Ortroxxal (5e Race)

Ortroxxal

“	They came from the sea first and greeted us... scared my great-great-grandfather half to death.	”
—Rezzmarran Hendelri, elevn settler

Physical Description

By Yanied

Ortroxxals are amphibious humanoids with wide heads that are their most prominent feature.They have wide, flattened disks like that of a stingray that widen out in flaps from the sides of their head. Underneath are their gills. The rest of an ortroxxal's body is fairly humanoid, with fins and webbing on their hands and feet. They have a long, thin tail that sticks out between their legs, and a slippery skin, like that of a fish, that covers their body. Ortroxxals have coloring schemes similar to that of a shark, with dark colors ranging from blue to black for one side of their body which faces the water surface, and white undersides. The eyes of an ortroxxal are usually red or orange, and they have sharp teeth.

There are two main ortroxxal types: hammerhead and swiftray. Hammerheads have turbine-like growths on the edge of their heads that can shoot super-charged projectiles made of water. Swiftrays have a more pointed head and lack these turbines, but their bodies are extremely streamlined by angular builds in comparison. Both ortroxxals grow fins between their legs in the front, which are considered decent coverings for them on land. Many of them prefer to not wear clothing and will wear scant jewelry at most.

History

The ortroxxal claim heritage from the watery domain of the Plane of Water, same as the triton. However, they came from the areas of the plane where the triton commonly regarded as wild and uncivilized, putting them at starkly different positions. Ortroxxals are closely resembling sharks, rays, and that family of animals, compared to the more human-looking triton. As such, people often believe ortroxxals to be some sort of cousin or proto-triton, a designation they abhor. Ortroxxals claim ancestry from a species of animal that has since gone extinct, having all evolved into ortroxxal. These mysterious ancestors are believed to also be cousins to the kraken. Following the escape of several creatures like sahuagin into the Material Realm, the ortroxxal followed this migration before the triton did.

Society

Having lived apart from triton, ortroxxals continue to keep their distance from the self-important protectors of the sea. Ortroxxals reside in watery caves that they sometimes construct out of the carcasses of whales and sunken ships. They prefer this deep-water living to coastal caves, which are too easily breached by land dwellers. Unlike triton with their glittering underwater cities, ortroxxals live in a sort of natural anarchy. As many as fifty of them may inhabit a single area, and they will aggressively protect this as their territory. However, outside of recognizing each other as the same race, they do not engage in any overtly communal behavior. Ortroxxals too weak to hunt are viable to be devoured so that the others may flourish. As one can guess, the weak are not welcome in ortroxxal communities. To ortroxxals, the act of taking care of the elderly and the handicapped is unnecessary coddling that inhibits their collective survival.

Many ortroxxal remain within the depths of their original home in the Material Realm. Some do venture upwards, but they are individuals with their own desire, not representative of the race as a whole. Hammerhead ortroxxals tend to seek greater challenges in life, so some will seek strong opponents above the waters. Swiftrays are more keen on exploration and tend to be curious about things more than hammerheads. In general, the appearance of an ortroxxal can be an initial cause for alarm among people who are not familiar with waterborn humanoids. Also, due to the reclusive nature of most ortroxxals, individual adventurers are often subjects of scrutiny and discrimination outside their watery realm.

Ortroxxal Names

Ortroxxals are fluent in the Aquan variety of the Primordial language. Their names are similar to tritons that way. However, there are less rules in terms of suffixes, so males do not need to end with an -s and females do not need to end with -yn. The lack of structure diminishes the melodic tones typical of triton names, making it harsher and more wild-sounding. Ortroxxals also do not have surnames by convention, but they can be added if one desires to later in their life.

Male: Throden Mirik Darastrix, Sanathas, Oregrynyes, Praashath Renix

Female: Keiras Lixen, Sodaeria, Yanatharyn, Eskieare

Ortroxxal Traits

Elasmobronchial humanoids
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. For the most part, ortroxxals live to be about 150 years of age. They typically put health as a high priority and focus on health to elongate their lives.
Alignment. Most ortroxxals think about their own benefit above that of others, making them fairly neutral.
Size. The build of ortroxxals is taller and thinner on average than humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You also have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Amphibious. You can breathe both air and water.
Waterborne. You take no penalties to vision underwater and you are resistant against cold damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial (Aquan).
Subrace. Choose either the hammerhead or swiftray subrace.

Hammerhead

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Turbine Blast. As an action, you can make a ranged weapon attack using your turbines, blasting a globule of water at a creature within 120 feet of you. If this hits, the target takes 1d10 bludgeoning damage. This trait's damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).
Shark Strength. Hammerhead ortroxxals are known to be more muscular than their swiftray cousins. You are proficient in the Athletics skill.

Swiftray

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1. As normal, you cannot increase an ability score over 20 with this trait.
Streamlined Build. You have a base walking speed and swimming speed of 35 instead of 30.
Dexterous Body. Your body is built around agility and reflex. You are proficient in one Dexterity based skill of your choice.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 4''	+2d8	180 lb.	× (1d8) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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