Homebrew Etajörð Species Details

It were snowing that day, I r'member. We was in the very deepest days of winter, the days when the cold would freeze a man's beard solid if he so much as stood by an open window, an' my wife had been complainin' of a dreadful sound in the cellar, where we was keepin' our food stores. She'd been sayin' -- and I scarcely r'member what she told me, my mind ain't as sharp as it were twenty years ago -- she'd been sayin' there were somethin' down there, somethin' that made a sound like...like tearin' cloth and a panting dog. The woman kept up her yappin' for days, wouldn't go down to get food an' so I finally gave in -- took my sword down off'a the wall just in case a wolf had dug through -- an' I climbed on down that ladder.

Oh, gods above, I wish I'd starved instead. My memory might be dull as a stone, but I'll never forget that damned thing down in that cellar...that grey-skinned devil. It were crouched over our stores, shovin' everything it could reach into its gullet, an' its mouth were hanging open like a snake swallowing a cow -- like its jaw had come unhinged. Its arms was longer than its entire body -- poky and stick-thin and lookin' more like fishbones than limbs -- an' its legs were near the same, all wiry muscle and paper-thin skin. Its ribs stuck so far out of its chest I could swear they was gonna tear through its skin if it so much as stood up straight, and its stomach looked like a collapsed sail, crumpled and folded in on itself, flaps of loose skin stacked on top each other like the pages in a book. It made a sound as it ate, moanin' and raspin' and pantin', an' it were shiverin' like a shittin' dog.

I r'member seeing it...r'member slipping off the ladder in a fright...don't r'member much after that. I r'member its eyes, though. So lost and desperate and hungry...

Dear gods, it was so, so hungry.

- Rar Nerask: Verbal account of his encounter with an Etajörð

 The Etajörð face a lifetime of suffering from the day they're born, cursed with an unending hunger that will never be satisfied. Etajörð are extremely rare and often mistaken for beasts and monsters by those they encounter, rather than the intelligent and deeply empathetic beings they are, mostly due to their horrifying appearance and insatiable appetites. Their bodies are built for consuming as much food as possible, with long arms ending in shovel-like hands, a jaw that unhinges from their skulls like a snake, and a stomach that can expand almost indefinitely from its original size. 

 

Cursed from Birth

Born of lust and glutton, and all things black as sin

Expelled from wombs of sickness, tainted from within

Came the Mad King's children, of servant girls and wives

Cursed with endless hunger, for all their wretched lives

- Passage from the Ør-viti Mál

All Etajörð are thought to have originated from a single ancient bloodline - that of the Mad King Im Shokuv and his twelve wives. As suggested in the passage from the Ør-viti Mál - a collection of poems and ancient tales - the Mad King was said to be an extremely lustful and gluttonous man. His appetite for both food and women was insatiable, and because of this, the gods cursed him and all the women with which he had been. Their children, widely believed to be the first of the Etajörð, were so endlessly hungry that they tore through all of the Mad King's food and wealth until he had nothing. He drove his own sword through his heart, driven to insanity. His children grew and married and had children of their own, but their curse continued to torment them. The children of their children -- their bloodline -- were corrupted as the centuries passed. They grew into the Etajörð of today, built to consume as much as they can before their hunger consumes them. 

Lost and Lonely

Etajörð are often alone all their lives. Their cursed nature tends to skip generations, and when a man or woman of the Mad King's bloodline sires an Etajörð, they will hardly ever keep them, believing them to be changelings or beasts and abandoning them in the wilds. Most Etajörð grow up in the wilderness, learning to fend for themselves at a very young age. Those Etajörð that grow among other races or -- very rarely -- their own kind, tend to be extremely intelligent and friendly, but those that don't are fierce and wild, toughened by their abandonment and closer to beasts than men.

Etajörð Names

Etajörðs raised in the wilderness often have no names or receive them later in life, while Etajörðs raised among other races have names typical of their backgrounds. The rare Etajörð raised by other Etajörðs are named in the ancient language of the Mad King's land, as a way to honor their heritage.

Etajörð Names: Al-grár, Gnaga, Bitr, Kalla, Feigr, Veizla, Gildi, Manlíkan

Etajörð Traits

All Etajörð share certain racial traits

Deep Hunger

As an Etajörð, you must eat something every few hours. If you go for too long without eating, you enter a state of frenzied hunger. You have advantage on Strength checks and disadvantage on Intelligence checks, and you lose all of your proficiencies until you eat again.

Snake Jaw

Etajörðs have the ability to unhinge their jaws in order to swallow something larger than their mouths. You can use a bonus action to swallow a tiny or small enemy whole, but you can only do this three times per short rest and you must roll above the enemy's armor class.

Unfortunate Allergy

While Etajörðs can consume nearly anything, they all share one weakness -- lactose intolerance. If you consume anything with lactose in it, such as milk, cheese, or butter, you must make a Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 damage. If you roll a 4, you are incapacitated until your next short rest.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Strength by 1

Age

Etajörðs age quickly, reaching maturity at the age of only one year. They don't live for very long, however, around less than half a century.

Alignment

Etajörðs are often spurned by society and tend towards more neutral alignments as a result.

Size

Etajörðs can grow to be eight feet tall when standing upright, and they weigh close to 100lbs. Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.