Goloma

Long ago, the Goloma were the monsters of the Coven Isles before the coven inhabited the isles, and their advanced civilization was based on nature, the occult, and death. After the fall of their great city, plunder by the witches and the subsequent generations of slavery, the elves lost most of their cultural heritage and identity. They have finally gained the courage to strike back at their captors and have led a three island wide slave rebellion against the witches and their society.

The Goloma now spend much of their time rebuilding their ancient towns and waging war against their enslavers through guerilla warfare of which they have mastered.

## You Might...

* Instinctively process large amounts of disparate information quickly and efficiently.
* Project an air of intimidation to conceal your nervous disposition.
* Have difficulty distinguishing individual objects or people from others that are similar.

## Others Probably...

* Are frightened by your strange physiology.
* Mistake your difficulties with identifying distinct people from one another as indifference.
* Are awed by your skill at noticing minute details at a glance and drawing rapid conclusions.

## Physical Description

Golomas are humanoids with rough skin that ranges in color from warm brown to ebony, although sickly gray or white individuals with albinism are not uncommon. Their fingers and feet are coated with a thin layer of chitin. A goloma's face is an oblong wedge made of smooth chitin, almost resembling a wooden mask. Protruding from this face are eight gelatinous, shining eyes. A goloma's mouth and jaw are located beneath their face-plate, and a bony crest juts from the top of their chitinous visage. The back of a goloma's head and neck is coated in black hair that is filled with thousands of tiny, peering eyes. These eyes tend to glow and squirm as they look around—an unsettling sight for most.

## Society

Goloma seek to recover, inherit and preserve the knowledge and sacred treasures of their ancestors. Due to the numerous threats they face from the trickster witches, Goloma are known to be wary and apprehensive of outsiders. Their homeland of the coven isles is a overwhelmingly dangerous area, where natural selection ensures only the most deadly flora and fauna survive. The Goloma have adapted to these lands by being ever vigilant and cautious of their surroundings never letting anything get the drop on them and always being prepared. Because of these creatures and innumerable others, life in the isles is unimaginably harsh.

Golomas learn at a young age to be vigilant at all times, observing the environment for any irregularities and then reacting with quick, calculated instinct rather than deliberative action; fifty percent of the planet's Goloma population does not survive infancy, and fifty percent of the remainder does not live past the age of ten. Other ancestries often perceive golomas to be paranoid and hypervigilant. Golomas are also better at wide-scale observation than observation of specific things—they can easily notice commonalities across large fields but have difficulty remembering what a specific object or creature looked like. This only increases their paranoia, as they have trouble visually distinguishing known friends from potentially hostile foes.

## Alignment and Religion

Golomas tend to focus on their own survival and thus are typically neutral, though those who find more comfort in conformity than others trend toward lawful alignments. Golomas worship mainly Keln though currently, in their time of need they find necessary reverence in Teine-Teine, those with stronger morals may choose Nylrw and on the volcano island of Gehena Drakkar is quite common.

## Adventurers

Golomas keep to themselves in self-sufficient societies, and commonly possess backgrounds such as hunter, laborer, artist, or farmhand. Golomas who keep a lookout for their communities might be scouts or acolytes. Golomas currently have a large concentration of freedom fights shaking up much of what would be normal for one instead many choose to be barbarians, witches, and rogues and choosing backgrounds like bandit, insurgent, scout, spotter, or scavenger.

## Names

A goloma's true name is kept among golomas, as there are hundreds of cautionary tales of what could happen if another creature learns a goloma's true name. Names tend to lack soft syllables, which golomas often struggle to pronounce, and typically consist of hard consonants and individually enunciated vowels instead. Among other people, golomas tend to use names that are intended to be intimidating, taking elements and sounds from Aklo, Necril, or words from local languages that seem to cause strong reactions.

### Sample Names

Biqkuul, Ehbouja, Haamaah, Kouzo, Quaerjii, Tebaazu, Uruueda, Zekuukeu