Vran

Sometimes referred to as Lizardfolk, the vran are among the oldest and most physically varied races on the continent and unfortunately also among the most despised by humans. In the time before the Landing of the Exiles, the vran were a prevalent and accomplished culture who spanned the Continent from the Great Sea to the Blue Mountains and beyond. Among the sapient races of the Continent, the vran were known for their carefully constructed cities, their unique architecture, and their hordes of gold and jewels. Despite being known as dispassionate and cold, vran earned a great deal of respect for their coolheaded politics, and pervasive culture. Even today, many favored aphorisms used by scholars across the continent have their origins in vrani culture.
The history of the vran is one of the bloodiest history of all the Elder Races. Though they managed decent relations with dwarves and gnomes, the vran often came to blows with the elves, who shared borders and territory with them. Over many years, the elves attacked several vrani cites across the foothills of the Blue Mountains and even covertly created biological weapons which they used to wipe out vrani cities. By the time the Landing of the Exiles brought humans to the Continent, the vran were already in decline, having lost so many of their cities to the elves and having suffered great casualties. But they persisted. The vran don’t believe in an afterlife and so appreciate their life, as it is the only one they will ever experience.
Unfortunately, the Nordlings’ arrival on the Continent largely spelled doom for vran society. The superstitious and volatile human settlers took poorly to the vran, who did not have the luxury of looking passably human, like elves and dwarves. Many humans called the vran demons and other, more pragmatic humans took this as an opportunity to seize the great wealth of the vran. Already weakened by their many wars with the elves, the vran fought valiantly but were pushed to the edge of extinction by the Nordlings, fleeing into the depths of the Blue Mountains and beyond. Now, the vran live as third-class citizens in human settlements and as refugees in mountain societies. A vran is a rare sight in both the Northern Realms and Nilfgaard and vrani travelers are often the subject of hushed conversations in local taverns.

Perks

Calm Hearted

Vran are known by many to be heartless creatures with no empathy to speak of. However, this is far from the truth. Vran have as much capability for empathy as any human but they are far more reserved and less likely to show their emotion. Vran gain an inherent +1 Resist Coercion.

Claws & Fangs

While the vran are known to use weapons, they are also capable of dealing grievous harm to their enemies with their natural claws and fangs. A vran has two natural weapons that cannot be disarmed. A vran’s punches and kicks deal lethal damage and they can make a Melee attack with their fangs, which deals 3d6 damage with a 50% chance of poisoning the target.

Scaled Hide

Vran have a natural layer of scales which grant them a certain amount of natural resistance to damage. A vran’s scales have a natural stopping power of 4. This SP cannot be lowered via weapon attacks or ablation damage.

Reptilian Physiology

The vran are the only accepted sapient race that is also reptilian and they’re physiology differs ever so slightly from that of humans and other non-human races. This difference may be small, but it makes a big impact in two ways. First, a vran’s body is different enough that any doctor whois not a vran and has not treated a vran successfully in the past takes a -2 penalty when using First Aid on a wounded vran and a -5 penalty when attempting to stabilize or treat Critical Wounds on a wounded vran. Second, if a vran is affected by the Frozen condition, they take a -2 to all actions until 1d6 rounds after the condition is ended.

Other Names

Lizard men
Lizard Folk

Languages

Common Speech, Vran Language

Lifespan

Less than a century

Average Height

Varies

Average Weight

Varies

Distinctions

Enormously huge red eyes
Venomous fangs
Scaly skin and other reptilian features

Locations

Human towns and few nonhuman reservations in Northern Kingdoms Blue Mountains and lands beyond t hem