Monday, November 13, 2017

Teroshi of Lakeport

Hey Game Fans, we’re back for the last part of our feature on the Homebrew races for the setting of Lakeport.  Today we’re going to look at the Teroshi.  Like the rest of the Wanderers, they draw from an extra-planar heritage.  There are planes of existence where wondrous and terrible creatures that boggle the imagination roam free.  There are even Planes where plants became the dominant form of life and gained intelligence and sentience on their own.  These are the plants the Teroshi come from.  



The Teroshi emerged into Lakeport after the Fey War and spent centuries studying the other races.  Over that time, they developed humanoid bodies to interact with the other humanoid peoples.  These plant wardens live high in the trees of the High Forest, walking its canopy and growing strange and exotic plants to trade with their terrestrial cousins.  They are an unusual people, with their own perspective about the world and their place in it.  Unlike the rest of the Wanderers, they grow in communities large enough to support their own, and most are at home, high above the ground.

Teroshi

Appearance

Teroshi have spent many centuries studying other humanoids and their modern iterations have surprisingly humanoid forms.  The Teroshi are a complicated bundle of plant matter and fibers that mimic the body of other humanoids.  With roots and tendrils serving as fingers and toes, and thicker vines that serve as arms and legs, the Teroshi can pass for others.  Their plant bodies are wrapped in a plant membrane that works like the skin of others and binds the Teroshi into a single form.  With rich, opalescent seeds that function as eyes, and hair in the form of flower crowns, the Teroshi are a sight to behold, but they are also a wonder to the other senses.  All Teroshi have an odor of fresh flowers (of their choice), and they can emit that scent in the air around them.  

Personality

Teroshi are plants, first and foremost.  They are also profound naturalists, studying and basking in the joy of the natural world.  They have a collectivist mindset that puts the individual second to the group.  They retain their individual identities, but are always seeking to be part of their greater collective society.  Even the ones that choose the life of adventure are party minded individuals who want a harmonious environment, which according to them stimulates growth.  They are still figuring out the mindset of humanoids, and even after thousands of years they still make mistakes and misunderstandings.

Society

Every Teroshi community is headed by an elder, who is often the actual oldest plant in the community.  These wizened ancients drop the trappings of their younger kin, and often look like sentient trees.  They are a collectivist society, growing stronger together and expanding slowly.  Teroshi in a given community all come from the same seeds and share the same physical characteristics, including seed color and the flowers in their crowns.  Where two communities merge together a host of variations occur involving coloration and pattern changes.  When a community grows too large, The elder selects one of the younger plants and bestows the knowledge and blessings of the Teroshi on the young plant.  They then move off to form their own colony somewhere else.  

The Plant Home

The eldest Teroshi spend most of their time communing with the energies of their planar home.  They follow the Ordination of the Green, a plant elemental of extraordinary power and focus.  It directs them to follow all sorts of mysterious imperatives and requests, from planting specific plants to altering the growth of trees.  They also watch over the resting places of sleeping elemental lords and ladies, tending them and keeping them safe from other outsiders.  

Adventurers

Teroshi adventurers tend towards the path of druids and rangers.  Their natural inclinations and connections to the natural world drive them from their colonies, but they can’t fight their nature for very long.  They can follow any number of professions and paths as adventurers, and they make good adventuring companions for groups that get along.  They do not do well with conflict among their friends and try to put out fires.  (Despite being made of plant fire, they are neither especially vulnerable or afraid of fire).  

Religion

Teroshi either worship Grandfather Oak (whom they revere with the utmost devotion), or they follow the Ordination of the Green.  They follow druidic lines of worship, but they also have clerics among their ranks.  The most common rites of worship involve the growth of specific plants and flowers at specific times.   

Rules addendums

Teroshi from this setting have the following rules

Teroshi Traits
Your Teroshi character has an assortment of inborn abilities.
Ability Score Increase Your Constitution score increases by 2. Your Charisma Score increases by 1.
Age Teroshi age at a rate similar to humans, with a given Teroshi being considered mature at around age 20.  The oldest Teroshi that don’t lead colonies often plant themselves in their home colonies at around age 100, and become plants or trees of types they were fond of.   
Alignment Most Teroshi are neutral, believing firmly in the natural world and the neutrality of it.
Size. Teroshi are size Medium, this includes a movement speed of 30 feet.
The Green. You know the Druid cantrip Druidcraft and use your wisdom as your spellcasting attribute.
A Pleasant Wind. Teroshi emit a pleasant odor that entices other humanoids to spend time around them.  This gives them advantage on Charisma checks to interact with other humanoids (Except for Intimidation).  
Plantlife:  The Teroshi is a plant, and is unaffected by most spells that charm or scare humanoids.  They are Immune to effects with the Charm or Fear Descriptor unless they can target nonhumanoid creatures.  Further, the Teroshi heals twice the indicated amount when taking a short rest.  
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Teroshi.

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