Ma'tika
Nobody knows where they are originally from but they have been in the various regions of the Deeplands for long enough to be a known if strange sight.
The people of Styx call them Strannaya Ptitschka, “strange birds” in Umbraen Elvish, a name based on the beak shaped end of their masks but they call themselves Ma’tika, Hidden People.
They are known to never remove their masks, veils and armor in the presence of individuals not of their race, it is said that they take their garb off only when in the presence of their closest relatives and loved ones and nobody knows what their bodies look like under it.
They stand about as tall as a dwarf and are on average a little less wide and thick than the stout folk, their voices, filtered through their masks do not allow a differentiation between sexes, if they have them at all, and they speak only what little they must to get by in Stygian society.
The Strange Birds are consumate traders, tinkerers and caraveneers, each caravan having a single speaker that peddles their goods while the rest stand silent vigil by their craft, the Ptischka caravans go far and have been sighted in all regions of the Deeplands even far beyond Aman-ya where the City of Styx lies carrying wares from one region to another.
The culture of the Ptischka is scarcely understood by Stygian society at large, the Ma’tika remaining perpetual foreigners wherever they go being accepted only at the margins. What is known about them to almost everyone is that the prohibition of exposing one’s body in front of non-members of their race is a religious taboo that all Ma’tika uphold.
Ability Score Modifiers: Ma'tika are hardy and clever but their bodies aren't very nimble. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity.
Out of Place: Ma'tika are amphibious and can breathe both air and water.
Size: Inside their suits Ma'tika are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Unsuited Ma'tika are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Type: Ma'tika are Humanoids with the Ma'tika subtype.
Base Speed: (Slow Speed) Ma'tika have a base speed of 20 feet and their members’ speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Swim Speed: Unsuited Ma'tika have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
Armor-bound: Ma'tika gain a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against disease as long as they are in an armor with the exosuit quality. When outside their suit of armor they have a -4 penalty on all strength, dexterity and constitution rolls. Ma’tika can remain outside their suits for (Constitution Modifier) days, after this the character will begin drowning (as per the core rules save that they’re not immersed in anything and not struggling to breathe. Nothing short of donning a properly functioning suit will stop their painful demise as atmospheric conditions destroy their body.)
Master Tinker: Ma'tika gain a +1 bonus on Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) checks.
Water Sense(Only Unsuited): Outside of their protective suits Ma'tika can sense vibrations in water, granting them blindsense 30 feet against creatures that are touching the same body of water.
Language: You can speak, read and write Undercommon and speak the Partially Lost Language of the Ma'tika Which Has No Name.. Ma'tika with high Intelligence scores learn any languages they want (except Druidic and other secret languages).
The people of Styx call them Strannaya Ptitschka, “strange birds” in Umbraen Elvish, a name based on the beak shaped end of their masks but they call themselves Ma’tika, Hidden People.
They are known to never remove their masks, veils and armor in the presence of individuals not of their race, it is said that they take their garb off only when in the presence of their closest relatives and loved ones and nobody knows what their bodies look like under it.
They stand about as tall as a dwarf and are on average a little less wide and thick than the stout folk, their voices, filtered through their masks do not allow a differentiation between sexes, if they have them at all, and they speak only what little they must to get by in Stygian society.
The Strange Birds are consumate traders, tinkerers and caraveneers, each caravan having a single speaker that peddles their goods while the rest stand silent vigil by their craft, the Ptischka caravans go far and have been sighted in all regions of the Deeplands even far beyond Aman-ya where the City of Styx lies carrying wares from one region to another.
The culture of the Ptischka is scarcely understood by Stygian society at large, the Ma’tika remaining perpetual foreigners wherever they go being accepted only at the margins. What is known about them to almost everyone is that the prohibition of exposing one’s body in front of non-members of their race is a religious taboo that all Ma’tika uphold.
Ma'tika Racial Characteristics:
Ability Score Modifiers: Ma'tika are hardy and clever but their bodies aren't very nimble. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity.
Out of Place: Ma'tika are amphibious and can breathe both air and water.
Size: Inside their suits Ma'tika are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Unsuited Ma'tika are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Type: Ma'tika are Humanoids with the Ma'tika subtype.
Base Speed: (Slow Speed) Ma'tika have a base speed of 20 feet and their members’ speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Swim Speed: Unsuited Ma'tika have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
Armor-bound: Ma'tika gain a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against disease as long as they are in an armor with the exosuit quality. When outside their suit of armor they have a -4 penalty on all strength, dexterity and constitution rolls. Ma’tika can remain outside their suits for (Constitution Modifier) days, after this the character will begin drowning (as per the core rules save that they’re not immersed in anything and not struggling to breathe. Nothing short of donning a properly functioning suit will stop their painful demise as atmospheric conditions destroy their body.)
Master Tinker: Ma'tika gain a +1 bonus on Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) checks.
Water Sense(Only Unsuited): Outside of their protective suits Ma'tika can sense vibrations in water, granting them blindsense 30 feet against creatures that are touching the same body of water.
Language: You can speak, read and write Undercommon and speak the Partially Lost Language of the Ma'tika Which Has No Name.. Ma'tika with high Intelligence scores learn any languages they want (except Druidic and other secret languages).
Basic Information
Anatomy
Ma'tika are never seen outside their armor so nobody knows what their bodies look like.
Their armor tends to be bulky suits of metal with bird-like helmets.
Their armor tends to be bulky suits of metal with bird-like helmets.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Ma'tika are found across the Deeplands.
Civilization and Culture
Average Technological Level
Ma'tika are technologically advanced taking great pride in their tinkering and achievements.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The Ma'tika ancestral language cannot be spoken correctly in the atmospheric conditions present in the Deeplands. Only about 20% of its vocabulary can be spoken verbally and so 80% of the language have been lost since the destruction of the homeland. The Ma'tika still retell their ancestral tales with the missing parts a sad reminder of what they lost.
Common Taboos
Ma'tika never take off their armor. They eat, sleep and live within their suits of bulky armor and no outsider has ever seen one outside of it.
History
Ma'tika have been nomadic for many millenia, travelling in their trading caravans across the Deeplands bringing wares from one far away region to another. They recall distantly their destroyed homeland but cannot agree where it was or what exactly it was like.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Within Styx the Ma'tika are called Strannaya Ptitschka ("Strange Birds") and are renowned traders and crafters.
Exosuits
Armor Modification: A Ma'tika armorsmith can modify any suit of armor or combination of armor pieces that covers the body from head to toe to function as an exosuit.An exosuit retains an atmospheric pressure within itself that the Ma'tika can live in comfortably.
For this the suit needs to be airproof save for the mask which is usually modified to feature a beak used to filter air into the suit through a complex mechanism.
Most suits also feature compartments to insert food and water and Ma'tika tend to sleep in armor stands rather than taking off their suit to sleep.
Creating an exosuit from parts or a suit of armor takes 6 hours and uses an armorsmithing kit (worth 3 Kharons) as well as 3 Kharons worth of raw materials. No roll is required for this, fixing or building a suit is as essential to Ma'tika as eating is.
Donning and removing an exosuit takes roughly 4 minutes.
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