Forums    Newsletter    Guestbook    About    Search    Updates      
         Copyright © Randy Bowers. All rights reserved.


 

Silothreni

The Silothreni are a race of humanoids which may be used for player characters. For additional information regarding this race, read their entry in the creature compendium. Presented here are guidelines for the play of Silothrenium characters.
    Silothreni, like their distant Haruninkian cousins, are a closed race with strong ethnocentric qualities. They live in vast subterranean cities and are legendary for their skill in the magical arts. Unfortunately their secretive nature makes them a mistrusted race by both outsiders to their society, and to other Silothreni as well. Silothreni favor a disciplined, logical, and secretive lifestyle.

Personality

Silothreni are a cautious and competitive race. Their mistrust for each other is a social illness that fractures their race into strongly independent individuals who rarely unite under a common cause except in cases of survival and scientific pursuits. They are often cruel to each other, not because of an inner need for evil, but because they believe that an impartial and harsh lifestyle strengthens their race and it's individual members. Silothreni are dependable companions and will follow through with their agreements as long as they can see that others in the group are holding up to their part in the bargain. A calm and analytical demeanor is considered a desirable trait among their kind as it encourages rational thought and discourages public violence - a subject that Silothreni feel is more political to be done in private. Obviously, considering their personality, Silothreni are slow to make friends. To those who have proven dependable and worthy though they are fiercely loyal. When a Silothreni takes on a personal goal they are known to pursue it with relentless and unstoppable zeal.

Physical Description

Silothreni stand extraordinarily tall for a subterranean race, often standing at least six feet tall and occasionally surpassing seven feet tall. To determine a Silothreni's height in inches, roll 69+3d6. They are a race whose movement is economical and exacting. Standing still they are like stone and when they move it is with deliberate caution and simple grace. Nearly all Silothreni are slender, typically weighing between 135 to 170 pounds. They are dark skinned and have dark eyes which they keep narrowly slitted to hide emotions which eyes can easily reveal. Silothreni possess a ebony skin with a dark sheen which makes it appear slightly transparent, like highly polished marble. Their skin is extremely photosensitive and breaks out in boils and painful rashes when exposed to prolonged sunlight. Silothreni suffer two points of subduel damage per hour of open exposure to sunlight - thus, when on the surface, Silothreni dress themselves in dark clothing which covers as much of their skin as possible. Silothreni prefer long hair, even on males, and dark, subdued colors. Jewelry and other bodily adornments are kept plain so as not to catch the eye. Most Silothreni are considered adults after their 35th birthday. Silothreni tend to live no more then 215 to 250 years old. When rolling starting age us 2d4+33. When rolling maximum age limit, use 5d8+210. Middle Age for a Silothreni is 116 years, old age is 167 years, and venerable age is 210 years old.

Relations

Silothreni consider most races to be inferior when it comes to skill at magical arts. Humans are short lived, fickle, and dangerously ambitious. Elves are too enamoured with the sunlit surface world and are and dangerous since their vengeance can last several Silothreni generations. Halflings, gnomes, and Oruli are both troublesome extroverts, far to excitable, openly opinioned, and materialistic for a Silothreni's tastes. Half-orcs are barbaric and too impatient, being even more unpredictable and violent-natured than humans. Lupinal are savage and too superstitious to be a Silothreni's equal. Only half-elves share the same social outcast nature which the Silothreni thrive in and given a chance, a Silothreni and a half-elf will often find they have more in common than otherwise. Other races see the Silothreni as a suspicious race - especially surface dwelling races who only encounter the clothing covered Silothreni who have ventured to the surface. Most races reflect back at the Silothreni the same mistrust which the Silothreni display to all others.
    The Silothreni possess an intense racial hatred for the Haruninki and often seek ways to harm them out of revenge and spite. This hatred originates from the Breaking of the Sultan.

Alignment

Silothreni tend towards a strongly individualistic and chaotic alignment. They do not take well to being ordered around by those whom they don't believe have earned the right to authority. Aside from their lack of lawful order, the Silothreni are as varied as humankind in their balance between evil and good. A Silothreni extremist is one whose outlook on life is neutral, neutral good, or neutral evil.

Silothreni Lands

Silothreni live deep in the bowels of the underground. Being somewhat late-comers on the underworld scene, after the Breaking of the Sultan, they have been forced to build their cities in places where the other subterranean races had not already built. The preferred dwelling of a Silothreni is in one of the vast city complexes that fill the great caverns of the world's Underhalls. There they live within tower-like columns of magically shaped stone. Their homes are spartan and undecorated, but often warded with magical guards since almost all Silothreni families have at least one skilled wizard or sorcerer. Several families may live in a given home, each generation taking their place in the lower part of the household while elders and higher ranking family members live in the upper apartments.

