Asteri

Asteri are a race of humanoid, organic living crystal. They can live up to an average of 500 years old but have been known to reach up to 500 years old. Upon reaching around 100 years old their bodies grow to almost twice the size. Asteri age slightly slower than humans, with their equivalent teens being between 15 and 25 years old, and reaching adulthood by 30 years. However they don’t have the same definition of elderly, an asteri becomes an elder when they reach 100 years old, however culturally it is more like second adulthood rather than passing the peak of vitality.

At first glance, an asteri may appear to be a lizardfolk, but closer inspection reveals that they are very much not. The first thing most would notice is that they are scaleless, their body proportions are more close to that of humans, and those with good perception or knowledge would know that the metallic-like plates spaced across their bodies are not of worn armor, but in fact, natural forming armor made of iron-like growths. Their skeleton also consists of the same alloy. Spines of said alloy tend to grow out of their backs as well, though it is common practice to keep these spines shaved down to inconspicuous length. Those who let their spines grow out are often seen as rebellious delinquents by other asteri, as it is mostly those in their teens that neglect to shave their spines.

In the center of every asteri's chest is a heart jewel. A crystal the same colour as their eyes, or more accurately, their eyes glow the same colour as their crystal. Asteri tend to dislike others seeing their heart jewel nor openly show it off in public. Doing so has a similar connotation as that of nudity and perversion. Asteri will only reveal their jewel openly to those they have a strong trust or close bond with.

This crystal gives off a soft glow that seems to resonate with their lifeforce. If an asteri is experiencing stress, excitement, exhilaration, passion, fury, or any other powerful emotion the heart jewel will glow more intensely. If their body is weak, sick, or dying the crystal's light will fade. If an asteri dies, the crystal will cease to glow, appearing like a foggy grey translucent glass jewel. Their eyes will do the same. If removed while the asteri is still alive, they will immediately perish and the jewel will not maintain its colour. Destroying the jewel will do the same, however, the heart jewel is the most robust part of the asteri body. The heart jewel has no known value separate from the body aside from as a trophy.

An asteri can only be raised as undead if the heart jewel is removed. If an asteri is raised as undead its body will decompose at an accelerated rate and will only exist as undead for a few hours. Once an asteri has fully decomposed with only the skeleton remaining it will cease to remain undead nor from that point can it be raised as undead. The skeleton of an asteri is a rather difficult metal to work with and is not very useful for much at all. It is a common practice among asteri nobility and royalty to cremate their dead then forge a cage around the deceased's heart jewel as well as a pedestal out of their bones for enshrining in the familial crypt.

While the skin tone of an asteri can be practically any colour, the glow of one's eyes and heart jewel tend to stick to chromatics. The most common pattern of glow is a two-tone with the dominant colour along with a recessive colour being a slight hue offset veining between. A slightly less common pattern is the inverse-tone where the recessive colour is the opposite hue of the dominant one. Rarer still though common enough to notice among a large crowd of asteri is the three-tone pattern, where three equally opposed colours intertwine and there is no dominant or recessive colour. The rarest pattern of them all is the opal-tone, only found within the royal bloodline. There is also a nearly unheard of mutation found in the two-tone pattern is that of the hollow, often referred to either as light cored or dark cored, where the recessive colour is instead white or black, two colours not found in any other pattern.

### History

The kingdom of the asteri formed in the center of an ancient and massive crater, this crater being the richest gemstone deposit in the entire realm. However this massing of gemstones is not counted as a treasury or as a resource within the kingdom while also is guarded with the same devotion as a dragon guarding their hoard. Taking gemstone from the crater is punishable by death.

### Society

A common behavior among Asteri is the disgust towards cut gems and crystals. Though they are fine with uncut gemstone being used as decor and jewelry nor see them as living, sentient things, asteri view gemstone cutting as defilement. The even greater offense is the use of magic crystals. It is a strongly held belief that magic crystal contains life essence, and that using them kills the life encased inside. (Some asteri have been known to keep magic crystals as pets)

It is possible to tell how active an asteri has been by the size of its plate growths, as movement stunts growth while stagnation accelerates it. However plate growth does slow dramatically as an asteri ages, it never stops growing completely. Monks of the mediation variety usually have the most notable plate growth, often having plates cover a large portion of their bodies. Though extremely rare it is well known that some monks have died from full plate petrification, these monks do so willingly and their fellow monks show their appreciation by presenting their petrified bodies at the temple gates. Some warrior groups have been known to manipulate plate growth by using iron casts to hold the desired area of skin still. The most common of which is to promote growth along the limbs between the joints sacrificing some dexterity for some extra armor. Some even go as far as to petrify their fists for brutal melee combat or their whole torso at the cost of their general health.