Despite being sealed away under the earth, a daelkyr can reproduce, after a fashion. A daelkyr’s corporeal incarceration constantly leaks the virulence of its corrupting spirit. The unborn are especially vulnerable to this influence, and those innocents growing in the wombs of their mothers within the sphere of this beastly influence are born as daelkyr half-bloods.
DAELKYR HALF-BLOOD RACIAL TRAITS
Anguish burns in the eyes of daelkyr half-bloods, because their spirits are always in conflict. The most obvious outward sign that a creature has been “womb-warped” is the natural symbiont that is first birthed with a daelkyr halfblood (the symbiont is sometimes mistaken for a disfigured twin or gruesome afterbirth), then later befriended, worn, and utilized by the adult half-blood.
Daelkyr half-bloods are most often born of human mothers, and as such share almost all physical features in common with humans. A daelkyr half-blood stands between 5 and 6 feet tall and rarely weighs more than 170 pounds.
• Aberration Type: Daelkyr half-bloods are creatures with the aberration type. As aberrations, daelkyr halfbloods have darkvision out to 60 feet. They are proficient with all simple weapons and any weaponlike symbionts they use, as well as with whatever types of armor (light, medium, or heavy) that their classes allow. Daelkyr halfbloods eat, sleep, and breathe.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, daelkyr half-bloods have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
• Daelkyr half-blood base land speed is 30 feet.
• Personal Symbiont (Ex): All half-bloods begin play with one personal symbiont that they can pick from the following list: breed leech, crawling gauntlet, or throwing scarab. If a personal symbiont is lost, a daelkyr half-blood can grow a replacement from his own flesh over a period of 2d4 days. A daelkyr halfblood can’t grow or regrow symbionts that he has gained in any other manner, nor can a daelkyr half-blood grow a replacement for a symbiont if the original symbiont yet lives.
As a daelkyr half-blood advances in level, he can grow a new personal symbiont as indicated on the table below. Any new personal symbiont grown replaces the old symbiont. A daelkyr half-blood can choose additional symbionts from the list provided above, as well as from new choices as they become available, as indicated on the table.
| Level | Choices1 |
|---|---|
| 1st | Breed leech, crawling gauntlet, throwing scarab |
| 5th | Stormstalk, winter cyst |
| 10th | Spellwurm, tentacle whip |
| 15th | Tongue worm |
1 All choices from an earlier level are also available to a higher-level daelkyr half-blood.
• Symbiont Mastery: A daelkyr half-blood gains the Symbiont Mastery feat (see page 51) as a bonus feat.
• Symbiont Dependency (Ex): Daelkyr half-bloods’ facility with symbiont usage comes at a price. Without daily contact with at least one symbiont, a daelkyr halfblood begins to die. If a daelkyr half-blood has no contact with a symbiont for 24 hours, he takes 1 point of Constitution damage. He takes this damage every 24 hours until contact is restored, and Constitution damage sustained in this fashion cannot be restored by any means as long as the daelkyr half-blood remains separated from symbionts.
• Unbalanced Mind (Ex): The minds of daelkyr halfbloods are in constant self revolt, reflecting their daelkyr “parents” mixed with the more standard mindset of their biological mothers. Any creature that attempts to read the thoughts of a daelkyr half-blood, or otherwise study his mind, must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 half-blood’s level + Cha modifi er) or be dazed for 1 round.
• Automatic Language: Common. Bonus Language: Daelkyr.
• Favored Class: Rogue.
RANDOM STARTING AGE
| Adulthood | Simple1 | Moderate2 | Complex3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 years | +1d4 | +1d6 | +2d6 |
