The Misshapen

Many years ago The Misshapen appeared. No one knows exactly where they came from, but their appearance frightened the other races and The Misshapen were hunted down and persecuted. These days, Misshapen communities are found far away from other races in hopes that history won't repeat itself. Some stories still spread amongst the other races about The Misshapen, but many have never seen one due to their isolation.

Crown of Horns The Misshapen have many horns on their head which represent how intelligent they are. In the past, when the other races hunted and killed them out of fear, their horns were harvested and used in potions and medicines. It was also said to increase one's intelligence when ingested. You have a number of horns growing out of your head equal to 1/2 your intelligence score rounded down. Their eyes are a solid silver color with no visible iris or pupil. Their eyes are known to glow and emit a faint ethereal smoke when they are angry, highly focused, or heavily concentrating. The Misshapen tend to be taller and more slender when compared to humans and they have dark navy blue skin and silvery hair.

Misshapen Appearance Other races feel like The Misshapen's body parts and features don't seem to be placed right, which gives off a sense of unease. Some say that the misshapen were cursed by the gods after gaining too much intelligence. Others say that they are demons that were kicked out of hell. The Misshapen tend to have features and body parts that are unaligned, and unsymmetrical. Over time, The Misshapen have learned to live with and even manipulate their deformities to suit their needs.

Cities of Knowledge Instead of building towns or cities like other races, The Misshapen will instead build a singular giant library/research center known as an athenaeum. Everyone will live in the athenaeum and spend their time researching, collecting knowledge, experimenting, etc. They will build their athenaeums far away and isolated from other races as insurance that they won't be persecuted again. Wizards and artificers of all kinds will sometimes try to find one of these athenaeums in an attempt to further their magic and research. However, tracking one down is no easy task and The Misshapen are hesitant to let outsiders come inside. In addition to pursuing knowledge and research, many Misshapen can be found taking an interest in art and culture as well, although to a much lesser extent. The Misshapen show a particular interest in fashion. This is perhaps a result of a desire to offset their looks with something beautiful mixing with a need for clothing that accommodates them. Misshapen fashion can be very unusual or odd, but its always undeniably interesting. The Misshapen tend to prefer clothes that are easy to modify, change, or customize in-order to accommodate body morphing and a variety of deformities. Athenaeums will often have a small museum-like section dedicated to showing off art and various notable outfits from important members of the city.