Homebrew Qunari Species Details

Tashaad woke me with a booming shout seconds before the Tauren onslaught charged once again at the main doors of the keep. His battleaxe already in hand, the vithet came and strapped his armour to him, moving with him as he pressed forward. He need not give orders to his soldiers, almost like they were communicating telepathically - but he did give an order to me. Hide. A human found in Seheron with no explanation could drag all of Eastvale into this war. Before I knew it, the war had begun; screaming and clashing of metal drowning the air. The tauren had come prepared, but it was not enough. The Saarebas, enslaved to Tashaad and his Antaam unit, littered the firing line with magical traps while the Antaam held the line. Tashaad decapitated four Tauren alone that day. He did not sweat.

— Randolph Murray, Sunspire

Appearance

Qunari are taller and more physically robust than humans, generally standing at 7' to 8' and weighing about 300 lbs. Qunari skin tones generally range from light to dark gray, but it is not uncommon to have skin of varying metallic colors (such as bronze or silver). In addition they have white hair, pointed ears, and vivid eye colors like violet, red, silver, or yellow. Probably the most pronounced feature of the Qunari are their horns. The horn itself has no nerve endings and can be removed painlessly, however, they can still become irritated. Though the majority have a pair of horns from birth, horn-lessness may also develop in Qunari. Those born without horns are considered special by the Qun, and are often given prestigious roles within Qunari society, such as a "Ben-Hassrath" (secret police) or as an envoy to other races. Culturally, Qunari associate not having horns as imposing or scary, because of this, Tal-Vashoth often decide to remove their own horns. Likewise, "Saarebas" (Qunari mages) have their horns removed to warn of the danger that they present.

Vitaar:

Unlike other races, Qunari do not adorn themselves with tattoos, and do not often wear helmets. Instead they make use of war paint called Vitaar. This paint is made from a substance toxic to all races except the Qunari themselves. Some Tal-Vashoth also wear Vitaar despite leaving the Qun. Vitaar hardens the skin around the face to give it a metal like quality while retaining flexibility.

The Qun:

Little is known of Qunari history before the Qun; what is known is that they were part of a race called the "Kossith" and that at some point they were nearly wiped out. They retreated to their northern homelands, and hundreds of years later returned as the Qunari united under the Qun. The Qun is the religion of the Qunari, though it is closer to a philosophy than a full-fledged religion. It governs every part of Qunari life, and even the governing structure is dictated by it. It gives every Qunari a defined and fixed place in their society, either as a soldier (part of the body), a craftsman (part of the mind) or a priest (part of the soul).

Society and Culture:

The primary symbol used to represent the Qunari as a people is the House of Tides icon, meant to signify the inevitable triumph of the Qun. It symbolizes the Qunari Triumvirate, the three pillars which govern all of Qunari society through its three primary leaders in all matters of body, mind, and soul.

The Triumvirate:

The "body" is represented by the Arishok and the military, the "mind" by the Arigena and the craftsmen, and the "soul" by the Ariqun and the priests. The Arishok is always male and leads the armies, the Arigena is always female and leads the craftsmen, whilst the Ariqun, whose gender varies, leads the priesthood. All three are the head of their respective "paths" and work in unison to complete the whole of Qunari society.

Duty is paramount in Qunari culture, and their society is seen as a living entity, whose well-being is the responsibility of all. Each person is like a drop of blood in the veins of the being, and they must not do what is best for them, but what is best for all.

Personal Identity:

The Qunari do not have a concept of personal identity. Whilst they possess names, they do not use them, resorting themselves to use titles rather than names to identify and present themselves. The names are in fact simply strings of genealogical information used only by the Tamassrans for record-keeping. Some of the name-titles include Sten, Arishok, and Tallis. However, they do make frequent use of nicknames.

Family Ties:

Qunari have no "family units": they do not marry, choose partners, or even know to whom they are related. A father's role ends at conception, a mother's ends at birth. A Qunari "family" consists of his or her peers.

Qunari usually do not associate mating with love. They do have the capacity to love, even having friends and forming emotional bonds with one another; however, they simply do not have sexual intercourse with each other to express it. If they do, then they are sent to be re-educated by the Ben-Hassrath. If a child is produced, the same thing happens as with all other Qunari children: it is sent to be raised by the Tamassrans, evaluated, and assigned a job. Qunari do not waste resources unnecessarily, people included.

