Races Native to Zakhara
Zakhara is home to the typical slew of DnD 5e races. However, unlike other regions of Abeir Toril, the common racial conflicts of elves vs dwarves, goblins vs dwarves, orcs vs dwarves and so on, are mostly a forgotten relic of the past. These days, so long as a person is enlightened, they are welcomed fully into society.
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Ayffan
The humanoid elephants called Ayffan are often oases of calm who reside on Afyal, the Isle of the Elephant. They hum or chant in sonorous tones and move slowly or sit in perfect stillness. If provoked to action, Ayffan are true terrors- bellowing with rage, trumpeting and flapping their ears. Their serene wisdom, fierce loyalty, and unwavering conviction are tremendous assets to their guilds.
The Ayffan have mostly hidden from the rest of Zakhara, as they do not worship the gods of the Enlightened peoples and are therefore not subject to all of the protections provided by the Laws of the Loregiver.Ayffan boast long memories and have fearful tempers. They make steadfast allies and implacable foes.
Ayffan Racial Traits
Your Ayffan character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Ayffans physically mature at the same rate as humans, but they live about 450 years. They highly value the weight of wisdom and experience and are considered young until they reach the age of 60.
Alignment. Most Ayffans are lawful, believing in the value of a peaceful, ordered life. They also tend toward good.
Size. Ayffans stand between 7 and 8 feet tall. Their massive bodies weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Ayffan Bravery. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Natural Armor. You have thick, leathery skin. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Trunk. You can grasp things with your trunk, and you can use it as a snorkel. It has a reach of 5 feet, and it can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use it to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. Your trunk can't wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Ayffa and Common.
Hanu
The Hanu are a mischievous race of monkey-like beings that live chaotic lives free of worry in the upper canopies of The Salt Jungle. The Hanu are the masters of their domain and rarely suffer a slight against them.
Hanu are slightly smaller than humans, but are sill medium. They usually have more defined muscles than monkeys, though they are still rather slender, keeping a very athletic appearance. Fur colors range from common black and brown to more exotic colors such as pink or green. White fur is usually a "sign" of inherent greatness.
Hanu age fast, reaching full adulthood in only 12 years. Although Hanu only have a slightly longer lifespan than humans, their active nature and lifestyle mean they burn through their years faster than a human, putting their average lifespan at 100 years. Few careful and quieter Hanu may live to see 150 and usually hold roles as tribal leaders and chiefs. Despite aging fast, Hanu do not feel the usual effects of old age until months before their death, many still adventuring within the last year of their life.
Hanu Names
Hanu rarely keep the names given to them at birth, oftentimes they share a name with the parent they share a gender with. When they reach adulthood, Hanu take the name of their favorite possession, or favorite food, or a person that they look up to.
Hanu Racial Traits
Your Hanu character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Hanu's physically mature at the same rate as humans, but they live about 150 years.
Alignment. Most Hanu are chaotic, believing that personal freedom is the most important pursuit of life. They also tend toward good.
Size. Hanu stand between 5 and 6 feet tall. They tend weigh between 110 and 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Additionally you have a climb speed of 30 feet.
Body Double. You may create a perfect functional copy of your body within 10 ft of your body. You may choose to act as either yourself or as your body double. You may make attacks or cast spells as if you occupied the same location as your double. Effects that affect your body double also affect you. This feature lasts for a number of minutes equal to your proficiency modifier, the minutes do not need to be consecutive, but you must use at least one minute at a time.
Charm Susceptibility. You have disadvantage on saving throws against being Charmed, as well as mundane Persuasion attempts.
Prehensile Tail. You have a tail that acts as a third hand. It can carry objects for you and may be used to support your body weight; however, it is not graceful enough to wield a weapon or shield.
