Yalu (5e Race)

Yalu

“

They were made of something supposedly impossible. An embodiment of light, given form, shape, emotions... mortality.

”

Physical Description

From Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #27', illustrated by Rafa Sandoval

The yalu appear to be metallic beings shaped to be thick, stocky humanoids. They have bands of light where their inner core shines through brightly. Every yalu has a different color light within, some of which are not truly perceptible by creatures with lower spectrum ocular receptors. The metal which constructs their body is impressively flexible and sturdy, able to bend like skin yet block like armor. The eyes of a yalu are believed to actually be nonexistent. The light which emanates from their body bounces back and is received by the metal on their body, allowing them to effectively sense through a form of echolocation via photons.

History

It is said that the yalu were created by an unnamed creator race which came from the stars with an unknown material. This is what makes up most of the yalu's body. They were constructed to be hollow and granted a shard of stars as a core, which is the source of their ever-glimmering light. The yalu were left as their creators fled for unknown reasons, back into the Astral Sea. Left to their own devices, the yalu wandered as nomads in the early world. When others came to hunt them for the metal of their bodies, they fled to undisclosed corners of the world and hid until long after many upheavals and collapses of kingdoms. Their numbers grew incredibly, as the metal which constructs their body is capable of replicating, allowing them to be a unique construct that can reproduce. They then took step back into the world.

Society

Having been hunted before, the yalu are slow to trust other races. They are particularly distrustful of races which have records as holders of empires, like yuan-ti, as well as races who manufacture a lot, like humans and dwarves. Yalu culture currently is sequestered in a few sites around the world where their numbers are decently sustained. Venturing out of these villages is ill-advised and yalu youngsters are taught at young ages to be wary of others. Few yalu, who prove their strength and wisdom through an initiation, are granted a title which allows them to leave. They are seen as the strongest who can sustain themselves in a place that would hunt them for their body. For a yalu, strength of the body and mind are both important, but true proof of this is survival. Thus, if a yalu returns from the outside, they are practically shoo-ins to become chief to lead their villages.

Yalu Names and Titles

The yalu bear a variety of titles as well as a birth and survival name. Among yalu culture titles come before birth names which in turn come before survival names. However in day-to-day speech ones birth name is sufficient for the purposes of communication. Titles are presented in their language and their birth names are fusions of words of meaning in their language as well words of meaning in another language, so as to hopefully confer the strengths of the languages together. Survival names, however can be in any language but are still words of meaning towards why they survived all this time.

Titles: Ultei (Married to One, meaning an Immortal or other Yalu), Tei (Married, meaning to a Mortal or with an agreed upon time limit), Ultoi (Married to Multiple Partners), Xulei (Slayer of Enemies), Xuloi (Slayer of All our Enemies), Zalei (Defender of Allies), Zaloi (Defender of All our Allies), Mila (Keeper of the Dead) Sila (Keeper of the Grove) among others left to your discretion.

Male Birth Names: Vanu, Ninek, Tadul, Wiqam, Panu, Wenzes, Hanvul

Female Birth Names: Savu, Valecs, Omi, Funa, Tamwi, Qavnes, Daunzi

Survival Names: Waterhid, Shieldstruck, Alliesworn, Oathkept, Beneathdead, Trueblade

Yalu Traits

Constructed golems of light
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. While yalu are born with the body same as that of an adult, their mentality is not mature until around 30, which is when they are considered fully trained in the ways of their village.
Alignment. Yalu are largely lawful. They are very distrustful of other kinds of people.
Size. Yalu stand an average of 6 and a half feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Photon-Sight. You do not have eyes in the normal sense, but you use your immense bright light to receive sensory information about things around you. You can perceive your surroundings without relying on sight within a specific radius. You have a blindsight range of 60 feet, but are blind beyond this radius.
Living Construct. You remain a living thing despite being created rather than born, but you do have some construct qualities. You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
Recharging Sleep. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
Light Emission. Your body is basically like a lantern. As a bonus action, you can emit or shut off the bright light from your core. This bright light emanates out to 60 feet from you.
Wariness. You are proficient in the Insight skill.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write in Common.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
6′ 0''	+1d6	200 lb.	× (1d8) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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