Hidden Face - The Deerath, Haunting Song Of The Dusken Realms

The Writer

There was a time in which the western shores of The Veil weren't a synonym of death for the mind, and in which the realms below were as blue and clear as the skies in the sun wastes where now the man is little more than an ant striving for another day of survival. It was in the days in which the scar of the world appeared that, desperate, life searched for shelter and haven wherever it was possible to find it. Many perished before realizing that there was no hope left upon the earth or below it, and that the only place untouched by the poison of The Abyss laid deep, under the shifting tides. It was said that, in the beginnings beyond recall, life came from the unseen depths of the sea, and now, life was comming back home to find death in a cold embrace, amid uncertain dreams of hope forever lost and the rotten crafts of daring men who wanted to touch the horizon. The days when the world scar came to be were troubled and very few dare to remember it's exact detail, lest they remember all what was lost and grieve blood as tears would not suffice, so an account of the lives that were lost at the seas lingers not in any willing memory. However, awash with blood and carcass alike, the tide turned dark as wine, and as misty clouds of twilight orange began to form in the once limpid waters, many began to believe that the seas had claimed enough souls to become a world of it's own in a dark likeness to the once vibrant world of above, a haven for those willing to pay the sea with their lives, upon questioning too much the meaning of existance in the tortuous world above. It was since then that the dark tides of the western shores earned the name of The Seas Of Doubt, and most sane folk would not dare passing on those waters, for many claim them to be cursed with the longing of an emerging world that one day may becamo the new Threa, once the old world finaly dies.

Despite the misery and horrors Threa have wittnessed in the world above the waves, most wise sages and cautious pursuers of truth disscounted such claims as born out from the fear of men, intimidated by the dark and calm vastness of the red tides. Enboldened by the confidence of reason, some daring souls attempted once again to navigate the timeless waves of The Sea Of Doubt, only to find out that something dwelt in the murky realms below the water. Time and again, sailors despaired upon sighting these "colored lights" under the water, circling them like sharks, and fear clutched their souls as they felt eyes that peered through flesh, bone, brain, faith, and lie into their hearts and thoughts, followed by a soft humming, sad as a lament for the world that is no more. So man fled back to his shores and, behind him, the deerath watched with the curiosity of a child, for perhaps maddness is right and, as the world is slowly swallowed by the growing tide, the dusken realms grow to become the one and only Threa in which the voice of the Singing Haunts is the song of the world and man nothing but the dream of dolphins.

Physical Description

To glance upon a deerath is an experience that few can forget for it is a remainder that, while Threa is on the throes of it's death, beauty still lingers amid foulness as a candle of faerie fire in the heart of the night. With shapes that seem sculpted with the lust that burns in the craving carress of a succubus and the forbbiden thoughts of an angel, deeraths look as humanoid as the desire of men can be shaped, but their forms bear no hair of any kind, a mane of lazy tentacles crowning their heads instead, slowly writhing in all directions as if the yearning to touch was too strong to be overcame, betraying a nature that stems not from bloodlines dwelling upon the dry earth. Bearing the otherwordly aesthetics of the wild and colorfull gardens of the dusken realms, a deerath's skin both shines like the polished scales of a tropical fish and glistens like the terse skin of the jungle frogs in unique shades that range from the darkest brown to a yellow so golden as to rival the sun, for the singing haunts are capable to set their bodies alight, as if they fancied themselves the stars of the evernight in the depths of the sea, talking to each other in words of color and sentences of pattern as their airy voices are to be heard only above the waters.

Since the form of the singing haunts was revealed, scholars of all kinds ponder, trying to guess the intend behind such a masterpiece, for it is hard to believe it's authory to belong to mere chance and freak accident. That a being who can trace back it's ancestry to the humble seabed flowers and spineless crabs bears such a dire and perfect semblance of humanity is beyond coincidence, no matter if it's forearms and other parts are still covered in thick plaques in the likeness of lobsters and shrimps. As no answer can satisfy the intellectual minds in this matter, many have turned their thought to the stars from above and wondered that, if in the unchronicled past, visitors from the black tapestry had came, they could have left a dormant seed of alien beauty on the bosom of Threa, which might have silently awakened, as the world is about to end. If this theory is true, it would explain their suspicious fecundity, as gender is naught but a choice that can be undone by mere will in matter of hours, almost as if designed to spread upon the barrenness of a dying world, saving it from it's impending solitude.

