Homebrew Feydrak'ri Species Details

Long ago, a silver dragon fell in love with a High Elven lord, and through arcane magics that have long since been forgotten, she bore him a child, one of mixed elven and dragon heritage, who could alter her form. They kept the child safe, and taught her to conceal her true heritage out of concern for the ideals of blood purity that were especially rampant among the elven culture of the time. But eventually, just a few short years before her coming of age, her heritage was discovered, and out of fear and racism, a great ritual was conducted that banished her to the Abyss. As part of her banishment, or soon after, she fell victim to a terrible curse, a curse that each of us who was alive for the Revelation knows very well for the Hunger it forced upon us. That child was Malcanthet, the first of our kind, and grandmother to the Dragonmother Sylandria, our Mother Goddess, who lifted the curse and freed us to discover who we truly are.

—Grand Priestess Liraethne

 The feydrak'ri are simultaneously an ancient and a very young race, with a long and troubled history: born of mixed heritage, banished to the Abyss, and cursed with a terrible hunger that, combined with the need to survive the dangers around them, forced them into evil to endure as the fiends known as succubi and incubi. It was only a century ago that their mother goddess, known as the Dragonmother, simultaneously Ascended, revealed herself to the succubi and incubi, and removed the curse. Now, through her clerics and the leadership of Grand Priestess Liraethne, she guides them and teaches them how to live and be a people free of the curse, though it has left its mark on them.

Unearthly Beauty

Though shapeshifters, in their natural form, feydrak'ri are always extremely beautiful and have the height and slender build of high elves, with horns and wings reminiscent of the silver dragon half of their heritage. However, only their horns and the spurs on their wings retain the pure silver color. Their tails have kept the appearance they had during the eons they suffered under the curse. They have regained their elven ancestry's unearthly grace and delicate features, though there is a subtle, casual suggestiveness and sensuality to everything about them.

The scales on their wings resemble those of their silver dragon ancestor but are colored to give the appearance of anodized or tinted silver. There is great variety in this coloration, though the coloring of other dragon types is most common. A spattering of scales adorns their temples surrounding the base of their horns and the root of the wings and wing membranes.

Of note is that the only feydrak'ri whose scales display the pure silver of their origins are the Dragonmother herself and Drenira, her father (who is secretly the consort of the drow goddess Eilistraee).

Their skin, hair, and eyes vary greatly and resemble any of those found in either high elves (either sun or moon elves) or humans. The Dragonmother, as the daughter of Eilistraee, is the only one known to have drow coloration.

Ancient Origins

The first feydrak'ri, Malcanthet, was born long ago from the union of a high elf and a silver dragon through magics that have since been lost. Unfortunately, just a few short years before her coming of age, the elves discovered the truth of her heritage. In the interests of racial purity, she was banished to the Abyss, where she found herself set upon by a terrible curse that imparted an insatiable hunger that transformed her into the first succubus. Doing what she felt was necessary to survive, she gained power and bore many children, in time becoming known as the Queen of the Succubi. Eventually, Asmodeus, while formulating his plot to become the racial god of all tieflings, invited her into an alliance in the hope of transforming herself into a racial goddess for her descendants. This alliance proved to be her downfall, as it was a deception. Asmodeus sacrificed her to fuel his Ascension ritual (as most tieflings were descended from succubi and incubi).

In time, one of Malcanthet's daughters, a succubus named Dreneri, encountered the drow goddess Eilistraee, who taught her how not to be controlled by the curse's hunger, and they became lovers. Their union bore fruit in the form of a half-divine, half-succubus daughter whom they named Sylandria. During the Time of Troubles, Sylandria came fully into her divine birthright through an Ascension ritual that simultaneously summoned all succubi and incubi to her location and removed the curse from them. As the feydrak'ri have come to refer to the event, this Revelation transformed them into the form they now bear and herself into the racial goddess known as the Dragonmother.

A Budding Culture

 After the confusion the Dragonmother's Revelation caused was settled, many of the newly remade feydrak'ri raced back to their previous locations to gather the mortals they'd previously charmed and enslaved and bring them to the ritual site. Under the direction of Grand Priestess Liraethne, who had been Sylandria's companion before the ritual, they freed the mortals. The feydrak'ri begged to be taught the skills to construct a temple and then a city on the site, and many of the former slaves decided to remain, convinced that the change was genuine. This city and its surroundings are now home to most feydrak'ri and the members of their former harems who chose to stay.

Due to having spent the entirety of their existence before the Revelation as fiends in service to more powerful demons and devils, feydrak'ri culture is still in its infancy and rapidly evolving as they begin developing traditions. Many of the developing customs are based on the various originating cultures of the non-feydrak'ri in the city. One pervasive element that colors all aspects stems from how the curse left its mark on them: every detail of their emerging culture incorporates their sensuality.

Feydrak'ri lack body modesty of any kind. Other than protective gear such as armor or blacksmith's aprons, they treat clothing as decoration similar to jewelry and makeup rather than using it to cover their bodies. Like everything else in their culture, fashion is evolving rapidly but often involves sheer fabrics that enhance rather than conceal. In particular, phase spider silk quickly became a staple fabric even though it requires unique alchemical processes to dye it. It's feather-light, shimmery, and shifts from nearly invisible to fully opaque depending on the viewing angle and light position.

