Sena'ka - Revision history

Admiralbenbo: /* Origin */

2025-09-22T19:41:45Z

Origin

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:41, 22 September 2025
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	==Origin==		==Origin==

	The sena'ka were created as the "next evolution" of humans, who had also been created recently by those mages from hobgoblin and elven souls. Two major concerns were addressed--loyalty and superiority. Unlike humans, with their adaptability and mutability, the proto-sena'ka were developed to be one thing and one thing only. Warriors willing to fight to the death for their masters. To this end, the phoenix mages bred in traits from a wide variety of creatures, including some artificially-created creatures. This engineering had some side effects (wanted and unwanted). For instance, sena'ka are less capable of handling cold weather than normal humans--their body temperature runs low and they become quite sluggish in the cold. They are better adopted to hot climates, however. Another, desired side effect was that the complexity of the engineering left them infertile without magical assistance. New sena'ka are bred in creches and raised outside of a family structure. In the Phoenix Empire, this lets them be raised as perfectly loyal fighters to whichever of the [[Phoenix Lords]] acts as their owner. Those populations that have escaped (and survived) managed to acquire the knowledge and skill to conduct the breeding rituals themselves. As a result of this, sena'ka outside of the empire consider their own lives as very precious. Even within their competitive, fractious societies, they only very rarely kill another sena'ka. It is to be noted that they generally do ''not'' treat other humanoid creatures with this same concern.		The sena'ka were created as the "next evolution" of humans, who had also been created recently by those mages from hobgoblin and elven souls. Two major concerns were addressed--loyalty and superiority. Unlike humans, with their adaptability and mutability, the proto-sena'ka were developed to be one thing and one thing only. Warriors willing to fight to the death for their masters. To this end, the phoenix mages bred in traits from a wide variety of creatures, including some artificially-created creatures. This engineering had some side effects (wanted and unwanted). For instance, sena'ka are less capable of handling cold weather than normal humans--their body temperature runs low and they become quite sluggish in the cold. They are better adopted to hot climates, however. Another, desired side effect was that the complexity of the engineering left them infertile without magical assistance. New sena'ka are bred in creches and raised outside of a family structure. In the Phoenix Empire, this lets them be raised as perfectly loyal fighters to whichever of the [[Phoenix Empire\|Phoenix Lords]] acts as their owner. Those populations that have escaped (and survived) managed to acquire the knowledge and skill to conduct the breeding rituals themselves. As a result of this, sena'ka outside of the empire consider their own lives as very precious. Even within their competitive, fractious societies, they only very rarely kill another sena'ka. It is to be noted that they generally do ''not'' treat other humanoid creatures with this same concern.

	Another side effect was increased mental performance and power--sena'ka are intelligent (although most only turn that towards tactics in battle) and often develop strange, almost magical abilities fueled by their minds alone. This was the most prized and surprising effect of the engineering, and the phoenix mages spent centuries trying to replicate it in a controllable form. All these efforts ended in failure.		Another side effect was increased mental performance and power--sena'ka are intelligent (although most only turn that towards tactics in battle) and often develop strange, almost magical abilities fueled by their minds alone. This was the most prized and surprising effect of the engineering, and the phoenix mages spent centuries trying to replicate it in a controllable form. All these efforts ended in failure.

Admiralbenbo: /* Physical Description */

2025-09-22T19:41:29Z

Physical Description

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:41, 22 September 2025
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	Another side effect was increased mental performance and power--sena'ka are intelligent (although most only turn that towards tactics in battle) and often develop strange, almost magical abilities fueled by their minds alone. This was the most prized and surprising effect of the engineering, and the phoenix mages spent centuries trying to replicate it in a controllable form. All these efforts ended in failure.		Another side effect was increased mental performance and power--sena'ka are intelligent (although most only turn that towards tactics in battle) and often develop strange, almost magical abilities fueled by their minds alone. This was the most prized and surprising effect of the engineering, and the phoenix mages spent centuries trying to replicate it in a controllable form. All these efforts ended in failure.

