Gnosi

**The Gnosi**

Stats: (+3 Dex Males +2 Dex Females) +2 Int +1 Wis -1 Con (-1 Str For Males +1 Str For Females)

Size:Medium  6-7ft 50-150lb

Speed: 30 (flight 60)

Age: 75-150

**Description**

 The Gnosi are a very proud race, but few in number. Over a course of a lifetime a female may max out at 3 eggs. The eggs are fertilized internally and 3 weeks later are pushed out, then in 3 years the juvenile hatches. Appearance wise they have a variety of feathers and plumage, some populations are distinct in appearance making subraces, however the amount of variety within these subraces is still massive. They all fall into the same height and weight range and due to their hollow bones are light but typically prone to injury, however they have an above average recovery time for broken bones. Their wingspan is usually 10-14 feet but many of the adults through lifestyle choices are unable to do more than glide or quick bursts of hovering.  Unlike many other species the Females are actually the larger/stronger sex, due to this however males tend to beable to fly and are the ones closer to the 50lb end of the spectrum. This typically has evolved due to the females having to protect their eggs in primitive times. Nowadays Gnosi society has large plush guarded palaces that act as hatcheries with many eggs in them protected as if the secret of immortality lied inside. Their feathers grow back quickly and it is often tradition that those who practice archery actually use their loved ones feathers that they are going to war to protect , for their arrows. The Gnosi are very wise , and pride themselves as knowledge keepers building and protecting massive libraries. This has also given them the natural knack for magic and enchanting. Once again however this race is almost as rare, if not rarer than dragonborns totally close to only 2500 known on the planet.  Their cities are often no more than 100-500 individuals. This is hard to measure however because almost everyone of their cities locations are highly guarded secrets.

**Abilities**

**Keepers Of Knowledge**- Gain the Keen Mind Feat For Free, Also Proficient In History

**Glide-** When Falling you can glide to the ground as a free action but you must glide diagonally downward or a spiral. There is no benefit to a straight fall and damage will be doubled due to hollow bones. You may glide as a free action OR a reaction.

**Dark Vision**

**Male Only: Quick Flight-** 1/LR fly for 2 min

**Female Only: Quick Hover-** 1/LR Fly Vertically Up, Max 60 feet, and hover there for 3 min, cannot move horizontally.

**Lore-**

 The Lorian Gnosi came from Olpis in multiple waves, but this last wave was sent with a specific mission in EIII 1542. All the Gnosi who left Olpis during this time was meant to uncover what actually allows the 7 Mortal Planes to exist in the cosmos. In fact the Gnosi hopes to create a 8th plane of existence where their Gnosirex individuals can ascend to beyond the celestial dragon realms. In EIII 4047 the magic in Loria dropped so low that the Gnosi lost their ability to return home. Since the every generation has become more and more tainted by the pitfalls of the mortal planes. Rather it is addiction, violence, or hoarding material wealth. Their numbers have dropped dramatically as races such as orcs and dwarves hunted them for sports and created a market around their eggs that they would boil and decorate into ornate pieces of art. With a remaining population of a meak 2500 they are one of the rarest races just behind Dragonborns.

The Demi Gnosi are the elite warriors who protect the libraries and hatcheries. They undergo a ritual where they must fall from the top of a mountain after praying to Hyrinlar to imbue them with ambient magic to save their lives. During the plummet if they have lived a balanced life or achieved inner peace Hyrinlar accepts their prayer and redirects the four winds to soften their fall. Once landed they usually stand 2 feet taller with fully usable wings and muscles to match. These giant Gnosi are not Demi Gnosi just yet! They then must go on a pilgrimage wearing only a dark orange linen robe and visit all the prominent races of Loria. From each race they must bring home a new piece of knowledge, and a magical resource with the runes of that race on it. This usually takes 20-50 years and due to the ritual their lifespans extend to about 500 years. Once they return home they go to the Rexforge in which they exchange the knowledge they collected for a set of ornate plate armor that is often unique to that Gnosi’s heritage or personality, the plate armor is created from starsteel and each of the couple dozen magic resources collected are fused into the armor. Once the armor is adorned a second ritual is casted that allows the Gnosi to no longer need food, sleep, age and prevents them from ever achieving exhaustion. They are now Demi Gnosi and have a duty to protect the libraries and hatcheries until they die. They can still die in battle but it is very rare that they even see a fight, but they spend about 6 hours a day practicing martial arts. These Gnosi will burst into a rainbow flame the minute they turn 500 years old, this means their duty is over and their soul can join the Gnosirex in the afterlife.

