EYAFEN

Salorras species: eyafen — mortal kin of the noble faye and the first wardens of the world’s Paths of the Ancients: nature-bound hunters whose faye blood shields their minds and lets them weave the sacred circles. An advanced race, taken with the referee’s permission, for its faye heritage, mind-warding, and ritual magic. The eyafen are the half-faye lineage (elves + noble faye); there is no separate “half-faye.”

Origin: Neluvia — mortal kin of the noble faye, the first wardens of the world’s Paths of the Ancients Stature: 1.80–2.20 m, with watercolor skin and long fingers — thick hair adorned with dried leaves and amber Lifespan: Long-lived in the manner of the faye — a precise range unrecorded in tradition Settlements: Three great encampments in Neluvia; Tir Naog in the new informal statelet of Caithris (Solevna) Faith: the Mother — joined by sacred bonds with the noble faye of the Paths of the Ancients Languages: Native — Merylia; local — the dialect of the region of upbringing; honored — Elven, Dwarven

The eyafen are proud defenders of the Paths of the Ancients, for they are deeply bound to the Mother, whom most of them worship. They are a people closely tied to nature. There are of course exceptions to the rule, and it is not unlikely to find an eyafen living in an urban setting, set apart from the rest of their kind. Usually the eyafen choose the calling of the nature-priest, for this way of life brings them even closer to the Mother; those who bind their blood to the earth-goddess are always ready to stand against any who disturb the natural harmony of Salorras.

Character

In general, the eyafen are remote and introverted creatures. Before they act, they weigh every side carefully. They are solitary, and hold a particular love for coming to know the world. Teaching the word of the mother earth, they wish to offer the rest of the world her knowledge, her serenity, and also the wrath of nature. As they are wont to be travelers and wayfarers, one may meet an eyafen in nearly any corner of Salorras.

Appearance

The outward appearance of the eyafen is exotic and wild as their spirit. Their size belongs to the medium category, their height ranging from 1.80 to 2.20 meters. Their most singular trait is the soft coloring of their skin — something between watercolor and tattoo, embracing the whole body, usually weaving shades of soft orange and sky-blue. Their features are wild and exotic, and to the tastes of the other peoples might be called foreign or even disfigured. They have especially long, slender fingers on which they delight in wearing many rings. Men and women alike bear especially thick, long hair adorned with dried leaves and discreet ornaments of amber.

Neighbors and Rivals

Most peoples keep a discreet distance from the eyafen — both because the eyafen themselves prize solitude, and because the other peoples cannot understand them. There is no evident prejudice against them, but they rarely win the trust of others, owing to their guarded nature. For all the reluctance of the rest, an eyafen’s opinion is always valued, by grace of their patience and their insight.

Faith

Most eyafen believe in the Mother, a proto-pagan religion with few rules and a small priesthood. Perhaps this is so because each of them reckons himself a part of nature, and by extension of the goddess Mother. There are of course those who choose not to be part of this religion. A unique phenomenon of worship, known only to the eyafen, is the spiritual binding with the wardens of the Paths of the Ancients. Though the noble faye are not deities, they are able to grant a part of their power to those who choose to bind themselves with them.

Conscience

The moral stance of most eyafen is neutral, though it is not unlikely that every cast of ethics finds expression among them. Most follow the path of nature, which keeps them set apart from the common affairs of mortals. Among the customary matters that occupy many eyafen are to live in harmony with nature and the safety of the Paths of the Ancients. Many also keep their own moral rules of life, which nonetheless attune once more to the harmony of nature.

Eyafen Domains

Every tract of land is a homeland of the eyafen, or at least so they reckon. The beginning and cradle of their culture took place on exotic Neluvia, northwest of Khalendianil — lost within the mists of the Tythen Ocean. There they were born and “embraced” the whole world through the Paths of the Ancients of their forebears the noble faye. On Neluvia there are three great encampments of the eyafen, making them lords of the ancient isle; and there are various regions of the world that accept and integrate the eyafen into their society.

In 432 IIE the goddess Mother gave the world the last Path of the Ancients to date, leading to the Pathgate “Deepmount” in the unknown and wild southern land of the isle of Solevna. There, in the same year, special envoys of eyafen sent by the Three-Faced Goddess herself established their encampment Tir Naog, and it now stands officially on the map of Salorras as the informal statelet of Caithris. Some of the lands that stand out for their acceptance of the eyafen are the side of the elves on the continent of Khalendianil, the young — and first official state in the history of the pyrekin — Faeldar, and the city-state Laernoctus.

Wanderers and Seekers

Many apostate eyafen choose the way of the adventurer, on the pretext that it is part of their nature. They are always willing to travel, and to take up the challenges of the civilized regions that are foreign to them. This of course is reckoned no obstacle for them, and in no case does it stop them from exploring and finding a place for themselves in the world.

