Saturday, December 29, 2012

Race a Day: Lanar



Lanar
Mystic shaman who possess the beauty and fury of the storm.

RACIAL TRAITS
Average Height: 5’6”-6’5”
Average Weight: 130-250lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Common Draconic, Lanar Dialect
Skill Bonuses: +2 Perception, +2 Religion
Channeling Conduit: You do not take damage from lightning based attacks and may, once per encounter, absorb the damage as hit points instead.
Animal Speak: You can communicate with natural animals that are intelligent enough to have speech. This does not mean the animal is predisposed to help you or even like you.
Breath of the Storm: You can use dragon breath as an encounter power.

Dragon Breath                                                                      Lanar Racial Power
Thunder rumbles in your throat as you exhale pure lightning.
Encounter ♦ Lightning
Minor Action                                                                         Close blast 3
Attack: Ability modifier +2 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Ability modifier lightning damage and targets are stunned until the end of your next round (save ends).
Increase to +4 bonus and 2d6 + Ability modifier damage at 11th level, and to +6 bonus and 3d6 + Ability modifier damage at 21st level.
Special: When you create your character, choose one of the ability scores as the score to use when making attack rolls with this power. That is also the ability modifier you will use for the damage. This choice remains throughout your character’s life and do not change the power’s other effects.

Deeply devoted to nature, the Lanar are shaman who enjoy the wilds and forests of the world. They live in large communal cities in the wild places of the world, where the living world shapes itself to their gentle nurturing. You can tell you’re in a forest protected by Lanar when you find an abundance of rare animals. It is said they have even revived the lost Unicorns.

Play a lanar if you want…
            ♦ to have deep shamanistic ties to the natural world.
            ♦ to be master of the wild terrains of the world.
            ♦ to be a member of a race that favors the druid, ranger, and shaman classes.


Physical Qualities
Lanar resemble humanoid dragons about as tall as humans. They have large wings they can use to glide but cannot fly. They’re covered in shiny scales that glimmer and shine. Though not metallic, they seem that way, and lanar are varying shades of silver, white, blue and black, much like storm clouds and the sky before and after a storm. Some of them have bright flashes of scales light a lightning strike that run across their back or chest. Like many of their cousins, lanar have distinctive frills on their cheeks and horns on their faces or running down their backs. Lanar tend to have blue, hazel, or green eyes. A few have been known to have pure blue eyes with white pupils or pure white eyes with blue pupils.
            Lanar prefer natural clothing such as leather and fur. They adorn their clothing with intricate knot work and delicate runes that either tell story, ancestry, or are meant to protect and ward away evil. They dislike purchasing anything and enjoy making things themselves. They will also make jewelry out of things they find that catch their eye. Sticks, shiny stones, a bit of fallen bark, feathers and other objects are woven together into pendants and bracelets. It is rare to see any bone in lanar jewelry, as they find it distasteful and even vulgar.
            Lanar mature fairly quickly, becoming physically mature at age 10. They are considered adults by their own standards at age 16, generally after a tribal ritual. After that they age very slowly. They are considered middle aged around 200 and can live to be nearly 500 years old or better.

