Hissaurians

During the First Invasion of the Abyss, Daemr was one of the first nations to fall. Abyssals swept the land, raping and pillaging the humble nation of Daemr. After rebuilding, many women from all walks of life gave birth to grey-skinned babies. These so-called “Children of the Abyss” or “Infernal Bastards” were banished upon discovery, along with their mothers, for fear of coming into contact with Infernal magic. Knowing no boundary to their resourcefulness, the newly formed race of Hesserians built a republic that would stand the test of time, free from the oppressive reign of enlightened society, where individuals are free to practice whatever magic they choose. Despite shame on the part of their circumstance, and hatred everywhere they go from Daemr, Hesserians hold their heads high as they move forward in stride with the races of Erta.

Hesserian Traits

⦁ Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your choice of Charisma or Dexterity score increases by 2.

⦁ Age. Hesserians mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years longer.

⦁ Alignment: Hesserians view their society as purely utilitarian… they will follow any alignment so long as it values the greater good.

⦁ Size: Hesserians range from 6 to 7 feet, and are generally bulky and muscular. Your size is medium.

⦁ Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

⦁ Languages: You can speak, read, and write Infernal, Daemrian, and Common.

⦁ Superior Darkvision: Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, 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.

⦁ Hesserian Weapon Training: You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

⦁ Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.

⦁ Infernal Legacy. You know the ⦁ thaumaturgy cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ⦁ hellish rebuke spell once per day as a 2nd-level spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can also cast the ⦁ darkness spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Variants

As Infernal races are many and varied, so too are Hesserians. You may, if you wish, choose one of the following traits in place of Infernal Legacy.

⦁ Devil's Tongue. You know the ⦁ vicious mockery cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ⦁ charm person spell once per day as a 2nd-level spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can also cast the ⦁ enthrall spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

⦁ Hellfire. You may replace your hellish rebuke ability with ⦁ burning hands. This alters, but does not replace, Infernal Legacy

## Physiology

The Hesserians, while inheriting physical attributes from both races that spawned them, have some unique things about them; namely their appearance can differ based on the level of magic and the type that they are born with. All Hesserians share several things in common: they have pointed ears, Red eyes, and have several hair colors which seem to be random from birth which include dark brown, black, white in rare cases, and dark grey. The differing appearance is determined by which type of magic they use. Those who are born with the affinity for infernal magic are born with darker hair (most commonly black) than their enlightened counterparts and posses darker skin with different levels depending on how powerful the Hissarian is, and have redder eyes which are almost identical to those overtaken by infernal magics.

## Politics

The Hesserians harbor a great hatred for the Abbyssals for murdering their ancestral fathers and wanting to destroy the world. They also hate the Daemrians for exiling their ancestral mothers and because of this they rejected both cultures and forms of government and formed their own with the basis of being the opposite of both while not unfairly ruling the people. The basis for their new government was for it to be the opposite of that of their ancestral parents and for it to not treat them unfairly. Unfortunately early on in it's life it was taken over by a group of infernal magic users whose government was to become known as the infernal council which was overthrown again later by the non-infernal users who put a democracy back in place and established steps which would prevent such things from happening again. The resulting government was named the Hesserian republic and governs from the capital. The republic is and has been for some time been focused on hunting down and exterminating the Erinez who are using infernal magic and wish to gain further power.

## Homeland

The Hesserians live in the jungles of Karas because of their ancestral mother who according to their legends gave birth in the place where their only known city Zaegon resides and serves as their capital. The only other known landmark within their territory is the monument to horror which is dedicated to a Hissarian long ago who was born with a great control over infernal magic who became obsessed with power. He gained more control over magic until he decided to attempt learning to wield enlightened magic and combine it with his infernal magic to create and unstoppable force of magic. In all cases which are few the result was a catastrophic explosion of raw magic and energy which was more or less powerful depending of how powerful the attempter was. In this case not only did he survive but he succeeded and became incredibly powerful and according to records began to immediately slaughter other races and those he deemed as lesser beings including some of his own people. The slaughter continued unchecked until the gods intervened and reluctantly decided to have the god of destruction fight him. The two fought in the wasteland desert for three weeks before the Hissarian was defeated in battle. The monument is avoided and regarded as a grim reminder of the danger of using too much magic and adds to the fear of infernal magic users. There are whispers that the body of the Hissarian resides under the monument and twists those who come near to the darker side of magic. The jungles that the Hesserians call home has not been visited by any other race as of yet because of the distrust of outsiders those who try to enter are turned back at the edge of their lands and any Daemrian who has tried has never returned.

