Base
Class Attack Fort Ref Will
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +1 +2 +0 +2 Speak with animals
2nd +2 +3 +1 +2
3rd +2 +3 +1 +2 Find water
4th +3 +4 +2 +3
5th +4 +4 +3 +3 Wind blades
6th +4 +5 +3 +4
7th +5 +6 +4 +4 Voice of the desert
8th +6 +6 +5 +5
9th +6 +7 +5 +5 Fasting trance
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SIARRANS
Siarrans are a gentle, artistic people. They believe in the value of expression and music. They prefer an active life and their kind can be found traveling across foreign lands, either in groups or alone. They often say they go where the wind takes them. They face the dangers their travels bring with a calm heart and seek to cause as little harm as possible. Despite their gentle natures and peaceful philosophies, how- ever, siarrans moved to anger can be frighten- ing opponents. However, it is difficult to anger a siarran, as most have great patience and are slow to become agitated or angry.
Personality: Siarrans enjoy freedom. Like the wind they revere, they move where they will and refuse to be restrained. This is reflected throughout their culture and in their individual nature. When at rest, siarrans usually give the impression of a barely restrained energy. They seem ready to move in any direction with little notice. Even so, their movements never seem sudden because of their natural grace.
The siarrans appreciate things of beauty, partic- ularly beauty of expression. They prefer their art and their lives to be filled with activity, and it is rare that a siarran remains idle. They grow easily bored with a slow pace of life, a fact that drives many siarrans to adventure or
wanderlust.
Physical Description: Siarrans are typically tall and thin, between five and a half feet and just under seven feet in height. They weigh between 130 and 200 pounds. They have dark, coppery brown or even black complexions and light brown, blonde, white, or silvery hair. They have four arms, an upper pair placed at the shoulder, much as a human’s, and a second, lean and thin pair a little above the waist. Their fingers are long and lithe, giving them superb manual dexterity. Their eyes slant upward at the outside, and they have high cheekbones and thin mouths.
Siarrans usually dress in draping, loose-fitting garments or robes. They use subtle embroidery to decorate their clothes, preferring patterns of earth tone or red threads. However, siarrans are also known to adopt clothing styles from other nearby realms for their own use. Siarrans are considered adults at age 25, and they live about 150 years.
Relations: Siarrans usually enjoy the company of other good races. They believe in allowing everyone their own freedoms, and siarrans are rarely bothered by the cultural or social differ- ences found among other peoples. Societies with strong martial traditions or a tendency toward violence are disconcerting to siarrans, but they will travel among even such people in
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an effort to demonstrate the “touch of the wind” for those people they view as less enlightened.
Siarrans have excellent relations with elves, as they have much in common. They see humans as unsubtle and dwarves as downright repres- sive. Half-orcs, to the siarran way of thinking, are usually brutish beasts, scarred and twisted by their upbringing. A siarran who has the opportunity to travel with a half-orc almost always takes the chance to show him a “better” way—at least for as long as the siarran can han- dle the half-orc’s company. While most races enjoy the company and entertainment of siar- rans, many dwarves and half-orcs consider them condescending and generally irritating. Alignment: Siarrans enjoy freedom and expression. They prefer to speak and do as they choose, demonstrating a chaotic bent. They are also a peaceful and essentially gentle race and are usually as interested in the welfare of oth- ers as they are their own. They typically try to avoid causing harm, and most are of a good alignment.
Siarran Lands: Siarran homelands are only organized in a simple feudal society. Each siar- ran ultimately owes fealty to the Namridoth, the siarran king. However, the mystics give this king his authority and his actual power is quite limited. Siarran law is represented in their oral tradition, which is taught to successive genera- tions through dance and song. In their laws, individual rights and freedoms are fiercely pro- tected. Their king is an administrator and the final authority on dealing with threats from outside, but the mystics and priests judge all matters of internal strife. Siarrans respect the Namridoth as a figure of responsibility, just as they respect any that perform an unpleasant but necessary task. There is a tradition among siar- rans that the Namridoth is chosen from among the laborers of the land, farmers and shepherds. This is based on the ideal that the king will then understand the toil of the common people. The reality is that the mystics who choose the king view the position of Namridoth as below their own station, and they do not wish to reduce their own status by taking on that task.
