#splintered worlds

[dorian-v-gaye]

Khada Jhin almost-hetrosexual moments.

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 3: Elebrian

If you ever needed a concrete answer as to why Intelligence and Wisdom are two different stats, I submit to you the example of the Elebrians. Native to the planet Eox, this brilliant race of large-headed human-like beings were so advanced in the time of Golarion’s Azlanti Star Empire as to be able to communicate and even war with other planets in the same system. (The planet Verces even once threw a kaiju at them that they teleported away to Golarion. It was a wild time)

Utterly convinced of their superiority, the elebrians wanted everyone in the system to know how great they were, but when the planets Damiar and Iovo did not recognize their brilliance, the elebrians could think of only one solution: blow them up.

So they built a massive magical superweapon and aimed it at the twin planets, and fired, utterly destroying the two planets and creating the asteroid belt that would come to be known as the Diaspora. However, apparently nobody thought that maybe firing a world-killer while it is on your own world was a bad idea, because the backlash blew a continent-sized crater in Eox and set the atmosphere on fire, rendering the world almost entirely lifeless.

Most Eoxian natives turned to undeath to persist on their ruined homeworld, but even to this day in the far future of Starfinder, living elebrians exist in underground cities, rarely interacting with the outside universe except by proxy of their undead rulers and neighbors on the surface.

When seen in the wider universe, elebrians are extremely similar to humans in appearance, hinting at a shared origin (humans do seem to get around a lot in Paizo’s greater mega-setting). However, they are almost always hairless, though a rare few sport thin, whispy hair on their scalps. Said craniums are also a bit larger and more rounded than the human norm, giving them an appearance somewhere between human and the classic gray in silhouette.

Culturally, though most of the proud elebrians embrace undeath to retain some semblance of control over their dead world and pretend that they haven’t lost something irreplaceable in terms of what their home once was, those that choose to remain alive are perhaps sobered compared to their undead kin. That being said, they have lost none of the ambition for knowledge and power that was associated with their ancient ancestors. Still, life among the living is difficult, as they are often treated as second-class citizens by the undead, viewed as stubbornly resisting the status quo, or like a rare species that only survives in a sort of zoo for sapient creatures, to be preserved and curated.

 Elebrians are tough and intelligent, but perhaps a bit short-sighted.

They do have an uncanny knack for taking advantage of a weakness in foes, striking hard and fast, though they cannot typically do it multiple times in a day against a single foe, as they typically are wary of such tactics after that.

Brilliantly-minded, elebrians absorb information like a sponge, and can recall obscure minutae quite readily after having only heard it once.

Whether it be an adaptation of living underground or just a natural trait of the species, elebrians also have very good night vision.

 Adventuring elebrians are perhaps eager to shed the yoke of their undead kin and see the galaxy. Their great intellects make them well-suited to intelligent classes like technomancer, mechanic, and studious biohackers, while their constitution makes them also useful vanguards, soldiers and solarians (despite gaining only 2 hp from their race). Mystics among them tend to struggle due to their wisdom penalty, so those that seek spellcasting without the trappings of technomancy often go witchwarper instead (Perhaps hoping to see an alternate reality where Eox did not burn). Those that choose the path of the envoy or operative often favor builds that reward them for their knowledge and quick analysis, taking on the air of brilliant explorers.

Another entry down, but tune in tomorrow for more!