Strygia Species

Strygia
+2 Int, +1 Str
Meditate: Strygia must meditate for four hours a day, during which point they are still aware of their surroundings. They are not required to strip off any armor or clothes during their meditation.
Languages: Strygia can only be magically silenced, and speak Common and Elvish.
Arcane Nature: You know the cantrip message, with an increased range of 300 feet. At 3rd level, you can cast Chromatic Orb without using material components. At 5th level, you can cast it a second time and both at second level. You regain spells used with this feature after a long rest.
Phantasmal Essence: Damage you take from non-magical sources is reduced by 2, this includes fire, cold, and acid that naturally occurs. Supernatural sources, such as Dragons Breath, are considered magical.

Feats:

Restriction: Strygia
Arcane Aptitude: You can cast an additional spell with your Arcane Nature, and you may cast Color Spray at 2nd level instead of Chromatic Orb. Additionally, you regain uses of this feature when you complete a short rest.

Restriction: Strygia
Synchronized Warcraft: You can act as a telepathic hub, using arcane magic to connect up to five creatures thoughts. Creatures other than Strygia must mentally “Yell” to speak, and so all members of a network hear. Strygia may selectively speak with members of a network. A creature can withdraw itself from the network as an action by “emptying” its mind. Establishing a Link can only be done over a long or short rest. Creatures within the network gain the benefits of a hive mind, and as such cannot be flanked if the flanker is within sight of a member of the hive mind. A member being effected by a mind-affecting spell requires the Strygia to make a similar save to maintain the link, otherwise the Strygia will eject the affected from the network. Additionally, any Strygia in a network can cast spells that affect other networked members without need of a vocal or somatic components, and are always considered within range.


The race known as the Strygios are a hearty, magically-gifted race. Possessed of keen minds naturally prodigious in magicka, they mix borderline-Psionics with a tough hide and resilience to damage. Believed to be descended from avatars of various Gods of Magic, the Strygios prize their magecraft as a core component of their society, and a means of religious work. To craft spells and work enchantment is a soothing experience that takes no exertion, making them mages par excellence by default. Their warriors are even finer in moderate groups, capable of working as a cohesive unite through arcane telepathy, and they compartmentalize their military to ensure effective spread of their communications. Because of this, they emphasize Quality over Quantity, and many enjoy lifelong careers in military work, usually from a young age. Those who abstain, do so at only moderate scorn, though this is alleviated in recent years by the mandatory draft. All Strygios are, as a rule, trained in Spear and Sorcery, and many make fine marksmen thanks to the Crossbow’s ability to lob enchanted bolts long distance.

Strygia do not have sexes, instead reproducing by fissioning off parts of their essence into a new being. The process diminishes the Strygia, but leaves them with more room to grow themselves. The process is called “Twinning” by the Strygios, and a twinned Strygia will always have an affinity to its twin and their children, though this lessens over time as the Strygios grow into unique entities. Strygios cannot reproduce with other races, being partially incorporeal themselves and lacking the appropriate traits, though some Wizards have deduced a polymorph could allow one to crossbreed, creating a unique spawn. Such an undertaking has, however, not been attempted in public memory, and any such crossbreeds would undoubtedly be of unique composition.

An Strygia’s insubstantial nature is only partial, and though they are largely intangible, they are still mortal, and still there. Wounds cause their essence to unbind and “leak”, and grievous harm will kill one as much as any other living thing. Strygios feed upon knowledge and experience, and a Strygia which learns or experiences something it, personally, has not yet, causes it to grow. Once a Strygia has reached an appropriate age, it Twins, and both begin the process again, re-learning and re-experiencing the world. A Strygia’s body gives “resistance” to pressure, increasing the closer to the core one gets, but gentle or slow intrusion has been described as “intimate and comforting”, though any quick movements can actually hurt the creature. Most Strygios wear armor or cloaks permanently, so as not to sneak up on others of different races who lack the magical nature to see Strygios freely. Most nude Strygia appear to be colors, of any shape or type, holding in the air, shifting to accommodate their own actions.