Playing a Lanar
Lanar revere nature and all things natural and wild. They see the world as a living creature, and all things and all life on Joresch as special and wonderful. They work with the natural world, taking from it what they need and giving back in equal measure. They strive to always maintain a balance in the world and to protect the natural world and keep it safe. They are not alone in their task, and work closely with other races, including the elves and the lycan, and often you can find all three races living together and working towards common goals.
            Lanar society tends to be matriarchal, as they see the mother as a sacred thing and revere the mother that is Joresch. No one is subjugated, and men have equal rights as women do, but women tend to hold the positions of power in any clans you may find. They are the elders who guide the young ones. They are the masters who apprentice new students. They are the high priestesses and perform the great rituals that play a part in lanar society. There are men who perform such duties as well in many clans, but overall they are happier having the women in these rolls, and take great comfort when women are in charge.
            Religion plays an important role in lanar society as well. Their legends tell of a time when the world itself was given life so that it could, in turn bring forth life. To this end, they worship Joresch herself, offering up prayer and thanks for creating life and for the bounty offered forth from the world. Their deity of choice, however, as equally revered as Joresch, is Selatise, the great Guardian of the natural world. There are monthly rituals to honor both Joresch and Selatise, but otherwise, daily prayers are personal and private, and there are weekly teachings on the natural world and the history of Selatise. They feel it important to honor those that provide for them and protect them, but they also feel that some people take it too far, and that perhaps the Gods also enjoy peace and quite like other people, and so try not to be a bother.
            Lanar are not aggressive by nature. They know that sometimes violence is necessary, but they do their best to preserve life as they see it as precious and important. That does not mean they don’t hold grudges. Slighting a lanar is a difficult thing, unless you destroy nature for no good reason. This is why the lanar have a grudge against the kaedia. They see the kaedia move into a place, claim it as their own, and then proceed to tear down the trees, tear up the ground, slaughter animals by the thousands and pour brick and mortar over the natural landscape to create their massive citadels and cities. No other race is as blatant or horrible about what they do as the kaedia and a lanar will use the full force of their power against one of the militant elves should they come across one.
            That being said, the lanar are one of the most light hearted races on the face of the world. They love to sing and laugh and they enjoy few things more than a good ale and a warm fire with good friends. They’re very easy going and it’s easy to be friends with a lanar. People find that, in fact, it’s actually more difficult to not like a lanar. They’re warm, fun, and a great ally to have in a scrape.

Lanar Characteristics: Devout, free-spirited, friendly, fun loving, light hearted, optimistic, perceptive, self-reliant, wild

Male Names: Axtol, Bexis, Corax, Drexel, Evrix, Frax, Ilix, Melixar, Neelix, Oxar, Relix, Serex, Tuvix

Female Names: Alixia, Bexella, Dax, Dexa, Exalla, Fexa, Jexa, Kyrxa, Millanix, Noraxa, Pixar, Salax, Siraxa, Tyrix

Lanar Adventurers
Three sample lanar adventurers are described below.
            Corax is a young druid, fresh in his power and thrilling to the wild speed and freedom he has gained with his new abilities. He rushes through the forest, changing into various wild animals to see what new things he can find. As he bounds through the forest, a strange scent catches his attention. Following the trail he comes across a group of undead slowly dragging a woman bound in a net out of the forest. Confused and enraged he leaped on the unholy creatures , tearing them to shreds. As he freed the woman and healed her wounds, he learned that she had no voice, but through careful interaction, Corax learned that the young woman needed to get the Academy of the World in Graywyn, a long journey indeed. Making a quick decision, he led the woman back to his village to have her wounds properly taken care of. He said his goodbyes, gathered supplies, and the next day set out into the world to find his destiny and learn more of the mysterious silent woman he’d saved.
            Alixia is a Cleric of Selatise. Her life has been happy and quiet and she has grown restless. She dearly loves her forest home among the trees, the elves, and the lycan, but she hasn’t seen anything beyond her forest home. She’s never even seen the edges of the forest she lives in. The outside world calls to her. Surely there are those out there who need her council, her wisdom, people who need help protecting other parts of the world. The need to leave grows steadily worse each day, and the outside world calls to her. Though she’s young and a bit frightened she finally makes up her mind to head out into the wide world to see what might be there, to find and help those in need, and maybe, just maybe, to have a bit of fun. If there’s time.
            Tyrix is scared, worn, and angry. She has been tracking a necromancer for several months now. The evil mage nearly destroyed her home and turned several of her friends and family into shambling zombies filled with a terrible plague. The only thing that’s saved and protected her are her shaman abilities and spirit allies. Recently the trail ran cold and she has spent three days trying to pick it up again, her rage building as her quarry eludes her. A lack of sleep, aching wounds and a spreading fever finally overtake her, and she collapses. She woke somewhere unfamiliar, in a warm bed, her wounds nearly healed and the fever passed. Cautiously making her way around she finds she is in the house and the care of a powerful chaos wizard who has been looking for the same man she has been. He suggest waffles and a team up. Now she must decide whether to trust this madman or to go her own way and hope to take down the necromancer on her own.  

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