The strangest thing is the Gnosi have no concept of love or compassion, this is a generalization and everything to follow is the Gnosi as a culture , not the individual (there are outliers). But this is the reason all eggs are in the same hatchery and raised by the community with zero regard for genetic parents. The Gnosi rather use math and reasoning to interact with the world and try to be emotionless. They are capable of emotions however and a Gnosi raised by humans would have the same emotions as humans. It is really the Gnosi high education and meditation from birth to control their emotions that make them one of the most rational beings in the cosmos. Gnosi culture and Utilitarianism has almost full overlap.

*Other- Architecture Is Greco-Eygption Same With Style Of Armor And Clothingm as well as names.*

The Gnosi arrived in Loria , more importantly The Mortal Plane because thousands of years ago the Olpis sent thousands of Gnosi into the cosmos to retrieve as much knowledge as possible. Unfortunately with how magic has faded in Loria, the last group sent was unable to return to Olpis and now their descendants are trapped in a plane of existence that is not their own. Most Gnosi take this as a opportunity to unbiasedly spectate the inhabitants of The Mortal Plane and record their knowledge. Others believe that they are in fact stuck in The Mortal Plane on purpose in order to track down dragons or dragonborns and retrieve lost knowledge.  Many Gnosi have lost the gracefulness of their Olpis descendants and fallen into common pitfalls such as addiction or violence that fit the natives of The Mortal Plane.

**Faith**

Creation Myth- The Gnosi are native to the High Rock Mortal Plane. They believe they were created as Valkrion and Alvux we banishing themselves to the spirit plane, Alvux lost a feather and Valkrion dripped some blood on said feather and this created an immortal Gnosi known as the Gnosirex (no-sear-ex), he was the first Gnosi and was said to be perfectly at peace with a perfect balance of chaos and law within his own soul. After thousands of years of meditation Gnosirex decided to commit suicide to reach higher celestrial planes, and ascend past his foolish “parents” Valkrion and Alvux. When he died each of his feathers became a mortal humanoid species known as the Gnosi. The Gnosi created great sky palaces in the mountains of High Rock and slowly over time became one of the dominant races. Olpis is a massive city that is beyond the clouds where the Gnosi hoard all the knowledge they can, it is said that when a Gnosi Dies their soul must write down all the accumulated knowledge they have earned in the Library Of Olpis before moving on to the spirit plane. Once in the spirit plane it is a Gnosi’s spiritual goal to have lived a balanced life such as Gnosirex and half of their “soul” rejoins Valkrion and the other rejoins Alvux. This is supposed to be a rare transcendence and 99.99% of all Gnosi instead are stuck in a endless cycle of reincarnation.

Birth Of Gods- Hyrinlar is known to have many “children” , he created Valkrion first, but Valkrion rebelled against the air plane and was banished to one of the 7 mortal realms, High Rock. High Rock planets have a ton of mountain ranges, tundras, and lush grasslands. Valkrion met Alvux who already resided there. Alvux was created by Hyrinlar to be an extension of himself in High Rock. Alvux effectively was the supreme deity of wind in High Rock universe. Valkrion started corrupting the species of High Rock, causing Alvux to be enraged and sacrifice his self to banish both of them into the High Rock Spiritual Plane. There they are locked in a constant argument rather chaos or law should consume the world.

Alvux- The God Of Wisdom, Ambient magic (The Winds Of Magic) , Justice, Fertility, War,  Law, and Civilization.

Deity is a dragon sized snow white Gryphon that radiates a blinding white light. The sigil is a white eagle on a light gold background.

The Wind Dragon Hyrinlar - Control The Air Elemental Plane

Symbol Is A Dragon In The Center Of A Gust Of Wind, Silver in Color.

Worshiped when good weather is needed or when the Demi Gnosi need good winds for flying.

Valkrion- The God Of Scavenging, Cleverness, Death, Advantage, Chaos, War, Secrets/ Forbidden Knowledge, Physical Magic, and Independence/Anarchy.

Deity is a dragon sized Modified Gryphon, instead of eagle and lion, Valkrion is a crow and wolf. The sigil is a green crow on a maroon background.

