Homebrew Cecaelia Species Details

STRIKING APPEARANCE
The torso of a cecaelia is humanoid and has a very
pale skin tone, usually taking on muted pinks, greys
and blues. Their hair and eyes stand in stark
contrast to their light complexion, being rich blues
and blacks, their dark eyes especially adding to their
mysterious character.
However, the lower body of a cecaelia is their
most striking feature. From the waist down they are
akin to a large octopus, bearing eight long dexterous
tentacles which can both propel them in water and
carry them on land. These are often deeper blues,
purples and reds, sometimes with faint circular or
wave-like patterns of a darker tone.
Some ceccaelia have the ability to alter their
coloration, giving them an even greater range
of exotic colors and patterns.

INDEPENDENT SOULS
The sea is treacherous and deadly, and every
cecaelia is born with a strong sense of self-reliance
that they have used to survive. They are fiercely
independent and will always try to complete a task
by themselves unless it becomes apparent that they
can't do it alone. At this point they will seek out
people they know for help, before approaching
strangers as a last resort.
If someone offers to help a cecaelia without
provocation or, even worse, tries to help without
asking, the cecaelia will see this as an affront to
their abilities to look after themselves and will take
personal offense, empatically arguing that they can
complete the task by his or herself and requesting, 
politely or not, to be left alone.
This is not to say that cecaelia crave isolation, as
given enough time and patience a cecaelia will form
intimate bonds with friends and family. Usually
limited to a small group, these connections are of
great personal importance and are rarely broken.
AQUATIC ORIGINS
The history of the cecaelia as a race is all but
unknown to scholars of the surface world, and
though some surface dwellers believe they are a
subrace of merfolk, the cecaelia, and indeed the
merfolk themselves, would take great offense to
this comparison. 
Regardless of their true origins, their lives beneath
the waves have affected them greatly. Though they
can survive outside of the oceans no cecaelia ever
completely abandons the water, with many of the
land-dwelling individuals making pilgrimages to the
sea every few months.
Throughout the rest of the year these inland cecaelia
sate their innate desire for an aquatic enviroment
via other means, such as swimming in a nearby river
or lake, or frequenting the local bath houses.
A WANDERER'S HEART
As a nomadic people, it is very unusual for a
cecaelia to stay in any given place for longer than a
few years. Cecaelia who take up adventuring do so
to fulfil their desire to keep moving, travelling to
exotic coasts, following meandering rivers inland, or
plumbing the mysterious depths of the sea in their
lifelong journeys. They take great pleasure in
seeing all the world has to offer at their own pace,
striving to explore and experience as much as they
can before their relatively short lives are complete.
However, no matter how independent they are,
they are not needlessly reckless. An intelligent
cecaelia recognizes when help is needed and will
turn to small groups of fellow adventures to aid
them. This is most often how personal bonds are
formed by adventuring cecaelia, and it is not
unexpected for them to stay in touch with previous
allies and party members long into old age.
CECAELIA NAMES
Cecaelia names are as unique as the individuals
whom bear them, as they choose their own names
upon reaching adulthood. This is considered their
true name, and most consist of a single word, often
featuring unusual sounds or letter combinations.
As it is known they will adopt their true name
relatively quickly, families refer to young cecaelia by
very simple pet names that relate to their aquatic
environment. However, once a cecaelia takes their
true name, addressing them by this pet name is
considered extremely rude.
Family or clan names do not exist in cecaelia
culture as the indivudual is considered just as
important as the group, if not more so. They find
such practices in other races quite odd.

Child Names: Wave, Pearl, Tooth, Kelp, Stone,
Coral, Bone, Tide, Bubble, Net, Shell
Male True Names: Aamnesthal, Abrolth, Cerecst,
Eamleith, Hassimn, Kouln, Lioros, Mnasth,
Nilienn, Nourien, Sorsasz, Tratheiniel
Female True Names: Alanral, Caenia, Coulei,
Dramnii, Jurira, Lasiei, Quorili, Reoria, Rulithia,
Salria, Unya, Ursilae, Yyslamni, Zuoriai
 

Cecaelia Traits

Generalising cecaelia is risky, but your cecaelia character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

Cecaelia mature very fast, reaching adulthood by the age of 10. They also age quickly, with most rarely living longer than 70 years.

Alignment

The cecaelia's intense self-reliance, nomadic lifestyle and preference for small social structures leads them to chaotic and neutral alignments. Despite their dubious reputation amongst other races, cecaelia of good alignments are just as common as others.

Size

A cecaelia's torso averages 2 to 3 feet, though their tentacles reach 8 to 10 feet in length. Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 15 feet. You have a swim speed of 30ft.

Amphibious

You can breathe both air and water.

Tentacles

Your lower body consists of a crown of eight tentacles, the bottom surface of which are covered in a layer of soft hydrostatic discs. You can manipulate these discs to create a suction powerful enough to suspend you out of water, as well as grip opponents with frightening strength. Your tentacles are strong enough to support your weight above water and provide movement on land, albeit at a slower pace than that of surface-dwelling races. Thought prehensile enough to manipulate objects, your tentacles do not possess the manual dexterity or speed to wield weapons effectively. You gain advantage on Athletics (Climbing) checks and on checks to either initiate or end a grapple. You may take the Use an Object action as a bonus action on your turn, and can do so at a range of up to 10 feet. 

Hydrostatic Skeleton

The internal skeleton of your upper torso is made of a flexible cartilaginous tissue, stronger than that of surface-dwellers but far more flexible than bone. Your lower body and tentacles are composed of vessels that can filled and emptied of fluid, allowing you to stretch, manipulate, expand and contract your entire body. You gain resistance to bludgeoning damage. In addition, you may squeeze through spaces up to two size categories smaller than you with no penalties. Equipped weapons, armor and other items must also fit through the space to use this ability. For the purposes of this ability, any size categories smaller than Tiny (2.5 ft square) are equal to one-half the previous category. For example, a medium size cecaelia may move through spaces as small as 2.5 ft square with no penalties and a 1ft square space with normal penalities.

Languages

You speak, read and write Aquan as well as one other language (typically Common). Aquan is a melodic language commonly used by other ocean-dwelling races such as merfolk, sea elves, and the shakua.