Sylph

Curious and reclusive, sylphs are humans whose ancestry has been touched by beings of elemental air. Colloquially sylphs are often classified as geniekin because most sylphs trace their airy lineage back to djinni ancestors or possess physical traits commonly associated with djinni.

Physical Description

Graceful and airy, the sylph silhouette is almost exactly like that of a lithe human, their limbs toned and thin. Though a sylph’s skin tends towards human colors, it is often tinted slightly blue, and is cool to the touch. Small breezes constantly surround them, often leaving even the most manicured sylph with a slightly wind-tussled look, their hair, clothing, and possessions constantly fluttering in a gentle, nigh undetectable breeze. Sylphs tend to have sharp, angular faces, and thin shoulders and hands, as well as legs that are slightly longer than those of humans, giving them an alluring appeal. For this reason, sylphs are usually nigh indistinguishable from humans at first glance, 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 djinni ancestry or the power of elemental air—humans are simply the most common appearance because of their sheer numbers and expansiveness.

Home World

Sylphs call any world where humans can arise their home, as they are born from human parents who have some form of airy or electrical elemental taint in their blood. Historically, this typically arose from an elemental bloodline, but after the disaster occurred, sylphs began spontaneously appearing in great numbers amount the human survivors of the geniekin world, 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 sylphs are still born of ancient bloodlines to this day, most call the geniekin home world or one of its habitable moons their home world.

Society And Alignment

Sylph society is much like human society, a direct consequence of most sylph being born of human descent. Compared to humanity, sylph society is fickle and prone to rapid changes; much as the wind suddenly shifts at a moment’s notice. As a result, sylph leaders are fickle and prone to make decisions on the fly based on gut impulses or instincts, though they’re very seldom moved to action by raw emotion.

Instead, sylphs are canny and always on the look out for what they believe to be the best deal possible; whether that deal is best for the sylph’s people or the sylph themselves depends on the individual and sheer circumstance. Syph society mostly centers itself on the geniekin home world, where sylph numbers are highest. Outside of this world, sylphs tend to simply blend in as best they can with other societies, especially human society, which they tend to mesh in well enough.

Relations

Sylphs are flighty and somewhat scatterbrained, so they often make fast friends with gnomes and ysoki, while more logically-minded races such as deoxyians and vesk have trouble following and tolerating their scattered trains of thought. Sylphs are instinctively enamored with flight, and make fast friends with tengu and other avian races, while they are somewhat standoffish towards races with strong connections to the earth, like dwarves. Among genekin, sylphs tend to “fan the flames” of ifrits’ passions, so to speak, and push undines out of their shells, but find little in common with oreads. In contrast to other geneikin races, sylphs find most oreads to be slow-moving and dull to be around, more concerned with worrying then living.

Adventurers

Like tumbleweeds in the wind, sylphs often find themselves compelled to go wherever fortune and fates rolls them to, and as a result many become adventurers simply for the thrill of it all. While it is true that many sylphs are shy, their shyness doesn’t detract from their urge to travel and see the world, much as the wind stays only briefly on its journeys. Sylphs are quick-minded and quick-bodied, and they often channel their speed and grace into the pursuits of the operative, or use their natural intelligence to master technomancy or machinery, in both cases preferring to cast spells or create machines that allow them to soar amongst the stars.

Names

Sylphs names largely depend upon the culture in which the sylph was raised. Sylphs raised primarily among humans often take human names, but many wind up with Auran names or names that sound Auran in origin. Sylph names are often light on the lips and breezy, easy to say with an almost musical quality about them. Some examples of sylph names are Akaash, Caval, Dwei, Eydan, Felemme, Gadesh, Hanuun, Illa, Inam, Julaash, Keeya, Lissi, Nava, Radaya, Radee, Siival, Tena, Vasaam, Weful, and Zulush.

Racial Traits

+2 Dex, +2 Int, –2 Con

Hit Points: 2

Size and Type

Sylphs are outsiders with the native subtype and are Medium. They have a base speed of 30 feet.

Special Abilities

Darkvision: Sylphs 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.

Glide (Su): Sylphs can subtly alter wind currents, allowing them to glide. They can make a DC 15 Acrobatics check to fall safely from any height without taking falling damage, as if using the flight spell (spell level 1st). When falling safely, a sylph may make an additional DC 15 Acrobatics check to glide, moving 5 feet laterally for every 20 feet the sylph falls. When flying, a sylph increases its maneuverability by one step (to a maximum of perfect).

Grace of the Wind: Slyphs gain a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics, Piloting, and Stealth checks.

Zephyr Resistance: Slyphs gain electricity resistance 5 as well as a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against air- and electricity-based effects and attacks.