Satyr
Satyrs have a well-earned reputation for their good spirits, gregarious personalities, and love of revels. Most satyrs are driven by simple desires, to see the world and to sample its every pleasure. While their spontaneity and whimsy sometimes put them at odds with more stoic peoples, satyrs rarely let the moodiness of others hinder their own happiness. Life is a blessing from the gods, after all, and the proper response to such a gift, as far as most satyrs are concerned, is to accept it with relish.
Taste the world before Erebos rips your tongue out.
—Thisbi, satyr dawngreet
Basic Information
Anatomy
In their physical forms, satyrs embody a fusion of humanoid civilization with the freedom of wild beasts. Generally, they look similar to humans, with a range of builds and features. But their goatlike horns, pointed ears, and furred lower bodies sharply distinguish them. Satyrs’ solid horns connect to their heads at the base of their skulls, while their legs end in sturdy hooves. Thick fur covers their bodies from the waist down, shorter at the waist and longer below the knees. Short, soft hair grows down their neck and spine, along their shoulders, and on their forearms.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
A satyr’s name is as playful and mischievous as they are, and each one is given when a satyr’s personality shines through. Most satyrs also give each other nicknames.
Female Names: Aliki, Avra, Chara, Dafni, Eirini, Elpida, Irini, Kaiti, Lia, Niki, Tasia, Xeni, Yanna, Zoi
Male Names: Alekos, Dimi, Filippos, Ilias, Kyriakos, Neofytos, Omiros, Pantelis, Spyro, Takis, Zenon
Nicknames: Bounder, Bristlechin, Clip-Clop, Dappleback, Hopper, Nobblehorn, Orangebeard, Quickfoot, Scrufflebutt, Sunbeam, Skiphoof, Twinkle-Eyes
Major Organizations
Dawngreets
Dawngreets are satyr emissaries, explorers, and storytellers sent to other communities throughout the world. They arrange satyr-style celebrations wherever they go, spreading their people’s carefree philosophies, praising Nylea, sharing news, and creating friends the Skola Vale can rely on when necessary. Nylea’s Favored
A circle of satyr druids, Nylea’s Favored protect the Skola Vale, restoring nature after damage by wildfires or too rowdy satyr parties. They also defend the vale by growing dense underbrush and supporting populations of wild beasts at their territory’s borders. Sibyls
The closest people satyrs have to leaders are their sibyls, who are blessed with limited ability to see into the future. Sibyls warn the community when danger threatens the valley, select dawngreets, and oversee the “initiation rites” of the Cult of Horns. The oldest sibyl is a gray-furred satyr named Cresa. She insists that the more she drinks, the further she can see into the future.
Dawngreets are satyr emissaries, explorers, and storytellers sent to other communities throughout the world. They arrange satyr-style celebrations wherever they go, spreading their people’s carefree philosophies, praising Nylea, sharing news, and creating friends the Skola Vale can rely on when necessary. Nylea’s Favored
A circle of satyr druids, Nylea’s Favored protect the Skola Vale, restoring nature after damage by wildfires or too rowdy satyr parties. They also defend the vale by growing dense underbrush and supporting populations of wild beasts at their territory’s borders. Sibyls
The closest people satyrs have to leaders are their sibyls, who are blessed with limited ability to see into the future. Sibyls warn the community when danger threatens the valley, select dawngreets, and oversee the “initiation rites” of the Cult of Horns. The oldest sibyl is a gray-furred satyr named Cresa. She insists that the more she drinks, the further she can see into the future.
Common Etiquette Rules
Satyrs are known for their eccentricities. Some people spend too much time worrying over why satyrs behave as they do. But satyrs themselves simply are as they are, feeling no need to understand what drives them, much less explain it to others. The Satyr Eccentricities table suggests a few tastes or proclivities your satyr character might possess.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Most satyrs believe that the other peoples of Theros are woefully burdened with the plague of seriousness. Satyrs scoff at the efforts of polis-builders with their laws and right angles, and they poke fun at philosophers with their endless theories and interminable discourse. Satyrs feel that life is to be lived and experienced with all the senses. Satyrs see the world and everything in it as a book of delights, and they want to explore every page.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The humans of the poleis generally think of satyrs’ revels as raucous bacchanals, where anything and everything might happen. This picture isn’t wrong, but it’s incomplete: there’s more to a revel than debauchery. For satyrs, revelry is a way of life. It’s the delight in small things: the song of a bird, a warm breeze, the smell of a tasty pie, relaxing by a river in the sunshine. Life freely offers these gifts, and for a satyr, they are more valuable than gold or glory. To revel means to forget the constraints of time, to let go of the future and past, and to be wholly in the present moment. For satyrs, encountering life with all the senses honors the gods, and—most importantly—it feels really good. Driven by instinct and intuition, most satyrs prove unpredictable, following their sense of wonder wherever it leads.
Common Taboos
Do what you will, so long as it harms none.
History
The satyrs of the Skola Vale are wild and free. They have taboos, but not laws, influence fluctuates constantly, and all are free to make merry in any way they please, so long as it doesn’t impede on others’ ability to do the same. Disagreements are typically turned into opportunities for public competition. Irreconcilable issues are usually solved by a strict application of “you go over there, and you go over there.” True intentional crimes, however, are violations known deep in the satyr soul. If needs be, revelry can halt in an instant to help someone who’s been hurt, and true criminals are exiled from the Skola Vale for life. Satyrs quickly bury negative thoughts, though, and the loss of one friend merely leads them to redouble efforts to make more.
Common Myths and Legends
MYTH OF XENAGOS THE SATYR GOD
The satyr Xenagos savored his reputation for presiding over the most raucous revels his people had ever known. However, when fate led him to discover the nature of the gods and how they were beholden to mortals for their very existence, the whole order of the world felt like a joke—one at his expense. With immortal power no longer feeling so out of reach, Xenagos set into motion a plan that would propel him to godhood. His victory shook the pantheon, but his victory was short-lived. Heliod dispatched his champion, Elspeth, who faced many trials but ultimately killed the god-satyr by driving the spear, Godsend, through his heart. Many satyrs remember Xenagos as a satyr who lived life to the fullest and who played tricks that stirred up even the gods. Yet, he’s also an example of how bitterness can turn a great trick nasty and how schemes that get out of hand aren’t fun for anybody. What satyr wants the responsibility of being a god anyway?
Origin/Ancestry
Fey
Lifespan
Satyrs mature and age at about the same rate as humans.
Average Height
4' 10" - 6' 0"
Average Weight
100 lb - 200 lb
Geographic Distribution
Here’s how to determine Satyr height and weight randomly, starting with rolling a size modifier: Size modifier = 2d8 Height = 4 feet + 8 inches + size modifier in inches Weight in pounds = 100 + (2d4 × size modifier)
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