Homebrew Caelorün Species Details

He was slight of build, but muscular, and held on to the rooftop with ease. He tilted his head, his almost comically dilated pupils constantly expanding and contracting as he eyed her curiously.

"Please," Leif begged again. "It was a gift from someone very important to me. It's all I have left of her." In desperation, she fished around in her pockets and retrieved her coin pouch. "I'll buy it off you. How much do you want?" 

The caelorün seemed delighted at the turn of events. He slid off the roof and jumped to the ground gracefully; he was so silent it was almost as if he was a ghost. He stalked towards Leif, trying to get a look at her coin pouch.

"Depends," he said, flashing her a sly grin. He had a heavy mountain accent, and the way he pronounced his words was harsh and clipped. "How badly do you want it back?"

 

Deceptive, cunning, and opportunistic, with a grace and exotic beauty almost murderous in nature, the caelorün are adapted to their work like no others. Caelorün, often referred to as "cael" in the common tongue, are thieves by trade, coming down from the mountains at night to pillage nearby villages for food, clothing, weapons, wealth, and items to re-sell to ignorant merchants. Cael are highly social, and live in small, closely-knit tribal communities most of their lives. Cael who lead and adventurer's life are rare, but shunned tribe members or particularly rebellious cael have been known to retire their old lives and become nomadic, often joining other bands of misfits on their travels. 

Bred for the Night

Caelorün are acutely adapted  to their nocturnal, thieving lifestyle. Their bodies, while slender and streamlined, as shockingly strong, allowing them to climb nearly any surface with ease when aided by hooked claws growing from their fingertips. They are lightweight, with little physical differences between the sexes, and are virtually silent when they move. Cael have dark skin and hair, allowing them to blend in with the night, and have small, ornamental fangs that can be used for defense in a pinch. Cael eyes are large and reflecive, complete with split pupils that give them superior sight in the darkness. Their ears are pointed, but are larger and more wedge-like than that of elves, allowing them to pick up the faintest of sounds. Because cael have such good night vision, they are entirely colorblind, and rely on heightened touch, smell, and taste to correctly identify materials. Many cael have the luster of different precious jewels and metals memorized, so that they can identify the kind of material a prized object is made of simply by watching how light reflects off of it. 

THE PRICE OF A NOCTURNAL LIFE

One of the main reasons adventuring cael are so rare is because caelorün are a nocturnal race. At night, cael are almost superhuman in their abilities, but an untrained cael in the day is a weak, vulnerable target. Daylight renders them blind, and the clamor of voices and other daytime sounds is too much for their acute hearing to handle. Adventuring cael often have to condition themselves for weeks just to try to adapt to a diurnal lifestyle for the first time, but even the most adapted cael still need some sort of eye and ear protection to avoid being overwhelmed by a simple task such as walking through a town.

 Tied to the Arcane Sky

Caelorün live in the mountains, as high up as they can possibly bear to live. All cael worship Jesubi, the dragon goddess of the sky, and have been blessed and protected by her for generations. Jesubi's bloodline is directly interwoven with the bloodline of the cael, giving them a lust for high altitudes, open air, and freedom. Jesubi's blood also carries remnants of the Old Magic, which flows through the caelorün and gives them the ability to tap into Sky Arcana. The Arcana allows cael to be adapted to the cold climates and thin air of the mountain peaks, but also gives them the remarkable ability to walk on air as if it were solid by forming small, glowing discs of arcane energy underneath their feet. The caelorün are infamous for this trait, and even derive their names from it; in the Old Tongue, "caelorün" means "sky wanderer". Their ability to walk the sky is not unlimited, however: it is quite tiring for the cael, and they must stay at the altitude they began walking on and cannot ascend upwards while walking on air.  

