Homebrew Dricunn Species Details

"Flames licked their skin, the wretched creatures howling as if they wanted to draw blood from the very stars themselves. The moon's palid face was hidden behind the suffocating smoke, while flashes of gold fire blistered out towards us. A few in the crowd drew back, shadows darkening the features of their faces. The bodies twisted and danced morbidly in the crackling blaze, trying to escape. Tomorrow, all there would be would be piles of ash, swept away by the morning breeze. As if none of this had happened. As if those creatures had never come.
It began not a month ago. Fiends with eyes like burning pits, teeth like jagged shards of glass. No one dared leave their houses at night when they saw their long shadows stalking the streets. They came from nowhere, although some whispered of a slash in the sky with edges that tore at the very material of existence. Blood streamed down the walls, screams shattered every night as the monsters found their ways into homes, dragging people to their deaths with claws of iron that ripped and shredded flesh like lightning through darkness. There were no bodies to mourn, only blood, the tattered remains of clothing and crimson splinters of bone. The old ranger came once. Said he would rid the town of this evil. He was retired, but his sword flickered like the silver wings of a butterfly as he danced with the beast. The fiend didn't have the chance to gargle blood that her neck was severed and her head landing in the streaming mud, gory streaks washing away in the rain.
The ranger didn't stand a chance. Who knew that wouldn't kill her? They're monsters. Unnatural beasts that only where the trappings of flesh and bone, what's inside isn't alive like you and I. What devilish god thought up this suffering? May the flames purify us, and rid us of these demons!
I feel a brief moment of weightlessness as I leave the ground and throw myself onto the pyre. I feel the fire tickling my sides but it doesn't seem ot burn. All I hear are the whispering voices of the damned and those soft pink eyes of the creature reaching out towards me. Her call is sweet, and the flames numb me to the teeth sinking into my skin." A lonely paper stabbed to the post at the entrance of a town. The air is cold and the paper waves weakly in the wind, torn and ragged, half illegible by years of rain. An eerie silence hangs over the village, and old brown stains still streak the gutters that pass outside the city gates. Night will be falling soon, the shadows seem to stretch past the post to envelop the town far earlier than it should.

Dricunn were the creation of Aelia, the stubborn goddess of life. However, her jealous brother Ithur, god of destruction, refused that there be anything but abyss to fill the void. He used the Dricunn's unique ability to hyper-adapt to their environment to his advantage. Rather than wipe them out, he made them agents of death, turning their world into a living hell. The Dricunn had no choice but to adapt to their new home, becoming twisted, unnatural creatures whose natural abilities seem closer to magic than any god-given evolution. However, as their hyper-adaptability made them surhuman, they began feeling a drain, their life essence - their magic essence - seeping away to fill the ever-drawing greed of Mataska, the plane of magic. They developed a need to feast, to devour anything that crossed their path, developing their abilities to become super-predators, hunting and canabalising each other just to survive. Their world - Naragor - was separated from the mortal realm Anshka to prevent the bloodthirsty destruction of all that lived. However, occasional rifts opened between the two, when the fabric of existence drew too taunt. So the Faesan - spirits created at a similar time to the Dricunn but who had remained uncorrupted - became the guardians of Anshka, defending it from the incursions of the Dricunn, often meeting in great wars in the Fey Ring, a circular plane linking the worlds of the Faesan and Dricunn. The Faesan created a Guardian, the Guardian of the Nearerworlds, who's duty it was to prevent the rifts from opening and capture the Dricunn which slipped through. However, the darkness and corruption of Naragor transformed the Guardian, turned it mad. It began using its tremendous power - for the Faesan had sacrificed much of their own to construct it - to rip more voids in reality, tearing the fabric of space dangerously thin between all of the realms and sometimes within the worlds themselves. To level the playing field, the gods gave the true names of both of these powerful races to the mortals of Anshka, that they might have some control over their own lives through directing the lives of others were they to come to the mortal plane. However, few who encounter the Dricunn have the chance to use their true name (Shiq'an) - hidden in keys - or the luck to have the right one.
There are nine primary areas of Naragor, although only eight of those have access to the mortal realm: Faea (Illusion), Dreigros (Change), Mictera (Paths), Rurqal (Murk), Kaspeer (Earth and Fire), Tornarq (Despair), Gaiden (Breath), Tricterac (Clocks) and Rezkara (Abyss).

