals. Tribes are rarely permanent affairs (though some trace their lineage back generations), and are often pulled together by a colony, local leader or illuminate government.

They are in essence a form of free company, wholly owned and operated by its member packs in accordance with some internal agreement on purpose and resource distribution. One example of a tribe might be miners coming together to clear out a newly discovered resource-rich mountain, and the local government creates a work order to obtain a certain volume of resources over a given window, assigns a leader pack with experience and releases an inventory of equipment needed to complete the project. The leader then sets out to recruit the appropriate crew in order to complete the project.

In addition to any promised benefits (such as better accommodation rights, references, equipment requisition), any production above and beyond that demanded by the work order also becomes the possession of the tribe, to trade or use as they see fit.

Colonies

Often it helps tribe productivity to locate themselves physically near to other existing tribes; for example, a tribe tasked to manufacture tools and armor would benefit from positioning their facilities close to a tribe extracting minerals, reducing their reliance on long-range transportation. In turn, these tribes may establish more permanent facilities and a support infrastructure builds up around them, becoming a true colony.

These colonies go on to create a colonial council with representatives of the packs as well as one or more representatives of the local government to help in administrating colony affairs.

If a permanent colony is considered strategically important enough, and given official recognition it receives Nexus nodes, long-range FTL communications, residential facilities and supply and distribution networks for temporary and mobile tribes to feed into as well as a representative pack to stand on the administration council back on their home planet.

Design and Construction

There is little evidence remaining of ancient Avali civilization and design techniques. Early Avali were even more nomadic than their modern descendants, and permanent structures were rare. The only evident ancient construction is that of the old mountaintop cities jutting above Avalon’s tundra, but out of necessity enforced by the scarcity of solid ground, many of the oldest of these structures have been disassembled, built over, or replaced with newer structures over the generations to ensure efficient use of the limited space.

Occasionally, however, refurbishments break into long forgotten catacombs or ancient dwellings, which often contain a wealth of information about the past.

Nomads to the core, the Avali build both their tools and structures to the axiom of “keep it simple, discard what you can afford to, and look after that which you cannot.” Avali design places much emphasis on lightweight, space-saving techniques. When possible, their tools are designed to be discarded after use rather than adding to the weight of travel.

Standing in stark contrast to this behavior is their treatment of what gear they deem irreplaceable. Armor and weapons are all made from the highest-quality materials and maintained with a great deal of care. Avali gear tends to feature extensive personalization, modification, and customization unique to the owner, making them one of the few truly personal belongings among the otherwise pack and tribe oriented Avali.

The tundra regions of Avalon are comparatively warm to the Avali, who are natives of the environment. Other races may see them as crazy bird-folk camping in a frozen wasteland, but the Avali do not think that way. They see themselves as desert nomads, using their tents to shelter themselves from the abrasive snow being blown across the ice sheets.

Permanent settlements are not unheard of on Avalon however, despite the prevalent nomadic attitude. Though the glacial shift of the tundra makes building a city in most places a fool’s errand, some mountains jut up through the ice shelf and provide a stable foundation for more permanent dwellings and installations. These mountaintops have become densely-colonized cities with tall, space-efficient tower blocks and high population densities. In spite of this, few of the mountain fortresses have sufficient room to dedicate to non-essential requirements such as habitation, and instead give themselves entirely to housing crucial infrastructures such as reactor complexes, research labs and communications relays. With little room for settlement inside, the mountain cities serve primarily as trading and infrastructure hubs for the nomadic majority of the Avali populace living on Avalon.

Arts and Aesthetics

The Avali are a highly artistic race. Having achieved, for all intents and purposes, a post-scarcity economy, creativity has become one of the most valuable assets a pack can have. As might be expected given incredible Avali auditory processing and comparatively poor vision, musical and performance art tends to be significantly more popular than visual arts. Unsurprisingly, many Avali have some degree of musical experience and can either play an instrument or sing. Many packs play together as a band, a tendency that begins at a young age as Avali kits often play games based around sound and music.