(Yes both are gods of war)

Gnosirex- is not considered a god but a state of enlightenment that one can reach

**Sub-Races”tribes”**

Gnosi are insanely diverse, it is possible 2 members of one subrace have offsprings that look more like another. These are just three distinct Gnosi Populations in Loria.

**The Valkri Gnosi**

The Valkri are often crow/vulture/condor headed. They have tattered rings and dark colors to them, the Valkri primarily worship Valkrion and try to gain new knowledge instead of acquiring old knowledge. They are actively involved in the occult aspects of other religions. As a tribe they wish to harness enough power to kill the deities of all other faiths. They are not entirely evil, they just possess the traits of Valkrion, and killing a culture god is the most chaotic act. They reside in the mountain range of Icos, they are technically allied with The Magi. Their Secret city is called Alkaron.  In exchange for magical secrets they help defend against the evils to the south. If this seems contradictory then you are correct, the Valkri hate consistency above all else. Despite this chaotic nature the Valkyrie tend to be more down to earth and humble.

Benefits:

1. Can instantly determine if a object is a physical magical resource, and can roll a d100 to randomly (DM discretion) use the physical magical resource to enchant a weapon, rune or gem randomly.  High chance nothing happens.
2. 3/LR can eat the flesh of an enemy to heal for 1d20+con
	1. On a NAT 20 it is possible to receive a vision or message from the deceased

**The Eagasi Gnosi**

The Eagasi are often Dove/Eagle/Hawk/Falcon headed, or VERY rarely but respected OWL headed. They have magnificent plumage are are very majestic, they have been known to bring humans to tears just by walking into a building. This has made them boisterous, cocky, grandiose, and very confident. They love art and the finer things in life, and often work towards collecting knowledge that involves craftsmanship and technology. They worship all the gods with no emphasis, however they tend to be more self righteous that created internal struggles for their meditations. Their main objective is to return home, and they believe science and inner peace is the way to achieve this. Don’t let a Eagasi fool you however they are hot headed if their pride is challenged and are not against going to war. Their secret city is Ballikron , a golden city in the mountains of Senios beyond the clouds. Ballikron is considered the capital for the Gnosi and all other tribes are welcomed with open arms as long as they have knowledge to contribute to the Great Record ( the largest library in Loria).

Benefits:

1. Can spend X amount of time to reverse engineer almost anything. This passively happens in the brain of the Gnosi and the X time is given by the DM. It can even be weeks or months but ultimately this ability produces recipes for yourself and teammates.
2. 2/LR BA The Gnosi can shelter a ally within their wings increasing their allies ac +3 for THAT round of enemy attacks. The Gnosi will not take any damage during this time period, however any damage from behind is doubled.

**The Corvasi Gnosi**

The Corvasi is the one that is more like a tribe with almost no genetic identity. The Corvasi most often have Blue Jay/ Cardinal/ Goldfinch/Duck heads, but really are most woodland birds. The Corvasi are quick witted, but also corky, they do not pick up on social cues of other races and believe that all life is sacred. For an analogy they are the hippy bunch of the Gnosi. Their main goal is to stop the cycle of reincarnation and become Gnosirex. They try to gather knowledge of spirituality and the history of other cultures, essentially the humanities. Their capital city is Malvalva somewhere in the dense forests of northern Pocros. It has lush gardens and typically all its inhabitants are vegetarian, there you can expect to see high usage of natural drugs and meditation.

Benefits:

1. Due to their emphasis on mental and physical strength they can go a week without food, and not suffer exhaustion due to \*simple physical exhaustion or traveling. They still require sleep however but can go 1 additional night without it.
2. Everytime you take a dodge **action**, and the enemy still deals damage, you can redirect ½ the damage back at the enemy. If your class lets you dodge as a bonus or free action this does not apply UNLESS every enemy within the last 48 hour has been dealt with nonlethally (this stipulation does not count for dodge action). Additionally you can assist defensively as an **action** allies in a range of 30 feet instead of being next to them.

**All Other Gnosi**

Litterally all other Gnosi, for balance this is extra ability to keep things fair so you don't have to choose the other 3.

1. Extend your genders flight ability by 1 round, also can always determine what direction the wind is blowing, and navigate using constellations almost perfectly.
2. 4/LR you can use a reaction to intercept an attack that is meant for your ally within 15 feet. When you do this the attack must be rerolled and beat your AC instead. On a hit you take the damage as normal. If you are already dodging effects still apply.

South American/Tropical Birds exist but not in known world\*