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desmond1323
2011-08-25, 01:29 PM
Kentao


Overview: The Kentao are literally the youngest race on the face of Alandria. Formed from the very essence of the winds and the son of Procne, Deity of Wind herself, the Kentao are only now beginning to venture amongst the lands of the other races. As would be assumed, considering their origins, the species are strongly tied to the wind, to sound, and especially to song. The creation of the Kentao began when Procne—Deity of Wind—fell in love with a mortal man—the legendary Bard of the Winds, Tereus Orinve. Resigning her place as a major Deity, Procne traveled to the Material Plane, married, and had a son with Tereus, Itylos. For a time, all was well. But Tereus, despite his love for Procne, fell in love with another woman, Philomel, and ran away with her. In her grief and rage, Procne called up a massive tornado, slaying her husband, Philomel and Itylos. It was then that Philomel was revealed to be a succubus in disguise, meaning Tereus had been tricked. Seeing what her rage and foolishness had done, Procne entered a blackness from whence there seemed no escape. However, the wind, ever her companion, sensed the wrong that had been done, and began to create a song in its travels. Throughout the entire world, mortals heard the most beautiful, most terribly sad song of their lives. Even the evil races fell on their knees and wept. When Procne heard, she understood, and as she took her rightful place amongst the Deities once more, the wind offered up its kindness to its lady—using its own essence, it combined with the flesh of Itylos, and the first of the Kentao were born—the race of the singing wind. Recognizing her new children, Procne shouldered her burden again, but would always keep a kind eye on her new joy. However, the world would not forget the sadness of the event, and the song also gave birth to the nightingale, which would forever carry on a part of the sorrow Procne felt. In thanks to their mother and mistress, the Kentao not only create song, they live it. To them, life is the Great Song, each being merely a note—while the greatest beings may make up many notes. All facets of their life relate to sound and especially music, from architecture to their speech. It is still too soon to tell exactly how the Kentao will affect the world, and vice versa. One thing is for certain and that is the world has never known such a pure creative force in all time—something must come of this new race, something new and most likely wonderful.


Personality: Like the wind, Kentao can be subtle and fleeting, direct and powerful, chilly or warm, sharp and biting or smooth and caressing. Kentao almost always seem to be moving, even when standing still. In less literal ways, Kentao’s lives are active, positive and forward thinking. The race is closely knit, with strong familial bonds intertwined with racial ones. Often, Kentao seem unfocused—the world is still a fairly new place to them, and they are still learning. But given time, observers can note that, like the wind, the Kentao may be traveling in many directions, but it is still a single, unified force.

Physical Description: Kentao are small and short, by most races’ standards, standing at 2’ to 2 ½’ feet tall—the tallest may reach nearly 3’, but this is incredibly rare. Males and females are of equal stature, more often than not. The shorter a Kentao, the comparatively stockier he is. Taller Kentao are more lithe than their shorter kin, who are somewhat dumpy in appearance. Kentao body shape is more curvy and round than angular, but not naturally fat. Kentao are very lightweight, due to the magical influences in their creation, and most weigh between 20 and 30 pounds. All Kentao are covered in short fur similar to a cat’s, albeit typically smoother than the average cat by comparison. Colouring ranges from light to dark tans, whites, blacks and grays, with occasional instances of mixed colours. The colouring on top of a Kentao’s head tends to be darker, similar looking to the hair on a human’s head. Kentao have round, comparatively larger, brilliant purple, green, gray or blue eyes, in sharper and brighter or deeper and darker varieties. They also all have long, thin ears; somewhat rabbit shaped, they curve in deeper, and are thinner than a rabbit’s. Males have a few tufts of fur at the top of the ear. Every member of the species also possess small wings, a heritage from their birth. Males’ wings are bat-like, leathery but smooth, with slightly rounded edges; colouring ranges from deep reds or greens. Females’ are feathery and silken smooth; they are almost always white or light brown, but occasionally can be gray or black in special cases (especially black). Males’ wings tend to stand erect, while females’ most often keep theirs folded close. These wings are semi-functional. Kentao clothing tends to be loose and baggy for males, while females wear lighter, more form fitting clothing, cut low, with long, thin bands running from shoulder to waist or ankle length. Males often wear a fine, tight shirt with a slightly oversized vest and pants that hang very loose around the knee. Female clothing is often all of one piece. Males tend to wear fine wool and females silk. Males wear varying shades of greens, blues, and grays with red, gold or black trim. Females most typically wear purples or whites, with differing shades of purple or light greens and blues for trim. Kentao enjoy decorating their clothing with small bells or chimes, or other similar compact musical devices. Females especially enjoy wearing a collar with a single larger bell on it, to be replaced by two bells after marriage, and a multitude of bells after children. Kentao live to be about 150 years old and mature at about 14 years of age.