Though fine visual distinctions are often wasted upon them, the Avali still appreciate intricate and high-contrast decorative patterns in their tent work and clothing. Packs usually have a set of colors, a sort of informal heraldry, that they prefer and identify themselves with through their belongings and clothing. Avali dress often integrates crystalline and metallic chimes as the auditory equivalent of wearing bright colors. Though a human ear might find the din distracting, the Avali are no more confused by the melodies of a crowd than the human eye is by the task of tracking a single face among dozens.

Government

Avali government is a meritocracy. The highest authority figures within an organization are usually elected by appropriate bodies based on their experience at relevant tasks. The administration will then select subordinate packs, also based on their ability to carry out their jobs. Performance of subordinate packs is as much the responsibility of their seniors as much as it is the pack's. In Avali society, it reflects poorly on a manager's skills if he selects and retains workers who cannot fulfill their jobs.

There is no social stigma attached from opting to step down from a role that the pack cannot handle. It is regarded as a positive trait to know the limits of oneself and one's pack, and acknowledging such limits is often the gateway to being offered further training.

At any one time, much of the civilian population is connected to a system known as the Nexus; a vast digital system that is a hybrid of virtual interface and internet. A huge amount of work that would traditionally be handled through a terminal by other races are instead carried out from within the Nexus, as well as much of the Avali social calendar and communications. It also provides an ideal platform for education - this "virtualisation" of much of society vastly reduces the need for resources, large, specialized buildings and private wealth, placing greater emphasis on skills such as creativity, original thinking and the development of new technologies and nexus tools than hoarding of material goods.

If a colony is able to produce resource above and beyond the quota expected by the Oracle system, the surplus product becomes the possession of the tribe, which is free to use it as it sees fit. Usually this surplus is moved onto the grey market, where it is traded for more desirable goods directly, or sold to traders in exchange for alien, or locally backed trade currency to in turn purchase more desirable (frequently exotic) commodities; the Avali government does not have a fiat currency of it's own, even though it keeps some alien currency in reserve for diplomatic or trading purposes. Some colonies do operate their own trading posts, and have a local currency backed by private enterprise, but it is not recognised at an official level and no protections are offered to companies participating in it by the Avali government.

Religion and Philosophy

Early Avali tribes held an animistic belief system that supposed all things, living and inanimate held a "spirit" that defined the essence of that place or concept, and those that lived and died a part of it would become a permanent part of the essence that made a place what it was. 

Packs, though made of individuals, represented a singular goal or spirit; likewise for larger unions such as tribes. Particularly old and storied tribes were seen to have strong, noble spirits and so it was an honor for the packs to be a part of, and do their best not to dishonor them.

In some traditions, new packs coming of age would adopt the names of long dead packs that displayed similar qualities and so continue to feed into the spirit it represented.

Serious adherence to religious tradition, even their ancient animist belief system, is relatively low these days. But references to the old ways crop up often in their language, storytelling and traditions, such as pack naming.

Adherence to alien religions is generally discouraged due to potentially subversive messages, though outside of the illuminate government uptake of alien belief systems among Avali are not unknown. However, most find these beliefs to be quite bizarre or even offensive; notions like singular creator gods or individual souls are given a wide berth.

 

Astral plane Avali Traits

Avali Traits Technologically advanced hunters, uniquely adapted to the cold Speed Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Darkvision You can see in dim light out to 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Keen Ears Avali have two pairs of ears with a specific shape to allow them to have excellent hearing. Whenever you make a Wisdom Perception check that relies on hearing, you are considered proficient in the Perception skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus. Glide Your lightweight skeletal structure and plumage aid you in landing safely. As long as you are conscious you have resistance against bludgeoning damage caused by falling. Fang and Claw You have small razor-sharp claws as well as sharp, plate-like teeth that you can use as natural weapons. In place of a regular unarmed strike you may choose to use your claws (Slashing) or teeth (Piercing) to do 1

Keen Ears

Avali have two pairs of ears with a specific shape to allow them to have excellent hearing. Whenever you make a Wisdom Perception check that relies on hearing, you are considered proficient in the Perception skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Near Sighted

You have disadvantage on all Wisdom Perception checks involving sight.

Ability score increase

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

Plane Shift

You possess the innate ability to step between the planes of existence. As an action, you can magically shift yourself between your current plane and a plane designated by your species, such as the Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane, or Material Plane. While shifted, you retain awareness of your surroundings but interact with the new plane according to its normal rules. Once you use this trait