Unearthly beauty, reach for a world untouched by the surface evils, eyes of many colors that can pierce the darkness of the depths, unfettered by the constrains of mortal duality, voices that can move the hardest hearts, numbers growing into legions at every passing day, minds that can peer into the hearts of other folk; the deerath seem perfect, earning the right to inherit Threa as the other mortal races dwindle into extinction if not for the fact that, despite being able to breath air, the land won't suffer them for long and, after a few days at best, a deerath needs to return to the watery depths from whence it came. Such is the pact it holds with the sea, a promise it needs to keep upon risking a death of dry pain and coughing despair, for gills still line their necks and sides reminding them where they belong.

Society

There is no verifiable account as what refers to the thoughts and truths regarding the deerath but the few cryptic words they had spared to the broader mortal minds and the ramblings of the mentally derranged, who claim such preposterous things as to have been dragged underwater, into The Dusken Realms, beholding inhuman wonders at the depths. Quite sociable, the deerath are good natured but cryptic, thought this doesn't stems from a sense of superiority or haughtyness, for it is their rather alien mindset which is to blame. Deeply emotional creatures, the singing haunts understand the world around themselves and the beings on it through the entire gamma of their feelings, weaving them as if they were chords and tunes of a grand symphony with which they convey their thoughts and musitations, bereft of shape or margin but brimming to no end with detail and color in a logical connundrum. With minds unfashioned to conceive linear thought or concrete conceptualization, the deerath have a hard time putting in the constrain of nouns and adjectives what their analogical minds intend to convey.

Given this distinct perception of reality, the concept of civilization as man understands it lacks any meaning to the singing haunts, instead embracing contemplative existances in the ever-present tense, eschewing any sort of attachment or sense of posession, instead hoarding memory and experience as their most valued treasures. As such, the deerath give a particular importance in keeping their bonds with others rejuvenating constantly, thought never to the point of smothering or attachment. In most cases, a mere acknowledgement is enough, and a common "salutation" among the singing haunts would roughly be translated as "Remember me, for I remember you."

Relations

Naive but not stupid, the deerath have learned, sooner than later, that the dwellers from the world above cannot be trusted. Curiously enough, it is not the ever wandering gavra or the hungry alghul which they fear, but men. For, while unlikely, now and then a deerath has been captured by humans desperate enough to commit most heinous acts and, upon them, discovering a most unthinkable truth in the body of the singing haunts: their flesh, raw and uncooked, is, perhaps, the most exquisite morsel a mortal with the human sense of taste could ever hope to experience. Some have gone as far as to attribute supernatural powers to it, to the point of saying it cures illnesses or breaks enchantments, but none of such has been proven ever. Then again, only the blackest hearts would dare willingly harming a deerath, for the detail and richness with which it can convey it's suffering to others through it's song would deter most from such terrible acts. Nevertheless, there are other sentiences in the depths of The Dusken Realms and men, while a threat above waters, it is the least of the concerns for a deerath, for it is these dwellers of the deep trenches which truely inspire fear on a race that leads a rather carefree existance.

While curious, the deerath find the gavra many contradictory emotions confusing and their obsessions saddening, while finding the alghul plain and rather boring with their hunger being a monotone noise opacating any other melody. They find themselves lost on the labyrintine machinations of hellspawn, but allured by the sensible freedom in the mind and feelings of the pitborn, thought they dim them way too dark and violent for their own peacefull taste.

Alignment & Religion

Beings of peace and contemplation, deerath find themselves leaning towards good, thought their particular mindset pushes them strongly towards chaos. However, as samplers of all sorts of emotions, deerath aren't incapable of evil and a very few have taken a likening for the unique taste of such dark emotions. Bereft of tradition or registrable culture, the deerath like any sort of faith in greater powers. Some, however, revere nature as the animating force in all things and, thus, responsible for the bliss of existance.

