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Lunaea

The Lunaea


  The Lunaea are a species of small-statured insectoid feywilders that largely inhabit the remains of The Last Strands and the Dwindling Coast. Their closest living analogue would be the moth. They have a wide variety of wing colorations and patterns, and are very sensitive to changes in their environments, thus being well-attuned to nature. There aren't many of them left in the world with substantial habitat loss. A curious and inquisitive group, they are drawn to baubles and artifacts, and will often choose to trade other items for things that glitter.
  Species Features
 

Spiritual Disciplines


  The Lunaea are given a choice of a spiritual discipline upon completing their metamorphosis from offspring to juvenile, choosing one of the four main paths representing a very personal journey and way of life. Each of these disciplines represents different aspects of Lunaea culture and how they wish to attune themselves to magic, which shapes their bodies and appearance further each year as they molt, reacting to the accumulation of arcane particulate over their lives. This also affects their abilities and appearances.
  Broadwing Discipline
  Broadwings are tasked with studying the moons Qamar and Chandrama to learn how to harness their powers, and spend much time gazing through telescopes and charting constellations to learn the movements and position of the stars. In doing so, they empower their magic. They also learn to make silk which can be made into clothes, armor, and even weapons.
  Sablewing Discipline
  A Sablewing studies how they can travel unseen and manipulate magic to blend into the shadows as effortlessly as they fly through the air. They are masters of stealth and make for excellent scouts and thieves.
  Scorchwing Discipline
  A Scorchwing seeks to understand fire magic and how it relates to the destruction and renewal of life itself. They can empower their own defenses with fire magic manipulation.
  Voltwing Discipline
  A Voltwing learns the ways through which magic courses through the air, controlling their domains through lightning and thunder. They gain a burst of speed after casting magic.
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Adaptations and Physiology


  Their feathery antennae are highly receptive and allow them to pick up on chemical signatures from a great distance. They also have chemoreceptors in their limbs. Because of this, they are able to pick up on environmental hazards passively, even magical entropy levels. They have also developed naturally sensitive internal ears that can pick up on vibrations and echolocation, and as such, are able to react and disrupt this method of detection by creating counter-vibrations with specialized pockets in their thoraxes.
  Being as magically sensitive as they are, they are also capable of intuitively manipulating magic itself. There has been some adaptation since the Lunaea appeared on Dunia, each developing a unique connection to regional magic that has helped them survive for millennia. These are referred to as the Spiritual Disciplines of the Lunaea, and are bound to the individual upon completing their metamorphosis.
  As a consequence of being in the ever-twilit feywilds, the Lunaea have developed darkvision as an evolutionary trait, long before they even crossed over to Dunia. They are highly sensitive to light and during nighttime flight, rely on light to function as a stabilizing point of reference, so goes their reputation for being attracted to lights and flame, though this is not entirely true, as they use it as a navigational tool. Lunaea are almost exclusively nocturnal or crepuscular in terms of their activity and sleep patterns.
  They have large wingspans relative to their sizes, and their bodies are covered in what could be construed as a soft fur-like coat of hairs.
  The Lunaea, unlike their mundane relatives are able to eat things other than nectar when they reach adulthood. Their diets, much like the Koleos, are largely based on plant matter, but they do enjoy nectar far more than other sources of nutrition. Additionally, they're able to still produce silk well into adulthood.
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Culture