Relations: Kentao have next to no relations with any other race. The few times other races have seen a Kentao have most typically been mixed with intense curiosity and wonder. After a time, the wonder is replaced with amazement and enjoyment, as the Kentao are a naturally good-natured and fair race, enjoying putting on performances to entertain the masses. It is all but concluded that most other common races will have a positive relationship with the Kentao, and vice versa.

Alignment: Kentao favour Chaos to Law, and Good to Evil, but fall mostly on the Neutral Good side of the scale. They are content with their natural place in the world, seeking only to bring about the depths of their music in the world; for most, this includes spreading joy and celebration through song wherever they go, but a sufficient number also seek to draw out the darker and more sorrowful side of life in their harmonies.

Kentao Lands: The Kentao homeland is located deep within the windy plains and hills of southern Tertrevail and northern Waux. This area is considered to be mostly empty and dull by most other races, allowing them some measure of secrecy. This has allowed them time to create the masterpiece of their magnificent capital city, Aeriwa. The entire city has been constructed from glittering violet crystal, and shaped to catch the wind to form music at all times. Kentao architecture favors spiraling, thin towers, far reaching hollowed arches, and a sort of ordered randomness to construction. Towering over the city is the central tower of Aer’waesh—temple-citadel of Procne. Once a year, Procne descends as the Nightingale and with a chosen few amongst the Maestros of the Kentao—masters of music and sound—they work the temple as if it were a massive musical instrument to create a singular masterpiece of melody, unique every year and never repeated. This is an immensely important ritual amongst the Kentao, with deep cultural and spiritual significance. Lesser villages also feature a well built temple in the center of town, with homes and businesses constructed in a gentle spiral outward.

Religion: Unlike most races, who worship Gods, all Kentao worship the Deity of the Wind, Procne, though they are respectful of most Good and Neutral Gods. Procne, in turn, keeps an eye on her children. Procne’s only real desire of her people is to spread music and harmony, for the betterment of the world.

Language: Unique in Alandria, the Kentao do not speak a language as most races understand the term. Instead of sentences formed from words formed from letters of an alphabet, the Kentao language consists primarily of varying whistles, backed up with hums and clicks. It’s nearly impossible for most other races to learn all but basic smatterings of the language, but Kentao can and do learn other languages themselves—albeit with a musical tone to anything they say, if not outright singing. However, it is rare for any Kentao to be especially fluent in other languages, due to limited exposure.

Names: Kentao names are dynamic and grow with the Kentao. Name’s in Kentao society are split up into different levels of intimacy, there being a different name used between family members, friends, or spouses. The public name, or Solo, of a Kentao is typically a short, simple, and swift melody. This is expanded upon in later life as the Kentao takes on certain roles, such as religious or political leadership. Young Kentao Solos are whistled in a high pitch, slowing and growing more deeper in pitch for the elderly. Kentao family names are known as Choruses, and consist of one to three flat toned, long held notes. Kentao couples gain a name known as a Duet, and each couple shares the Duet; Duets are almost never heard outside of the pairing. However, Kentao names are near impossible to translate into Common, and so most adventuring Kentao will also have a Common name they gave themselves.

