Homebrew El'vari Species Details

Born From Trees

The El'vari are a race that bear the fruits of an ancient lifespan and a verdant origin. This ancient life begins long before birth. It starts with a Mother Tree, a thick and tall trunk, rooted firmly into the ground, bearing at the end of its branches deep pitchers, swaddling the mother's most precious fruit. For the first hundred years of an El'vari's life, they are a round and dark-colored fruit. Eventually, the Ripening softly dispenses them into the sweet nectar of the mother's swaddling pitcher, where they then mature, shedding their peal to reveal a fully formed humanoid being, who is then guided by an amalgam of their cousins and siblings in preparation for entry into a society built upon ideals of pacifism and unity with one's species and surroundings.

Dreams Before Birth

Before an El'vari is born from their fruit pod as a fully formed being, they exist as a consciousness in a lucid dreaming state called the All-Dream, where an El'vari is closest to their Mother Tree. During this time an El'vari is shaped by Morphea, The Dream Tree, source of the original twelve El'vari and Grand Mother to all El'vari. Morphea guides each El'vari's mind, molding it into the person she has ordained them to be. This does not, however, mean the El'vari cannot act against her will. The Departed El'vari disobey her by the very manner in which they live their lives, always distant from the ground from which they sprang forth. Once an El'vari is born, while their time in the All-Dream shapes much of their personality, their will is their own and their experiences become the new shears that prune them.

El'vari don't forsake the All-Dream completely once they are born though. They always remain faintly connected to it, and send their memories and thoughts to it daily, adding to the collective wisdom with which Morphea shapes her people.

Political Juveniles

For many years the El'vari remained unaligned in the political squabbles of the shorter-lived races, believing their petty feuds would soon surely pass. However, when the diplomat Eridan Pas was assassinated en route to negotiating peace during a time of war, the eldest folk of Sylvain heeded a call to action they'd never yet heard, the call to defend peace among the stars that beckoned Eridan to a life away from his people to begin with. To this day the El'vari hold a prominent position in the Halcyon Accord, given their beloved scion, Rivian Pas' position as High Speaker. Those few who don't align with the Halcyon Collective find an even split between valuing the structure of the Garm Bloc and the environmental awareness of the Host of Olmai.

Anatomy and Affinity

The loose matriarchy of the El'vari is more from biology than anything else, duty woven into their sexual dimorphism. Males, or drones, of any clan, have the capability of flight with their insectoid wings, while females of the various clans can have a diaspora of abilities based upon their location of birth. The Night El'vari glow with bioluminescence, the Menagerie El'vari attract the favor of all animals, and the Departed El'vari have taken up the Arcane practices, slowly but surely distancing from their more agrarian brethren. El'vari in their sapient stage of life look like slender and beautiful humanoids, their features typically giving them a youthful and spritely cast. Most have floral protrusions of some kind sprouting from their heads and bodies, mimicking hair and other humanoid features, while some - typically the Departed - lack most of the symbols of their time as plants. Unlike many humanoid races, El'vari have four eyes, two below their brow-ridge and two above. The higher set of eyes typically remain closed unless an El'vari is using their darkvision or casting powerful magic. Myths have been told of El'vari whose second eyes remain open always, signifying incredible power or constant access to the All-Dream.

El'vari have skin tones in nearly every color of the rainbow. The Menagerie El'vari often have a deep fuchsia or lime green skin tone, while the Night El'vari tend toward deeper black or dark blue-ish green hues. The Departed El'vari have a wide myriad of skin tones, all pallid and vaguely translucent. 

El'vari Traits

Your el'vari character has a variety of natural abilities.

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

Age

The El'vari reach physical maturity around one decade after they are born and can live indefinitely on their home planet, Sylvain, in their more plant-like state. Off-world, their lifespan as mobile creatures can span roughly a millennium, give or take a century or two.

Alignment

El'vari, for all their ancient wisdom, don't all agree on everything. Overall, they tend toward neutrality in their outlook on life, in some ways relating to trees better than they do to other sapient races, given their very outstretched perspective. Some with a more academic disposition tend toward lawfulness.

Size

El'vari range from under 5 to just below 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 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.

Emotional Intuition

You have proficiency in the Insight skill.

Ancestral Acuity

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

Trance

The El'vari don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you send your thoughts and memories back to the All-Dream. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.