Oread

Stoic and contemplative, oreads are humans whose ancestry has been touched by beings of elemental earth. Colloquially oreads are often classed as geniekin because most oreads trace their earthen heritage back to shaitan ancestors or possess physical traits commonly associated with shaitans.

Physical Description

Bulky and jagged, the oread silhouette is vaguely humanoid shaped, as if their kind had been cobbled and chiseled directly from stone. Oreads tend to be larger and bulkier than humans are, however, and while their skin isn’t true stone, it is thicker and harder than human flesh and is tacitly indistinguishable from unhewn stone. Most oreads have chiseled skin, square faces, broad shoulders and hands, and thick, jagged hair that feels as if it were coated in sand. Their skin is usually the color of stone, though this can vary from dark grays to deep blues, greens, violets, marbled whites and blacks, and even patterns of brown or tawny like sandstone.

Despite these features, oreads usually have an uncannily human appearance, though because they are born because of elemental presence within one’s blood, in theory they can appear similar to any humanoid race that claims shaitan ancestry or the power of elemental earth—humans are simply the most common appearance because of their sheer numbers and expansiveness.

Home World

Oreads call any world where humans can arise their home, as they are born from human parents who have some form of earthen elemental taint in their blood. Historically, this typically arose from an elemental bloodline, but after a disaster occurred, oreads began spontaneously appearing in great numbers amount the human survivors of a world ravaged by elemental forces following fluctuations in space-time that weakened the barriers between the Material Plane and the elemental planes. While some oreads are still born of ancient bloodlines to this day, most call this world or one of its habitable moons their home world.

Society And Alignment

Oread society is much like human society, a direct consequence of most oreads being born of human descent. Compared to humanity, oread culture is slow to move or change; much as mountains stand defiant against gales and thunderstorms for millennia. As a result, oread leaders are notoriously slow to act or make decisions, spending time to deliberate every possible outcome before settling on a course of action.

As a result, oreads often find themselves left out of large-scale plans conducted by other races, who simply cannot be bothered to wait around for them. Oread society mostly centers itself on the genekin home world, where oread numbers are highest. Outside of this world, oreads tend to simply blend in as best they can with other societies, especially human society, which they tend to mesh in well enough.

Relations

Although their life spans are comparable to humans, oreads find themselves in good company around longer-lived races that value discourse and deliberation, especially elves and samsarans. They likewise find good company in dwarves, who find kindred in their traditionalist ways and wisdom. Oreads often clash with ifrits over their hotheaded personalities and sylphs over their relaxed, airy attitudes. They respect nagaji ways and customs, but often mistrust their motives— especially those of their naga rules. Finally, they tend to view humans with equal parts comradery and pity, for oreads have enough common ground to like, even respect, humanity, but pity how willingly they are to rush through life without stopping to enjoy it’s smallest but more important pleasantries.

Adventurers

Oreads are perfectly happy staying complacent—like ancient stones, many find settling down for a simple life to be fulfilling, provided their needs are met and their work has meaning. As a result, oreads are the least likely of genekin to seek adventure, but oreads who yearn for action and excitement exist. For just as the earth quakes and churns, so too can oreads be spurned to adventure out of necessity, tragedy, or simple yearning.

When they do adventure, oreads are often soldiers, for their hulking frames and sturdy bodies make them powerful, durable combatants. Oreads also find themselves intrinsically connected with the myriad of planets and moons in the galaxy and beyond, and become mystics in order to better explore and understand these connections.

Names

Oread names largely depend upon the culture in which the oread was raised. Oreads raised primarily among humans often take human names, but many wind up with Terran names or names that sound Terran in origin. Oread names often rely on strong, firm sounds that are quick and booming, usually referring to some aspect of earth or stone that the oread physically embodies. Some examples of oread names are Andanan, Besthana, Bilo, Dohvymdis, Echane, Ghatiyara, Irice, Jaltos, Jeydavu, Jome, Mentys, Norhen, Nysene, Ollot, Oret, Panshe, Rahvot, Sithundan, Urtar, and Vyvoltot.

Racial Traits

+2 Str, +2 Wis, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 8

Size and Type

Oreads are outsiders with the native subtype and are Medium. They have a base speed of 20 feet.

Special Abilities

Darkvision: Oreads have darkvision, allowing them to see with no light source at all to a range of 60 feet in black and white only. See darkvision.

Granite Skin: Oreads have skin as tough as stone that makes it difficult to damage them. They gain a +1 racial bonus to AC.

Natural Weapons: Oreads are always considered armed. They can deal 1d3 lethal damage with unarmed strikes and the attack doesn’t count as archaic. Oreads gain a unique weapon specialization with their natural weapons at 3rd level, allowing them to add 1-1/2 x their character level to damage rolls with their natural weapons (instead of adding their level, as usual).

Stone Resistance: Oreads gain acid resistance 5 as well as a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against acid- and earth-based effects and attacks.