Rendeians

Thralls to the qlippoth lord Sessr’vatn, these warped creatures worship no gods but the Abyss itself. Relying on abyssal, magical and technological augmentations to their body, they seek little else but the empowerment of their alien masters – and the destruction of their masters’ greatest enemies, demonkind.

Ability Adjustments +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex

Hit Points: 6

Racial Traits

Size and Type

Rendeians are Medium humanoids with the rendeian and shapechanger subtypes. .

Adaptive Physiology

A rendeian possesses one of the following: a burrow speed of 15 feet, a fly speed of 20 feet (clumsy), or a climb or swim speed of 30 feet. This can be altered to another choice by taking 10 minutes to retract and generate appendages necessary for the new movement. This does not count as resting for 10 minutes to regain Stamina Points.

Morphic Augmenters

Rendeians take naturally to augmentations, and their physiology allows them to install such things themselves. As such, they need not have the necessary ranks in Medicine to install augmentations on their own body. If they do have the required ranks, any implantation time is halved. This ability does not apply to other creatures.

Qlippoth Thralls

Rendeians take a -4 penalty on saving throws against effects created by creatures with the qlippoth subtype.

Sin Hunters

Rendeians gain a +2 racial bonus on attack rolls and saving throws against non-qlippoth creatures with the evil subtype.

Soul Lore

Sessr’vatn imparts its servants with an unprecedented knowledge of its enemies. Mysticism is always a class skill for Rendeians, and they gain a +2 racial bonus on Mysticism checks to know information about the Outer Planes and their inhabitants.

Physical Description

These creatures have violet skin that subtly ripples on the surface, with a large beak and horns that protrude from their angled skulls. They tend towards lean structures, but due to the race’s imbued knack for augmentations, individual appearances can vary widely. They enjoy the bird-like talons on their hands and feet, but it’s not uncommon for them to have otherworldly-appearing limbs grafted from the raw Abyss.

Rendeians have no true gender; this need was obviated long ago by their master Sessr’vatn. Instead, they reproduce through an odd form of communal symbiosis. Each rendeian morphs itself to match the structure of an adjacent mate, allowing the genetic patterns to mesh, and a small grub materializes when the ‘parents’ snap apart. This newly-formed child grows to adult size over the span of nearly 3 years, and can live for approximately 50 more after that; the rendeians’ adaptive biology do not lend themselves to unassisted long-term survival.

Homeworld

The planet now known as Rendei-5 is a world that has largely been blighted by the raw energies of the Abyss. Long ago, its leaders were deceived into opening a portal into reality’s darkest depths. Somehow, the result was even worse than one would expect; a qlippoth lord of fleshwarping and subjugation known as Sessr’vatn had a direct gateway onto the Material Plane. It quickly exercised this availability, subjugating the populace by force.

Now, the world is largely inhospitable to sane life. Outside of bizarre ward-cities where visitors are welcomed with unsettling vigor, the land is tainted by the Abyssal rift that has wormed its way into the planet’s very core. Qlippoths and other foul beings roam the landscape, and some even depart on their semi-biological warpships. It serves as a place antithetical to the natural stream of the River of Souls, and any who die here are consumed by the matter of the Abyss itself.

The ecosystem of the planet is near nonexistent, but where it does exist the life is strange and bizarre. The fleshjungles of K’shunarro are a surprisingly popular tourist attraction in this part of the nebula. The jungle is full of creatures and plants seemingly composed entirely out of humanoid flesh. The pallor and texture varies widely, but many rangers will pay a pretty credit for the chance to hunt a fleshdreg dragon.

Society and Alignment

Rendeians largely live in a loose meritocracy, where those who augment their bodies to the most elaborate degrees tend to rise higher in society. They run a thriving flesh-trade, dealing in not only augmentations of all kinds, but also slaves. In an odd twist on typical slaving cultures, they prefer souls that are rifer with sin as opposed to those of a more pure nature. Indeed, a slave that does nothing wrong is quite likely to be set free by the rendeians out of disgust. Those with greater sin give their masters greater prestige when sacrificing them to the Abyss itself, disrupting their souls’ ordained path and augmenting the qlippoths’ maddening habitat. These sacrifices are overseen by the utukku race of qlippoths, who enjoy a position of prominence as the twisted ‘ministers’ of the rendeian faith.

While they deal in body and soul, the rendeians are very cognizant of their vulnerability to overzealous crusaders. Their military has unexpected discipline, and their warpships’ ability to phase in and out of reality during combat makes them unpredictable foes. To further incentivize others to be their allies, they make their augmentations of the highest quality. Favors are given to those who divest their most heinously sinful compatriots to the custody of Rendei-5.

The never-ending stream of sacrifices bolsters the raw material of the Abyss, allowing more qlippoths to enter the mortal realms. Indeed, there are some breeds of the fiends that walk freely throughout the rendeian society. These qlippoths tend to specialize in augmentation or evangelization, as these are the things most tolerated by other races for which Rendei-5 is known.

Rendeians tend towards being chaotic evil, as their master Sessr’vatn demands their unswerving obedience through anarchy. Chaotic neutral members of the species are not uncommon, however, as some see beauty in pure change as opposed to malevolence. Minorities of them are even neutral evil, and seek the bottom line in all their dealings.

Relations

Rendeians tend to get along with various governments by-and-large; their uncanny reputation for having silver tongues precedes and becomes them. Indeed, some even augment their tongues to be metallic in nature – not only to smooth words but to proof against any poisonous treachery. On an individual basis, however, the qlippoth-thralls tend to gather much aggression. It’s not uncommon for a lone ship or small fleet to raid the planet every so often; their inevitable destruction seems to not deter these ‘crusaders’.

     Against worshippers or cultists of other fiends, however, the rendeians brook no resistance. Like their qlippoth masters, they seek to eradicate sin from creation, preferring to hunt demon-kind above all other quarries. Ironically, this leads to them prizing holy weapon fusions above all other kinds – while it is antithetical to their nature, goodness still triumphs over sin, in its own way.

     Crusaders and those with righteous causes have a complex relationship with the species that borders on aggression. While those aligned with the goodly planes accept aid against a common enemy, they are wary to do so. The repercussions of siding with the mortal servants of qlippoth, an evil older than evil itself, can be unknowable; regardless, the rendeians are all too eager to give aid to those in need who wage war on sin.

Adventurers

Some rendeians leave their homeworld, either to increase their own prestige by gathering souls for their masters or to evade the oppressive anarchy that envelops the world. There are even those few that feel staying in one place is not enough; indeed, it is not just bodily augmentations that can make a great creation. Experience can come in handy just as often.

These rendeians may be slavers looking to increase their prestige through sacrifice, evangelists desiring to preach their maddening creed, or simply mercenaries wanting a job. While the more genteel aspects of society typically want nothing to do with them, the gutters always have applications open. The most common classes for rendeians are mechanics (who see all of life as a machine in need of repair) and mystics with the mindbreaker or star shaman connections.

Names

Rendeians have no true gender, and their names tend to resonate with harsh clicking noises. Examples include C’chul, R’thial, Surruccin, T’cheriah, Kiilakato, and Shakkuutin.