Gichi (5e Race)
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Giriguchi[edit]
High on the mountain peaks of Zakazai live the Giriguchi; masters of the air and hunters of the weak, created by the goddess Kabui. Though they live in isolation, their existence is pivotal to keep the balance of the island.
Physical Description[edit]
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| A naked Giriguchi showing off its wings. (Source: apeldille) |
A Giriguchi is no small bird, standing on average seven foot tall - in part thanks to their long and slender neck. They have four arms, two of which elongated and equipped with wings to allow flight. These appendages are quite useless for most other tasks, however; unable to grasp due to lack of thumbs and awkward to attack or scratch with unless their wings are folded up. Instead, these tasks are often performed by its second set of arms, which resemble more human-like structure.
A Giriguchi's back is almost entirely covered in feathers and a tail extends from it. This itself is covered in smaller feathers, though a larger plume extends near its tip. Their legs are equipped with talons with which they often snatch unsuspecting prey, like Pipshi.
Their head is attached to their torso with a long neck, allowing them a great range of motion and subsequently vision: They can turn their heads almost a full 360 degrees. Their beak curved forwards and downwards instead of out - they are carnivorous, after all - and on their head sits a sturdy casque. The exact sizes and shapes of these, of course, differ per individual, as do the exact colourations and patterns of their feathers. Often, however, these are white and brown.
History[edit]
Long, long ago, when the earth was empty of sentient life, the Earth-Mother and the Heavens made love and bore children; the first of the Gods. Powerful wizards and witches who could harness the power of Earth itself. The Earth-Mother sent her children forth into the world, across the continents of what would become the Twelve Queendoms, to create life.
Kabui, a daughter, set forth for a lone volcanic island high in the north, which would come to be called Zakazai. Here, she found many an animal, big and small alike: from long-haired, long-horned bovines to small rodents, to bears and wolves hunting thereon, to birds preying on the remains. One by one, she took an animal and created sentient life with it as a base, and gave it a place on the island. When she came to the vultures, these she made into the Giriguchi and placed to roost on the windy spires central on the island, amidst the various volcanoes.
Every spire was given a name by the Giriguchi, in their own squawking tongue, and every spire grew into its own colony over the years. Their aerial prowess allowed for quick and easy communication between these various nesting colonies, but their desire for individual independence caused no over-arching hierarchical structure to take place. Even among a singular spire, there was little structure besides those formed by the individual nests.
After Kabui passed into slumber, as was customary for the children of the Earth-Mother, the Giriguchi squabbled over where she would rest. Every race on the island had constructed their own monument in remembrance of she who shaped them, and every race longed for their monument to be chosen. The Giriguchi were among the first to be forced to forfeit, after the Pipshi and Hishoni - despite their aerial superiority, they were just no match for the stronger Ushida or Kintsu, or the bulky Minosawa, or the durable Kameyama. This last race of tortoise-folk ended up victorious trough not their offence, but their supreme resilience. It is said the slumbering body of Kabui still rests in a sealed-off room in their temple.
After this loss, the Giriguchi grew bitter towards the other folks of the island, only allying occasionally with the equally bitter Hishoni when hunting or when raiding. They isolated themselves on their spire, and any eventual attempt to unionise with the rest of the island was met with aggression, or simply ignored. When the Minosawa, Pipshi and Kintsu formed an official government together, the first triad of beasts, they did not cooperate. When this government grew in size and influence, they remained isolated on their spires. To them it was nought but an easier target to scavenge for food.
And when Astreo, who would come to be God-Emperor of the world as it was known, set foot on Zakazai with his mind on conquest, they did not send aid to the Mikipi government when requested. They remained out of the conflict entirely, and Astreo remained even oblivious of their existence until far later in his reign.
After Astreo too passed, and one of his daughters came to be Queen of the island, the Giriguchi still refused to pledge allegiance. The Queen knew a campaign up to those spires would be akin to a death sentence for most all the troops she'd sent, and knew even after these stubborn birds would not comply. Instead, she opted to focus on more pressing internal affairs. Still, the Giriguchi continued to make their way down to her settlements to steal away food and people.
Then, at long last, family by family and spire by spire, the Giriguchi finally found themselves allying with another group - but not with the Queen. Families of Hishoni and Ushida and even the occasional Kameyama grew tired of the Queen's biased policies, favouring Minosawa, Kintsu and Pipshi. Even the ethnic minorities of Ushida and Hishoni living within some of but few cities were treated as different, sometimes as hostile even. Hishigi came to be the name of this group they found themselves allied to, with but one goal: Topple the monarch, and re-establish the anarchical and tribal states in which these groups had lived in for so long before.
Society[edit]
The Giriguchi are spread over a collection of spires
<Race Name> Names[edit]
Male:
Female:
<Race Name> Traits[edit]
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. A Giriguchi hatches unable to fly or perform basic actions, but learns to in just two or three years. In the harsh environments of the spires, Giriguchi rarely live to be older than fifty.
Alignment. Giriguchi don't tend to one specific alignment
Size. Giriguchi can vary in length, though with their neck fully extended stand on average at 200 cms. Their wingspan is almost three times as much. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Flight. You have a flying speed of 50 feet. You cannot fly while having medium or heavy armour equipped.
Talons. Your talons are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Vulture-built. Your sharp eyes make you proficient in the Perception skill and allow you to see much farther, and your hollow bones make you resist falling damage. However, you are vulnerable to bludgeoning damage
Acidic vomit. Once per short rest, you may use an action to regurgitate the contents of your stomach towards your foe. Roll dexterity to hit. Upon hit, the opponent suffers 1d10 acid damage. At 5th and 16th level, the damage increases to 2d10 and 3d10 respectively. At 11th level, the ability can be used twice before requiring a rest.
Languages. You can speak Kingspeak (Common) and Chikebu. You cannot read or write.
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