Category:Shadar-Kai

At a Glance
The Shadar-kai were a blue-skinned humanoid race native to the Land Across the Sea who were credited with breaking apart the numerous warbands of Greenskins (Goblins and Orcs). Their origins were largely unknown, even to the Shader-Kai themselves. Some scholars believe that they were once humans, possibly altered by arcane magics hidden beneath the deserts, or that they were survivors of a primordial climate change in the far eastern fringes and their blue-skin was a result in their translocation and change in diet.

A martial race, they Shader-Kai have always been one step ahead of their enemy through their mastery of mind and body and believed in the traditions of combat as central to their community. Typically, Shadar-kai would style themselves with shaved or braided hair and, combined with their tattoos and frequent piercings, gave them a slender and angular appearance, something that impressed an exotic and feline appearance.

During their war with the neighbouring Goblins and Orcs, the Shadar-Kai drove them to the brink of extinction, but stayed their hand when it came time to deliver the final blow. While many historians would've favoured this eradication and regarded it as wholly acceptable (based on the damage caused by the barbarous Greenskins), Shader-Kai elders saw this as a tipping point where their race could follow a darker path. Stopping short of genocide, the Greenskins were allowed flee to the eastern rim and the Shader-Kai enacted a cultural law that explicitly prohibited preemptive strikes, a tradition intended to prevent the race from committing great evils.

Until recent times, this tradition has held, but with the re-emergence of the Greenskins many Shadar-Kai, dissatisfied with the growing danger, have begun to look for ways to forcibly insert themselves into conflicts. Some have even gone so far as to call for a "A'lra'rai", a return to the "Race War" policies before the preemptive strike law, where all Shader-Kai are called to fight until the enemy is entirely eradicated. This has led to a schism in Shader-Kai society where generations are fighting between themselves as to what is more important: survival, or the spirit of justice.

In Shader-Kai society, children were born without names (referred to as Unclaimed) and it was not until the "Nurwoodo", a name-taking ceremony, that they would take a name for themselves. An Unclaimed "he" or "she" would listen to exhaustive stories of their culture's ancestors until adolescence, at which time the individual would choose the name of a chosen forebearer -- in turn pledging themselves to a lifelong duty to uphold their forebearer's legacy or mission. Only Shadar-kai who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to the betterment of their race were allowed to craft a new name, a highly significant act that required approval of a ruling circle of Shader-Kai elders. This was an exceptionally rare event and only occurred with the most honoredd members of the Shadar-kai.

Racial Features

 * Premeditated: Adhering to racial law, you have a permanent -4 to initiative rolls. At the beginning of combat you may choose to mark one target. If this target attacks you before you hit them, your first successful strike against them is a guaranteed critical strike.
 * Ambusher: You are proficient in Survival and Stealth checks and are unobscured by difficult terrain.
 * Favoured: Once per long rest you can summon the courage of your ancestral namesake and gain your Level + Constitution Modifier temporary hit points.