Caranian | |
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(Creature) | |
CR: | By Class |
Type: | Humanoid (Human) |
Environment: | Aleris, Frostheim |
Alignment: | Any |
Caranians are defined by their survival. Clad in fur pelts and leather hides, Caranian barbarians and hunting parties sweep the vast frozen plains of Skagrod,To the lands of Aleris Wherever they roam, these nomadic warriors share a fondness for violence and a healthy distrust of magic.
Appearance
Caranian are a brawny, dark-haired folk who bear the scars and weathering of rough lives spent in the open. Their eye color tends toward black, blue, or steel gray, and their flesh is generally deeply tanned.
History
Caranian warriors have long battled threats that rarely rear their head towards civilization or rising ones that have long come and have come once again.They originate from Aleris, being the Patriach race of all alerians before civilization and culture began to shape the nation itself.
Culture
Caranian treat outsiders with a strange curiosity, favoring visitors with obvious shows of strength. Most Caranian speak Hallit, a coarse language with no written form. When in “civilized lands,” nearly all Caranian become inpatient with the flowery prose of diplomats, and they rarely learn to read, believing that words not worth remembering are not worth knowing. As a result, Caranian tend to have excellent memories, and their runners and messengers can recite complicated messages even after fighting their way through leagues of hostile territory.
Feared for their ferocity and brute strength, Caranian warriors still practice their own form of hospitality. Although they would kill an armed warrior without hesitation were she to threaten them, that same warrior,
discovered half-frozen and near death on the icy tundra, would be taken in and nursed back to health. Dying from exposure or starvation is universally considered a death too grim for anyone—even a sworn enemy.
Bound to nature, Caranian use everything the land offers, making tools, building shelters, and crafting jewelry and strange animal fetishes from the bones and hides of the creatures they kill—sometimes normal forest beasts,
and sometimes dangerous megafauna. Caranian prefer simple leathers and furs as dress, and layer appropriately when the climate dictates.
Their close relationship with nature leads a few Caranian to practice an ancient animistic religion, seeing spirits, lesser gods, and stranger entities in the creatures, places, and objects around them. However, traveling over untamed wilderness and confronting violent beasts and brigands leads most modern Caranian to worship Cerie and Hirai.
The Caranian’ tribal society strengthens their familial bonds; although different tribes clash over hunting rights, campgrounds, or feuds of forgotten origins, whenever a greater threat emerges, most Caranian tribes forget their differences and quickly unite.
Caranian realize that other cultures view them as being akin to the stupid beasts they hunt, and happily let them perpetuate this stereotype, knowing that underestimation by an enemy gives them the advantage of surprise. Though deadly when they let their tempers flare, Caranian also have a deep patience born from the long days and nights spent enduring the bitter cold during hunts. Because of this hard way of life, Caranian make some of the most talented and skilled barbarians, druids, and rangers, and many pay handsomely to employ Caranian guides.
Traits
Ice Walker (Caranian): you spent years roaming the frozen tundra of the frigid north, and have adapted to its numbing effects. You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against attacks that deal cold damage. Furthermore, you may ignore the Acrobatics penalty for ice and can move across ice at normal speed.
Illiteracy (Caranian): You do not know how to read and write in any language, not even those you can speak. You automatically fail any Linguistics skill check involving writing. However, you gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against spells and effects based on writing, such as glyphs, sigils, and symbols.
Pragmatic Polytheist (Caranian): You pray to whatever local deity will answer your prayers—and if they won’t, to hell with them. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (religion) checks and can make Knowledge (religion) checks as if trained. Once per day, you can cast resistance on yourself as a spell-like ability cast at your highest caster level (CL 1st if you have no caster level).
Storied Scars (Caranian): You proudly bear the numerous scars of your life on your body, and each one tells a tale of your experiences. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made to interact with other Caranians, and a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks when dealing with non-Caranian peoples.
Wary of Danger (Caranian): Your people are beset on all sides by threats, and you have developed a keen sense for danger. You gain a +2 trait bonus on initiative checks.
Wasteland Hunter (Caranian): You are an expert hunter among your tribe. Whenever you throw a club, shortspear, spear, or javelin, reduce the penalty for throwing the weapon beyond its initial range increment by 2 (to a minimum penalty of 0). For example, a club (with a range of 10 feet) thrown at a target 25 feet away would incur only a –2 penalty with this trait.
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