Veskorii (5e Race)

Veskorii

Physical Description

a Duskdelve Veskorii (left) and a Dawndream Veskorii (right). Image by Hiuki / Zalva

Veskorii are small, furry, prehensile-tailed humanoids. They are covered head to toe in fur that ranges in color from dark brown, or black, to cream, and is lighter in color around the belly. They have a short snout, bat-like ears, and large, round eyes. Their forearms are thick, and end in 4 dexterous, clawed digits. Their legs are digitigrade with small pads on their paws. The tail usually measures between 5 and 8 hand-lengths past the legs, and commonly ends in a large tuft of long fur that hides 1 to 3 short, claw-like spines on the underside that help them catch onto branches. As a note, their fur may display color patterns such as stripes, etc.

Their eyes range in color from bright aqua to yellow to pumpkin orange, and seem to shine if even dim light is cast on them at the right angle. It is worth noting that Veskorii possess good darkvision.

Veskorii tend to be between 2'6" (76.2 cm) and 3'9" (114.3 cm) in height when they reach adult-hood, and average 39lbs (17.69kg) for females and 35lbs (15.88kg) for males.

Morphological differentiation between male and female veskorii are noted as follows. Males are often shorter than females. While mammalian, veskorii of both sexes have a pouch on their belly, however the pouch of a male veskorii is more shallow. The opening lays fairly flush with the rest of the belly making it very difficult to notice normally. It should also be mentioned that while fairly common for both male and female veskorii to exhibit a set of 2 larger teeth that protrude over the lower lip on either side of the muzzle, the trait is a measure more common in males.

There are currently 2 known subspecies of Veskorii, the Dawndream Veskorii and the Duskdelve Veskorii.

Society

Veskorii, when they settle in a location, tend to make their homes in tall trees or underground between the roots of great trees depending on the subspecies.

Dawndream Veskorii are more adept at working with fabrics, fibers, and other such materials, and they tend to make their homes high in the trees. Netting, wooden planks, cloth, ropes, bone, and a bit of magic are what hold these Veskorii aloft in the branches they've chosen to call home. These villages often have several layers to them even if only to accommodate the Library. Any well established Veskorii settlement will have a communal library of knowledge collected by the members of the settlement from stories and mundane knowledge to research and arcane knowledge. The more dangerous knowledge is held on the top layers of the library to which access is moderated. In addition to the library, these settlements may also have an observatory.

Duskdelve Veskorii are known to practice a small degree of metal craft, and tend to dwell closer to the ground, hidden in the brush or nestled in betwixt the roots of trees using stone, wood, magic, and bits of metal here and there to fashion their dwellings. Perhaps it is that they picked up metallurgy as a result of striking ore whilst building their homes in an age past, but none are sure if this theory is true or not. A well established settlement will often have a library similar to those of their dawndream kin, the difference being that duskdelve libraries tend to keep rarer and more dangerous knowledge in the lower levels as the structure usually descends below ground level. Such settlements might also have a communal smithy.

Veskorii are generally very inquisitive by nature, and have made a habit of causing mischief whether it be intentional or not. They make fine explorers and adventurers, and, in fact, a great many veskorii apply this aptitude and dedicate much of their lives to the collection and recording of knowledge. Other than this, most veskorii end up picking up a craft, and prefer to use the finding of crafting supplies as an excuse to explore. Having roots tracing back to the Feywild, veskorii are prone to chaotic behavior. Magic is a major part of veskorii's lives. Magic is a thing of wonder, and so it is arcane knowledge that many veskorii treasure most. Magic also plays an important part within the veskorii community as it is used in several aspects of their life from the construction of homes to hunting and gathering and more. Every veskorii settlement will have at least one druid or mage capable of influencing the growth of plants. These mages and druids are responsible for growing or sculpting parts of or whole structures for homes and other buildings. Druids are also respected as guardians and oracles. Veskorii druids and mystics often use the stars in their divinations and omen readings, and those that reside in the Feywilds will even use the star-filled waters found in their dusky homeland as component or focus for some spells. While the veskorii don't usually worship deities, they revere the stars. No one is quite sure why, as the knowledge has been lost even to them, though some speculate that perhaps they once worshiped a lost god who had some domain over the night sky.

Dawndream veskorii study the stars from observatories and even have an order that is devoted to these studies. These veskorii are known collectively as "Tarok". Starweaver, Solsiek, and Aurosora are the positions found within the order. Starweavers study the sky and create star maps and charts, weaving intricate tapestries of the stars for further study and navigation. Solsieks study the maps of the starweavers, and discern the channels and pathways of the astral river of the night sky. Aurosora are astral explorers of a sort, and are few in number. They project their souls to the astral plane, and use the starweaver's maps and solsiek's notes to navigate as best they can and record their findings and theories.

On the topic of their libraries, these are collections of knowledge recorded using various media. The more common media used include wooden tablets, parchments, and a variation of the "magic mouth" spell allowing longer recordings. The facility structure is built outward from the center of a great tree. The library is kept by veskorii monks, scholars, and mages. The head librarian is often a veskorii of greater magical power. He or she is also the keeper of the command word that opens passage to the library's most valuable or dangerous documents. the library is also a place of importance to many Veskorii adventurers as new knowledge is always welcome and often rewarded. Such adventurers are labeled Seekers.

Though veskorii do trade, they put little value in coin. They'd rather trade resources and knowledge or items with history behind them. A community of veskorii share much between them. Common, non-consumable items are often left unguarded so they can be borrowed as needed. Unguarded or unclaimed resources are regarded as free to use within reason. In regards to claiming items or resources, the veskorii use a pair of special runes in conjunction with a personal mark to denote that something is claimed or unclaimed. Containers, rooms, and buildings can be marked to denote ownership of all items contained therein.