The mystics of siarran society, the priests of Allasyrain, are second only to the Namridoth in legal authority. In reality they gain as much respect and have more actual power. In a large
siarran nation, there is sometimes a second layer of nobility, the Maalitani. These nobles are usually hereditary and almost always have a strong influence in the selection of the king. They are usually only responsible for dealing with the administrative details of their lands, but if there are any problems with foreign threats, they will fall to the individual Maalitan until the king has time to intervene. Most often the Maalitani do not attempt to interfere with the daily lives of their citizens, but they have significant power in siarran society.
Due to the political strength of the mystics and the lesser nobility, siarran society is often frac- tured and chaotic. Their nations usually do not survive a concerted attack by invaders. Many times in the past, siarran kingdoms have fallen prey to conquerors eager for their land. When this happens, the political structure of the nobility collapses and the siarran people simply move on. Because they hold few ties to the land, they have a simpler time than most when they must start again.
Religion: Siarrans are unusual in that their patron god, Allasyrain, does not take a
humanoid form. Indeed, though there are glyphs and sigils that represent him, the siar- rans never seem to create any depiction of him. Instead they maintain a thorough oral tradition. He is a god of winds, and when siarrans dance the tellem’ioth (reed dance), their legends hold that Allasyrain speaks to them through the sounds of the dance.
Allasyrain is as peaceful as the siarrans and teaches his people to avoid harming others. Ideally, siarrans follow in the steps of their god, making themselves unseen and unheard, harm- ing none and allowing no others to touch them. The more mystically inclined siarrans some- times refer to life as the “dance of the wind.” They feel their calling is to move through life following the ways of the wind. While spend- ing time with other races, most siarrans avoid violence toward others, especially killing. The few who take Allasyrain’s teachings to literally mean that they should never harm any other creature are rare extremists, and almost never venture outside their own homes. The domains Allasyrain is associated with are Air, Good, and Healing.
Language: The Siarran language is intricate and uses its own unique and lengthy alphabet. The airy tones and soft vowel sounds usually put listeners in mind of breezy days and danc- ing, as the words roll easily from one to the next. While this does make learning the lan- guage a foreboding prospect, once Siarran has been mastered it is ideal for expressing move- ment and emotion, both of which figure promi- nently in their songs.
Names: A siarran is usually given only a single name at birth. When traveling, siarrans will also refer to themselves by a tribal name that is shared by everyone in the extended family. Siarrans will only rarely use a place name to identify themselves, as their people too often wander to new places.
Male Names: Allaet, Ballaran, Cionur, Dillaed, Fomael, Kessit, Tilaen, and Umrios. Female Names: Amaera, Caelli, Diarral, Emaene, Guenna, Jiassae, Paelloa, and Telliar. Tribe Names: Aakridan, Caedrias, Doemorl, Faellit, Maalist, Nolrida, Ramlas, Soellimar, Taerrimol, Voellimas, and Zaellia.
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Adventurers: Siarrans usually adventure to learn more about the world. They enjoy learn- ing new dances and songs from other races, especially from the elves. “The wind blows in all places,” as the mystics say, and siarrans often travel to see where the wind has touched. A siarran might have other reasons for travel- ing away from his own kind. Conflict with other races might easily drive siarrans away from their homes, and scattered refugees of siarran lands under attack are not unknown.
Siarran Racial Traits
• +2 Dexterity, –2 Constitution: Siarrans are agile and quick, but their thin stature makes them more easily hurt.
• Weak Lower Arms: A siarran’s lower arms are thinner than his upper arms and do not benefit as much from the muscles throughout the torso. As a result, a siarran’s lower arms suffer a –2 penalty to Strength.
• Medium-size: As Medium-size creatures, siarrans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Siarran base speed is 30 feet.
• Additional Feats: Siarrans may select any of the following feats as general feats whenever they are allowed to learn a new one: Improved Multiweapon Fighting, Multidexterity, Multiweapon Fighting.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Siarran. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). A siarran’s many travels allow him to learn a wide vari- ety of languages from a variety of cultures. • Favored Class: Any. When determining
whether a multiclass siarran suffers an XP penalty, his highest-level class does not count. Siarrans pursue a number of skills and professions and they show aptitude in a wide variety of abilities.
Reedstaff (Large, Exotic Melee Weapon)
Similar to the quarterstaff, the reedstaff is an ancient instrument used by the siarran reed dancers. Made of a stout pale wood, the reed- staff is carved with vents and holes; when it is spun and twisted, it produces musical tones.
Special: Proficiency with the reedstaff requires at least one rank in Perform, with reedstaff cho- sen as the performance type.
Cost: 20 gp; Damage: 1d6/1d6; Critical: 19–20/x2; Range Increment: —; Weight: 4 lbs.; Type: Bludgeoning (subdual).