Githyanki
Githyanki are psychic humanoids who dwell in the Astral Plane. Long ago, the ancestors of the githyanki were primitive humans (or a race very like humans), enslaved en masse by the star-spanning Illithid Empire. The downfall of the illithids came when, through centuries of breeding programs, they endowed their slaves with psychic powers to make them more useful. A woman named Gith arose among the slaves and led them in revolt, successfully breaking the chains that bound their race. The Illithid Empire crumbled not long after.
Gith wanted to exterminate all illithids forever, but the war hero Zerthimon believed they should isolate themselves and focus on introspection. There was a civil war and Gith killed Zerthimon; when it was over Gith’s followers became the githyanki and colonized the Astral Plane, while Zerthimon’s followers, the githzerai, fled to the Maelstrom.
After the war, Gith went to make a deal with the dragon god Dahak. No one knows the details of their deal, but Dahak promised Gith that her people would always have the aid of red dragons to serve as mounts and guardians. Gith never returned; some say she agreed to be devoured by Dahak for the sake of her people. However, Gith left her second-in-command, the sorceress Vlaakith the First, to become the first queen of the githyanki. Vlaakith’s descendants, all of whom took her name in her honor, continued to rule the githyanki in unbroken succession for millennia.
However, the last, Vlaakith CLVII, bore no children, so instead of letting the line die she turned herself into a lich. She has continued to rule the githyanki for thousands of years and has killed any githyanki who rises above 16th level. Her ultimate goal is to become a god and rule for eternity.
The githyanki still inhabit the Astral Plane. Their capital, the floating city of Tu'narath, is the greatest citadel in that dimension. The githzerai constantly plot to expand their control over the entire multiverse, launching frequent raids against the Material Plane with flying ships and red dragon mounts. Githyanki have a highly lawful, martial society in which almost all individuals are combat-trained either as githwarriors (fighters, rangers, rogues, and other martial classes), warlocks (arcane and psychic classes like wizards, sorcerers, psychics, and kineticists), or the highly respected gish, who combine both disciplines (including magi, bards, alchemists, occultists, and various multiclassed combinations).
Among the githyanki, all religion is outlawed, save for the worship of Queen Vlaakith; a handful of clerical githyanki heretics may worship Asmodeus or other fiends, but they are slain on discovery. Most githyanki healers are occultists or telekineticists.
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