Entschmarner (5e Race)

Entschmarner

“	Death should not have taken thee.	”
—Entschmarner Incantation of Death, Book of Lamentations

Lipstick On A Skeleton

By Marek Rymar

Entschmarner are strange beings with fiendish and undead appearances, although they are ultimately humanoid. They are known most prominently for their notable skull head, which is not that of a normal skull. It usually appears demonic, with protrusions like horns, sharp teeth, and eerie glowing lights within the sockets of its eyes. The rest of their body is fairly thin, sporting surprising flexibility. Their hands and feet are tipped with black claws. Most of their body is more or less a stained yellowish color, like unbleached bones. The luminous innards of their head are known to glow throughout parts of their body, like their chest and abdomen. Some entschmarner can manipulate this light and project it out from their being as though it is some sort of sentient flame.

While they certainly look like something from the depths of damnation or risen from the grave, entschmarner dress as anything but. They are highly classy in their taste in clothing, often preferring to appear aristocratic, even when it may be beyond their means. An entschmarner seems to be competitive in this sense with others of its kind. Even a beggar entschmarner, which is rare, will try to craft the illusion of importance and mild wealth with trinkets and shiny adornments. Most entschmarner are well-off, able to dress as well as any noble.

Neglect Of Death

Death is a force believed to have existed in tandem with life, forever and forever. Some believe, however, that immortality was actually the origin, and death came only afterward, almost like a sort of disease or curse. The entschmarner attest to this, calling themselves among the deathless. They regard undeath and induced immortality with snobbery, seeing it as inferior to truly deathless beings. According to their allegedly illustrious archives, death came about as a way to spite life. Some were able to escape its clutches. They are the deathless, encompassing the handful of natural immortals. Entschmarner therefore claim to be something akin to that of a creator race, having existed long before many others. However, there is something fishy with their stories, namely that they sound so cultish. There are many who believe them delusional wizards who erroneously transfigured themselves into something disturbing.

Seemly And Wild

Entschmarner circles are generally mixed with that of power and wealth. Their numbers are relatively few to be known. Entschmarners in society are usually of prominent status, having achieved this through often underhanded means. They do not feel safe without the protection of social status. They speak ill of entschmarners who are either social outcasts or "wild." This implies there are populations who live outside the known spheres of civilization. It can be surmised they are fairly hidden, as only entschmarners of prestige are ever noted. There are noted sightings of them living like ghastly spirits in the woodlands of temperate wilds. They have been said to embody mysterious voices heard at night, and are known to lead travelers astray, hinting at their feral and trickster nature.

Those Who Flee Death

For the most part, the one thing that binds all entschmarners is their attitude towards harm and death. While they live forever, they lack truly deathless bodies, as they are susceptible to harm by weapons and magic. To entschmarners, the afterlife is a lie and no such thing exists. Therefore, death erases one entirely. They have an intense reaction seeing death, prompting some into a feral state of mind. Thus, they never attend funerals or other sorts of funerary rites. This fear of dying is what prompts entschmarners to seek positions of power and prestige, as they believe it acts as a ward against death. They like to take political positions and send others to die in their stead, much like how a king watches from the safety of their throne. Feral entschmarners lack this recourse, which is why they tend to be wily and ephemeral, abandoning relationships to save their own lives and resorting to cowardly survival tactics.

Entschmarner Names

Names for entschmarners reflect their haughty and high-minded attitudes about themselves. They are usually long and illustrious-sounding, with at least three parts on average. The surnames sound made-up because they often are. Feral entschmarner in contrast avoid use of names for fear it can be used against them. But all entschmarner overall have very thin lines dividing gender, and it is not an important distinction for them unless it serves as cultural leverage.

Male: Mizaru no Kamikatagatani, Onmoe ga Kikazaru no Tama, Iwa Zaru Daiga, Haren von Garul

Female: Neri Ella Spagotelli, Curol Enratholl il Agretha, Daza Me Retingue, Roja Al Kiraza

Entschmarner Traits

The deathless ones, or delusional ones
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1 and either your Wisdom or Charisma score increases by 2.
Age. Entschmarner are born commonly from unions between entschmarners and other humanoids. They are born as mere infants and mature slowly, usually around 25 years of age. As they claim, they do not die of old age, though they can become very brittle, and even senile. They can still be killed by other means.
Alignment. The general body of known entschmarners are very neutral and mild-mannered at a glance. This often belies their inner condescension and crafty minds. They are not afraid to abandon allies to save themselves. Feral entschmarners are similar, but they are usually more chaotic.
Size. Most entschmarners are slightly taller than humans on average, but they are around the same weight. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Silver Tongue. You are proficient in the Persuasion skill.
Inner Blaze. You know the dancing lights cantrip and can cast it without material or verbal components.
Stay Death. You can cast spare the dying with a reaction once, with a range of self. You can use this trait immediately after being reduced to 0 hit points, so long as you are not killed outright. You regain use of this trait after you finish a long rest.
Death Frenzy. The very visage of death can make you an entirely different person. When a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see is killed, you can use your reaction to enter a state of frenzy until the end of your next turn. The creature cannot have been killed by you. While in a frenzy, your movement speed increases by 10 feet, you are unaffected by difficult terrain, and you are immune to being charmed. You can use this trait once, regaining use when you finish a short or long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice..

Variant: Feral Entschmarner

Feral entschmarners are the few who are seen in the wild, outside cushy rooms of silk and posh. While not as elegant, they sport the same obsession with eluding death. They generally entertain themselves by fooling around with travelers from a distance, leading them astray and frightening them. Like other entschmarners, they are cowards before death.

This racial variant replaces the Ability Score Increase, Stay Death, and Silver Tongue traits. You instead gain a new Ability Score Increase, and the Undying Will and Feral Expression traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1 and either your Wisdom or Strength score increases by 2.
Undying Will. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Feral Expression. You are proficient in the Intimidation skill.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 8''	+2d10	135 lb.	× (2d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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