Kamaitachi (Race)

##### [Hadozee Reskin]

Kara-Tur is home to all kinds of powerful people, creatures, and phenomena. However, none come close to rivalling the raw power and potency of the elements. And out of the four elements, air is often regarded as the most vast and immense. After all, the open sky overhead stretches on past the horizon, and finding a place without any air whatsoever is near impossible. Wind carries air to all, which provides life to a majority of creatures that call the land home, and can bring relief and comfort. However, the wind can also bring along with it devastation, and ruin. And none encapsulate the dynamic potential of wind quite like the **kamaitachi**.

Bearing weasel-like features, and appearing in all sizes, the kamaitachi are a reclusive people, who tend to rarely be seen by the average person. This is due to their love of wind and the open sky urging them to make homes at high altitudes, where many consider it too perilous to call home. Kamaitachi communities can often be found near sheer cliff sides, towering jungles, or high along mountains. With their natural affinity for simple manipulation of wind, and their unique abilities to catch and sail air currents, these high altitudes offer an idyllic haven to connect with the wind, developing and expressing their love for it. Different communities have different interpretations, but every clan considers the wind to be sacred in some way, as a primordial force to be worshipped, as a spirit of guidance, or something else entirely.

On top of that, kamaitachi culture and practices showcase that connection just as much. The making of kites is quite a popular past-time for them, with craftsmen taking great pride in the design and effectiveness of their kites, which were sometimes made to resemble creatures. With their ability to get to unrivalled vantage points, they could easily get a bird’s eye view of the land below, making them excellent scouts or guides for those few lucky enough to find and maintain good relations with a kamaitachi community. Moreover, they have an inexplicable fascination with the number three. Next to no kamaitachi can explain why, but the number three was a number that just called to them, and it is not unusual to find a kamaitachi have three of a kind of item, or move in groups of three.

However, the kamaitachi are perhaps most well-known for their curved blades, and unique fighting styles. With them soaring through the sky, they could strike down from above, finishing off an opponent in the blink of an eye. And with their mustelid flexibility, a barrage of slashes could assault their foes from all angles, making them particularly dangerous swordsmen. The sickle-like shape was to allow for weapons which were both incredibly sharp, and aerodynamic enough to not impede them, and many tales of amazing kamaitachi swordsmen circulated as a result of this iconic fighting style.

Their seclusion does have negatives however, as countless stories have been woven by the common folk with varying degrees of truth. With their ability to swiftly ride the wind in the blink of an eye, many often attribute magical abilities of invisibility and speed to them, akin to bunians and adlaoans. Some even confuse them for ethereal spirits of disaster, and attribute the howl of the wind as a reckoning for their arrival. With their iconic fighting styles, rumours of them being merciless marauders and bandits spread, resulting in some eyeing them with mistrust and fear. Some even confuse the kites for monsters, and say that they can transform into vicious beasts in an instant. The kamaitachi shrug off most of these stories (especially the last one), and focus instead on living their lives in love with the wind and its bounties, with those that cultivate said to become a part of the wind itself, and guide future generations.

## Dextrous Feet Feature Reflavour: Gust’s Grasp

Your minor degree of control over the wind allows you to manipulate objects close to you without using your hands. As a bonus action, you can channel winds to manipulate an object, open or close a door or container, or pick up or set down a Tiny object within 5 feet of you.

## Glide Feature Reflavour: Ride the Wind

You are at home above the ground, and never have a fear of falling. When you fall at least 10 feet above the ground, you can use your reaction to sail the air currents, gliding horizontally a number of feet equal to your walking speed, and you take 0 damage from the fall. You determine the direction of the glide.

## Hadozee Resilience Feature Reflavour: Wind Barrier

In emergencies, you can call upon your connection to the wind to shield yourself from incoming harm with swirling winds. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d6. Add your proficiency bonus to the number rolled, and reduce the damage you take by an amount equal to that total (minimum of 0 damage). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

## Appearance

Kamaitachi can have varied appearances depending on their size and connection to the winds. Smaller ones have more animalistic weasel-like features, like a snout, thin and flexible bodies, and a coat of fur. Larger ones may instead resemble humans with less pronounced weasel-like features. As expected for a people tied to the winds, kamaitachi are typically found wearing loose-flowing clothing, as well as accessories like scarves which sway in the wind. Martially inclined kamaitachi can often be seen with their signature blades sheathed, too.

## Age

Kamaitachi age at a slightly faster rate than humans, reaching maturity around 14. Their maximum lifespan is slightly shorter than humans, at around 80 years.