Cindarians

Cindarians are the peaceful inhabitants and protectors of the coral reefs. They are a friendly folk, though fierce whenever a comrade, loved one, or home is threatened. A cindarian has few natural enemies; even mindless predators have learned to avoid them. Cindarians are natural mediators; they specialize in seeing both sides of an issue. Aggression is met with swift and merciful retribution, much like their spiny, poisoned exterior deals with an unwanted nip.

**Physical Description:** All cindarians have the upper torsos of finned humanoids, and the lower bodies of a large lion fish. They are covered in fine scales, colored a creamy yellow, green, or white with red, orange, or brown markings and stripes. Although they are totally hairless, they have feathery fins where hair would be. Venom glands at the base of certain fin spines produce a number of toxins (collectively "venom") that are injected via the spines. The venom of a cnidarian may be delivered by spines of the dorsal, tail and arm fins and is known to cause a severe reaction or even death to those persistent enough.

**Society**: To a cindarian the cornerstone of home, family, and community is the coral reef. No cindarian abode will be far from a coral reef, and even cindarians who are forced to live separately from one still speak of the reef as home. Almost all cindarians suffer to some degree from feelings which resemble the condition humans call agoraphobia—a fear of unknown or open places. It's not that cindarians are literally fearful, merely that they become very uncomfortable whenever they're too far away from their coral reefs. It has been observed that the symptoms increase with age. Cindarian juveniles liberally range far and wide, while the very old seldom swim outside the borders of the coral. Cindarians rarely see this as a problem, however.

To them, it is merely the way things should be; youth is the time to explore, old age the time for rest and reflection.

**Relations:** Of all the sentient sea people, no culture has displayed such interest, even enthusiasm, in socializing with members of other races. Cindarians, with their cheerful dispositions and gentle resourcefulness, have been openly welcomed into communities of virtually all good and neutrally aligned races. They delight in the company of others, sharing different points of view, and making good friends. Most cindarians are very conscious of social etiquette, regardless of the culture. Consequently, no races have any particular criticisms of the cindarians, and usually view them fondly.

**Alignment and Religion:** Cindarians are typically social extroverts with honorable intensions. While they do delight in whatever physical comforts their surroundings provide, they are generous and enjoy sharing that pleasure. Cindarians are normally neutral good in alignment, and are known to worship all good deities. Of course, like most merfolk, they have a special reverence for Keilona.

**Adventurers:** Young cindarians are natural adventurers. They will always seek new experiences and rise to new challenges. Their natural aversion to violence often steers them away from martial endeavors and towards the callings of siren or sorcerer. Cindarians usually concentrate on defensive ability, and this is often reflected in how they decide to use the abilities of their class.

**Male Names:** Archerak, Briston, Crinz, Ershin, Gristo, Londerak, Miptin, Othan, Risp, Wistak

**Female Names:** Auranelle, Cristol, Corala, Estrelle, Jarella, Lavarol, Merla, Pearl, Seral, Velna

## CINDARIAN RACIAL TRAITS

* **+2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength:** Cindarians are scrawny but remarkably resilient. They have a natural beauty and charm that makes them very pleasant to be around.
* **Racial Buoyancy:** -15A, **Depth Tolerance:** 300 feet
* **Small:** Cindarians are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to AC, +1 size bonus on attack rolls, -1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
* **Fast Swim Speed:** Cindarians have a base swim speed of 30 feet.
* **Bonus Feat:** Merfolk select one extra feat at 1st level because they are quick to master specialized tasks and are varied in their talents.
* **Gills:** Merfolk can breathe underwater indefinitely through gills in their neck and sides. Consequently, most merfolk are water dependent, and can breathe for a few hours on land before having to submerge. Nommo begin suffocating immediately upon leaving the water.
* **Seawalker:** Merfolk were never meant to move on land. They do so at a movement rate of 5 feet (though may move faster by using the Climb skill, see Chapter 4 for details). This feature generally precludes them from a land adventure at low levels, which should not be a major issue for an entirely aquatic campaign. At higher levels, spells and magic items may help merfolk explore dry-land in short intervals, with more permanent solutions becoming obtainable at the highest levels.
* **Coral Attunement:** Cindarians are required to take the Coral Link feat as the bonus first level feat received from being a merfolk. Cindarians are highly attuned to their natural habitat.
* **Poison Spines:** Cindarians are covered with prickly spines that contain venom. Any creature that makes a successful unarmed or natural attack against a cindarian takes one point of piercing damage and one point of Dexterity damage. The Dexterity damage is cumulative per hit, and wears off all at once, three rounds after the last point of Dexterity damage was received.
* **Venom Resistance:** Cindarians are immune to the venom of their own race, and to the poison of naturally occurring organisms such as jellyfish, anemones, lionfish, and stingrays. In addition, they receive a +2 racial bonus on savings throws against any other form of poison. This bonus also applies to the fire coral disease.
* **Water Dependent:** This creature can survive out of water for 1 hour per 2 points of Constitution (after that, refer to the suffocation rules in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game).
* **Languages:** All merfolk begin play speaking Common, which is their native language. Merfolk with high intelligence scores can choose any language they want (except secret languages and Pelagic).