Deva

The Second Victory ended with a legendary battle just outside the walls of Alais Primos, where legions of Clergy-blessed warriors faced an army led by the goddess Srasama herself. After hours of battle, Srasama was felled by a thousand cuts, and fire exploded from her body. The warriors nearest to her were annihilated, but those who survived and were close enough to see the death of a god were marked by the experience.

Devas were those people—mostly human—who were present at the defeat of the goddess Srasama. The divine energy released by her death granted them a sliver of immortality, and now whenever they die they reincarnate into a fully-grown adult form, reappearing within a few days somewhere generally three miles from where they died.

Many of these veterans settled in the lands liberated by the eladrin army’s retreat. In the years that followed, whenever one of them died, open flames would flicker for miles around, and somewhere within three days’ travel the man or woman would be reborn in the wilderness. No longer quite human, these reincarnated souls took the name deva, from an eladrin word for deity.

Physically, devas resemble their original race, but with unearthly beauty and an uncanny stillness. Their skin is covered in geometric patterns of light and dark, which remain constant throughout incarnations and may reflect the number of lives they have lived. Some of noteworthy power will occasionally manifest insubstantial and wholly decorative wings or extra pairs of arms, though they can conceal these with practice and concentration.

When a deva reincarnates, he recalls language, culture, and enough knowledge to make his way in the world, but usually possesses only vague recollections of his previous life. Acquaintances are unfamiliar, and expert skills like magic, craftsmanship, or swordplay fade, but usually the deva quickly slips into the same basic role he held before death. A reincarnated deva has vague recollections of her previous life, and often will easily connect with the people and places of her former life if given the chance. But she might just as easily find herself adopting a new life and training in new skills. Even then, though, sometimes she will have flashes of one of her former lives.

Where devas are rare, one that dies is usually found quickly after reincarnation, and after a period of acclimation he will manage to continue as if nothing had happened at all. In Crisillyir, though, devas are common enough that they seldom manage to return to their previous lives. In either case, devas still fear death because it means an end to all they are. While a reincarnated deva might be able to continue the same mission, he’ll never recreate the emotions and memories that made him unique.

It is rumored that some deva sages have discovered the secret of maintaining their memories and personality upon reincarnation, but that they hide the knowledge since few are worthy of such immortality. Magic to raise the dead is rare, but if used on a deva within a few days of her death it can restore her and prevent reincarnation.

Many devas find a place in the Clergy, where through special training they can act as vessels for invoked celestial beings. Such angelic visitations never last long, and occasionally result in the death of the vessel, so they are only used in situations where the priesthood feels inadequate to answer questions of guilt or opine on matters of morality. In a similar way, on certain bleak holy days the priests of the Clergy will reach through the veil into the Bleak Gate and capture uneasy spirits, which they parade in front of crowds of worshippers. Compelled by magic, these undead specters wail about the sins they committed in life that left their souls trapped in “Purgatory.” The priests then offer absolution, and destroy the unholy beings.

A group of eschatologist devas seeking their final death reside in Methia.

Following the planar shift in Adventure 9, devas no longer reincarnate.

Devas gain the following traits.

+2 Wisdom, –2 Constitution, +2 Other: Devas are insightful, but their bodies tend to be frail. When they reincarnate they usually discover some new knack, represented by a +2 bonus to the player’s choice of Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma.

Type: Devas have the humanoid type and the deva subtype.

Medium: Devas are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Normal Speed: Devas have a base speed of 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision.

Deathless Calm: Devas gain resistance 5 against negative energy damage. They do not lose hit points when they gain a negative level, and they gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against death effects, energy drain, fear effects, negative energy effects, and spells or spell-like abilities of the necromancy school.

Memory of Past Lifetimes (Sp): Devas can use guidance three times a day as a swift action, but they can target only themselves. The caster level is equal to the deva’s character level.

Shards of the Past (Ex): A deva gains a +2 bonus on any two skills and these become class skills.

Languages: Devas begin play speaking Common and Primordial. Those with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: any human language, Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Draconic, Giant, Ignan, Infernal, and Terran.