## Culture

The Hesserians are ashamed of their heritage on both sides and as such only tolerate their features inherited from both sides and are most noticeably affected by the red eyes and pointed ears which are uncovered within their homeland. Outside of their jungles they cover their ears with most commonly a hood and cover their eyes as much as they can which usually results in the outside perception of glowing eyes under their hoods of an unknown color. They feel that showing their eyes and ears to others is shameful and offensive as they consider both races responsible for them as detestable and are known to fight Daemrians with seemingly no provocation. Their interactions with the other races have been generally positive except when dealing with Daemrians whom they either make a point of avoiding or making their lives difficult. The Hesserians have been known to frequent large trading cities and seem to have an abundance of infernal ore and magical items of all kinds. The Hesserians while having the ability to use magic have not been seen using it since the time of the infernal council and only use it within their homeland. Outsiders are seen as suspicious and are not allowed within their jungles and all who try are turned back by the border guards.

## Society

The majority of the Hesserians live in or around their capital city with several smaller settlements towards the edges of the jungle. The Hesserians regard magic as dangerous although they are incredibly talented from birth and posses the ability to use either infernal magic or enlightened. There are those who have possessed the ability to use both throughout their history but it is unknown how common this is. Infernal magic is regarded as dangerous and is forbidden. Those who are born with enlightened magic are taught from a young age to use it but are only seen using minor forms of it within their homeland. They do not worship a god as a whole but there is a small group that does that split off and entered the deeper unexplored parts of the jungle. The group is called the Erinez and is made up of infernal magic users who felt that the god Alvoth resonated with them because of his split heritage for which they felt a connection. There are rumors that the group wishes to find and free their god to bring about an old legend of a Hesserian which was able to combine both magics and not be consumed by a lust for power who would save them from annihilation from the Abyssals and bring peace to the world. The group is rumored to have taken residence at the monument to horror and are being corrupted by the monument to seek greater power and to cause the savior to purge the Abyssals and the Daemrians from Erta in an act of revenge for the injustices of the past. The group is whispered to be becoming more powerful through using the monument to unlock greater potential to use infernal magic and are considered heretics who are to be avoided by the populace and hunted down by the Avacoth and killed.

## Weaponry

The weaponry of the Hesserians has differed greatly over time as their attitudes towards infernal magic and active magic users changed. Origanally all magic users were taught to use magic at a young age (all of them posses the ability to use magic but to varying degrees and are born with a dispensation for either infernal or enlightened magic) and were powerful mages capable of defeating armies much larger than their own. After many tragedies involving magic and especially it's infernal usage only enlightened users were taught and only so they would not abuse it's power. The only time Hesserians are seen using magic is in their homeland among their own people. Some rare Hesserians were able to use both infernal and enlightened magic but were only able to use them separately, some of them tried over the years to combine their magic but the results were always the same: a massive release of raw magic energy which occurred in two ways a meltdown which was more powerful and more painful or the plain instantaneous explosion. Around the time of the infernal council it was discovered that infernal magic could be bound to weaponry to enhance its deadliness and could add several effects as well. The original infused weapons were intended for the war to destroy the Abyssals and were the most powerful, although the more famous ones were made years later as the art of infusing was improved upon. There is a legend among the magic users of a pair of twin blades called Dazuvere and Ylntesh. Together the blades were known as Darkness immortal. Each of the blades had an incredible power infused into them; Dazuvere (see center right picture) would steal magic from any it harmed and gave it to the user to make them stronger and replenish their stockpile while Ylntesh stole the very life-force from those it harmed to heal the wielder and make them harder to kill. Any who wielded both blades was unkillable but the blades disappeared when the infernal council was overthrown and no weapons of such magnitude have been made since. Currently the Hesserians use blades infused with minor infernal magic (see top right picture) which enhances their usefulness by making them sharper, harder to break, and in rare cases unleashing small amount of infernal magic upon those harmed by them. The Hesserians have the ability to use infernal magic to warp their bodies to become powerful killing machines, but at a very great cost. Any who went through the procedure experienced psychotic episodes and were almost impossible to control on top of losing their ability to use magic. The process involved a great number of powerful infernal magic users surrounding the Hesserian who was to be altered who then had an immense amount of magic forced into them to change their body into a weapon. (see lower right picture) As a result those who did this were unable to channel the intense energies and were forced to use only their altered bodies to fight which served their purpose well. The reason this is no longer done is that any who were altered became psychotic killers who only lusted for blood and battle who would kill anything that moved. It was quickly decided that this was too dangerous to use in all but the most dire circumstances and has not been used since the time of the great horror.