Dricunn Traits

Dricunn are dangerous creatures, whose whole lives are built around the desperate need for survival. And to survive, one must hunt. In the mortal realm, things are a little different. First of all, life is much easier and food rarely falls scarce. Sometimes the hyper-adaptability of Dricunn living in Anshka means that they become 'soft' and 'weak'; in other words, they learn to feel the humanoid emotions they otherwise never developed.

Darkvision

Accustomed to hellish darkness of Naragor, 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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

The areas of Naragor are as different as the moon from the sun. And yet, almost all are dark, distorted places. Good vision is required to hunt down prey and see it before it can see you.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2.

Dricunn have surprising strength that turn their sharp claws and teeth into deadly weapons.

Age

Dricunn reach physical and cognitive adulthood at the age of 7, after spending those years in their birth sac subconsciously analysing their surroundings. However, Dricunn are only considered mature when they are capable of controlling their abilities which fully occurs around their 10th year. Prior to this, Dricunn have no control over their strength or when their abilities occur. Dricunn rarely live to the full extent of their lives, nor do they record information which might give a hint at the oldest age. Although, Dricunn in Anshka have been shown to live to more than 300 years, with suggestions that devouring magic humanoids (be it humans or other) grants them a longer lifespan of around 500 by refilling the constant drain on their existance.

Alignment

Dricunn are entirely the product of their environment. Most have a chaotic-evil inclination due to their ever-changing natures and desire (and need) to feast on living creatures (or plants although this would do little to refill their energy). A trait that almost all Dricunn have in common, however, is their selfishness. Even Dricunn who have so-saying 'reformed' due to living in Anshka remain selfish, although they have a greater ability to overcome this and help others, their primary priority is almost always for themselves and their own survival.

Size

Dricunn can be born almost any size due to the differences in environment. The majority are size Medium, betwen 6 and 7 feet.

Speed

Dricunn frequently have to climb or flee from dangers, and have developed powerful muscles. The average speed for walking and climbing is 35ft. However, very few Dricunn ever encounter water and so most can only barely swim. In fact, Dricunn fiercely dislike running water, as it causes the protective sheath around their heart to weaken and melt away. Your swimming speed is 10ft.

Keen senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Dricunn are talented hunters with keen sight, and a sense of smell for blood that allows them to hunt down prey in a crowd.

Unnatural Ability

At level 1, choose an additional 1st-level spell that you can use without a spell-slot. You must perform a long rest before using this again. If you devour the whole corpse of a creature size small or above, you can use this spell again.
At level 5, choose an additional 2nd-level spell that you can use without a spell-slot. You must perform a long rest before using this again. If you devour the whole corpse of a creature size small or above, you can use this spell again.
At level 10, choose an additional 3rd-level spell that you can use without a spell-slot. You must perform a long rest before using this again. If you devour the whole corpse of a creature size medium or above, you can use this spell again.
At level 15, choose an additional 4th-level spell that you can use without a spell-slot. You must perform a long rest before using this again. If you devour the whole corpse of a creature size medium or above, you can use this spell again.
At level 20, choose an additional 5th-level spell that you can use without a spell-slot. You must perform a long rest before using this again. If you devour the whole corpse of a creature size large or above, you can use this spell again.

Naragor has forced Dricunn to adapt to its unnatural trickery and hellish landscape. To survive, they have developed gifts which appear almost magical despite their natural evolution. However, energy must be provided to counter the drain caused by the use of these skills and the best source of energy comes from the lives of other creatures.

Lure of the Muse

You have disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed by music.
Music lures Dricunn with its pure beauty, something utterly lacking in Naragor.

Primal force

Your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 slashing (nails) or piercing (teeth) damage. Slashing is default.
Dricunn have the fangs and claws of beasts and use this tear through their prey - weapons were unnecessary.

Fire vulnerability

You have vulnerability to fire.
The fierce heat of flames melts the sheath that protects their heart and burns it to ashes; destroying them utterly.

Regeneration

You can use a bonus action to regain a number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. You must perform a short rest before using this feature again, or devour the whole corpse of a creature size small or larger.
Dricunn are infamous for their incredible regenerative ability: some are able to even regrow whole limbs in mere minutes, although this is more often an ability evolved from the harsh land. Even those without that ability have incredibly rapid healing, encouraged by special platelets in their saliva (in fact many lick their wounds quite literally after a battle).