Relyth

He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.

— Author unknown

The Relyth are those rare individuals who contract the Maddening but do not lose their lives or their sanity from the experience - or, at least, they lose their sanity in a more productive and controlled way than the gibbering lunatics called the Maddened. Transformed in body and mind from their experience, these survivors call themselves Relyth and make their home in secluded villages deep within the Desolation.

Physical Information

There is a great deal of variability in a Relyth's physical appearance. This is due to two factors: firstly that a Relyth can be transformed from, it seems, any other sentient race; and secondly that the transformation is chaotic and unpredictable in nature. That being said, there are some consistent features that most Relyth share. Their skin changes colour, usually to a shade of purple. Their fingers elongate, either with longer bones or even extra joints, and sometimes become clawed. Their hair falls out and is usually replaced with tentacles, which may be short or long, fat or thin, many or few. Their face flattens and the features become less pronounced, and their eyes frequently change to a pale blue and glow faintly.

The general body shape generally remains broadly unchanged by the transformations. This leads to very short Relyth (from transformed halflings or gnomes), to squat, broad Relyth (from transformed dwarves), to tall Relyth (from transformed humans). Combined with the varied nature of their transformation this leads to Relyth taking a wide range of shapes and sizes, albeit with certain common features that unite them visually.

Relyth are entirely at home in the cooler temperatures of the Desolation, and typically wear the sorts of clothes most races would associate with the height of summer.

^{A Relyth who used to be an elf}

Societal Information

The details of Relyth society are relatively unknown to outsiders. The Relyth are a reclusive people by nature, and the Desolation where they make their home is hostile to outsiders. It is known that the Relyth have established a number of villages deep within the wastelands, where most of them seem content to stay. They worship gods unknown to the rest of the world, gods that most scholars think do not exist. Some few Relyth attempt to leave the Desolation to spread word of these nameless gods, but they are almost invariably killed by the forces that guard the border, for fear that they might spread the Maddening beyond the wasteland. Other than this proselytising no one is quite sure what the Relyth's goal is, if indeed they have one.

From observations of Relyth villages and travellers it seems clear that the horrors that infest the Desolation generally leave them alone. Considering how hostile those creatures are to just about everything else, this is very unusual behaviour. The dust goblins, however, do not abide by the same conduct, and regularly come into conflict with the Relyth.

History

Forty years ago there was no such thing as a Relyth. Then, in 1245 PC (220 AR), a great calamity befell the city of Ormithlor and its surroundings in an event called the Night of Weeping Stars. In the aftermath of this calamity the disease known as the Maddening ran rampant across the newly-formed Desolation. Most who contract the disease die or become utterly insane, but some few survived but were transformed. Unable to leave the Desolation without being hunted by the surrounding nations, and apparently feeling a strong kinship to their fellow survivors, these few survivors began calling themselves Relyth and started to establish villages within the Desolation.

Credit

The Relyth were originally created by u/saint_ambrose on r/UnearthedArcana. The original post can be found here.

Type

Humanoid (Aberration)

Creator

The Maddening

Lifespan

Unknown. The eldest were transformed ~35 years old and show no symptoms of old age.

Average Height

3-6ft (depending on original race)

Average Weight

40-200lbs (depending on original race)

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In-Game Rules

WIP