Qunari have been bred for specific roles for a very long time. Parentage is no longer the issue, more like pedigree. However, breeding does not determine a Qunari's assigned task. If a Qunari was bred to be a soldier but turns out to be more intellectual, the Tamassrans may move him or her into the priesthood, researching weapons technology, or the Ben-Hassrath to police the populace, depending on what roles need to be filled by someone with their specific traits.

Reverence:

The Qunari are known to hold dragons sacred. High dragons are called Ataashi, "glorious one" in Qunlat. Some of this comes from physical similarities via the horns (don't tell them about the dragonborn), while some believe that the Tamassrans cultivate dragon blood within the Qunari, allowing some to tap into combat abilities. This, however, does not translate into reverence, as most Qunari accept that dragons are savage creatures that have to be put down in order to establish civilization. 

The corpse of a Qunari is considered an insignificant husk that is no longer the individual that it once was and thus is afforded no special treatment, rather disposed of in whatever manner is most practical. Instead, an object which they used to perform their job is collected, for example warriors' swords are considered to be their "souls".

Education:

Qunari society is based upon learning as well as military might. Few speak the common tongue that is used among Endarians, and even fewer speak it well. For this reason, Qunari often keep quiet among foreigners, out of shame—in a culture that strives for perfection and mastery, to possess only a passable degree of skill is humiliating, indeed.

The Tamassrans wield a great deal of influence in Qunari society. As it is primarily a female gender role (as all administrative tasks are), this might lead an outsider to believe that their society is female-dominated. Qunari do not, however, look upon government in quite the same way. The brain could be said to rule the body, but so too does the heart, the lungs, the stomach. All are part of the greater whole.

The Tamassrans raise all the children, give them their general education, and evaluate them. Qunari are officially assigned their roles when they are twelve years old. The Tamassrans do conduct some tests, but nothing that requires a pencil. They also have something of a head start on the process, as they are the ones who control the Qunari selective breeding program.

Gender Roles:

Qunari strongly believe that the genders are inherently and intuitively better at certain tasks. No matter how much aptitude and promise a male shows for management, he will never be considered as good at it as a female, therefore it would be considered inefficient and a waste of resources to place him in a role where a woman would serve better. Instead, the Tamassrans find another role that he shows aptitude for and will place him there instead. The same goes for females, most Qunari will find it odd if a female becomes a warrior. The odd, very rare exception is made however.

Economy:

The Qunari reject private property. They also don't have currency, nor do they engage in direct bartering: they don't buy and sell things amongst one another. "Merchants" in Qunari cities have the job of making sure goods are distributed appropriately. They will however, trade with the rest of Endar in a limited matter. To the Qunari, this trade is less a way to obtain goods as an opportunity to learn more about those who do not yet accept the Qun as law.

The Qunari actively work to improve methods of production via research and borrowing from conquered people and neighbouring cultures. On the other hand, demands of the individuals are quite limited, as having "more houses and clothes" would mean more work to maintain them. In the countryside, Qunari houses are identical and arranged along perfectly orthogonal lines.

Antaam:

Antaam, the Qunari army, is lead by the Arishok. The Qunari army are the eyes, ears, legs, arms, and hands of the creature, everything that one needs to interact with the world, and so most Qunari encountered by the outside world belong to the military.

All Qunari are given a tool which signifies their role in Qunari society; for soldiers, this tool is always a weapon of some kind. In the case of soldiers, at least, to lose this weapon brands the owner as soulless and one who is to be executed on sight by the Antaam. These items are held in high regard, and upon the owner's death the Qunari may take the item to honor the fallen individual.

In the Qunari society females cannot be soldiers. While women can join the Ben-Hassrath, they are religious enforcers and members of the priesthood (led by the Ariqun) rather than the military (led by the Arishok).

Technology: 

Until recently, the Qunari are more technologically advanced than the rest of Endar, with the exception of perhaps the dwarves - though the sudden industrial burst of automation has changed this. Their capital city of Seheron is famous for great domes and aqueducts, their architecture likened to beehives. They have developed an explosive powder ("gaatlok") that is safer and more potent than any minor explosives engineered in the past by other races. Its formula is a secret they carefully guard.

The Qunari cannons and dreadnaughts (or "floating fortresses" - massive wooden ships) allow them to sweep across the oceans, though they mostly stay in Seheron.

