Homebrew Azerian Species Details

With your team sleeping out in the forest, you hear your guide humming quietly to themselves a musical tale of the wind through the leaves, the river bubbling in its banks, and the movement of small animals among the ground cover. Their sharp eyes keep watch of the dark around you, ears twitching to catch every small sound. The Azerian is a good guide - they hadn't gotten lost even once on this trek, despite many places looking the same day after day after day. At this pace, you might even get a bonus for getting your cargo to port ahead of schedule.

High in the mountains your group traverses a cliffside over a steppe, your guide leading the way with confidence on a path hardly a foots-width wide. "Almost there!" you hear them call out over the winds - oh thank the deities you think to yourself, another few minutes of this and -I- might go over the edge! Your guide rounds a stone jutting out from the side and gives a shout of glee. "Here! Your cave Master Archeologist! Right where you thought it might be!" You round the corner too and stare in wonder at the sight before you. The Azerian that introduced themselves as a "Blandford" gestures grandly at the short, wide valley beyond them.

Deep in the warren of alleyways of the capital a youngster slips through the gloom of evening, long ears twitching and picking up sounds from the quarry ahead of him. With the patience of a hunter he follows and, timing it just right, pounces and swipes the man's gold pipe from his hand before diving into a roll through a sewer grate too small for the startled and angry man to follow. With yells of anger and consternation behind him, the young-looking Red Azerian urchin darts through the sewers until he is a few streets over before changing fully human again, shedding the raggedy cloak, and pocketing the trinket into his waistcoat. Whistling jauntily as he sets a cap on his head he walks off in the opposite direction of the man.

Azerian or Werefoxes are humanoids with the ability to change partially and fully into fox-form, giving them a high level of versatility in everyday life regardless of where they live. They often live by their wits and their cunning, leading them to become very charismatic and convincing when among other intelligent populations, and their knowledge of survival leads them to being great guides in the wilderness - any wilderness, depending on their individual subspecies.

 Misunderstood

Azerian are often misunderstood by other species thanks to their charismatic ways that lead many to a life of if not crime, at least a little bit of dishonesty. Very few Azerians actually go this way however, due to the chances of being caught out for what they are. Most live in harmony with other folk and especially with humans where they can put their wit and cunning to work as Merchants, Bards, Guides, etc. Those who live fairly solitary lives make for great guides in the forests and mountains of the world, having spent their early lives exploring new territories and seeking adventure.

Age

Azerians mature young - at around 10 or so they are young adults and by their species are considered old enough to take on a partner or mate. However, this looks odd to a lot of the other peoples that share a world with the Azerian folk, so to maintain the image of "children" often young Azerians will spend their young adulthood adventuring, exploring, or learning a trade or business. Azerians partner for life, and can have children in either form - human or full fox. The number of children they can have varies greatly depending on how their parents chose to go about it, so Azerian family size can range from 2 parents and 1 child up to 6 or even 7 children. All children are taught how to shift partially and fully by their first birthdays, and taught how and when to use their forms to the greatest advantage. Azerians who settle down in populated areas tend to live longer than those who live in the wilds - up to 80 years - but any Azerian can reach such an age if they are careful.

Size

Azerians are typically between 5 and 6 feet in height in their mature human forms, a foot shorter in their half-fox forms, and a little larger than the norm when in their full-fox forms - standing roughly 2 feet tall at the shoulder and a little over 4 feet long with a foot and a half of that being tail. When in their full-fox forms, Azerians are considered a Small Creature for the duration of their time in the form.

Azerian Names

Azerians are given names by their parents that follow the maternal lines - if your mother's name started with an L, so will yours, regardless of your own genetic distinction. As you get older your siblings or friends may give you a nickname that you keep among yourselves, and when you become an adult and move into society, you may even choose a name for yourself to give to strangers - depending on your profession of choice you might do this to get more famous, to avoid being tracked, or just to be silly and confuse everyone because you can. Azerians are known for their love of pranks and merrymaking and names can be great opportunities for bad puns and harmless jokes at others' expense.

Variants

Gorria

The Gorrian are the most numerous of this species, being found across a vast majority of the world and particularly in plains, hilly regions, and forested areas. The most diverse, they come in a variety of human skintones and hair colors. The feature that sets them apart from any other humanoid are their very distinctive eyes - regardless of their form, they have a cat-like pupil slit vertically, and unless they have ice-blue eyes they typically have some range of dark golden-brown to a greenish-gold. Heterochromia is more prevalent in Azerians than it is in humans, but it is not a common trait.

Gorrian's tend to find themselves the most misunderstood of the Azerian species as they live the most closely with humanoid races, leaving them to have the highest number of negative interactions whether on accident or otherwise. On the flipside of this, the Gorrian also have the most positive contact with humanoid races, giving them the opportunity to learn more than the rest of their species.

