Geminites

Immediately recognizable by their startlingly beautiful features, Geminites bear the burden of expectation and prejudice in equal measure. Their complexion is perfect, their skin is soft, and their hair is lush and never seems to frizz. Their symmetrical proportions are as if sculpted and their eyes - always two different colors - are enigmatic and captivating. Throughout history they have always been low in number, and often found themselves living side by side with other cultures. Depending on the era's prevailing sentiments, they are either pureblooded nobles favored by the gods, or cursed degenerates whose otherworldly seductive wiles ought to be feared and avoided. Either way though, there’s never such a thing as just "fitting in". Some Geminites find it easier to hide or even deliberately blemish their own physical appearance to pass.
All of this controversy whirls around an ancestral trait known as the Blood Ward, which is said to be the product of a pact with a fey spirit, or the seduction of a demon, or the corruption of a Seraph, depending on who you ask. Indeed, Geminites are innately gifted with the ability to resist all disease. They are vulnerable to alchemical synthetics or abyssal toxins, and some may become violently allergic to very specific rare ingredients. But thanks to the Blood Ward, Geminites never get sick, and their bodies fight off parasites with ease. Without fear, they can walk amongst the ill, or venture into sewers, or frolic in the woods and blithely play mushroom roulette for a lark. It is a miraculous boon to be sure, even if it makes Geminites an easy scapegoat during times of pestilence.
Familial tradition stresses strategy in marriage to cultivate the bloodline, for the outside world can be fickle and untrustworthy. The hardship of maintaining the Blood Ward falls especially on those recognized as women at birth, for it is only passed down through the bond of the womb. Geminite folklore is fiery and dramatic, rife with themes of scandalous nobility and disputed birthright. Of bastard undergogs and envious cousins, of gallant chivalry in the face of persecution, of blood sorcery and forbidden lovers. There's lots of staring into mirrors and the faces of ponds, seeing things that are only halfway real in the light of the mesmer's moons. Academic debate is no less prone to fantastical thinking and extremist rhetoric - featuring sweeping declarations about what is owed in return for the gift of the Blood Ward and to whom. Bitterly the scholars argue about sin and sickness, about the healer’s duty, and of the Geminites' genetic destiny.
There is also the small matter they prefer not to mention in polite company: The Otherlings. Every child born with the Blood Ward is, in fact, a twin sibling to a disfigured stillborn, expelled from the womb on the same day the healthy baby is born. Some whisper that Geminites are twin-souled as a result. Legend warns that a Geminite who gazes into the Abyss will awaken the Otherling and allow it to take form.

Suggested Races

Elves, Half-Elves, Gnomes, Tieflings, Shapeshifters

Ancestral Features

Geminites begin with the Attractive edge and are immune to disease. They gain a +2 Bonus to resist poisons.

Ancestral Hindrances

• Bleeder
• Heavy Sleeper (HOR p7)
• Jingoistic (HOR p29)
• Night Terrors (HOR p7)
• Quirk
• Secret

Ancestral Edges

• Fast Healer (CORE p39)
• Ambidextrous (CORE p37)
• Aristocrat (CORE p37)
• Fey Blood (CORE p32)
• Healer (CORE 52)
• Visions (HORROR p9)
• Knight (FANTASY p38)
• Humiliate (CORE p50)
• Familiar (CORE p36)
• Luck (CORE p40)