Aether Dweller
On Galena 7, a major collapse occurred in the Copper District of the Dwarven cave-city Maghrihm. Over 500 deaths were recorded as a result of major parts of the cave’s ceiling breaking and falling down on the buildings below, but Death’s claim would have been much worse if it wasn’t for a series of strange events that happened in the weeks before the disaster.
Series of strange sigils were found etched into the walls of buildings in an unknown language, and workers reported strong headaches in certain areas of the settlement. Most notably, there were multiple supposed sightings of shadowy winged figures with eyes that shined brighter than the richest ruby. Due to these events, many citizens had deemed the area to be “cursed” and had left the area for other districts. Due to this, the population was a mere fraction of its original amount when the ceiling crashed.
While it is unknown if the phenomena beforehand was the cause or portent of the disaster, it is true that its appearance saved many lives from being buried in the dust.
Shadowy Flyers
Aether Dwellers are an unusual and magical race that looks like a shadowy mix of human, bird, and bug. Their sleek coats are usually a deep black shade, though lighter colors and patterns have been reported. The only part of them to have a non-neutral color is their eyes, which are usually a bright red, though most other hues have been recorded in rarer cases. Some have protrusions resembling antennae coming from the top of their heads, while others have smooth craniums. From their arms, a large winglike membrane hangs down, allowing them to glide endlessly in the astral environments they call home.
Most Dwellers are detached from the fare of more common races, most of them content to glide in groups through the Astral Plane, or even the vastness of space. When they are seen in the Material, it is usually as vague sightings or odd encounters before cataclysmic events, which the race as a collective seems to be attracted to. Of course, the race is not one monolith, and there are known accounts of Aether Dwellers who have integrated into society or the adventuring life, often to either prevent an event that they have foreseen, or simply to experience more sensations than their normal habits provide them.
Mysterious Oracles
Not much is known about the nature of Aether Dwellers. Typical Dweller society doesn’t interact with most races outside of cryptic encounters, and their language is so quiet as to be hard to understand by most peoples. Due to this, many rumors have flourished about the origin of these mysterious entities. Some people say that they were made as lieges of a god of Time, but were cursed for an unknown deed to be unable to directly intervene in the lives of mortals. Others say they were born from the quivering chaos of the Far Realm, made to ensure certain events transpire to eventually allow the eldritch beings within to escape into the greater world.
Even the Aether Dweller’s method of reproduction is not known. Some say that their offspring are miniscule white beings whose arms grow in with time. Others theories say that they are born from disastrous events somehow transposing aspects of themselves backwards in time, or that the amount of Dwellers to exist was predetermined at the start by Time itself. Whatever method is true, the Aether Dwellers do not seem to be keen on sharing this information.
Aether Dweller Names
Names directly from the Aetherian language consist of various quiet tones, much like a flute being heard distantly away. Due to this, Aether Dwellers that have decided to interact with other races often take on nicknames that are more easily comprehensible to the Common tongue. Usually, these names either use soft phonetics to emulate their original name, or are based on the Dweller’s reason for interacting with others.
Aether Dweller Nicknames: Ava, Cuddlebug, End, Flighty, Guide, Hooty, Hummer, Kite, Lurker, Mothy, Mumble, Murk, Nimbus, Oracle, Pleasant, Shade, Soar, Spook, Uhu, Voovoo
Aether Dweller Traits
Your Aether Dweller character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. It’s unknown whether Aether Dwellers are immortal, or simply long-lived. Some show signs of aging in the form of faded colors and a generally weaker body, but others have been recorded as being as vigorous as ever over the length of centuries.
Alignment. Most Aether Dwellers are content to glide through the Astral Plane, having a Neutral Alignment. Ones that become interested in other civilizations or the adventuring life often differ, becoming inclined to one end of the axis of alignment. Whether this is towards Law, Chaos, Good, or Evil depends on the Dweller in question.
Creature Type. You count as both a Humanoid and an Aberration, though you have advantage on saving throws from game effects that only target Aberrations.
Size. Mature Aether Dwellers have a size range slightly larger than humans, being around 4 feet at their shortest and 7 feet at their highest. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Your eyes are adapted to see in the darkness of empty realms. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Cryptic Nature. You do not need to breathe, eat, or drink.
Astral Soaring. Your arms are wing-like, allowing you to catch the air. When you fall and are not incapacitated, you can subtract up to 100 feet from your fall when calculating your fall damage and can move horizontally 2 feet for every 1 foot you fall.
When you are in an environment without gravity (such as the Astral Plane, or the vacuum of space), you are able to glide continuously, giving you a flight speed equal to your walking speed.
Aberrant Resistance. Your aberrant nature makes it harder for mental attacks to affect you. You have resistance to psychic damage.
Piercing Gaze. You can cast the mind sliver cantrip. When you cast this cantrip, you can use it without verbal components once per short rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier.
Divinatory Vision. You have the ability to see visions of the future. Once per long rest, you can cast augury without material components. At 3rd level, you can cast this spell once per short rest. The chance for random castings is not removed.
Languages. You can speak Common and Aetherian. Aetherian is a language that is near-impossible to learn nonmagically by other races, as it is spoken in hushed tones just on the cusp of human hearing.
Optional Rules:
These rules are either to fit with more modern race standards, or to add interesting options that are too esoteric to be a part of the core features.
Tasha’s-style Ability Scores. Instead of the given Ability Score Improvements, you can increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1.
Credits
All artwork by 416.
Made with assistance of Detect Balance by somanyrobots.
Version 1.0
