Darja (5e Race)

Darja

Physical Description

Darja look just like humans with a slightly blue tinge. When looked at out of the corner of the eye, their legs and hair appear to be a stormy mist swirling in place. When a darja is really empassioned or excited about something they're saying or hearing, their mist will often glow a deeper blue than its normal sea foam shade. The strength of the hue differs between darja, but it's generally small enough of a shift that only those who know a specific darja well would be able to pick up on it.

History

Marids are perhaps the most egotistical of all the denizens of the Elemental Planes. One of their favorite ways to prove their superiority is to kidnap or buy talented artists, craftsmen, and bards just to show off. For the most part, marids take care of their slaves, viewing them as trophies rather than tools to be used and discarded. The only work that they ever require of their slaves, and even then only of their scribes and poets, is to tell stories. Marids love to tell and hear fantastical legends and odes to, above all else, them.

Not all marids require so little from their slaves, however. There was once a true, noble marid named Shahryār. His only slaves were skilled storytellers and orators. Every night, he would ask to be told the best story that slave knew, and then he would have the slave killed so no one else could ever hear it, making the story his alone. Eventually, Shahryār bought a human woman named Scheherazade. When it was her night to entertain her master, the story she told was so long that she had to wait to conclude it until the following night. She ended up telling Shahryār a new story every night, always too long to end in one night. It would have been a tragedy to cut such a wonderful tale short, after all; so, Scheherazade survived, hanging on to life by a thread, night after night.

After just over a thousand nights of her beautiful tales, Scheherazade finally ran out of stories to tell. Shahryār's heart was softened by the time he spent with her, and he knew killing her would do the world a grave disservice in addition to rending his own soul. Shahryār decided to reward her instead for such cleverness and skill. He offered to grant her one wish, and she wished to marry him. Shahryār had treated her better than anyone else in his citadel, even better than his other marid guests, and certainly better than Scheherazade had ever been treated in her life. After almost three years without any contact with them, she guessed her parents and sister already thought she was dead, so she had nothing more to lose. Even though he was surprised, Shahryār granted her wish, giving her magical amphibiousness and granting her the immortality of an elemental. They had many children, and Shahryār made sure that each would be blessed with Scheherazade's gift for storytelling.

Society

After just one generation of new darja, their powers completely fade, making them no different than normal humans. The only actual darja are the children of Scheherazade and Shahryār. This leads to an odd family dynamic between darja; even if they were born a hundred years apart, any two darja are still siblings, and treat each other as such regardless of any other differences like religion or adopted culture. Darja will stay with their parents and hone their skills until they have come up with and told a good enough story to their father for him to allow them to go out into the world.

Shahryār has almost entirely changed his mind about the concept of stories, desiring for his children to spread the gift they received from his wife with every world instead of keeping them all for himself. Darja can be found extremely rarely in any realm anywhere from a noble's court to a run-down tavern, but almost always weaving a wonderful tale of daring heroism and bravery in front of an audience of enthralled listeners. Because of this mission, neither Shahryār nor Scheherazade necessarily keep in contact with their children after they leave, making every darja's coming of age and subsequent send-off unique and emotional.

Darja Names

Darja names are meant to roll off the tongue in a simplistic, yet beautiful way. They will typically have two different vowel sounds, and are therefore always more than one syllable.

Male: Arizima, Zerek, Aden, Basel, Khadi

Female: Parisa, Arya, Shirin, Zara, Mirari

Darja Traits

Elemental folk with a penchant for storytelling
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. All darja leave the Plane of Water at different ages, but it's almost always after they've reached physical maturity. Darja age at the same rate humans do, but have an increased lifespan, living to be closer to 200.
Alignment. Darja tend toward good, but lean neither towards chaotic nor lawful. Scheherazade emphasizes that the way they do good isn't what's important so long as they still help people, leading many darja to pick up their views on the matter from the societies they end up living in.
Size. Darja vary minimally in height and build, from a little over 5 feet to almost 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Heart of the Sea. You have inherited minor control over water from your father. You know the shape water cantrip.
Soul of the Narrative. You have innate magical storytelling ability from your mother. Gain proficiency in two skills of your choice from the following list: History, Persuasion, Deception, and Performance.
Tempestuous Thoughts. While Shahryār wants his children to share their stories with the world, he doesn't want the world to steal their stories, so he made sure the minds of his wife and children were protected. Your thoughts can't be read by telepathy, spells, or other means unless you allow it. When a creature attempts to read your thoughts against your will, they take lightning damage equal to your level, and you immediately know that somebody tried to read your mind, though you may not know who.
Darja Bard Training. You gain proficiency in or learn any combination of three musical instruments or languages of your choice.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Aquan, and any languages you learned from your Darja Bard Training trait.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 11''	+2d6	130 lb.	× (5) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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