Oread

## Overview

Oreads are mortals who experience the influence of an earth elemental on their ancestry through one of many ways. In many cases, oreads are directly descended from shaitan, earth veela, onyx scourges, mudlords, xorn, lythics, sandmen, or earth mephits, or received a blessing or curse directly from them at birth that resulted in a transformation of their very essence. In others, the presence of a caterprism, agrawgh, khargra, earth wysp, sandling, or earth elemental during the life of a forebear or their time in the womb may manifest in an oread child. Finally, the awakening of a local zarxorin may cause a rash of local oread births as an unintended consequence of the creature's activity. Regardless of how an oread comes about, they are almost always cautious, contemplative lovers of habit that react with stern disapproval to new experiences, preferring to embrace what they already know and trust.

### Heritages

**Gemsouls (Crystal)**: Gemsouls represent the treasures that can be found within the earth. Drawn to poetry and drama, gemsouls enjoy being the center of attention but prefer to work for it rather than pass on their unique appearances alone. Though many find themselves merely taking on the traits of others in order to charm their way through their personal lives, some take this to extremes in order to create cutting satire and drown themselves in their work instead of dwelling on feelings of internal emptiness. The stereotypes of gemsouls include beauty-obsessed busybodies, bitterly insightful critics, and hollow, attention-hungry poets with more flash than substance.

**Ironsouls (Metal)**: Ironsouls represent the refinement of raw resources into manufactured works. Ironsouls are perhaps the most well-equipped of all oreads to deal with unfamiliar situations, seeing their discomfort and unfamiliarity as a sign of personal flaws that must be addressed with self-improvement. Each one aims to dedicate their life to some sort of great achievement, though their focus on their own internal lives and preference for life to remain as it is means that these achievements are usually unknown outside of a close few. Ironsoul stereotypes portray them as ascetic, philosophizing hermits, staunch defenders of traditional life, and pitiful navel-gazers who can't conceive of a world outside themselves.

## Mechanics

Standard Racial Traits

* **Ability Score Modifiers**: Oreads are strong, solid, stable, and stoic. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
* **Type**: Oreads are outsiders with the native subtype.
* **Size**: Oreads are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* **Speed (Slow)**: Oreads have a base speed of 20 feet.
* **Languages**: Oreads begin play speaking Terran. Oreads with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, and Ignan.

Defense Racial Traits

* **Energy Resistance**: Oreads have acid resistance 5.

Senses Racial Traits

* **Darkvision**: Oreads can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.

Other Racial Traits

* **Earth Affinity**: Oread sorcerers with the elemental (earth) bloodline treat their Charisma score as 2 points higher for all sorcerer spells and class abilities. Oread clerics with the Earth domain use their domain powers and spells at +1 caster level.
* **Mountain-Born**: Oreads are drawn to mountains and other high places, and after many generations they’ve grown well suited to their environment. Oreads with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks made to cross narrow ledges and on saves against altitude fatigue and sickness.

## Society

Oreads prefer that which is familiar over all else, making it extremely common for oreads to be born, live their lives, and pass away in the same town or kingdom. They usually inherit the trade of their parents or a mentor figure in their childhood, and focus on honing their craft at their own pace while providing for themselves and their families. Often, oreads are made uncomfortable by centers of trade with frequent travelers or urban settlements with a rapid pace in daily life, and do their best to either remove themselves from situations that would rush them and subject them to too many new faces, or convince others around them to stop such behavior from becoming normalized. As such, settlements with large oread populations tend towards insularity and isolation, and the predominant attitudes towards outsiders and wanderers are suspicion. Individual oreads don't fare much better, disliking new people, trends, and experiences as a rule. However, in defense of tried-and-true allies or customs, oreads are among the most unwavering defenders that one could possibly find.

## Religion

Oreads prefer deities of law and order, including Ketar Mozog and Dowager Empress Kyouko, as well as those that represent the continuation of life in more abstract ways, such as Agathon's healing to prevent the wounded from passing away or Jolein Composed of Desire's limitation of knowledge to prevent disaster. They revere many Apparitions, such as that of Basang Ba, Alessandra Juntoso, Pahala Kadam, Petya Naumov, and Zhihao Jin. Those oreads that dedicate themselves to art or crafts pay homage to Vicenta Salcedo or Masik; most often, they worship both as they see little difference between one skill honed over the years and another. Ironically, the earthbound oreads have an incredibly large following of Fa'qamuu Twice-Heavembound, whose celestial sphere doesn't resonate with them as much as their emphasis on awareness, silence, and meditation.

## Relations

No oread likes any race upon first meeting them, but can warm up with time and grow to become steadfast friends. Notable exceptions include changelings, fetchlings, ganzi, gnomes, kitsune, skinwalkers, sylphs, tengu, and vishkanya, who only serve to irritate oreads due to their capricious, invasive, or violent natures.

Aasimar and tieflings find that oreads bear no ill will towards them due to their preferential treatment by many other races, but also seem to refuse to see past their association with their divine parentage.

Aphorites appreciate oread consistency, and frequently choose oread communities to pursue their projects.

Dhampir find that their longevity is of more interest to dhampir than their vampiric hunger, and it is common for the strongest bond a dhampir ever makes in their life to be with an oread.

Drelmans, ifrits, ratfolk, vanaras, and hobgoblins all consider oreads to be curmudgeons and naysayers, but when push comes to shove, they trust that the earthen folk will be there to back them up.

Drow see past the oread objection to changing situations and are able to provide comfort for the fear that it hides, often becoming the first step towards acknowledging that not all new things are bad in an oread's life.

Dwarves, duergar, elves, halflings, ghorans, and grippli all understand the attractiveness of a life of hard work well rewarded with peace and quiet, and easily get along with oreads.

Parmans, kobolds, and suli understand this as well, but prefer far more festivities and ceremony than most oreads, which can result in their oread companions becoming scarce whenever they attempt to hold a celebration.

Lizardfolk and oreads share a mutual mistrust which requires extraordinary circumstances to overcome, otherwise they'll eternally avoid each other. If they reach a point where they can communicate openly, they find that their love of tradition and their distancing from a world that seems to be moving too fast instantly blossoms into an unbreakable alliance.

Undine think of oreads as misguided fools who miss the value of simplicity and place inefficiency on a pedestal, and any comparison between the two is sure to result in anger from both sides.

Goblins enjoy oreads, who always seem to drift off in some long-lost nostalgia whenever they begin a song or play a prank, reliving their more innocent childhoods vicariously through a goblin's pure-hearted antics.