Hei'an

It is only natural that the secretive cloaked figures rarely seen walking the streets of imperial cities are at the heart of a maelstrom of rumours. Some believe them to be a new imperial project similar to the Masked Legion; others assert that they are just that, secretive cloaked figures of individual purpose and bent; yet others believe that the cloaks themselves contain nothing but shadows, and the shadows are the form taken by some visitors from another land.
None of these are true, of course, because the Hei'an (or at least, those not exiled from their society) go out of their way to discredit the truth. Those who pull back their cloaks to reveal the insectile forms beneath are rarely around to tell stories of it the next day - and even those that slip the net are too few in number to be seen as any more than raving drunkards and lunatics. Knowledge of the nature of the Hei'an or their language is exceedingly rare, and asking after their nation of Shuailao will result in confused silence in the best case, and cloaked visitors to one's bedroom in the night to those who are not so fortunate.
While it is extremely rare to see a Hei'an military excursion on the mainland, most nations have come to skirmish with the chitinous creatures on at least a handful of occasions - Masked Legionnaires sent to sweep a tunnel system beneath an imperial city for Old God activity will be ambushed by a squad of Hei'an assassins when they delve too deep, or a Scarai Auditor will be faced with a whirlwind of death upon going belowdecks on the sleek obsidian ship she mistakenly believed she had the authority to board. Every hostile encounter with the Hei'an results in similar stories - they throw themselves into the fray with reckless abandon, fully willing to lose life and limb to secure victory. Every fight with the emissaries of Shuailao thus far has been to the death.
It is easy to see the Hei'an as sinister, between their absolute secrecy and their apparent disdain for their lives, and in fact most of them encourage this viewpoint to discourage snooping into their affairs. But in truth, the Hei'an culture is simply one of duty and sacrifice, every member of Shuailao being willing to lay down their lives to reclaim another fragment of their ancient empire - the empire that, the Hei'an teach, fell by the hands of the demihumans, those they once considered their closest allies. It is for this reason that the chitinous, secretive Hei'an hide themselves from the world, for they have been put to ruin by their trust once before, and why they give their lives so readily - for what is one life in the face of the greatest empire the world has ever known?


Attributes
Strength: 9
Agility: 10
Intellect: 10
Will: 11
Characteristics
Perception: Equals Intellect.
Defense: 13.
Health: Equals Strength.
Healing Rate: Equals a quarter of Health, rounded down.
Size: 1
Speed: 10
Power: 0
Damage: 0
Insanity: 0
Corruption: 0
Languages and Professions: You speak Aldrasti, the language of the Empire, and Guxing, the language of Shuailao.
Talents
Darksight: You can see in areas obscured by shadows and darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and shadows as lit.
Sunlight Sensitivity: When in an area lit by sunlight, you are impaired and your healing rate is 0. When in direct contact with sunlight, you are stunned instead of impaired, and take 2d6 damage at the end of each round.
Extra Arms: You may hold up to four items instead of two. Every shield past the second suffers a cumulative 1 Defense penalty. Multiattacks add an extra bane for each weapon past the second.
Expert Hei'an
Upon reaching level 4 as a Hei'an, you either learn one spell or gain Sacrificial Will. You also gain 4 Health.
Sacrificial Will: When you would become incapacitated, you may elect to remain standing. After the current turn is concluded, you immediately take one more fast turn, and then automatically become dying. If you do not remain standing, you become disabled as usual.