Homebrew Fölur Species Details

 

"Deep within arctic wastelands, far away from bustling cities, near scattered hamlets & nomad peoples; rumours of travellers weeping red across a perfect white blanket persists in the minds of hardy folk. Cautionary tales chronicle lofty fungal creatures that stalk gusty snow dunes waiting for the perfect moment to consume precious blood. Many believe them to be hallucinations from the insufferable conditions or angry spirits of the snow."

— Excerpt from Witchfinder Syndra's book, Encyclopedia of Creatures

Painful endurance is the story of the Fölur, the arctic changed their biology, minds and souls over hundreds of generations to such a degree that survival in the cold conditions became almost comfortable.

Sacrifice is the pillar of Fölur society, it permeates everything from rituals, food, drink, relationships and even their very bodies. Fölur that rebel or act alone are considered to have committed treason and will be hunted down by tooth and claw until they are a dead.

Fölur know many secrets of the snow dunes and where to find a myriad of different resources that few have ever seen. Ambitious guilds or nations sometimes attempt to locate these resources but almost always meet a grisly fate. The Fölur defend their home fiercely but there are myths of some individuals who proved themselves useful enough to trade with them and even live in their society for a time.

Isolated Abode

Huge igloo-like domes decorate the endless snow, fashioned from ground bone and fungal pulp. These domes average around the size of a town but are very densely populated; a humid atmosphere is maintained within the domes via a central steam geyser which also serves as air circulation.

Many tall structures dot their interiors, some even reach the ceiling and poke out into the frosty outdoors. Plumes of vapour are sometimes let out to alter the dome's temperature leading some people to mistake it for the fumes of an active furnace. 

Downtrodden Beliefs

Exiled from their homes, forced to trek across a continent for years and constrained into adapting to extremely harsh conditions for generations. One could not blame any Fölur for having little or no belief in god(s) that seemingly allowed their race to suffer for so long. They deny any existence of gods, their belief system details that all magic comes from your surroundings with various environments being rich in different types of magic.

Biological Stages

Throughout a Fölur's life, many metamorphic changes occur as they grow from a simple spore into a sprout, toadlet, stalk, flower and finally mould.

• Spores bury themselves into the mouldy remains of past Fölur, once inside they slowly germinate into a sprout over the course of 1 year
• Sprouts slowly grow a humanoid body while remaining planted for around 9 years until they detach and begin walking thus entering the toadlet stage
• Once a toadlet has reached 30 years old they are considered mature enough to be called a stalk and are given a unique name
• After a stalk reaches around 1000 years old they become frail, at this point their caps open up into a beautiful perfumed flower. The flower slowly fills the atmosphere with millions of tiny spores
• After a month of spreading spores the flowering Fölur slowly begins to deteriorate into a mouldy compost

Fölur Names

Once a Fölur is considered mature they are given a name but must earn their title through many years of work and service. Fölur have no concept of gender and reproduce asexually. There is no class system and everyone is treated equal aside from criminals who are often used as slave labour. Individual Fölur who have fled the Snow Dunes may adopt a new name/title depending on if they are being hunted by their kin.

Names: Xal, Vilji, Dóri, Korri, Per, Otri, Súl, Glóa, Flosi, Sólver, Eir, Skær, dóttir, son, Ora

Titles: slátrari (butcher),  dáti (soldier), varethmaethur (scout), bókhaldari (book keeper), daglaunamaethur (labourer), járnsmiethur (blacksmith), sveitamaethur (farmer), skraddari (crafter), prestur (cleric), málari (painter)

Fölur Traits

Your character has a multitude of natural abilities and characteristics, these are but just some of the things that make the Fölur so feared, strange and intriguing

Essence Extraction

Your species partially survives off the blood of their enemies but in dire situations allies or even their own kind have known to be food sources.

You have two allocated slots for Essence Extraction, they recharge on a long rest. Both cast types can be used to redistribute liquids through one hand and out the other, health potions or similar things can be absorbed into the body via this method. 

Slow Cast = 1 Slot

As an action you begin magically siphoning all of the lifeblood from a corpse of a creature that isn't undead, has some kind of lifeblood and hasn't been dead for longer than 3 days. You must keep concentration on the spell until the start of your next turn at which point you then heal 1d10 HP. Depending on the size of the creature it keeps you sustained equal to the amount of rations displayed on the table below. 

Two tiny creatures	One day's worth of rations
One small creature	One day's worth of rations
One medium creature	One day's worth of rations
One large creature	Two day's worth of rations
One huge or larger creature	DM's discretion

Fast Cast - 2 Slots

Make a ranged spell attack against a creature that isn't undead and has some kind of lifeblood. on a successful hit you deal 4d4 necrotic damage of which number you equally heal, you magically siphon some of it's lifeblood into your body.

After absorbing from a living creature you may perform a DC 14 intelligence check to absorb a single long-term or muscle memory that is older than 1 month. This memory circles your mind for 8 hours before it completely disappears from your mind, fading into obscurity. Such examples include...

• Proficiency in a skill or with a weapon, armour or tool
• The ability to either speak, read or write a language 
• Memory of an event, creature, item or place
• Spell that they learned themselves but haven't been gifted from another being (restricted by your class level)

Ability Score Increase

Your constitution increases by 2 while another score of your choice increases by 1

Fungi Features

Your species's plant-like biology and arctic habitat has resulted in resistance to cold damage but vulnerability to fire damage

Alignment

Fölur are only known to dwell in and around their dome-cities of which are strict uniform socierites where individualism is sought out and destroyed, these Fölur will almost always be lawful neutral.

Despite this some flee and build a life of their own; thanks to the isolationism of the species a lone Fölur usually isn't greeted with stares or violence, but instead with morbid curiosity as long as the individual keeps a low enough profile

Language

Most Fölur only know snippets of common but you know how to speak, read and write it.

Fölur have their own language consisting of many short words followed by varied ear grating wind-like sounds that denote all kinds of meaning.

Size

Fölur average around 6 - 7ft but can sometimes vary beyond or below those heights. Your size is medium

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30ft

Age

Fölur go through many metamorphic changes at different stages throughout their lives which are called spore, sprout, toad, stalk, flower and finally mould. You are a stalk and matured into this stage at 30, the stalk stage is the longest and can last upwards of 1000 years.