Githyanki

Overview

The githyanki were a race of humanoids originally from the Astral Plane outside of the Cradle. Survivors of a long term of enslavement by the Mind Flayers, they are now ruthless pillagers and raiders of planes, and have most of their surviving strongholds in The Weaveheart. Githyanki were tall and slender humanoids with rough, leathery yellow skin and bright black eyes that were sunken deep in their orbits. They had long and angular skulls, with small and highly placed flat noses, and ears that were pointed and serrated in the back side. They typically grew either red or black hair, which they styled in topknots. Their teeth were pointed.  

Combat

  As a result of their long period of enslavement and manipulation by the mind flayers, all githyanki possessed psionic abilities. They were all capable of minor telekinesis in a similar fashion to the far hand power and could also hone their abilities to become capable of detecting psionic power. Usually githyanki filled martial roles, but many could be eldritch knights or psionic fighters. In accordance with their culture of combat, the githyanki were merciless warriors. They excelled at blending their psionic abilities with their combat skills, in an effective and deadly combination. Typical githyanki warriors, sometimes referred to as "githwarriors" wielded longswords or bastard swords and wore half plate. Githyanki military hierarchy was divided in companies of ten warriors, each led by a sarth. Each group of ten sarths was in turn supervised by a kith'rak, and every group of ten kith'raks was led by a "supreme commander". At the top of the hierarchy stood the leader of all githyanki, Vlaakith. Knights were among the most influential githyanki and stood outside of the military hierarchy. Their deadliest weapons and a signature of githyanki culture were their silver swords, which were wielded by every knight. Silver swords damaged the opponents' minds as well as their bodies, draining power points from psionic creatures. These weapons were treasured by all githyanki, who relentlessly pursued any outsider who wielded them. Githyanki who honed their arcane skills as well as combat were known as gish. They were typically employed as assassins and spies and were capable of casting spells such as fireball, magic missile, lightning bolt, and haste, among others.  

Personality

  Githyanki were typically cruel, arrogant, and aggressive. The few exceptional individuals who deserted from the rigid githyanki militaristic society tended to develop a disdain for rules. The high value they placed on individuality also caused them to become ambitious and self-centered. They were also known for their long memories. Even the most open-minded githyanki came across as smug, sarcastic, rude, and overconfident, but they were generally capable of withstanding adversity without complaining. Clever and resourceful, githyanki adventurers were not known for their loyalty or ability to make new friends, but they were extremely persistent in the face of danger. Although rare, it was possible for githyanki to become disillusioned with their people's unsavory habits and to try to set up a reputation on their own acts. As a result of their long-lasting presence in the Weaveheart, where time did not pass, the githyanki developed a decadent lifestyle, picking up hobbies, arts, and studies in an endless search for novelty. After centuries, they developed a hollow culture of shallow and unfinished undertakings, never truly mastering any task or seeing any personal project to completion. This constant interest with novelty also reflected in their dressing style: githyanki were fond of collecting and wearing extremely ornate and elaborate tokens of their defeated foes. It was common for their armor and weapons to be overly decorated with gems, feathers, precious metals, and other ostentatious ornaments.  

Society

  Githyanki society was extremely well organized and orderly. It had a martial and meritocratic structure, with no regard for blood ties, and with both males and females training heavily in magic and combat. Although they were loyal to each other, they were also fiercely individualistic. Raiding illithid strongholds was considered a rite of passage. Githyanki society was divided into three main castes. Although rigid, there was the possibility of moving between castes through intense competition. The major caste was the military, followed by the smaller mlar, who were in charge of crafts and specialized tasks, and the g'lathk, who were in charge of food production and labor.   Within each of the castes, there were further subdivisions according to specialized professions. The military caste included the knights and the warriors within the military hierarchy, in addition to the gish and other spellcasters. The mlar were responsible for the construction of weapons, including silver swords, and astral ships. They were also in charge of constructing and repairing all githyanki buildings and tools, as well as the occasional art piece. Mlar used their psionic abilities to replicate the effects of the fabricate, stone shape, and wall of stone spells, as well as other unique abilities to decorate and repair structures at a much higher efficiency than that of a regular worker.   The g'lathk were most closely associated with farmers, although their main ability was to induce food growth in the Astral Plane, where nothing grew. Some channeled their psionic abilities to grow a type of fungus that required no sunlight, while others harvested an edible substance that grew only on the isles. A third group cultivated plants and animals in tanks of magically treated water. This caste did not receive a lot of respect from other members of githyanki society, despite their importance. They were always found in small numbers, given that the githyanki only required food while outside of the Astral Plane.   In the timeless Astral Plane, the githyanki inhabited numerous fortresses constructed from materials imported to the plane, as well as cities built upon god-isles, the corpses of dead deities and titans that could be found throughout the Weaveheart. Their largest residences were massive, lavishly decorated castles that, owing to the xenophobic nature of githyanki, were usually avoided by other creatures in the plane. These fortresses were sometimes as large as cities and were the centers of githyanki commerce and manufacturing.  

Religion

  There was no religion in githyanki society. Their culture was too strongly based on individuality for any organized religion to thrive. Moreover, as a civilization that built its cities on top of the corpses of deities, they had difficulty in recognizing divinity. However, they revered Vlaakith almost to the level of religious worship, and the lich-queen herself destroyed any githyanki who would start following another deity. For that reason, githyanki clerics existed, but were extremely rare and had to live in hiding. The closest the githyanki had to religious figures were the knights, whose devotion to Vlaakith was comparable to that of paladins, even granting them a few powers similar to those of a paladin.  

Stats and Meta Info

  See Githyanki