Iara

Legacy

Iaran are half-Triton and half something else. After the God’s War, the Thalasians and Tritons remained on good terms, working together and forging alliances that stand even today among the Kiths and Tribes of their peoples. This led to romance, as all good things do, and from that comes the progeny called Iaran, or Iara singular.

Iaran are considered to be happy people, tied to the waters they are so fond of and drawn to, yet more tolerant of some places than their Triton parent Iaran are always the direct descendants, for should an Iaran and other heritage combine, the triton heritage is lost – but should they match with another Iara or a Triton, the progeny is always a Triton.

Iaran have a need to roam, to see, to explore, to experience new. For them the Great Rivers of Wyrlde are akin to the paths and roads that landwalkers make, only it is what the world has given us instead of what is forged from it.

Iaran families are always linked to the water, parents raising their children where they can both be together. They tend to be very much close only within the family; the Kith is important but not as critical, for most Iaran parents are travelers and traders who have long move away from the islands and tidepools they called home.

During the God’s War, the oceans teemed with battles far from shores, and great sea serpents and Merow were the servants of the Dread Host and the seas turned red with the blood of the lost.

To fight them the Bright Host begged of the people who we now call Thalasians for some to agree to become greater, and those who were willing to sacrifice their lives did so and became the Tritons. After the God’s War, the Thalasians and Tritons remained on good terms, working together and forging alliances that stand even today among the Kiths and Tribes of their peoples. This led to romance, as all good things do, and from that comes the progeny called Iaran, or Iara singular.

Tradition

Water is life. Water remembers. Water is everything. History is in the waters, the flow and the wave are ways of guiding, or speaking, of moving. All the waters are different, and yet all are the same.

This is the underlying ideas of the Iaran, and when added to the joy of the wind, the warmth of the Sun, the sparkle of the stars that map the way back, there is little more that can speak to the earnest and fierce embrace of freedom that drives the Iaran.

Iaran live in, on, and around rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. They can be found everywhere, and they are raised to understand the currents and tides, the risks, and dangers of waters more than any landwalker could ever know. They are riverboat riders, Corsairs, Sailors, and they are firm believers in the importance of a good bargain, because you know that you may find a better deal at a different pool, but also that you might find an end there.

Perspective

Iaran are considered to be happy people, tied to the waters they are so fond of and drawn to, yet more tolerant of some places than their Triton parent Iaran are always the direct descendants, for should an Iaran and other heritage combine, the triton heritage is lost – but should they match with another Iara or a Triton, the progeny is always a Triton.

Iaran have a need to roam, to see, to explore, to experience new. For them the Great Rivers of Wyrlde are akin to the paths and roads that landwalkers make, only it is what the world has given us instead of what is forged from it.

Iaran are taught that three things stand above all others: Fairness, Persistence, and Candor. Truthfulness, honesty, and forthrightness are all things that come in handy when dealing with rivers that can change in a storm, seas that can swallow you, waves that can steal from you all sense of direction. The ability to calm yourself and focus on what you need to do is instilled early, and not always without trauma. The Waters are fair, but that fairness isn’t always what we want it to be – it is water, it is not alive, it is no more selective than air.

But people are meant to be fair, and to be fair you must be open and aware and pay attention. And to survive in the world you must always be willing to move forward when things are at their worst.

Stigmas

While their often-peculiar appearance can put many off, it is their shocking ability to see through what are accepted practices in many places and calling them deceptive and not agreeing to them.

Appearance

Iaran are of a typical height and weight, with ears that are finned and flare slightly. They have wide noses that can close with inner flaps, webbed fingers and toes, and their feet are able to spread out broadly or be squeezed together. This enables them to wear footwear, though it is not always comfortable and often hinders them, slowing them down in comparison to other landwalkers. Within the water, though, they are graceful, powerful swimmers, and blend easily into the terrain. Iaran can have all sorts of hair types, though their hair always looks slightly wet, and does not hinder them in the water. There is a roundedness to most Iaran as they have a slightly thicker than normal level of fat beneath their skin.

Iaran tend very strongly towards blues, greens, aquas, and whites for overall coloration of their complexion, hair, and eyes. There are exceptions, but they are comparatively rare, even though they originally matched much of the world and this still happens.

Iaran have skin that is extremely finely scaled, often glittery, the scales almost too fine to see with the naked eye unless extremely close and immediately present. It is soft, smooth and very slippery when wet. It is much more noticeable in the water.

When fully extended, their feet look like separate fins such as you might find on a fish, and their hands have a webbing between the fingers to the first knuckle.

Qualities

Half Triton, they are blessed by the Powers, as any Iara can tell you. Iara is the singular form of their name, and they are a surprising people. Loving Rivers and Seas, they are often found near them, and they have a strange grasp of the way that trade works as well as a deeper understanding of the importance of the waters.

Special

Traits

Iaran have a limited ability to survive underwater for extended periods of time that has additional benefits. While they cannot breathe underwater like their Triton parent, they do have the ability to hold their breaths for a startlingly long time (3 minutes per Con point) and can always make a constitution check against drowning. This is a held breath. Fighting and other exertions cut the amount of time in half.

When they do this, flaps of skin close in their throat and nose, and the save against drowning comes from sometimes being able to pull air out of the water, but at a painful cost and involving choking, coughing and time to recover (maximum 60 seconds, recovery 1 hour).

Talents

When any fluid substance is involved, Iaran possess the ability to sense things in the same way as Tremorsense does with solid surfaces.

Tells

Iaran have a Weakness against Earth damage.

Notes