Regarding their young, veskorii generally have 2 kits at a time. Female veskorii can carry their young in their pouch while climbing through the high branches of the trees that populate their homelands. After around a year, a veskorii kit is strong enough cling to its parent on its own, though often the mother will continue carrying her young in her pouch until at least 1 and a half years have passed. It's also worth noting that veskorii feed their young fruit juices as well as milk. In fact, the majority of a kit's diet is actually fruit juice, not milk. They are switched fully to fruit after a year.

Almost every veskorii that grows up with his or her own kind is crafted a boomerang or other functional token. These boomerangs and tokens are an important part of their culture, symbolizing a bond between family and bear runes and markings that denote family, clan, and that veskorii's own personal mark. They are usually given to veskorii at age 13. The boomerangs are commonly crafted from sturdy wood, bone, or a combination of the two. Once crafted they are lightly enchanted so that they always return when thrown, and unlike normal boomerangs veskorii boomerangs are used for both melee and ranged combat. The boomerang can be used in a similar fashion to that of a scimitar as they are roughly the length of a one-handed sword. If unable to craft a boomerang, the token will be a useful item that is craft-able by one of the kit's family members or clanmates.

Veskorii Spelltraps

Veskorii also seem to have developed a special set of spell-trapping runes which can be used to a variety of effects depending on the cleverness of the user. Hailing from the Feywilds and given their propensity for causing trouble, veskorii use these runes as a means of defense against their home's more unstable magics and magic users. Veskorii often carry around a few trinkets with such runes emblazoned on them. Such trinkets are often referred to as "hag wards". There are generally 2 grades of spelltrap, lesser and greater. Lesser spelltraps are single use in function, and attempt to absorb a spell and store it, but depending on the strength of the spell and the material quality of the spelltrap it might break. If a spell is trapped, it can then be cast from the trap once. After the trapped spell is cast, the rune becomes inert and the trap unusable. Greater spelltraps function similarly in that they trap only one spell, but these traps can hold much more powerful spells without risk of breaking, and can be made to produce a toggleable effect that depends on the spell trapped which can then be used to ward a location. Veskorii usually craft spelltraps to be decorative and keep expended spelltraps that aren't destroyed outright. It is unknown how the veskorii came to learn the methods of crafting these runes, but it is rumored that there exists some documentation on the subject somewhere in the Feywilds. It is also interesting to note that even if the runes are copied by another race, only the veskorii seem to be able to get the runes to produce any effect. Many believe this has something to do with how they originally obtained the knowledge of these runes.

Veskorii Names

Veskorii enjoy picking out fairly unique names and using nicknames, the latter especially with other humanoids.

Male: Audrii, Kiffin, Ooriami, Trien, Uruai, Zynket

Female: Ekoia, Liadren, Lyuruai, Toffy, Yulien

Veskorii Traits

Nimble, fluffy little bundles of curiosity and chaos with ties to the Feywild. Good at climbing and even better at getting into trouble!
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. Considered mature by 15 years of age, and can live as long as 180 years or so.
Alignment. Veskorii originally hailed from the Feywild, and thus tend to be chaotic creatures.
Size. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed provided you are able to find adequate purchase with your hands, feet, or claws.
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.
Not Just For Digging. You can choose to deal slashing damage instead of bludgeoning damage with your unarmed attacks.
Veskorii Spelltrapping (WIP)(optional). Lesser traps require 3 days of work to inscribe, and can trap up to 3rd level spells that would affect the holder when cast. Greater traps require 1 year of work to inscribe, and can trap up to 8th level spells that would affect the holder when cast which produces a toggleable effect when a command word is used. Using the trap to trap a spell is done as a reaction by the holder by speaking a command word. Regardless of the class of trap, only one spell can ever be trapped by a spelltrap. Lesser traps become inert once the trapped spell is cast using the command word again as an action, or if it successfully blocks a higher level spell with a DC 10+(spell lv) check using the modifier used by the artisan's tools used to craft the trap. Work with your DM when using a greater trap to determine the toggleable effect based on the spell that was trapped.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan.

Duskdelve

These Veskorii tend to be of darker fur and sharper instinct. They also are more at home on the ground than their Dawnish cousins. Other points of difference include thicker tail, thicker bones, and wider paws, as well as larger canines (the layman might call these teeth fangs).

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Dawndream

These Veskorii tend to be of lighter fur color and keener intellect. They prefer to rest in the boughs of tall trees (the better to study the stars). Dawndream Veskorii's notable characteristics include larger tail spines, thicker fur, and longer tail.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
2′ 3''	+3d6	23 lb.	× (2) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a veskorii character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.

d8	Personality Trait
1	The best way to investigate something is to poke it!
2	I'm not easily distract- ooooh neat hat!
3	I'm not short, I'm travel sized.
4	I like to bring a bit of the feel of home with me wherever I go.
5	I'm always down to try something new!
6	going it alone makes me anxious, so I prefer to travel with company.
7	I love a good joke, levity is important, ya know?
8	I much rather get lost in my books than interact with others.

d6	Ideal

d6	Bond

d6	Flaw
1	I'm easily distracted by colorful things.
2	I can't help but try to provoke people who annoy me.
3	I tend to make plans over complicated, but making them is so much fun!
4	I sometimes borrow things from the company around me without asking when I'm bored, occasionally forgetting to give them back.
5	I tend to lose track of time when I'm reading.
6	I tend to get lost easily.

0.00

(0 votes)

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