Jann
The lesser cousins to the mighty genie, jann are born not of Elemental Planes but of the Prime Material itself. For most of their lives, they wander the wilderness and waste of Zakhara, often slipping into and out of different worlds. The jann keep to themselves, participating in the world’s politics only when their enlightenment is questioned or their lives threatened. While most jann live nomadic, though splendid, lives, many still step down from their perch on high to experience the strange world of mortals. The plural of jann is janni.
Colored By Different Elements
The janni as a whole are ever-changing in both personality and desire. Their goals can be loft or subtle and their temperaments calm or impassioned. Because of this, most mortals find it difficult to interact with janni.
Janni travel in nomadic groups that are as hard to pin down as their personalities are. What appears to be a mirage of a distant mansion or castle is often their camp, disappearing when outsiders get too close for comfort. In the High Desert, these mirages are common and fleeting, while on the Great Anvil they inhabit the old ruins of giants, killing, cursing, or breaking any outsider they catch trespassing.
Much like their genie-kin, janni have deep customs that change from tribe to tribe and from location to location. Oftentimes, these traditions are mirrors of their elemental betters. Or, at times, they are watered-down versions of other races mixed in with traditional genie behavior. The constant evolution of these traditions is yet another difficult-to-understand aspect of a jann’s mindset.
Judges of Action, Not Words
To a janni, the higher concepts of law and chaos cannot be fully proven by word alone. While janni love riddles and stories, they love these things because of the actions needed to solve or understand them. It is these actions that show a being’s character.
Once a jann’s trust or approval have been earned, it is very hard to lose. They work in non-verbal oaths, swearing themselves to forever come to the aid of those that impress them until they die. However, janni are far less trusting outside of their homelands, and their oaths are often broken by the other party without them ever knowing. A gnomish proverb states that a jann’s trust is as sturdy as a mountain, and as fleeting as a desert breeze.
Jann Adventurers
Jann adventurers are usually those that have lost or been exiled from their tribes, or that have taken on the desire to experience the mortal life more intimately. These jann are more consistent and trustworthy than their brothers and sisters. If they have been exiled, they often seek some great story or object to prove their worth to their tribe. Those that have no tribe seek to find a new one, sometimes being so desperate as to even add mortals to their numbers.
Many jann adventurers are seduced by the legends of rawuns. Though most mortals are not allowed into their mystical camps, rawuns are often the one exception. The tales they pull from these kidnapped storytellers often inspire jann to go out and find their own lovers, to experience the mortals dance in court, or to explore ancient and forgotten places. These jann are more adventurous than most non-jann adventurers, and are known for their daring, often stupid, quests.
Jann Names
Jann naming conventions are the same as other enlightened races in Zakhara. However, they often add titles to their name. Viziers are called “Venerable,” while amir’s are called “Resplendent Magnificence.” Oftentimes, however, much like the marid, jann makeup titles for themselves that they think best suits them. For mortals to not use this title when addressing them is considered a great affront.
Jann Racial Traits
Your janni character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by +2, and your Strength score by +1.
Age. Related to genies, jann age at different rates. Though they reach adulthood when humans do, they can live to be 300 years of age. A jann is not considered old until their first 200 years have passed.
Alignment. Creatures who represent the elements like they do are often more chaotic than they are lawful. Usually they are neutral as well, though those of the High Desert tend to be good and those of the Great Anvil tend to be evil.
Size. Jann have the same height and weight as humans, though their bodies are often closer to physical perfection than their mortal counterparts are.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Body of Zakhara. The land of Zakhara does not harm its children. You are resistant to damage from environmental effects.
Flesh of the Mirage. You can become as everescent as the mirages you live in. When a creature rolls an attack against you, you can use your reaction to turn ethereal, forcing the attack to miss. You must do this before knowing the result of the attack roll.
Once you use this feature, you may not use it again until you take a long rest.
Lies of the Desert. You can create the lies of the desert--tricky mirages, and deadly lies. You can cast the minor illusion cantrip, and the silent image spell once per long rest. At 5th level, you can cast major image once per long rest.