1 Barbarian, rogue, sorcerer, or wilder.
2 Bard, fighter, paladin, psychic warrior, or ranger.
3 Artificer, cleric, druid, monk, psion, soulknife, or wizard.
AGING EFFECTS
| Middle Age1 | Old2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 years | 53 years | 70 years | +2d20 years |
1 At middle age, –1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
2 At old age, –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
3 At venerable age, –3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
RANDOM HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
| Base Height | Height Modifier | BaseWeight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5’4” | +2d6 | 135 lb. | ×1d6 lb. |
DAELKYR HALF-BLOOD SOCIETY
Daelkyr half-bloods are born of pregnant mothers who were either influenced by close proximity to a daelkyr confinement cylinder or infected by a breed leech (see page 154). Transformed in the womb from the natural creature they might have otherwise become, half-bloods are instead born as aberrations, the knowledge of which each new daelkyr half-blood can embrace or reject as its own true nature becomes clear. When a daelkyr halfblood birth occurs spontaneously due to proximity to a daelkyr confinement cylinder, that daelkyr half-blood typically goes on to serve daelkyr goals. On the other hand, if a daelkyr half-blood is born after its mother’s unfortunate contact with a breed leech, the resultant creature’s nature is not predetermined—indeed, many go on to fight their own kind. However, the birth of a daelkyr half-blood is always accompanied by the afterbirth of a symbiont, twin to the daelkyr half-blood, if different in form and ability. Child and symbiont share an unnatural attraction, despite the horror of parents who might be tempted to cast out both. Such hard-luck half-bloods, shunned by their parents, might be more drawn to daelkyr ideals than those of their biological forebears.
Alignment: Half-bloods are far more often evil than good, but nothing predetermines the eventual alignment of a daelkyr half-blood—only the manner in which the halfblood is raised.
Lands: Half-bloods can be said to have lands only insofar as the daelkyr can claim the same. Large sections of Khyber are overrun with aberrations who serve one or another daelkyr, and among those aberrations are many half-bloods. However, nonsubjugated half-bloods would shudder to “return” to these deep places in the earth, choosing instead to seek their way in the light above the ground.
Settlements: As a general rule, daelkyr half-bloods distrust one another. They do not usually live together, but among regular humans.
Power Groups: Some half-bloods become impure princes, automatically almost qualifying for membership through possession of their own personal symbionts.
Beliefs: No single religion dominates among the disparate half-bloods.
Relations: Daelkyr-loyal half-bloods are anathema to all other creatures, except the aberrations that also serve the Lords of Xoriat. Half-bloods living in other societies generally manage to coexist with other races so long as they do not openly reveal their symbionts, which tend to horrify and terrify average citizens of Khorvaire. Lucky half-bloods befriend those who look past their symbiont dependency, and are able to see the person beneath.
DAELKYR HALF-BLOOD CHARACTERS
With a natural affinity for symbionts, half-bloods are born with life-long companions.
Adventuring Half-Bloods: Adventuring halfbloods feel a restlessness that stems from the distrust normal people feel upon learning of a half-blood’s symbiont. Discovery and adventure are a great anodyne to being shunned.
Character Development: Half-bloods should take feats and skills that take advantage of the particular symbiont a daelkyr half-blood is born with.
Character Names: Daelkyr half-blood names tend to depend wholly on the culture in which a given half-blood is raised.
ROLEPLAYING A DAELKYR HALF-BLOOD
Adventuring is nearly the only way a daelkyr half-blood can find a place in the world. In a group composed of warforged, shifters, and other people of distant lands, a daelkyr half-blood and its symbionts are not as out of place as they are in mainstream society. Thus, a large number of free-minded half-bloods choose an adventuring life to escape the bigotry of a society that fears them. Some even seek to learn the source of their strange origin in the depths of Khyber—though these half-bloods are rarely seen again.
Personality: Half-bloods born in captivity within Khyber-encompassing fortresses are as mad and insane as the daelkyr they serve. Half-bloods born on the surface and raised in civilized societies are more akin to humans in their personality. However, half-bloods are given to melancholy, anguish, and fits of extreme anger. More than most creatures, half-bloods can be of two minds on a particular subject, almost as if they indeed possessed two physical minds, and not just one like most creatures.
Roleplaying Application: Bitter comments are not uncommon from the lips of a daelkyr half-blood.
Behaviors: Half-bloods tend to avoid the spotlight, especially in urban environments where their true nature might be revealed through too much exposure to common folk. As such, they prefer dark corners, night, and sidestreets.
Roleplaying Application: Being quiet is better than being noticed. If notice is inescapable, better to deal with a problem immediately than let it grow.
Language: Daelkyr half-bloods speak Common. Some half-bloods learn to speak Daelkyr.
DAELKYR HALF-BLOOD ENCOUNTERS
Adventurers could encounter a daelkyr half-blood and never realize it, until the half-blood revealed her symbiont during some desperate fight or flight. It is possible that one of the many human acquaintances (or enemies) previously made by a group of adventurers is secretly a daelkyr halfblood— a secret that might be revealed in the proper frantic circumstance.