(Names given are common names chosen by Kentao. Given Choruses are the best translation from the tones of Kentao to the lettering of Common.)

Male Names: Ashi, Amua, Auri, Byupo, Luomy, Nouwa, Pyoro, Roush, Sil, Weroshe, Vyla

Female Names: Aili, Aula, Balfa, Cierul, Donnu, Lula, Hallia, Ruma, Shuo, Willa, Voma,

Choruses: Rustle, Whisper, Whoosh, Gentlebrush, Softerstep, Stirringedge, Reachingecho, Slightechorise, Faintbuzzecho

Adventurers: Having finished establishing their own homeland, Kentao are only now looking outward towards the rest of the world. Kentao adventurers are most often traveling bards or clerics, spreading music and the message of Procne. Typically, Kentao travel around in bands, often comprised of a guard of clerics and paladins, with many performers putting on traveling shows. However, Kentao are overly positive, so they have no problem traveling alone and seeking groups of other races to adventure with.


Kentao Racial Traits
• -2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Cha: Kentao are not as physically powerful as larger, heavier races but they make up for it in grace and speed. Kentao are naturally good-natured and cheerful, and many other races find Kentao to be naturally pleasant to have around.
• Small: As a Small creature, a Kentao gains a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but can only use small weapons, and lifting and carrying capacity limits are ¾ of normal for a Medium creature.
• Kentao base land speed is 30 feet, thanks to additional momentum created with their wings.
• Semi-functional wings don’t allow Kentao true flight, such as a bird, but it does allow them to hover slightly off the ground almost as easily as walking. Provided there is no significant source of wind, a Kentao is generally considered to be hovering lightly a foot or two in the air. During combat, this allows them to treat all squares as normal terrain.
• +4 racial bonus on Perform (wind instruments) and Perform (sing) checks. All Kentao are around these forms of music their entire lives, and they come very naturally to the race.
• +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks. Kentao are incredibly good-natured by any races’ standards.
• +2 racial bonus on Jump checks. Kentao use their wings to give themselves an extra boost while jumping.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen checks. Kentao have a very keen sense of hearing, and are used to detecting subtle sounds due to the nature of their language.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Kentao. Bonus Languages: Auran, Celestial, Sylvan, Elven.
• Spell-Like Abilitites: 1/day, Gust of Wind. Kentao’s magical creation from the very essence of the winds grants them some limited control over the element.
• Sonic Resistance 10. While some might think Kentao to be overly sensitive to sonic attacks, their fine tuned auditory senses actually allow them to defend against sonic based damage.
• Can sense active Silence effects from 60 feet and upon entering the area are allowed to reroll a failed check to resist it. Kentao are heavily magical in nature, due to the circumstances of their creation, and this allows them some sensitivity to magical effects and a natural defense against Silence.
• Common Classes: Bard, Cleric, Paladin.
• Level Adjustment +2


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Mostly I want to know if the LA is right. While this race can seem powerful, I also feel it's specialized (which was kind of the point).
I'm also tempted to add in another SLA or two, also wind or sonic based, but haven't fully decided yet.

Maraxus1
2011-08-25, 03:12 PM
LA +1 is okay.

But really: They can hover but not fly? How is that possible? Usually limited wings work as: Can glide, max falling speed is X/round, which is not enough for falling damage and while doing so, they can also control an horizontal movement of Y/round.
Also, a bonus of about +20 or +30 to jump.

desmond1323
2011-08-27, 05:19 AM
LA +1 is okay.


Really. Huh...very well then.




But really: They can hover but not fly? How is that possible? Usually limited wings work as: Can glide, max falling speed is X/round, which is not enough for falling damage and while doing so, they can also control an horizontal movement of Y/round.
Also, a bonus of about +20 or +30 to jump.

Don't think of it as mechanical flight. The species doesn't actually use their wings to fly (I'll have to detail that a little better)...it's more of a magical aftereffect due to their creation. The wings are small, nowhere near the strength to keep them moving constantly.

The rest of the details seem so obvious now that you say them. I'll incorporate that. Thanks much.