Tengu

## Overview

Tengu are a race of bestial humanoids with avian forms that most often approximate that of a crow but can be similar to any bird species. In all cases, tengu are naturally vain scavengers, taking the best parts of the legends and tales they record and using them for inspiration, while taking the best equipment and treasures from their vicinity - whether others allow them to or not. Similarly, tengu culture and language is a patchwork of the most interesting tidbits and facets of other cultures, refurnished and cobbled together into a wholly unique tapestry of traditions, holidays, colloquialisms, and customs. Perhaps the oldest and most natively tengu of all of them is the sword duel, a mainstay in tengu society where personal desire and familial loyalty tends to share equal importance. When public arbitration cannot solve disputes, two tengu display their well-honed skills to determine the winner. As such, tengu lives are steeped in legendary stories, avarice, ambition, and violence, making them consummate adventurers.

## Mechanics

Standard Racial Traits

* **Ability Score Racial Traits**: Tengus are fast and observant, but relatively fragile and delicate. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Constitution.
* **Type**: Tengus are humanoids with the tengu subtype.
* **Size**: Tengus are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* **Speed**: Tengus have a base speed of 30 feet.
* **Languages**: Tengus begin play speaking Tengu. Tengus with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except for secret languages, such as Druidic).

Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Sneaky**: Tengus gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception and Stealth checks.
* **Gifted Linguist**: Tengus gain a +4 racial bonus on Linguistics checks, and learn 2 languages each time they gain a rank in Linguistics rather than 1 language.

Offense Racial Traits

* **Swordtrained**: Tengus are trained from birth in swordplay, and as a result are automatically proficient with sword-like weapons (including bastard swords, daggers, elven curve blades, falchions, greatswords, kukris, longswords, punching daggers, rapiers, scimitars, short swords, and two-bladed swords).
* **Natural Weapons**: A tengu has a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage.

Senses Racial Traits

* **Senses**: Tengus have low-light vision allowing them to see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

## Society

Tengu society is a mishmash of local and regional practices shoved into a single location. Racial enclaves of tengu tend to default to a close-knit structure where older members of families take care of and responsibility for younger ones, leading up to a council of the town eldest to arbitrate and direct the efforts of the community in times of trouble. This results in many, many cases of older and more competent tengu dueling on behalf of one of their younger siblings or children due to an unwise theft of a valued item from another member of the enclave. Tengu who prove more trouble to defend than they're worth often end up exiled, though they rarely see this as a hardship - instead, they take it as an opportunity to gather even more tales and treasures from the wide world, perhaps desiring one day to return with enough skill to defend themselves. When tengu live in more cosmopolitan settlements, they pick and choose their preferred customs and then adopt them wholeheartedly while not discarding any oddities that they may have picked up in their past journeys. Most tengu have difficulty holding a consistent job unless duel challenges are part of that occupation's expectations, although they tend to seek careers that will shower them in praise regardless of their own aptitude. In some cases, infamy is just as acceptable as fame, and they fully give in to their avarice and become master thieves.

## Religion

Tengu are willing to adopt any god or practice that they encounter, no matter how far-fetched or extraordinary, and as such end up with a dazzling array of faiths that they engage in whenever the whim takes them. Naturally selfish, many revere Nothing Left of Quibatus, talking his exhortations about personal competence and depriving others of that which they don't deserve to heart while completely ignoring the end goal of his tyranny. They also worship Agathon, Alessandra Juntoso's Apparition, and Pahala Kadam, hoping that any injury that they acquire will be from a legendary duel and that it will heal quickly, leaving them wiser and stronger than before. All tengu pray at least occasionally to Vicenta Salcedo, seeking appearances that will be praise-worthy at worst and mind-blowingly beautiful at best, which the goddess grants with a reluctance that conveys her wish that tengu take up more varied ways to express themselves. With violence so common in their lives, plenty of tengu worship Masik - an elite cabal of those followers is among the most skilled vampire hunters that is known on Gleam, and although other tengu tend to regard them as extremists, they do not deny that the cabal's members are incredibly cool extremists.

## Relations

Tengu range far and wide across the land in order to gather tales and legends that best fit their particular tastes. Occasionally, they take items as well as stories, which is the source of many negative impressions of them. Aasimar and tieflings of a heroic or divine bent appear to the tengu as larger-than-life figures and they get along well, though those who don't meet the expectations of the tengu are often viewed as failures who have lost the right to their own property. Ganzi experience much of the same, although they're expected to be wacky and zany instead of divinely-inspired.

Aphorites, strangely, tolerate tengu quite easily and find that their multidisciplinary insight often spurs pleasing results in their chosen field - and as long as the tengu doesn't attempt to steal credit for such discoveries, such partnerships can be long-lasting and fruitful.

Changelings fear the violence and vengeance that tengu will inevitably visit upon them, while dhampir who feel disgust at their heritage and nature often seek out tengu in order to learn the proper methods of vampire hunting, an innate skill that many hone.

Drelmans find that tengu have the sensibilities of a warrior-poet, and recruit them as historians and scouts with pay fair enough that very few think to even bother stealing.

Drow tend to explode at tengu, having little patience for their self-aggrandizement.

Dwarves like tengu as long as they're wanderers or travelers, knowing their impulses too well to be comfortable with them settling with them.

Duergar are likely to mischaracterize the tengu's collected colloquialisms from different languages and lands as insults and repay them with irritation or violence.

Elves enjoy listening to tengu tales, just as tengu love listening to fetchling tales, but elves tend to dismiss the person behind those tales - on the other hand, fetchlings and tengu make great traveling partners, covering each others backs with flattery and blade-skill as required.

Ghorans tend to be confused and suspicious of the excitement tengu display when meeting them, which is usually never truly assuaged.

Gnomes, grippli, halflings, ifrits, orcs, and suli are often featured as central figures in their legends, and usually return the tengu's interest and flattery with some of their own.

Hobgoblins consider the tengu to be rivals due to their swordmastery, but the tengu find hobgoblins to be pitiful. Instead, tengu and kitsune consider each other to be storytelling rivals, each pushing their own methods - kitsune slowly changing a tale to grow wilder and wilder with each sentence, while tengu remain more consistent and at least based in the realm of plausibility.

Nagaji despise tengu for their disruptive, selfish natures and their romanticization of their naga overlords.

Kobolds and ratfolk do not enjoy the pity that tengu subject them to, often taking offense.

Oreads and lizardfolk both dislike the loud, preening boasts and strange mannerisms of tengu.

Parmans enjoy sharing tales and celebrations with tengu, and although they have no real heroes or cultural figures of their own to offer, they collect worldly traditions in a similar manner to tengu, allowing for almost instant understanding.

Aerieborn skinwalkers dislike that tengu so quickly accept them due to outward appearances without even observing their true natures first, and other skinwalkers are endlessly bitter about not being granted the same generosity that allows other races to appear as protagonists in tengu tales.

Sylphs despise tengu for nitpicking the findings and answers turned up by their curiosity, as well as frequently misleading sylph investigations just to see what would happen.

Vanara and undine are often simplistic and easygoing enough for tengu shenanigans to be endearing rather than annoying, although only vanara regularly choose to put themselves in tengu company.

Vishkanya like tengu, as the avian race is easily imitated with a well-made mask and feathered cloak, and their reputation gives them the freedom to steal and kill without much suspicion around their motives.

Goblins enjoy spending time with tengu, though rather than swap tales, they tend to share dances and loot from various questionable sources, as well as ways of blending the fun of fire and the skill of swordmastery into a single art.