Kindred

## Talents

**Psychic**

Due to their relatively new arrival in this realm, the Kindred retain a level of connection to the Myst that is lacking in all other races in the realm. This connection come in the form of their psionic powers. Their psychic powers mainly manifest through telepathy, or the ability to connect directly with the minds of others to either communicate or to forcefully read their thoughts, but they also have limited abilities in telekinesis, illusions, mind control, and more.

**Shy**

Kindred do not like crowds. They have a hard time in places with groups of creatures gathered, between the surface level thoughts that constantly bombard the Kindred's mind and the noises that other creatures naturally make, the Kindred's senses are quickly overwhelmed by all the noise. They prefer having a small number of people around them, or avoiding others altogether and communication via their psychic abilities from a safe distance. Many Kindred that often travel into the public craft unique masks to cover their faces, which reduces the amount of physical noise as well as psionic noise that they must endure while around large groups of people.

**Acute Hearing**

Kindred have extremely acute senses of hearing, both physically and mentally. They are very attuned to the world and minds around them when it comes to hearing, which has its advantages and disadvantages. On the upper hand, they are very hard to surprise because even the quietest of noises are usually detected by a Kindred, and even your thoughts can be heard by them. On the nagative side, loud noises and certain methods of self-thought control exist that can deafen or cause psychological harm to the Kindred when employed in proximity to them.

**Adorable**

Most other races view Kindred in such a light that they are deemed as adorable. The more cunning of this race that are willing to deal with the side effects of being in public use this image to their advantage, taking advantage of the way that others view them for their own personal benefit. This has saved a great number of Kindred from threats of violence or death, as an aggressor finds themselves unable to continue their assault on such a weak and helpless looking individual.

**Otherworldly**

Everything about the Kindred is alien to those that have not spent time with members of the race or in a settlement that has partially or fully incorporated Kindred culture into theirs. Kindred think and act in ways that are downright baffling to members of other races, in a similar way to how the Trolls have a separate but consistent type of logic to what the other races share. The most notable examples are their aversion of social gatherings and crowded spaces, as well as their apparent lack of cultural holidays.

**Dampened**

Kindred that wish to incorporate with other races undergo a process known as dampening, during which they intentionally lessen their psychic powers to keep the members of other races around them safe. This process has the side effect of lessening the intensity of the Kindred's natural coloring from bright vibrant colors to more common shades like black, brown, white, and gray. More importantly, it lessens the strength of their psionic abilities to the point that it will no longer cause harm to the minds of others simply by being near them.

## Notable Members

Magister Quor Eteph of Gulifrez (Whisperstalkers Guild)

## Little Details

Otherworldly beings that are individually and communally very different from other races found in the realm. This is partially due to their racial nature, and partly due to their relatively recent arrival to the realm in comparison to the other races that dwell here. Members of other races tend to have a very hard time understanding and incorporating into Kindred settlements, and vice versa.

Psionically gifted, they have a natural affinity for the Arts, especially those pertaining to mental control, manipulation, communication, investigation, and suggestion, as well as exerting one's mind to influence the external world directly. Kindred minds seem to be hardwired towards these types of Arts. This is likely related to the Kindred's relatively new arrival to this realm, making their connection to whatever mystical forces exist beyond this realm still quite strong.

They have adjusted during their time on this realm to utilize these psionic abilities to both defend themselves and manipulate the world around them. When they first arrived in the realm, their full psionic power tended to cause psychic harm to members of other races; most Kindred have dampened their powers over time to protect those around them.

Racial prejudice exists all over the realm against the Kindred, but this prejudice has been decreasing over time due to the Kindred intentionally dampening their psionic abilities to safeguard the minds of those around them. Some Kindred have resisted this dampening and chosen to live in isolation from the other races of this realm, and are now known as Wilders.

Painfully shy people that have a hard time engaging in large-scale social interactions and activities. Kindred settlements rarely gather in groupings of more than a few individuals. Telepathic communication allows their settlements to remain connected without relying on public meetings. This social fear even applies to families, and as a result it is very rare to find large families of Kindred.

They have immensely sensitive hearing that is painfully provoked by artificial sources of noise. It seems that only artificial noises, like machinery and the common noises made by everyday-life activities, trigger their sense of hearing in a painful manner. Kindred have no problem with painful hearing around even the loudest of natural sources of noise like volcanos erupting or waterfalls nearby. Kindred do not like to reside in larger settlements with high levels of population or machinery.

Crazy adorable having a combination of small furry bodies, gigantic faintly glowing eyes, and oversized ears that elicits a sense of pity from all but the most hardened and heartless of individuals. These features and the emotional response they tend to elicit usually will buy the Kindred enough time during an increasingly hostile situation to retreat to safety or employ their psionic defenses if retreat is not an option. Kindred are small framed and very vulnerable to physical harm.

Kindred have a theoretically unlimited lifespan, being able to resist the vast majority of biological aging with their psionic powers, but those that choose to dampen their psionic capabilities live no longer than 500 years.