Adventurers

The life of deerath is one of wanderlust by nature. Nevertheless, very few deeraths venture forth beyond the limits of The Dusken Realms, for there are elder things of a far more sinister nature roaming on clearer and bluer waters. In the other hand, the accounts of those claiming to have seen vast deerath cities under the waves aren't completely untrue, as The Sea Of Doubt sitts upon the remainder of ancient cities long lost, ruins from times of greater glories and splendor, and the deerath have taken a liking for these abandoned settlements, fashioning them as their own collective homes. However, now and then, curiosity sets one particular deerath apart, which grows increasingly interested in understanding the secrets concealed in this remanents of the past, secrets which can only be unveiled, most likely, with the help of those above. One way or the other, the singing haunts are eager to explore the world above before it ceases to exist and becomes theirs, in the likeness of The Dusken Realms.

Standard Racial Traits

* Ability Score Racial Traits: While deeply attuned to their feelings and the emotions of other creatures, their bodies are designed for the ungravity of water and their alien mindsets have a hard time accomodating the ways of common sense and logic. They gain +4 Charisma, -2 Strenght and -2 Intelligence.
* Size: Deerath are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Type: Deerath are humanoids with the aquatic and psionic subtypes.
* Base Speed: Deerath have a base speed of 30 feet on land. As aquatic creatures, they also have a swim speed of 30ft, can move in water without making Swim checks, and always treat Swim as a class skill.
* Languages: Deerath begin play speaking Deerathian, their own visual language. Only deeraths (or creatures with the ability to change the pattern of their skins at will) can speak deerathian, thought very few creatures have the alien mindset and understanding for like actually learning to speak it fluently. Deeraths with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).

Defensive Racial Traits

* Chitin Plating: In the likeness of many creatures from the depths, the deerath possess a protective shielding on some parts of their bodies, thought mainly visible on their forearms and sheens. This shielding grants a Natural Armor bonus of +1. 

Feat & Skill Racial Traits

* Haunting Voice: Thought they cannot use their voices below the waters, deeraths are gifted singers and their songs are the stuff of many legends and myths across The Veil. They receive a +2 racial bonus on Perform (Sing) skill checks.
* Wild Talent: Latent psionic beings ready to awaken their nascent powers, deerath receive Wild Talent as a racial bonus feat.

Psionic Racial Traits

* Empathy: Once per day, a deerath can manifest Empathy as a psi-like ability with a manifester level equal to it's current hit dice.

Offense Racial Traits

* Song Of The Haunt: The unique ability that gained the deerath their nickname. Once per hour, and as an standard action, a deerath can attempt to convey the mournfull sense of loss of The Sea Of Doubt in a soft but unnatural song. Anybody who can hear the deerath must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the deerath's hit dice + the deerath's Charisma modifier) or become shaken for 1d4 rounds. A target that successfully saves cannot be affected by the song of the same character for 24 hours. Creatures that are already shaken become frightened for 1d4 rounds instead. This is a sonic, mind-affecting effect.  

Senses Racial Traits

* Deepsight: Deeraths are specially adapted to the lightless depths of the oceans and, so, they can see in the dark up to 120ft. while underwater, but do not gain this benefit out of water. 

Weakness Racial Traits

* Delicious: The taste of deerath's raw flesh posses a flavor that few creatures of carnivorous diets can resist. As such, the deerath have a -2 penalty to Escape Artist skill checks and Combat Maneuvers to escape a grapple from a creature using a bite attack with the Grab ability. 
* Water Dependency: As much as they would love to wander freely on the realms above the waves, deerath are bound to the water by physiological reasons. As such, a deerath can withstand a number of days equal to 1 + Constitution Modifier without being inmmersed in water. After this time, once per day, the deerath needs to make a Fortitude save with an initial DC of 10 and a cumulative +1 per each passing day or experiment critical organ failure and die in 4d6 hours.

Other Racial Traits

* Amphibious: As amphibious creatures, deerath can breath both air and water. Nevertheless, their aquatic nature makes them dependant of water as their main habitat and they can't survive for too long in absense of such an enviroment.
* Chromapluris: Capable of changing the shape, position, and density of their skin pigments, deerath are capable of changing the colors and patterns of their skin and eyes with relative ease. As a swift action, a deerath can try to match it's skin colors with the features of the surrounding enviroment, granting him a +2 circumstance bonus in Stealth skill checks. Alternatively, a deerath can make it's body to radiate a vibrant light of any color it fancies, shedding normal light in a 20-foot radius and increasing the light level by one step for an additional 20 feet beyond that area as a torch would. A deerath can stop this effect as a free action and resume it 1d4 rounds after, sustaining it indefinetely as long as it is concious.

- The Writer.