The Qunari had also developed a deadly poison ("saar-qamek"), which instills madness in the victim before eventually killing them. This poison can be inhaled or put on blades to affect a target's bloodstream, however there is at least one antidote that can be taken preemptively that will reduce or outright neutralize the poison's effects.

Magic:

The Qunari call their own mages "Saarebas", which means "a dangerous thing" in Qunlat. As the Qunari believe that mages are ultimately unable to master themselves, each saarebas is entrusted to an "Arvaarad" ("one who holds back evil") who bears a control rod. The Qunari do not blame them for their "defective" and dangerous nature, so frequently pity and honor saarebas, for lack of a better word. In practice, they are treated little better than attack dogs: They are leashed, shackled, collared, and their mouths are sewn shut. Should they be found practicing forbidden magic, their tongues are cut out to prevent them from corrupting others. The penalty for leaving their karataam is death, as they are assumed to have been corrupted by demons. The Qunari view this sacrifice, this selflessness - however unwilling - as the greatest virtue of the Qun. Lacking proper training, saarebas are essentially hedge mages, which does not preclude the Qunari from usage of saarebas forces in warfare.\

Outsiders and Converts:

The Qunari view other races as inferiors, kabethari (literally, "those who need to be taught") who are to be ignored, or conquered and "enlightened", i.e. converted to the Qun. In the newly subdued areas they dismantle families: children are torn away from their parents and raised as Qunari, while adults are sent to "learning" (labor) camps for re-education performed by a branch of the priesthood called the Ben-Hassrath. The latter appear to be reasonable if an individual doesn't resist their severe teachings, and a new convert, or viddathari, may take a high position in the Qunari society.

In fact, it is possible for a human, elven or dwarven viddathari to become Ariqun, Arigena or Arishok should they show the merit for the role. However, this is naturally less likely than a qunari taking the role, given their far greater numbers in the Qun.

Refusal to cooperate is seen as illness to be cured, and those who resist are taken to the viddathlok, temples dedicated to healing. What happens later is not quite clear, but it is known that the Qunari use a substance called qamek to turn them into mindless laborers forced into indentured servitude or sent to mines or construction camps. Some would return, changed in profound ways, some would perish of exhaustion or starvation and some would be slain.

This does not happen in the fourth age - the Qunari keep themselves to themselves, and their days of conquering and converting are over... though nobody knows the reason why.

Basalit-an:

The Qunari call outsiders bas ("thing") and consider them unfortunate beings who, however, have a potential to grow if the Qun's wisdom is imparted to them. The best an outsider can hope for amongst the Qunari is to be considered a basalit-an, "worthy of respect"; a basalit-an is a worthy foe, and one that can be negotiated with to an extent, but still bas regardless.

Language:

Qunlat is the Qunari language. Few among the Qun's people speak the common tongue, and fewer speak it well. In a culture that strives for mastery, to have only a passable degree of skill is perhaps embarrassing, so Qunari often keep quiet among foreigners.

Qunari Traits

Your qunari character has certain traits deriving from your ancestry and study of the Qun.

Age

Qunari mature a lot faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 12. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 60 years.

Alignment

Qunari who live within the Qun almost always tend towards lawful alignments, but those who abandon the Qun (Tal-Vashoth) reject the oppressively lawful nature of the Qun and lean more towards chaotic alignments. Qunari do not differentiate between good and evil, they view themselves as those who bring law and civilization to the chaotic, uneducated masses that have yet to join the Qun.

Ability Score Increase

Your training under then Qun has made you vigorous. Constitution increases by 2 and your Strength increases by 1. 

Size

Qunari generally range between 7' to 8' tall, the males have thick and robust muscular bodies, the females however, while still significantly larger than human males, are more slender than their male counter-parts. Qunari weigh around 250 to 300 lbs. Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Menacing

You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Tenacity of the Qun

When you rise after falling unconscious, roll an amount of hit die equal to your proficiency to regain some hit points. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Languages

All Qunari can read, write, and speak Qunlat fluently. Common is much harder to come by for Qunari born within the Qun. Vashoth, or Qunari born outside the Qun, have a much easier time learning Common, but it is harder for them to learn Qunlat unless taught by a parent.

Sturdy

You get advantage against saving throws when being forcibly moved, such as knocked prone or pushed.