  Leading insular existences by choice, the Lunaea are pretty secluded from outside influence, and as such have developed their own subcultures within their various villages. One particularly major facet of Lunaea culture is they make large silk tapestries of great beauty. These tapestries are traded amongst the spiritual leaders of a single village for their cultural value. They contain large depictions of a series of events in one's village or family and are made in a collaborative nature, so multiple art styles of weaving may be present within their work. They are mended and worked on before they sleep during the day.
  The tapestries themselves, once completed, are used to line the insides of the commons room, which forms the cultural center of a village and is where the village speaker resides most of the time. The speaker nests in a small separate addendum attached to the commons room. A Lunaea speaker fulfills the roles of a village elder, wise one, a spiritual interpreter, and a treasurer.
  Each village produces unique stories which are told in a play format in front of a group every full moon, with the story changing a bit each time, some details being corrected by the audience and some being completely new and majorly fabricated by the actors and narrators. The narrator is almost always the oldest speaker and spiritual interpreter, whereas the actors are typically the youngest adults of a group. These plays are simultaneously a means of keeping cultural history and memory, but also communing with the spirits of the dead that preceded them, asking for advice or truths or simply to greet them and update the spirits on their ongoing lives. This practice has gone on since the Lunaea first formed villages during the time of the Thinning of the Veils, roughly 30,000 years ago.
  The Lunaea prize sparkling objects with covetous desire. It is said that they will trade their last scraps of wealth for something of material beauty, which is one of their biggest faults. There have been a few times where Lunaea village speakers were tricked into giving away something of tremendous value to the village's history, which almost always resulted in the rest of the village chasing after the tricksters in a desperate attempt to recover the artifacts.
  Lunaea themselves, either as a result of or in spite of being highly cloistered, are curious and most of the time, naive. They are a gentle people who do not interact with the evils of the world outside of their villages.
  Nowhere is this more evident in their past than when envoy speakers of the Lunaea ventured out during the Machinist's Revolution to try to negotiate with the Coal Barons, who were not only tearing down their forests for fuel and mine access but erecting coal power plants very close to their habitats. They believed they could reason against the avaricious greed of the Coal Barons to save their homes. It took them losing half of their villages in the Southern Glades before they realized they had to meet the Coal Barons with violence and sabotage.
  This miniature revolution in guerilla warfare was aided by the Taekataen, who in previous times would have hunted the Lunaea, but in this time of need, they met the Lunaea's village elders and banded together to rid the Southern Glades of their covetous invaders. Forced to violence, the Lunaea who were previously pacifists were made to develop weapons of war or adopt them, having little of their own. This also resulted in many deaths on both sides, and the Lunaea population has struggled to recover since, which was not helped by the Karithat-Aldawi's eruption. They are close to extinction, but are slowly recovering.
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Architecture


  Lunaea, for the sake of safety, build suspended spherical pods high up in the canopies of the forests in which they reside, which would normally only be visible if one was to stand directly below them. They utilize existing foliage to shroud the cocoon-like housing and sometimes even grow new foliage from the parent tree or surrounding scrub to break up their silhouettes. The purpose is to remain hidden and away from predators that would otherwise destroy their housing. This does mean that because they utilize silk in construction that their housing is highly susceptible to burning, so they counteract this by using bioluminescent light sources, either from captured phosphorbugs or fungi.
  Lunaea bedding is widely-renowned for how soft it is and how well-designed the structure of the bedding is. Integrating silk materials in with more advanced bio-polymers derived from mycelium, otherwise referred to as myco-polymers, allows for it to retain a springiness not unlike memory foam. It is completely non-toxic since it's derived primarily from edible biological sources and not novel materials based on oils.
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Technology


  Lunaea contributions to technology are largely derived from their silk-based strand techniques which allow for extremely high tensile strength in their clothing and armor. They also helped create myco-polymers which are a late Last Century invention, at one point the techniques to make myco-polymers were shared with the Aphorini and other species. Outside of that, they haven't contributed much due to limited trade and exchanges with outsiders.
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Lunaea-Designed Vehicles


  Chrysalid Podrider
  Description
  A unique magecraft vehicle designed by the Lunaea, this two-seater craft affords concealment and reduced detection, but won't hold its own in a standup fight. It's meant to evade detection altogether and travel long distances without being disturbed. The device operates on feywilder magecraft repulsion engines and a stealthy flywheel-driven impeller system that appears to breathe in a cycle below the craft's fuselage. It is capable of unfurling sails that resemble moth wings for long term travel.
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Lunaea-Designed Weaponry