Tribes and Traditions

Cael tribes are small, sparse, and are loosely structured. Each cael tribe has a chief, who Jesubi herself has selected to become a tribe leader. Despite their overt disobedience of law, cael feel it is their duty to their goddess to follow the requests of the tribe chief. Cael tribes consist of a chief, matrons, youngers, ables, and elders. Matrons are in charge of taking care of the youngers, as cael tribes raise children as a whole. At around the age of 5, youngers are given a mentor that teaches them how to control their arcane skill and, most importantly, how to steal and fight. At the age of 13, cael youngers undergo their coming-of-age ceremony and are considered ables. Ables are the majority in a cael tribe, and are in charge of stealing and hunting to provide for the matrons, elders, and chief. When ables become too old to work anymore, they retire and become elders, and finish out their lives by assisting the matrons until the sky comes to claim them. Cael tribes, while usually similar in some aspects, are diverse and highly varied. As a means of identification, each tribe has a certain pattern that all members have tattooed onto their faces, so that other cael can tell what tribe they are from simply by glancing at them.

An Unwelcome Sight 

Understandably, most civilizations are openly hostile to caelorün. Their reputation of stealing, murdering, and general disregard for the law is no secret, and organized societies typically want nothing to do with them. Some treat cael with indifference, refusing to acknowledge them in any way in hopes that they will simply go away. Guards tend to follow cael around if they enter cities or towns during the day, just to make sure they behave themselves. Vendors will close their stalls or lock their doors if they see cael, and entry to any buildings will be denied to them. Some towns even go as far as to be openly hostile to caelorün, arresting them the moment they are discovered. To an adventuring, diurnal caelorün, no blessing is greater than a town that does not know of their race, as it is so rare for them to be able to walk through an inhabited area without some form of restriction or stigma. 

Caelorün Names

Traditional caelorün names are passed down through their tribes for generations, and are always followed by the name of the cael's tribe. Cael do not share their first names with strangers, and prefer to go by their tribe names only. Cael view names as sacred, and only a cael's closest companions know their first names. Many adventuring cael, however, tend to adopt new names that follow the conventions of places they have been on their travels.

Traditional Male Names: Cabrus, Agedilio, Contesilo, Alpius, Cintio, Borso, Cattedius

Traditional Female Names: Cottia, Taurilla, Namusa, Epa, Leucona, Advorix, Deuila

Tribe Names: Osii, Taurisci, Ambilici, Breuni, Medoaci, Histri, Catuslogi

Caelorün Traits

Caelorün have several unique traits that set them apart from other races.

Ability Score Increase

Your dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

Caelorün age at the same rate as humans, but reach adulthood in their societies at 13. They live to be about 130. 

Alignment

Because their lives are built around defying the law, caelorün are mostly Chaotic in nature. Cael who serve their tribe faithfully and steal for necessity are often Neutral and sometimes even Good, but cael who steal selfishly and abuse the power to kill tend towards Evil. 

Size

Caelorün share the same size range of humans, but are slighter of build and rarely exceed 160 pounds. Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Night Vision

Your reflective, split-pupil eyes are specially adapted to see in pitch darkness. You perceive dim and dark light as if it was bright light. However, your eyes are also very sensitive to light. When directly in bright light, you have disadvantage on all attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. You are completely colorblind and see only in shades of gray.

Climbing Speed

Your hooked claws and light, muscular frame allow you to scale virtually any surface as if it were nothing. You have a climbing speed of 30 feet.

Sky Arcana

The divine blood of the goddess Jesubi within you allows you to walk on air. When stepping off a ledge, you may walk an additional 60 feet in the air, stopping when you decide to or you walk the full 60 feet and tire out. If you tire out, you will fall out of the sky. While walking on air, you cannot step up or down, but must remain at the same height you stepped off from, as if you were walking on a perfectly flat object. If you tire yourself out and fall, you must finish a long rest to use this trait again.

Nocturnal Thievery

You have been trained all your life to be able to steal under the cover of darkness. At night, you have advantage on all Stealth and Sleight of Hand checks. 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Draconic, and Auran.