			=== Creche-born ===
			The exact nature of the assistance provided by the creches in sena'ka reproduction is a closely guarded secret, known only to the secretive caste that actually administers those treatments. What is known is that it requires specially-constructed facilities with irreplaceable (outside [[Kel'tan]]) magical equipment. Women and men who perform very well (or are chosen by the lord who owns the creche) are invited to the creche and rituals are performed that result in their bloodline being added to the stock of bloodlines; from these, children are created. Some believe that they use artificial wombs and magic to induce conception; others claim that specially-bred slave breeders are used as surrogates. The donors do not stay for the birth of "their" children, and family ties are non-existent. Children are raised from infancy in dedicated villages close to the breeding labs themselves by the same caste and indoctrinated into the ways of that group and enter the wider world in adolescence, when they are trained by mentors and serve apprenticeships (often abusive and exploitative ones that terminate when the journeyman carves out a new path by force or guile).

			"Family" among the ship folk is chosen, usually encompassing some creche-siblings and early mentors/leaders. Among the phoenix-born sena'ka, family is bound up in the military orders and divisions that serve a single lord. That latter set is changing now that the empire has descended into a civil war and the iron grip of the lords over the sena'ka has loosened. What will come is still unknown.

	==Racial Traits==		==Racial Traits==
	'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Intelligence score increases by 1.<br/>		'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Intelligence score increases by 1.<br/>'''Age''' Very similar to humans, reaching adulthood in the mid-teens and living between 70 and 90 years.<br/>'''Size''' Sena'ka are taller and leaner than most humans, with most a slender 6 feet in height. Males and females stand the same height.<br/>'''Speed.''' Your base walking speed is 30 feet.<br/>'''Languages''' You can speak, read, and write Common and Sena'ka. Sena'ka is a clipped, flat-intonation dialect of gwerin, and is written in a modified elven script.<br/>'''Subrace.''' There is only one playable subrace of sena'ka at this time--the Ship Folk.
	'''Age''' Very similar to humans, reaching adulthood in the mid-teens and living between 70 and 90 years.<br/>
	'''Size''' Sena'ka are taller and leaner than most humans, with most a slender 6 feet in height. Males and females stand the same height.<br/>
	'''Speed.''' Your base walking speed is 30 feet.<br/>
	'''Languages''' You can speak, read, and write Common and Sena'ka. Sena'ka is a clipped, flat-intonation dialect of gwerin, and is written in a modified elven script.<br/>
	'''Subrace.''' There is only one playable subrace of sena'ka at this time--the Ship Folk.

	===Ship Folk===		===Ship Folk===
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	Raised in a fiercely competitive, maritime pirate culture that prizes strength above all, a few of the ship folk have made their homes on the southern shore of the [[Jungle of Fangs]]. Even fewer have become adventurers in the [[Federated Nations]], mostly outcasts from the main society.		Raised in a fiercely competitive, maritime pirate culture that prizes strength above all, a few of the ship folk have made their homes on the southern shore of the [[Jungle of Fangs]]. Even fewer have become adventurers in the [[Federated Nations]], mostly outcasts from the main society.

	'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Dexterity and Strength scores each increase by 1.<br/>		'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Dexterity and Strength scores each increase by 1.<br/>'''Pirate Weapon Training''' You are proficient with light and medium armor and with scimitars, hand axes, battleaxes, and hand crossbows.<br/>'''Psionics''' You know the ''gust'' cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ''jump'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the ''levitate'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
	'''Pirate Weapon Training''' You are proficient with light and medium armor and with scimitars, hand axes, battleaxes, and hand crossbows.<br/>
	'''Psionics''' You know the ''gust'' cantrip.~~<br/>~~

	When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ''jump'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the ''levitate'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

	Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells (DC = 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus). When you cast them with this trait, they don't require components.		Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells (DC = 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus). When you cast them with this trait, they don't require components.

	'''Region of Origin''' Your region of origin is the [[Serpent Dominion]].<br/>		'''Region of Origin''' Your region of origin is the [[Serpent Dominion]].<br/>'''Sea Legs''' You are proficient with water vehicles. In addition, when you have to make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to keep your balance, you do so at advantage.<br/>
	'''Sea Legs''' You are proficient with water vehicles. In addition, when you have to make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to keep your balance, you do so at advantage.<br/>

	[[Category: Races]]		[[Category: Races]]

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A race of humanoid people native to the Solar Highlands, the sena'ka were created by the mages of the Phoenix Empire in approximately 2900 BC as their elite warrior co..."

2020-09-07T01:06:22Z

Created page with "A race of humanoid people native to the Solar Highlands, the sena'ka were created by the mages of the Phoenix Empire in approximately 2900 BC as their elite warrior co..."

