Satyrs come from the
Skola Vale, a wild, but beautiful valley between the
Oriniad Mountains and the
Katachthon Mountains.
According to legend,
Nylea was so moved by the beauty of the Skola Vale, she decided to bless is with exeptional fertility by pouring the contents of her wine skin onto the ground. Wild goats that drank this wine became the first Satyr.
Appearance
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.
Personality
Satyrn 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.
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.
Very odd indeed
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.
| d8 |
Satyr Eccentricity |
| 1 |
Flowers are the most amazing things ever. I want to pick them, wear them, and discover their silent secrets. |
| 2 |
There isn’t a tree or statue that isn’t fun to climb. |
| 3 |
Nothing wards off bad luck like a jolly dance. |
| 4 |
Sometimes talking to a plant really helps. |
| 5 |
If stumped, I smoke a pipe. And if I’m going to smoke a pipe, it’s going to be a splendid pipe. |
| 6 |
I imagine that my clothes are my glorious soul on display for all the world to behold, and I dress accordingly. |
| 7 |
Having horns is the best. They are fun to decorate, and they can pop open an amphora, no problem. |
| 8 |
If I have something really important to say, I always make sure to sing it. |
Combat
Most Satry are friendly and peacful, but when provoked, the can defend them well. With their horns, they can knock out a careless opponent and with their strong legs, they are faster than humans and can jump higher and farther. Furthermore, they are blessed by resistance to magical effects.
Society
Saryrs do not buily rigid societies or permanent villages. Instead, they prefer to live a nomadic life and life of the land of their beautiful vale. The monthly revels, huge festivities where satyrs multiple tribes come together to celebrate live, are important societal events that allow satyrs to bond, trade and share stories.
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.
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