Religion

Silothreni, for the most part, are not religious. They are monotheistic, believing in only the god known as Shistar. Select communities of Silothreni follow the god known as Brakah, whom most Silothreni know as the "Earth-home Destroyer." Priests are not as common as mages who include the worship and evangelization of Shistar in their daily research into magic.

Language

Silothreni speak one of two separate languages, depending on whether they originate from the northern or southern half of the underworld. In the north, Silothreni speak a language called Sarruni. This language is somewhat similar to the Haruninki tongue of Haruninkian, but one race will rarely understand more then a word or two of the others speech since they have been separated for so many thousands of years. Most Silothreni speak at least some dialect of this tongue. In the south, Silothreni speak Shoi-Kar, a twisted and harsh tongue. It is truly rare to find a person who is not a member of the southern Silothreni that can speak this difficult tongue. Silothreni themselves admit that the tongue would be difficult for any who had not begun to learn it from birth. Both languages have complex written equivalents that are in common use in Silothreni society. Silothreni, in general, are a very literate race and nearly all members can read and write their native language. Written works are treasured among the Silothreni and they are proud of the preservation of accurate and ground-breaking documents of scientific and historical relevance.

Names

Silothreni give their children two names at birth, one is their public name, and one is their heart name. The heart-name is usually an attribute which the parents believe will guide and affect the Silothreni during their lifetime. Heart-names are not shared with other Silothreni and knowledge of a heart-name is believed to grant certain influence over that individual. When formally addressing a Silothreni, the clan name is appended to their public name with the prefix "oc'". Silothreni males prefer names with hard consonants and sussurant vowels. Females prefer light and short sounding names. Common male names are Kassunnak, Zataakans, Agossani, Yutherian, Eeshoad, Rassmussaf, Kromalos, and Messhininok. Common female names are Atri, Divay, Rathi, Esipa, Varey, Tume, Tadasi, and Estre.

Adventures

Pursuit of knowledge, magical artifacts, extraordinary experiences, and personal achievement are all good reasons for a Silothreni to go adventuring. The amassing of power, safety, and respect are important goals for all Silothreni, as well as the gathering and discovery of secrets. Silothreni who leave their homes on good terms can expect to return to find those they knew will treat them as before until a demonstration of why the newly-returned Silothreni deserves to be treated differently. Thus, most Silothreni who go adventuring will do so for extended periods of time, until they can be sure that they have ample reason to impress their peers when they return.

Silothreni Racial Traits

  • +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom: Silothreni possess a quick and intuitive sense of how things work and easily learn new skills, but their tall and slender bodies do not give them the same mechanical advantage of strength that shorter races possess and they are a naturally mildly paranoid and mistrusting.
  • Medium-size: As Medium-size creatures, Silothreni have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  • Silothreni base speed is 30.
  • Darkvision: Silothreni possess an improved sense of darkvision and can see in the dark up to 80 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and Silothreni can function just fine with no light at all.
  • Direction Sense: +4 racial bonus to Survival checks made avoid becoming lost. All Silothreni have a natural sense of true north which they can use to assist them in navigation while traveling. A Silothreni knows the direction of true north as naturally as a human knows up from down.
  • +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison. Silothreni are naturally resistant to toxins.
  • +4 racial bonus on Move Silently, Listen, and Hide skills. Silothreni are naturally adept at moving silently and hiding, both skills being essential to survival underground. These traits were inherited from the Haruninki, but have become more developed due to the environment that the Silothreni live in.
  • Photosensitive Skin: Silothreni are especially sensitive to sunlight and suffer two points of subduel damage for each hour that they are openly exposed to direct sunlight. Historians believe that this sensitivity to sunlight is due to a powerful curse placed on the race by the Elders of the Haruninki when the two races split. For this reason, most Silothreni dress in dark clothes which cover all of their skin when traveling above ground. This has no effect on the Silothreni's vision above ground.
  • Silothreni with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may cast the 0th level spells (cantrips) of detect magic, detect poison, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, and resistance each once per day. All Silothreni are subjected to a rigorous basic education in magical theory. Worshipers of Shistar among the Silothreni also believe that these powers are gifts from their god. Silothreni cast these spells as 1st level sorcerers and must abide by the same restrictions when casting spells (spell failure, concentration checks, etc). Silothreni sorcerers and wizards receive these spells as bonus cantrips in addition to the number of cantrips that they may know.
  • Favored Class: Wizard and Sorcerer. A multiclass Silothreni's wizard and sorcerer classes do not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. Both arts of magic are common and come naturally to Silothreni.