Homebrew Singers Species Details

The singers are a sapient species on Roshar, which humans call the parsh or parshmen. One such group of singers are the listeners

Singers communicate through special Rhythms--hence them being called singers. Singers can bond various spren which change their forms.

Singers predate humanity on Roshar. Around the time of the Recreance, many of the singers had their Connection and Identity stolen, pieces of their souls ripped away. This made those singers docile and subservient, which humans called parshmen and used as slaves for millennia later. With the advent of the Everstorm these singers were healed and restored.

Biology and Appearance

Singers are humanoid, but not entirely human-like. The most apparent sign of their alien nature is their skin; it's covered in marblings, swirls of various colors - red, black or white. Most singers have two-colored skin; the marblings can appear in various way, both as delicate swirls and large, wind-swept patterns. There are singers whose skin has all three colors, but they are extremely rare. Their hair is typically orange or red.

Apart from their multicolored skin, singers have other features that differentiate them from humans. They grow faster compared to humans but have slightly shorter lifespans. Their bodies have carapace growing over some parts of them; where and how much depends on what form the singer is currently in, but they typically cover the head and the arms. In addition, their teeth are built differently than human ones; their molars allow them to chew through shells, and their metabolism is geared towards metabolizing it, allowing them to make better use of the local fauna. Their eyes are also inhuman - all black, with no whites in the corners and no visible iris.

Like many local species, singers possess gemhearts, though theirs are clouded white, and fused to their sternum. Those gemhearts allow them to bond with spren, letting them change their forms, leading to a change in both appearance and some mental faculty.

Rhythms

Singers are connected to rhythms, the underlying "beats" of the cosmere that manifest particularly strongly on Roshar. There are numerous rhythms, and singers can attune to any one of them. Each rhythm represents a certain state of mind, emotion or feeling; when not paying attention, singers will attune to the rhythm that corresponds to their mood, but can also attune another to fit with their message. This attuning manifests as hearing the beat of the rhythm in one's head. All rhythms connect the singers to each other and Roshar itself. This, and their regular nature, allows the singers to use the rhythms for measuring time, among others.

The singers speak and sing to the rhythms; they carry the singers' emotions, as well as add meaning to their words. However, not all forms can attune the rhythms equally. Dullform can only hear them weakly; slaveform cannot hear them at all.  

Forms

By bonding various spren in highstorm or Everstorm, singers are capable of changing their form, leading to a different appearance, capabilities and even mental state, as well as changing subtly their Spiritual aspect. It is possible that the forms also alter Identity. Singers can maintain their form indefinitely, without needing to resupply with stormlight or voidlight, and can use the abilities granted by the form without needing additional fuel. New forms could exist.

The forms are specializations, and gear the singer towards a particular purpose; for example, warform grants armor and increased strength, making it suitable for combat, while nimbleform grants dexterity, making it good for delicate tasks. There are also more specific forms, such as artform for creative endeavours, or mateform for breeding. Aside from dullform, every form is associated with a specific type of spren. Ordinarily, what spren a singer will bond -- and thus what form they'll assume -- depends on their mindset during the highstorm. However, capturing a spren in a gemstone and bringing it into the storm all but ensures that a specific form will be selected.

Listeners recounted many common forms in the Song of Listing; they also have songs speaking of forms of power -- the Song of Secrets and the Song of Winds.

 

Known common forms

These forms are mentioned in the listener Song of Listing. After the Recreance and before the True Desolation, when the only singers who could think were the listeners, the listeners only discovered five forms: dullform, mateform, warform, workform, and nimbleform. When the Everstorm arrived and healed the other singers, singers held these forms and other common forms the listeners could not reproduce, such as artform and scholarform, and had a "dozen" options.

Warform. Warform gives listeners an armor-like carapace, and makes them taller and bulkier than other forms. It also grants them vastly increased strength; a singer in warform can leap over a chasm of the Shattered Plains with a running start. Out of all the forms known to the listeners, warform requires the most food, but is also the most durable, and a warform singer heals faster than they would in any other form. Mentally, the warform has less impact than most others; it makes one more pragmatic and slightly more inclined towards violence. It also severely hampers artistic ability, and is not well-equipped to handle abstractions. Singers in warform are bonded with painspren.

Mateform. Mateform is used by singers to reproduce; though the other forms are capable of having children, mateform is the one most specialized for the purpose. In female singers, entering mateform increases the size of their breasts; it's unknown what physical effect it has on male singers. Mentally, mateform causes a singer to behave irresponsibly and become distracted in favour of the form's primary purpose; mateforms will sometimes ignore their assigned task, or do things that are expressly forbidden, without realizing the issue with that. Some singers are, however, capable of keeping themselves together while in mateform, though this requires strong mental discipline. Singers in mateform are bonded with lifespren. It was one of the original forms the Last Legion had after abandoning the Regal forms, alongside dullform. Presently, most singers assume it only transiently, when they wish to attempt having children, though there are some who keep it on at all times.

Workform. Workform endows increased strength, though it lacks the armor; rather, singers in workform are limber and rugged. It's better suited for labor, and most workers use it; however, it is also sometimes used when fighting. While in workform, singers are more obedient, and have greater difficulty committing violence, forcing one to find peaceful solutions to various problems. It's also considered more flexible than warform. Singers in workform are bonded with gravitationspren.

Dullform. Dullform occurs when a singer bonds an incorrect spren, or a spren that does not grant any other form. It's physically similar to the "slaveform" of the parshmen, to the point where a dullform singer can easily pass for one. It is also mentally limiting; those in dullform find thinking difficult, as if they were half-asleep, and have a harder time hearing the Rhythms. Dullform was one of the two forms the Last Legion was left with after breaking away from the rest of the singers, alongside mateform. It was largely abandoned as other forms were rediscovered. However, listener spies still used it when infiltrating the human warcamps, thanks to its similarity to slaveform. Singer children are born in dullform, though for them, it is more vibrant and less cloudy; a property it loses as the singer ages. The listeners call this subtype of dullform "childform".

Nimbleform. Nimbleform is a general form without any singular, apparent function; rather, it's useful for all work that requires dexterity and care. For this reason, listeners use it for tasks such as research, art, and raising children. It has no carapace, and less endurance than other forms; singers in nimbleform are physically weaker, grow longer hair, and have thinner, more slender facial features. It does not impede the mind, and in fact encourages greater focus. This form was rediscovered by the singers during the War of Reckoning, through research led by Venli. During the True Desolation, most liberated singers wore either it or workform.

 

Singers Traits

Your Singer has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of adaptation of Roshar.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.

Alignment

Elves love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good than not. The drow are an exception; their exile into the Underdark has made them vicious and dangerous. Drow are more often evil than not.

Size

Elves range from under 5 to over 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.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common.