Pelagic

“ Rising from the depths, a hideous creatures wades from the black waters of high tide. With this creature several other fish-folk join him adorned in armour made from the shells of other deep-sea creatures. Tentatively the elvish man approaches the shoal with a collection of medicinal ingrediants in hand. The pelagic man takes the ingredients and turns back, slipping under the icy depths of the sea.

Under the morning sun the elfen man walks back to the deals location. As the tide recedes the glint of the sun reveals his side of the deal; prized jewels of all colors dot the beach."

—Joestar Kujo, Lunar Interlude

Unlike etherial mermaids, the pelagic come from the icy depths of the very deepest parts of the ocean, where the sun's light almost never reaches. Their fish-like anatomy is well adapted to the crushing depths of the ocean with hardened scales and powerful darkness-piercing eyes. While they seldom reach the land their terrestrial encounters are rarely aggresive, the pelagics access to deep-sea gems making them a powerful trade partner.

Wandering Shoals

With the deepest depths of the sea largely devoid of any complex life, shoals of pelagic have almost entirely free rein over their home domain. The pelagic rarely form permanent shelters and those that do rarely stay in that spot for any long stretch of time, simply leaving when the resources that drew them their dry up. From their birth from shiny blackened eggs the pelagic are made to constantly roam across the ocean deep, and so develop a prepensaty for wandering over the globe.

For the occasional pelagic with a more powerful drive to roam, the adventuring life is not uncommon. With their thick and scaly hides as well as a general affinity for the aquatic environments where many other races fail; the pelagic make for strong adventurers when they choose the adventuring lifestyle.

Pelagic Names

The pelagic are names not by their gender, but instead by their role within their shoal. The more aggresive and martial members of shoals, known as groupers, have more aggresive and predatory names given to them. The more mystical and observant pelagics are known as shaman, and are often named after mroe sessile creatures. Each pelagic also identifies themselves by their shoal name.

Grouper Names: Splendens, Pangasi, Hellerii, Carcharo, Keta, Gladius, Antilles, Perca, Lucius

Shaman Names: Astrono, Ramirezi, Poecilia, Carassius, Pleco, Scalare, Maculatus, Marcidus

Shoal Names: Teleostei, Amiiformes, Polypte, Actinistia

ART CREDIT: Ariel Perez

Pelagic Traits

Your Pelagic character has a collection of aquatic abilities in common with all other Pelagic.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by two and your Wisdom score increases by one.

Age. Due to the slow metabolism's of the deep-sea dwelling pelagic, they reach maturity at around 150 years of age and can live well into their first millenium.

Alignment. Dwelling in the black depths of the deep sea, the pelagic are kept isolated from most matters of the surface or upper ocean. Most pelagic tend towards a true neutral alignment with some straying into neutral good or evil.

Size. Pelagic average around 4ft to 5ft tall and can weight up to 180 pounds. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You have a swimming speed of 30ft.

Gills. You can breathe as normal underwater.

Superior Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armour.

Guardians of the Depths. Adapted to even the most extreme ocean depths, you have resistance to cold damage, and you ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Bioluminescent. Your body contains colonies of a microscopic, light-emitting symbiote. As a bonus action, you can have these symbiotes emit dim light in a 5 foot radius around you. Likewise, you can dismiss this as a bonus action.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan.