New Race: The Aerlhún

• Physical Description: At first sight Aerlhún are often mistaken for humans. Although mammalian and humanoid in appearance the Aerlhún also show some avian and reptilian vestiges (eg. their thick hair that evolved from feathers and the fact that they are oviparous).
  Aerlhún lay and hatch their eggs in caves wich are called collective wombs. Usually the eggs are entrusted with particularly skillful individuals called brood fosterers, but in general brood care is a sacred task to the whole community.
  The Aerlhún typically stand from a little over 4 1/2 to 7 feet tall and weigh from 70 to 140 pounds, with men noticeably taller and heavier than women. Despite their low weight they have well built and athletic bodies that could have inspired the aesthetic criteria of old Greek sculptors. Their skin shade is usually a light blue with patterns of blues and greens that resemble the reflections of the light underwater. Their hair is usually silvery white sometimes showing very light greenish or bluish shades and streaks of darker greens or blues. Differently from humans the Aerlhún's hair consists of hundreds of very thick single hairs.
  The color of their eyes is that of precious metals with pale silver and gold being the most common. Aerlhún have no facial or body hair. An Aerlhún reaches adulthood at about 120 years of age and can live to be more than 700 years old. By the age of 400 years most Aerlhún are completely bald. Advancing in age Aerlhún become more and more frail up to a point where they become almost unable to perform physical activities, while their mental abilities grow to admirable dimensions.
  Aerlhún do not die of old age, but eventually leave their almost burnt out physical body behind to ascend to a state of pure sentient energy. These spirits, also called Alhgonnáre are treated as the main god Tjellthalas' proxies and emissaries.

• Aerlhún Lands: Aerlhún live in the realm of Nénvelya, a region of the world that has a very close connection to both the Elemental planes of Air and Water, and is the temporal domain of the god Tjellthalas. The primary effect of this connection is to enhance spells and magic items, that allow levitation or actual flight.
  Making use of this places powers requires knowledge and practice, but can dramatically increase the capabilities of flying creatures, spellcasters, and magic items.
  Beholding this land is suggestive of being in an underwater realm. Plants and creatures of Nénvelya resemble those found in the (mostly prehistoric) sea or a mixture of land and sea dwelling life. Yet instead of living in the water they have flight or floating capabilities. Nénvelya displays the traits of a Manifest Zone, that is it supports and intensifies (among others) flight magic and the the Aerlhún's flight abilities.

• Personality: The Aerlhún are the sentinels of the realm of Nénvelya by the grace of Tjellthalas, god of storm and sea. They watch suspiciously over their realm lest it may remain untouched by the taint of evil. They are full of ancient knowledge and wisdom and are aware of the sacred duty they were entrusted with in ages long forgotten by the rest of the world. This is why they may appear to be cool and even hostile to others, but when they are convinced that somebody is not a threat to the peace of their realm, he will be surprised and fascinated by their sophisticated and harmonious culture and the sheer beauty of the Aerlhún's life.

• Medium: As Medium creatures, Aerlhún have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• An Aerlhún's base land speed is 30 feet.
• Tjellthalas' Splendor: +2 divine bonus to Charisma-based skill checks. The Aerlhún are more poised, articulate, and personally forceful than other races.
• Light Bones: The Aerlhún have lightweight bones, many of which are hollow like those of a bird, so they are more vulnerable to physical attacks. Therefore, whenever they are hit by a bludgeoning weapon they take extra damage (+1 from light, +2 from one-handed, and +3 from two-handed weapons).
• Fly [Su]: Inside the boundaries of Nénvelya the Aerlhún have the ability to fly at a speed of 30 feet (even if wearing medium or heavy armor, or if carrying a medium or heavy load, but they cannot carry aloft weight that would exceed their maximum load.) with average maneuverability. Flying requires only as much concentration as walking, so they can attack or cast spells as normally. While airborne an Aerlhún can make dive attacks. A dive attack works just like a charge, but the Aerlhún must move a minimum of 30 feet and descend at least 10 feet. Attacks performed while diving deal double damage. An Aerlhún can use the run action while flying, provided he flies in a straight line.
  Outside of their realm Aerlhún are able to fly only by undergoing an intensive mental training of their innate magical abilities (represented by a chain of regional feats) and even then their fly speed is decreased by 50% and their maneuverability is decreased by one step..
• Earth Inferiority: Inside the boundaries of Nénvelya an Aerlhún takes a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls, while her opponent gains a +4 bouns on melee attacks and damage rolls against the Aerlhún, he is touching the ground. This trait demonstrates the minor character of the Elemental Plain of Earth in this area and the consequential adaption of Nénvelya's denizens to the local conditions.
• Connected to the Land [Su]: Since they are the sentinels of their homeland Aerlhún have an emotional connection to the land Nénvelya and the creatures native to that realm.
  This ability works as the druid's Wild Empathy ability except that it also works for creatures of the plant type with the same penalties as given for magical beasts.
• Favored Class: Ranger? / Druid?
• LA +?

[CENTER][COLOR=blue][B]HIGHT AND WEIGHT[/B][/COLOR][/CENTER]          [B]Base      Hight     Base     Weight[/B]
         [B]Height    Modifier  Weight   Modifier[/B]
male     4' 10''     2d12    85 lb.      x3 lb.
female    4' 5''      2d6    60 lb.    x1d6 lb.

-----------------------------------------------------

[CENTER][COLOR=blue][B]AGING EFFECTS[/CENTER][/COLOR][/B]   [B]Middle¹   Old²   Venerable³   Maximum[/B]
    300     550       700          4d%

  ¹[SIZE=1] At middle age -3 Str, Con, Dex; +3 Int, Wis, Cha[/SIZE]
²[SIZE=1] At old age -3 Str, Con, Dex; +3 Int, Wis, Cha[/SIZE]
    ³[SIZE=1] At venerable age -3 Str, Con, Dex; +3 Int, Wis, Cha[/SIZE]

Sylvaroth said:

• Light Bones: The Aerlhún have lightweight bones, many of which are hollow so they are more vulnerable to phisical attacks. Therefore, whenever they are hit by a weapon dealing bludgeoning damage the amount of damage dealt increases by one third.

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Sylvaroth said:

• Fly [Su]: Aerlhún have the ability to fly at a speed of 20 feet (even if wearing medium or heavy armor, or if carrying a medium or heavy load load). They can descend at double speed, and their manuverability is average. Flying requires only as much concentration as walking, so they can attack or cast spells as normally. A flying Aerlhún can charge but not run, and he cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load.
  
  Aerlhún can use this ability for up to 1 minute per level. This amount can be split up among many uses of this ability, but each use, no matter how short, counts as if lasting for the duration of one round (eg. a first level Aerlhún could take off to move ). If that amount is used up while the Aerlhún is still aloft he floats downward as the subject of an expired Flyy spell.

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SRD said:

Fly: A creature with a fly speed can move through the air at the indicated speed if carrying no more than a light load. (Note that medium armor does not necessarily constitute a medium load.) All fly speeds include a parenthetical note indicating maneuverability, as follows:

—Perfect: The creature can perform almost any aerial maneuver it wishes. It moves through the air as well as a human moves over smooth ground.

—Good: The creature is very agile in the air (like a housefly or a hummingbird), but cannot change direction as readily as those with perfect maneuverability.

—Average: The creature can fly as adroitly as a small bird.

—Poor: The creature flies as well as a very large bird.

—Clumsy: The creature can barely maneuver at all.

[font=&quot]A creature that flies can make dive attacks. A dive attack works just like a charge, but the diving creature must move a minimum of 30 feet and descend at least 10 feet. It can make only claw or talon attacks, but these deal double damage. A creature can use the run action while flying, provided it flies in a straight line. [/font]

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Oversized Mithral Weapon: Aerlhún can wield weapons sized for large creatures without penalty, provided these weapons were crafted out of mithral.

Since mithral isn't exactly cheap, that might balance out. If you had a new material in mind, you might want to price it similar to mithral.

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Sylvaroth said:

Light Bones

It actually was designed to be their standard weakness but unless inevitable (concearning LA) I don't think double damage would be sensible. The Aerlhún may have light bones (hollow the way a sponge is hollow), but they are not actually THAT fragile.

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