Homebrew Aerilian Highborn Species Details

"When talking to a Highborn you've got to remember three things: They know they're better than you, their tempers are shorter than most gnomes, and they're heard every joke about the chilly weather... trust me I've tried them all," Captain Horizon said with a defeated sigh. From what he'd told me, he'd spent years sailing the "skyways" as he called them, honestly I wouldn't believe half the things he'd told me about Aerilia if I'd never seen this place before. I thought Arcadia and the Wyvern archipelago were incredible places but this place is far beyond anything I've ever seen, I guess teleportation mishaps have their upsides? 

"But the one thing you should know shortstuff," the Captain had taken a long drink before continuing my lesson on the weapon of Aerilia. "They might lead you to believe they've frozen to the core, that that heart deep within their chests are frozen solid all the way through, but know this little man," as his tone had grown dark, pulled his shirt back and revealed a deep scar from his heart to whatever a genasi has as a liver. "Cross those stuck up nobles and that cold persona melts away like snow on a summers day".

-Alton Goodbarrel's recollection of his time travelling the skies of Aerilia.

 
They say that when the Aerilian Exodus split the continent between the land and sky, the Highborn were those who had built grand manors and homes in the hills; and when the mountains were lifted high into the open sky, the Highborn went with them. Now thousands of years later, Aerilian Highborn are the cold-hearted rulers of the skycities, with the power of frost and rime as but one of their many weapons.

Icy Glamour

Portraying themselves with poise and elegance, the Highborn of Aerilia can be differentiated form their kin by their pale skin that almost seems blue if it catches the light, cold unflinching eyes of sapphire, cyan, and the cold colours across the spectrum. Standing at the same heights as the humans that became them, it's a cultural norm for those of any gender to wear shoes that make them appear taller, even using their clothes to feel above others.

While Highborn's blue-tinged porcelain skin can make them stand out in a crowd, their hair can range anywhere that a humans could: form fiery redheads, platinum blondes, and jet blacks to juxtapose their pale icy skin.

Power without Passion

Infamously apathetic and uncaring, Highborn magic was once conjured through emotion but after generations of nature becoming cold and detached, their magic soon followed suit. Now granted the powers of ice and rime, their mere presence can cause a room to grow cold and joyless; but even a stoic mask as reliable as theirs can crumble, and when it does sometimes years, even decades of rage are unleashed in a torrent of fury.

While they're known for a cold hearted apathy, Highborn are infamous for an equally pompous level of pride. Comparable to their thrones held high in the air, this frosted people believe themselves not only head and shoulders above their "lesser" Aerilian cousins, but over each other as well, playing long political games just to cripple their foes even if it gives them little gain.

Aerilian Highborn Traits

Your Aerilian nobility provides the following racial traits.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Ability Score Increase

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

Languages

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

Size

As recent descendants of humans, aerilian's are identical in stature and build to humans. Your size is Medium.

Highborn Vanity

You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Chilling Resistance

You have resistance to cold damage.

Grasp of Chilling Rime

Your cold grasp chills your foes to their core. As an action, you touch a creature within your reach. Make a melee spell attack against the target using Charisma as your spellcasting modifier. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 cold damage. This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).

Alternatively, you can touch water and turn a 5-foot cube of it into ice, which melts after 1 minute. This action fails if a creature is in the cube.