Belarra

Belarra hail from the plains, the grasslands, the spaces of wide open sky and mighty aerial predators. Quick to run and hide despite themselves being a predatory type, the Belarra know intimately that there are bigger, badder things out there then themselves. They live in large underground homes characterized with a hobbit-like round front door opening to the side of a hill, or riverbank, or even a hefty mound built by hand around the structure of their home. Belarra are a very friendly folk despite their wariness of the world, and will welcome in travelers with minimal fuss and muss. They tend towards large families, making their homes large and sprawling and often connecting via closed doors to the homes of others of their kind. In such a manner a person could easily travel for miles without needing to step onto the surface of the world! In looks Belarra tend to be smaller than their other cousins, slender in stature with small, well-built facial features.

Belarra are quick like all of their cousins, but are great at sensing danger and thus avoiding getting caught up in it. They make excellent merchants when they choose to travel, having a Nose as it were for when deals are going to go bad or hazards befall a traveling group.

Artikoa

Artikoa are from the far north and south and anyplace you find tundra. They are excellent guides through snow and ice, but much prefer to live away from civilization in small bands made up of two or three family groups. Because they live so closely knit, Artikoa form tight family bonds and are exceptionally loyal whether it is to a cause, another person, or a job they're hired to do. Visually they tend towards pale skin and hair colorations, some bleaching out so fully as to be considered albino, or at least having white hair and pale blue eyes. When seen they are sometimes confused for Changelings, as even that rare folk are more commonly seen in public spaces.

They have an uncanny knowledge of snowy and icy conditions, granting them exceptional Dexterity.

Idorra

Idorra hail from the desert areas of the world - the supposedly inhospitable places where little life lives and yet, SO much life can be found. Idorra have learned to take advantage of their arid homeplaces and live in small but relatively open groupings nestled next to and into caves and cliffsides. They are amazing desert guides and survivalists, and are often found teaching in humanoid settlements at the edges of their homelands. As good as they are at survival, Idorra also excel at the fighting arts, and are the second-most populous of their species. They do not range quite a far afield as the Gorria (not liking being moist and wet all the time in more humid climates), but they range a fair distance when they wander, and they often bring back wonderful trinkets, treasures, and fabrics for their loved ones when they do. Idorra tend towards darker hair and skintones, but you'll occasionally find sandy-haired folk and blondes mixed into the tribes.

Mendia

Mendia are found primarily in the mountainous regions of the world, and keep to themselves more than the rest of their species. If they do move in the public sphere, they are highly sought out as guides to make dangerous mountain treks or climbs and are typically quite well-off as far as society is concerned. Their natural sandy brown or almost greyish skin tone and hair coloration makes it hard to see them against the high altitudes where they live, which helps to hide their wealth should they have it as very few know where, exactly, a Mendian actually lives.

Mendians spend less time with humanfolk and more time with Giants, Orcs, Goliaths, and other peoples of the high reaches. This leads to them to picking up additional languages with ease.

Azerian Traits

Your Azerian character has the following Species Traits.

Shapeshift

Azerians learn early in life how to shift their forms from human to half-fox to full fox, losing height and gaining senses in the process. Azerians are typically between 5 and 6 feet in height in their mature human forms, a foot shorter in their half-fox forms, and a little larger than the norm when in their full-fox forms - standing roughly 2 feet tall at the shoulder and a little over 4 feet long with a foot and a half of that being tail.

When shifting from Human to Half-Fox, the Azerian gains pointier ears and better hearing, their hair grows further down their body than just their head and any other hair on their body gets thicker providing them some insulation from cold, and their nails, face and teeth get a good bit harder, longer, and sharper respectively, giving them a firm grip and a solid Bite. However, they lose height which may hinder the individual as their clothes and gear does not shift with them, and it renders them unable to speak due to the unwieldy shape of their elongated jaw. They can still use weapons, but any spells or items requiring a verbal component become unusable.

When shifting from to Full-Fox, the Azerian gains better eyesight in the darkness, enhances senses allowing them to pinpoint and identify movement or smells from a distance, and increases their normal speed by 10ft. Unfortunately, they lose the ability to use any weapons and magic other than their Bite or Claws. They also become a category Small creature for the duration of their time in this form.

Cunning, Charismatic, and Clever

Azerian are known for their Charismatic, polite, and friendly nature, giving them a +1 to Charisma.

Variants

Azerians as a species have 5 distinctive subspecies- the Gorria, the Idorra, the Mendia, the Belarra, and the Artikoa. Each have a distinctive set of skills specific to their subspecies.

The Azerian is based on the 12 dominant fox species plus the Grey fox.
Red/Grey foxes are the Gorria.
Arctic foxes are the Artikoa.
Fennec, Pale, Cape, Corsac, and Ruppell's are the Idorra.
Bangel, Kit, and Swift foxes are the Belarra.
And the Sand and Blandford are the Mendia.

The different species of fox were grouped together based on their general living preferences, and each grouping has a trait that helps the natural critter in their homelands.