A Growing Faith

As time passed and the feydrak'ri adjusted to their new condition, they've grown more and more deeply devoted to the Dragonmother, though they still struggle with aspects of her teachings. The faith strongly emphasizes compassion, kindness, and respect for the freedom and choices of others as strengths, which contrasts deeply with how they had lived as fiends. However, it does caution about the potential dangers of misapplying these values. It also strongly emphasizes redemption for both oneself and others.

During her time with Sylandria before she Ascended, Grand Priestess Liraethne had learned the basics of bardcraft, which she has found immensely useful in teaching her people the values the Dragonmother wants her to instill. She uses them extensively in leading rituals and worship, as she's both borrowed stories and songs from various cultures and invented new ones.

Worship is mainly celebratory, giving thanks and praise to the Dragonmother and gathering in the temple for sermons. Sermons are delivered daily by various higher-ranked priests and priestesses and Grand Priestess Liraethne herself once a week. In addition, several times a day, one or another of the clerics will be in the temple courtyard next to the stone upon which the Dragonmother performed her Ascension ritual, telling stories or singing songs that teach moral lessons.

While the faith focuses on the Dragonmother, it acknowledges others of importance to her, such as Eilistraee (whom they refer to as the Holy Maiden). They are familiar with how Eilistraee's followers worship as well as her goals. There is also (so far) one saint-like figure revered by the faith: a half-elf ranger named Alessa Moonheart who had helped a succubus control her hunger and even married her centuries before the Revelation. Alessa died of pneumonia in old age and is buried in Waterdeep.

Nearly all feydrak'ri in the city attend one of the daily sermons at least once a week. These sessions are typically themed around one of the values and include one or more stories, prayer, and a great deal of celebratory music and dancing to honor and praise the Dragonmother.

Appropriate domains for clerics of the Dragonmother are Light and Twilight, and feydrak'ri arcane casters are most commonly bards or sorcerers.

A Hidden City

The feydrak'ri built their city of Sareschal (sa-RAY-shul) on the site of the Dragonmother's Revelation. The wide variety of cultures represented among the people teaching and helping them has resulted in chaos and diversity in its architecture and layout. During its construction, they became enamored with the lace-like patterns of filigree work and its potential for hiding imagery in the designs. They incorporated both filigree and engravings into everything they could, concealing imagery that speaks of their origins, faith, and appetite for sensuality on nearly every surface.

At the heart of the city lies the Dragonmother's temple (which also serves as the seat of government), with the actual Revelation Stone being located on the south side of the courtyard. Across from it, on the north side of the courtyard, is a small grove for Eilistraee worship. Immediately surrounding the Dragonmother's temple are shrines and temples to other deities, with the non-feydrak'ri in the city being their primary visitors.

The majority of Sareschal consists of disorganized clusters of neighborhoods and businesses surrounding market squares, parks, and farms with streets and roads running every which way. High walls surround the city with gates at the cardinal points. Powerful enchantments that conceal the city from fiends and prevent them from entering without a token blessed by Grand Priestess Liraethne also protect it.

Sareschal has day/night and weather cycles matching those of Faerun, though with a soft lilac sky.

Non-feydrak'ri residents have equal status and rights within the city.

Lustborn

It should be noted that there are still fiends referred to as succubi and incubi; the feydrak'ri refer to these as 'Lustborn' and view them as an unwelcome embodiment and reminder of the curse. They dislike hearing the terms 'succubus' and 'incubus' used for the Lustborn, as they use these terms for their gender identifiers. They won't complain if the distinction between Lustborn and Feydrak'ri is acknowledged, though (i.e. 'Lustborn succubus').

Feydrak'ri Names

Most feydrak'ri have chosen to adopt new names taken from or inspired by those of cultures found on the Material Plane. The most popular choices are elven names and "virtue" names representing values they want to exemplify.

Feydrak'ri Traits

Feydrak'ri characters have the following traits.

Darkvision

Thanks to your fiendish heritage, 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.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Feydrak'ri mature at a similar rate to elves, but haven't yet been free of their curse for long enough to know their typical lifespan—their elven cousins live for centuries, and dragons live for millenia...any Feydrak'ri less than a century old was born after the curse was lifted.

Alignment

Working to earn redemption after having spent so long as fiends, Feydrak'ri tend towards chaotic neutral, though any alignment is possible.

Size

Feydrak'ri in their true form are similar to High Elves in size and build, though slightly heavier due to their horns, wings, and tail. Use the High Elf stats to determine your natural form's height and the Wood Elf stats for Weight.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and your base flight speed is 60 feet.

Shapechanger

As an action, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height and weight, but not so much that your size changes. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You can’t duplicate the appearance of a creature you’ve never seen, and you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that you have. Your clothing and equipment aren’t changed by this trait.

You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.

Ancient Race, Budding Culture

You gain proficiency with a musical instrument or artisan's toolkit and two Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma skills.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Abyssal, and either Elven or Draconic