  Mahuari
  Rarity: Magic,Uncommon
  Description
  A weapon with substantial reach, the Mahuari is similarly designed to a grappling hook, but it channels energy in such a way that any melee magic can be cast through its long woven silk fiber strand. The rope is inlaid with inscriptions along the core of the strand so it cannot be cut. Its end is a blade built with an incredibly sharp barbed point and is used similarly to a rope dart in technique. It has a gauntlet that it is attached to with a magecraft spool, which retracts after each attack made with it. It can unleash radiant magic as part of a melee attack, or can be used to channel a melee spell such as Shocking Grasp or Flame Blade through its silk fibers. This feature can be used a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest.
  Nahtuil
  Rarity: Magic, Uncommon
  Description
  This Lunaea weapon, referred to as a Nahtuil, is a launcher that uses arcane inscriptions and alternating gravitic magic to launch a long projectile, called a Tuil, of inscrutable make. The Tuil's launch is completely silent. It is held like a long rifle. The Tuil has its own magical charge which can be detonated to unleash a blast of force magic via a signal produced by the Nahtuil. The Tuil saps the life force of the victim, charging its own strength each turn it spends embedded in the victim. When it is removed from the victim, the Tuil unleashes all stored energy. It is presumed the Tuil is made from a compound derived from Lunaea wing scales and infused with magic. The Tuil can be retrieved telekinetically from a great distance and slotted back into the weapon after its charge has been unleashed. If wielded by a Lunaea, it is capable of unleashing magic based on their chosen spirit source.
  Scalebomb
  Rarity: Magic, Common
  Description
  The Scalebomb is a Lunaea invention which disperses powdered wingscales in a broad radius, heavily obscuring any targets inside the radius and making it impossible to see out of the radius. Once deployed, the scales react to ambient magical particulate and cause a chain explosion. These wingscales derive the type of magic damage from the Lunaea's scales used in the crafting process. Broadwing scales produce Radiant Damage, Sablewing scales produce Poison damage, Scorchwing scales produce Fire damage, and Voltwing scales produce Thunder damage.
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Species Features


  Age
  Lunaea, being feywilders live quite a long time, sometimes up to 600 years. They start off similar to silk caterpillars after they hatch and live in that form for roughly 1 year in huddled colonies, eating leafy greens, amongst adult Lunaea until they pupate and undergo a metamorphosis over a period of 18 months into a juvenile stage. During the metamorphosis stage, they are psychically receptive and knowledge is passed onto them so that when they emerge they are capable of communicating, walking, and functioning like their adult counterparts but don't reach reproductive maturity until they are fully grown as adults. Once they reach the Juvenile stage after metamorphosis, they molt once every other year until they reach adult size at around 22 years of age.
  Creature Type
  You are a Humanoid.
  Size
  Your size is either Small or Medium. You can be no smaller than 4 feet tall.
  Speed
  Your walking speed is 30 feet. You have a climb speed equal to your walking speed.
  Flight
  Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. While wearing Heavy and Superheavy armor, you can only glide instead of fly. For every 5 feet you drop, you move forward 30 feet and take no fall damage. Unfortunately, because of your wings and invertebrate nature, you cannot swim effectively. If your wings get wet you will be unable to fly again until you spend a Short Rest drying off.
  Arcane and Chemical Sensitivity
  As a Lunaea, you are especially attuned to magic and are capable of detecting when magic is unstable in your immediate area without needing a Curie device. You are also capable of detecting when airborne environmental hazards are present and are capable of locating their source.
  Lunaea Magecraft
  Starting at 1st level, you know the Scalebomb Schematic. Additionally, you can charge a magecraft device without raising your volatility once per Short or Long rest.
  You can choose to shed one wingscale per Long Rest, which is used in crafting a Scalebomb. Broadwing Scalebombs deal Radiant Damage, Sablewing Scalebombs deal Poison damage, Scorchwing Scalebombs deal Fire damage, and Voltwing Scalebombs deal Thunder damage.
  Languages
  You know Common and can speak one other regional language, based on your Background. You can also telepathically communicate with other Lunaea.
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Discipline Features


