Homebrew Avian Aetherian Species Details

The Aetherians are a plentiful people who come in many styles. The most common are Avian Aetherians, resembling predatory birds of ages past. They can stand upright, like humanoids, but have feathered wings instead of arms with small, three clawed hands at the joint, and great clawed feet on digitigrades legs, feathered thighs and scaled legs. In place of nose and mouth, a great hooked beak takes up their face and their eyes are large, ranging from brilliant yellow to dark orange. Instead of hair, they bear a feathered crest that they decorate with Sky Crystal beads. A female’s feathers tend towards the bland pinks and purples that enable them to blend in with the sky and crystals, while the males are more colorful with reds, blues, greens, and yellows in a variety of patterns, different to every Avian Aetherian, though most resemble their parents in some form. Avian Aetherians stand between 4-5 ft tall.

They live upon tiny rocks that float away from main Islands, usually too small to truly support life but large enough to hold a nest. These rocks are always in danger of falling due to their small size, but Aetherians are good at judging which rocks will float the longest. They are a wild race, though a few have been known to adopt civility and live amongst the Islanders, even wearing clothing and using tools.

Beak and Feather

They can stand upright, like humanoids, but have feathered wings instead of arms with small, three clawed hands at the joint, and great clawed feet on digitigrades legs, feathered thighs and scaled legs. In place of nose and mouth, a great hooked beak takes up their face and their eyes are large, ranging from brilliant yellow to dark orange. The males bear a feathered crest that they decorate with Sky Crystal beads. A females feathers tend towards the bland pinks and purples that enable them to blend in with the sky and Crystals while the males are more colorful, still primarily pink and purple but with reds, blues, greens, and yellows in a variety of patterns, different to every Avian Aetherian, though most resemble their parents in some form and certain types of colors and patterns can indicate a home flock the Avian belongs to. They stand between 4-5 ft tall.

Sky Wardens

Nowhere are the Avian Atherians more comfortable than in the sky. They can spend hours in the air, and some go as long as days, locking their wings in place and letting the thermals hold them aloft. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons or talons before turning and flying away.

Once airborne, an Avian Aetherian leaves the sky with reluctance. They can fly for days or months, landing only to lay their eggs and feed their young before launching themselves back into the air. Those that make it to a populated find it a strange place. They sometimes forget or ignore vertical distances, and they have nothing but contempt for those earthbound people forced to live and toil on the ground, seeing them as animals to be disposed of if a danger or eaten if hungry.

Avian Mannerisms

The resemblance of Avians to birds isn’t limited to physical features. Avian's display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary birds. They are fastidious about their plumage, frequently tending their feathers, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up. When they deign to descend from the sky, they often do so near pools where they can catch fish and bathe themselves. They tend towards air-headedness or even outright stupidity with truly intelligent Avian's being few and far between.

Many Avian punctuate what little speech they have with chirps, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. An Avian might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; an avians threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

They find it hard not to pluck treasure and bring it back to their nest to beautify it. An avian who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses. Wild Avian Aetherians eat small to medium Aether Creatures and can be cannibalistic.

Avian Names

As with much of their speech, avian names include clicks, trills, whistles, and shrieks to the point that other peoples have a difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When interacting with other races, avian may use nicknames gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full names.

An avian of either gender may have one of these short names: Flit, Flutter, Fly, Float, Glide, Soar, Jump, Eat, or Fight. Longer versions of these names usually consists of concepts, such as Flies High, Floats With Grace, Jumps Real High, and Fights With Fury.

 

AVIAN BACKGROUNDS

Backgrounds that are most appropriate for an avian include the outlander, the hermit, and the sage.

The flocks of avian are insular and remote, and few avian live away from their home nests. In the Sunshine Zone of Isaskwae, no more than a few dozen avian live away from the nests of their families. Those that do are usually rangers or fighters, constantly patrolling for outside threats or food sources.

Avian Aetherian Traits

As an Avian Aetherian, you have certain traits in common with your people. Being able to fly at high speed starting at 1st level is exceptionally effective in certain circumstances and exceedingly dangerous in others. As a result, playing an aarakocra requires special consideration by your DM.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Avians reach maturity by age 12 and can live to be 80 years.

Alignment

Most aarakocra are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Tribal leaders and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.

Size

Aarakocra are about 5 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies that weigh between 80 and 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Flight

You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Talons

Your talons are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Avian, and Auran.