Homebrew Zuriel Species Details

The hum of aetheric machinery echoes across the rainy battlefield. Most of the soldiers fidget, nervous for the battle ahead. But the Zuriel stand stalward, either checking their weapons or meditating, singing their ancient war-hymns in low voices. The Zuriel were born as servants, forged into warriors, and hope to die as heroes.

Divine Servants and Abberant Weapons

To understand Zuriel biology one must also know the circumstances of their creation. The Zuriel were once angels, divine servants of the Gods who carried out their will on Oryssm. But during the Void War many of the Angels were captured, the Solari having seen their potential as warriors, and were warped by the Solari's blasphemous magic into their current forms. The Zuriel served as shock troops for a good portion of the war, but rebelled en masse at the Battle of the Nine Suns, when every single one of them sided with the Suns and drove the Solari off. Because they began as extensions of the God's will and were further warped into their current forms they were never intended to be actual functioning organisms, so many aspects of their biology still rely on magic to actually function. They are living weapons first and foremost.

Zuriel are massive, standing at least six feet tall at the shortest, with thick two fingered hands and digitigrade backwards jointed legs. Their most impressive feature though is their wings, of which they have six, all of which protrude from their back and can be rotated forward. The wings are too small to allow the Zuriel to fly, but are coated in an organic metal which hardens to a razor sharp edge, and are frequently used by Zuriel to slash at foes. As a Zuriel ages small horns start to protrude from their skin at the backs of their elbows, their knees, their spine, their foreheads, and their jaws.

Zuriel are asexual, and only have one gender, but will usually go by male pronouns in conversation. To reproduce they have to perform a ritual known as the “Apotheosis of Blood”, wherein several Zuriel must spill some of their blood into a holy vessel, and bathe it in starlight, which causes an egg to form. This egg hatches into a larva, vaguely fetal in shape, which hovers via magical assistance. After nine years, it weaves a cocoon, and emerges six months later as a fully grown Zuriel.   

The Solari slipped one other insidious and deadly enchantment into the Zuriel: a secondary metamorphosis known by the Zuriel as the “White Ascension”. As a Zuriel reaches around 100 to 120 years of age large lesions and blisters will begin to form upon the Zuriel's skin, which burst open to vent clouds of strange white vapor. As these blisters cover more and more of the Zuriel's body the Zuriel begins to become ever more animalistic and bloodthirsty, and once every square inch of the Zuriel is covered in these blisters a secondary metamorphosis occurs, transforming the Zuriel from a rational, humanoid being, into a shrieking, mindless, monstrous beast known as an Ascended. Actually transforming into an Ascended is an incredibly shameful act amongst the Zuriel, and most Zuriel upon seeing the first signs of the White Ascension will either commit ritual suicide or ask a friend to kill them in one final battle.

Living Weapons, Artistic minds.

The tragic fact about the Zuriel is that no matter how hard they try, no matter how enlightened they become, no matter how peaceful and placid a Zuriel may seem, there will always been a torrent of rage and blood lust running through the heart of every Zuriel. They can't help it, they were designed to be weapons of war, and the easiest way to ensure your weapon will perform like you wish is to make it WANT to kill. This predisposition towards violence is literally hard wired into the genetic code of every Zuriel on the planet, and at some point, every Zuriel must give into their urges.

As you may expect, Zuriel tend to try and solve all their problems through violence and force, a trait which serves them well on the battlefield but often backfires in civilized society. Exacerbating this is the tendency for Zuriel to view the world in extremes of opposites. To a Zuriel there are rarely shades of gray, there is only black and white, good and evil, friend or foe, and the quality of everything on the planet is either despicable or the greatest thing ever.

So with their hearts filled with violence, their hyperbolic and confrontational nature and their utter lack of tact, why would anyone ever want to be around a Zuriel?

Because there are many Zuriel out there who view their nature as weapons as a blessing, not a curse, and actively work to balance their innate martial prowess and propensity for causing ugliness by bringing things of beauty into the world. Many of the more enlightened Zuriel take up artistic studies such as poetry, philosophy, or writing, channeling their passion for warfare into the arts. To many Zuriel creating art is just as important, if not more so than combat, and sculpture, painting, acting, and game design are some of the many artistic fields in which Zuriel have excelled. In fact some of the most well renowned authors in modern history were Zuriel, the most famous of which was the author Mawsegliel Vaal Roi, whose seven book series Beyond the Farthest Stars is regarded as a cornerstone of modern literature.

Zuriel civilization

Much like the Gnosids, the Zuriel are not native to Oryssm, and have had to find their homes amongst the already existing nations of the world. The vast majority of Zuriel can be found on the continent of Corden, especially in the country of Ulyen, having gravitated towards the nation as the largest military power in the world following the Void War.

Unsurprisingly most Zuriel can be found in the military of various nations, and their aptitude for combat has allowed many of them to rise to lofty positions of power amongst the world's militaries. Oddly enough, despite having a very strong racial identity, Zuriel have no issues about fighting each other once their respective nations pit them against each other.

Zuriel Names

Zuriel choose their own names once they reach their adult form. While they are larva they have no name, and are referred to simply as the property of the Zuriel who helped create them. Upon coming of age Zuriel will chose a single name for themselves, usually ending in “eus” or “iel”, that reflects a heroic figure they idolize, an ideal they aspire to, or simply a place they remember fondly.

Zuriel Names: Kareleus, Metatreus, Burganeus, Anlihelus, Zyrcheleus, Cuyohiel, Cananiel, Obagiel.

 

Zuriel Traits

Your angelic lineage manifests as abilities that make you a powerful warrior and gifted artist.

Wingblades

You are never unarmed. You are proficient with your bladed wings, which are a melee weapon that deals 2d4 slashing damage.

 

Zuriel Weapon Proficiency.

You have proficiency with the Greataxe and Greatsword.

 

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Zuriel are “born” as larva and reach adulthood by age 9. They only grow stronger with age, up until they reach the point of ascension around 100 to 120 years of age. Most Zuriel commit suicide or kill themselves in ritual battle to prevent ascension from occurring.

Alignment

Zuriel tend strongly towards the lawful end of the spectrum. They can be either good or evil, but most commonly tend towards Lawful Neutral.

Size

Zuriel are massive, and tend to be between 7 to 7 and a half feet tall, and weigh upwards of 300 pounds. Your size is medium.

 

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Angelic Ancestry

You have Angelic ancestry. You are considered to be a Celestial instead of a Humanoid.

Battle Trance

When you fall to less than half of your maximum HP you may as a reaction trigger your battle trance. While active you either gain advantage on all attack rolls while all enemies gain advantage on attack rolls against you, or you gain disadvantage on all attack rolls while all enemies gain disadvantage on attack rolls against you. This trance lasts one minute. Once used, you cannot use your trance again until you complete a long rest.

 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial. Celestial is the language of angels and other divine beings.