  Broadwing Discipline
Broadwing Moon Magic
  At 1st level, you know the Astral Shard cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Amplify Gravity at 1st level twice per Long Rest for free. When you reach 5th level, you can cast Moonbeam at 2nd level once per Long Rest for free. Any subsequent casts of these free spells before your next Long Rest have their normal cost. Your spellcasting modifier for these spells can be either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, using whichever is highest.
  Silkweaver
  Once per day, starting at first level, you can produce either one spool of silk (1 organic material) of mundane quality or instead choose to shed two magic scales from your wings which are used in the crafting of Scalebombs.
  When you reach 3rd level, you can make a spool of common quality silk once every two days, and when you reach 5th level, you can make a spool of uncommon quality silk once every three days. Once you have made a silk spool of higher grade, you must wait the specified number of days before you can make another of the same or different quality.
  Additionally, when you reach 5th level, you learn the Mahuari schematic.
  Sablewing Discipline
Sablewing Shadow Magic
  At 1st level, you know the Minor Illusion cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Sleep at 1st level once per Long Rest for free. When you reach 5th level, you can cast Invisibility at 2nd level once per Long Rest for free. Any subsequent casts of these free spells before your next Long Rest have their normal cost. Your spellcasting modifier for these spells can be either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, using whichever is highest.
  Hidden from Sight
  After casting illusion magic or any of the magic associated with your discipline, you may take the Hide action on that same turn as a Bonus Action and have advantage on the Stealth check associated with it. Additionally, you are Proficient in Stealth and Perception.
  Master of Dreams
  As a Sablewing, you cannot be put to sleep or be charmed by magical means.
  Scorchwing Discipline
Scorchwing Magic
  At 1st level, you know the Fire Bolt cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Burning Hands at 1st level once per Long Rest for free. When you reach 5th level, you can cast Flame Blade at 2nd level once per Long Rest for free. Any subsequent casts of these free spells before your next Long Rest have their normal cost. Your spellcasting modifier for these spells can be either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, using whichever is highest.
  Heatwave
  Each time you cast magic that deals Fire damage, you gain a stack of a buff called Heatwave. You can have a number of stacks up to or equal to your Proficiency Bonus. If you are to be hit by an attack or spell, you can spend some or all of these stacks at once to reduce the damage you take and reflect damage back at your attacker as a Reaction. Each stack consumed reduces the damage you take by 2 and deals the same amount in unmitigated Fire damage back at your attacker, even if it is a ranged attack.
  Voltwing Discipline
Voltwing Magic
  At 1st level, you know the Shocking Grasp cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Lightning Surge at 1st level once per Long Rest for free. When you reach 5th level, you can cast Shatter at 2nd level once per Long Rest for free. Any subsequent casts of these free spells before your next Long Rest have their normal cost. Your spellcasting modifier for these spells can be either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, using whichever is highest.
  Arcane Velocity
  When you cast a leveled spell on your turn, you gain 15 feet in additional movement for that turn, with which you can climb, fly, or walk. When you cast a leveled spell that deals Lightning or Thunder damage, you instead gain 30 feet in additional movement for that turn, with which you can climb, fly, or walk, and additionally, on that same turn in which you cast Lightning or Thunder magic, you do not trigger opportunity attacks if you enter or leave a hostile target's sphere of influence.
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Species-Specific Backgrounds


  TBD
  Description Goes Here.
 
Ability Score Increase: TBD
Equipment: TBD (Clothing, 3 items plus a materials pack)
Origin Feat: TBD
Skill Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 2)
Tool Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 1)
Vehicle Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 1 vehicle or an additional tool proficiency)
  TBD
  Description Goes Here.
 
Ability Score Increase: TBD
Equipment: TBD (Clothing, 3 items plus a materials pack)
Origin Feat: TBD
Skill Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 2)
Tool Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 1)
Vehicle Proficiencies: TBD (Choose 1 vehicle or an additional tool proficiency)
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