Language

The eyafen speak Merylia — the ancient tongue of their forebears the noble faye — as well as a local dialect, usually of the region where they grew. Merylia sounds like the rustle of leaves and the babble of a brook in the ears of strangers; its script is complex but elegant. They use it in their written word and gladly teach it to foreign peoples, for they believe it will bring them into contact with nature. They may know some of the tongues of the ancient peoples, the elves and the dwarves, for their respect for these is greater than for the rest.

In the regions that accept eyafen as part of their society, they usually learn the local tongue — Colloquial in the Free Cities of South, Elven in Khalendianil, Phyrnal in Faeldar, and Merylia in their own particular homeland, Neluvia.

Eyafen Starborns

The most renowned eyafen who walked toward ascension is Khael Taran-Mhor, the Unthirsting. His tragic betrayal shattered the rite of his ascension and tore the veil of reality toward Saragoth, and his story remains one of the beloved/hated tales of the eyafen and the eyalen ria. The only eyafen starborn of Salorras is the Horned Hunter, who tirelessly tracks and neutralizes threats to the world within the Paths of the Ancients.

Names

The names of the eyafen are usually two or three syllables, their meanings bound to the phenomena, regions, and goods of nature. Their baptism is reckoned a sacred rite, and takes place in a region fitting to the meaning of the name. Names, for the eyafen, are something more than a word they simply answer to — rather, a name grounds great power, for within it lie the elements of nature. For example, Ealhdun, which means “son of the coldest winter,” may well have been baptized at some frozen waterfall during a heavy winter. Their names may seem similar to those of the common peoples, but to an eyafen it is an insult for one to mistake their name, or to call them by some diminutive.

Male names: Aelfric, Aubrey, Avery, Ealdun, Ealhdun, Eldan, Elden, Eldon, Eldrey, Iald, Ialn, Iaelen, Iern, Kalan, Kallan, Kalen, Kailen, Kealar, Kellen, Kheelan. Female names: Aelfwine, Aethelwine, Aethelwyne, Alva, Alvar, Alvara, Alvarie, Alvie, Alvina, Maelie, Maurelle, Molnitte, Oda, Odelina, Odette, Odiana, Odiane, Odila, Odile, Ordalf, Ordella.

Eyafen Racial Traits

The eyafen carry in their veins the blood of the noble faye — the ancient wardens of the Paths of the Ancients — and that kinship shows in every facet of their nature: the exotic watercolor of their skin, the strange grace of their silhouette, the restrained wisdom in their gaze, and above all their deep familiarity with the natural order of Salorras. They are a people born to live at the threshold between the mortal world and the noumenal wild. That heritage lifts them above the common adventurer, so the eyafen is an advanced race the referee admits with care.

Requirements: Minimum WIS 9 Ability adjustments: +2 WIS — wise and careful creatures who weigh every side before they act (no score above 18) Class access: Any Path or Paragon. The eyafen’s calling is the apostle of the Mother — the nature-priest — and the circles below are an innate ritual magic of the blood, not a taught discipline. (Salorras has no ranger; the wilderness hunter is an armsman or a nature-apostle.)

• Eyes of the Wild: An eyafen sees clearly by starlight, moonlight, or a forgotten torch where most mortals stumble — infravision to 60 feet — moving through such gloom like a traveler in a forest they know as home.
• Hunter’s Senses: The eyafen are a people of hunters, and it shows in every sense. An eyafen tracks by sign, reading from a single print not only a creature’s passing but its mood and heading; the referee should favor them at noticing, listening, and surviving in the wild. In natural surroundings and tall grass an eyafen Moves Silently and Hides as a thief of their level (a non-thief eyafen has a flat 2-in-6), unseen by all but the most trained eyes.
• Fayen Blood: For every effect that turns on race, an eyafen counts as a faye — ancient blessed relics answer to their hands, and the magic that seeks out the faye kind (including the bite of Sargothite, the faye’s nemesis-metal) finds them just the same. This same kinship shields the mind: an eyafen gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against charm, illusion, and all mind-affecting magic, where other peoples fall to the compelling whisper and the beguiling call.
• Ancient’s Blessings: Once an eyafen matures on their path and proves their spirit — upon reaching 9th level or higher — they may seek one of the most sacred traditions of their kind: a mystical bond with one of the noble faye of the Paths of the Ancients. After a long rite in the proper places, the eyafen and the noble faye join a part of their existence, and the warden grants the mortal a companion spirit — a faye guardian that accompanies them thereafter — or a permanent blessing woven into their gifts, as the referee and the tradition allow.
• Blood of the Ancients: Every eyafen can weave a form of magic exclusive to their kind: the circles — ritual acts, solitary or communal, that draw power directly from their faye heritage. In a circle the eyafen does not hurl a spell but weaves a compact with the earth, the winds, and the powers of the Paths of the Ancients, asking a particular grace in exchange for effort, time, and perhaps a sacred offering. Every eyafen begins knowing the foundational rite Seeds of the Earth and learns further circles as they are initiated more deeply into the traditions of their people (the referee adjudicates each circle’s boon and its cost in time and offering).

Languages: An eyafen speaks Merylia and a regional tongue of their upbringing, honors Elven and Dwarven, and may learn the elemental tongues.