New page

A race of humanoid people native to the [[Solar Highlands]], the sena'ka were created by the mages of the [[Phoenix Empire]] in approximately 2900 BC as their elite warrior corps. In the following ages, the population has split. While many of them remain in the [[Phoenix Empire]], significant subpopulations have escaped to the [[Great Rift]] and even crossed the Western Sea to the islands near southern [[Oelfra]]. The largest population of sena'ka outside of the [[Solar Highlands]] is the [[Ship Folk]] of the [[Primal Sea]].

==Physical Description==

Physically, sena'ka are tall, lithe humanoids with yellow-toned skin mottled with brown spots (almost reptilian in appearance). Their noses are short with large nostril openings, giving them an alien look. Their eyes are large, slanted and usually dark in color, although grey is not uncommon. Their ears are quite pointed. Their hair is stringy and usually dark in color, often with a green cast to it. Many are balding on the front, giving them the appearance of a huge forehead. Sena'ka only very rarely carry any notable fat--their skin is usually stretched tight across a prominent bone structure. They also rarely show musculature, regardless of how strong they are.

There is little outward sexual dimorphism. Female breasts are small, and males rarely grow any facial hair. In fact, neither gender grows significant hair anywhere but on their heads, and many are completely bald.

They are frequently (and derogatorily) called "skull-faces", although not to those faces.

==Origin==

The sena'ka were created as the "next evolution" of humans, who had also been created recently by those mages from hobgoblin and elven souls. Two major concerns were addressed--loyalty and superiority. Unlike humans, with their adaptability and mutability, the proto-sena'ka were developed to be one thing and one thing only. Warriors willing to fight to the death for their masters. To this end, the phoenix mages bred in traits from a wide variety of creatures, including some artificially-created creatures. This engineering had some side effects (wanted and unwanted). For instance, sena'ka are less capable of handling cold weather than normal humans--their body temperature runs low and they become quite sluggish in the cold. They are better adopted to hot climates, however. Another, desired side effect was that the complexity of the engineering left them infertile without magical assistance. New sena'ka are bred in creches and raised outside of a family structure. In the Phoenix Empire, this lets them be raised as perfectly loyal fighters to whichever of the [[Phoenix Lords]] acts as their owner. Those populations that have escaped (and survived) managed to acquire the knowledge and skill to conduct the breeding rituals themselves. As a result of this, sena'ka outside of the empire consider their own lives as very precious. Even within their competitive, fractious societies, they only very rarely kill another sena'ka. It is to be noted that they generally do ''not'' treat other humanoid creatures with this same concern.

Another side effect was increased mental performance and power--sena'ka are intelligent (although most only turn that towards tactics in battle) and often develop strange, almost magical abilities fueled by their minds alone. This was the most prized and surprising effect of the engineering, and the phoenix mages spent centuries trying to replicate it in a controllable form. All these efforts ended in failure.

==Racial Traits==
'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Intelligence score increases by 1. 
'''Age''' Very similar to humans, reaching adulthood in the mid-teens and living between 70 and 90 years. 
'''Size''' Sena'ka are taller and leaner than most humans, with most a slender 6 feet in height. Males and females stand the same height. 
'''Speed.''' Your base walking speed is 30 feet. 
'''Languages''' You can speak, read, and write Common and Sena'ka. Sena'ka is a clipped, flat-intonation dialect of gwerin, and is written in a modified elven script. 
'''Subrace.''' There is only one playable subrace of sena'ka at this time--the Ship Folk.

===Ship Folk===
Main Article [[Ship Folk]]

Raised in a fiercely competitive, maritime pirate culture that prizes strength above all, a few of the ship folk have made their homes on the southern shore of the [[Jungle of Fangs]]. Even fewer have become adventurers in the [[Federated Nations]], mostly outcasts from the main society.

'''Ability Score Increases''' Your Dexterity and Strength scores each increase by 1. 
'''Pirate Weapon Training''' You are proficient with light and medium armor and with scimitars, hand axes, battleaxes, and hand crossbows. 
'''Psionics''' You know the ''gust'' cantrip. 

When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ''jump'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the ''levitate'' spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells (DC = 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus). When you cast them with this trait, they don't require components.

'''Region of Origin''' Your region of origin is the [[Serpent Dominion]]. 
'''Sea Legs''' You are proficient with water vehicles. In addition, when you have to make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to keep your balance, you do so at advantage. 

[[Category: Races]]