D&D Tervis Race

A People of the Earth

Where oth­er bird­folk, such as the Aarakocra, build their nests high in the skies, the Ter­vis pre­fer to keep both feet firm­ly on the ground. They live in close-knit, small-scale vil­lages, often at the edge of forests or near farm­land. Of all avian races, the Ter­vis are the most inter­twined with the dai­ly lives of the hum­ble Clip­per islanders.

They have a deep love for nature, and their gar­dens are con­sid­ered sacred. Their care for flo­ra is renowned across the island; no bird­folk pos­sess green­er talons than the Ter­vis. But what tru­ly defines them is their deep-root­ed con­nec­tion to one anoth­er. Com­mu­ni­ty is their high­est val­ue.

They are polite, hon­est, and warm­heart­ed, but any­one who lies or acts crude­ly will quick­ly dis­cov­er that a Tervis’s smile can van­ish in an instant.

Feathers in Every Color

The Ter­vis are as diverse as the island of Clip­per itself. Some resem­ble pheas­ants, oth­ers chick­ens, par­tridges, or even turkeys. Their feath­ers come in every imag­in­able col­or and pat­tern. Even with­in a sin­gle fam­i­ly, great vari­ety can be found.

Though they take pride in their appear­ance, they are not vain. A well-kept crest or pol­ished plumage is seen as a sign of respect for one­self and one’s com­mu­ni­ty, just as a sharp blade shows respect for the craft.

Open Arms and Open Homes

Though most bird­folk on Clip­per are tol­er­ant, the Ter­vis are excep­tion­al­ly hos­pitable. Among them, it is tra­di­tion to offer your seat to a guest, even if it means stand­ing your­self. A beloved children’s tale tells of a Ter­vis feast that grew cold because no one dared to sit, as each time a new­com­er arrived, some­one else stood up.

This open­ness extends to adop­tion: when tragedy leaves a child orphaned, Ter­vis fam­i­lies will read­i­ly ensure the child finds a new home. Every nest, they say, is a nest for many.

Simplicity and Honor

Though some of the more flighty bird­folk look down on the Tervis’s earth­bound lifestyle, the Ter­vis excel in social intu­ition and prac­ti­cal wis­dom. They are not easy prey for manip­u­la­tion, as they can often sense lies with uncan­ny pre­ci­sion.

Their work is sim­ple yet hon­or­able: farm­ing, smithing, and crafts that strength­en com­mu­ni­ty life. What a Ter­vis owns, they will share with­out hes­i­ta­tion in times of need.

Stats

• Abil­i­ty Score Increase: Your Wis­dom score increas­es by 2.
  
  
• Age: While ages fluc­tu­ate, Ter­vis reach matu­ri­ty around 18 and can live any­where between 70 and 100 years.
  
  
• Align­ment: Most Ter­vis are law­ful good. They are a salt-ofthe-earth sort of folk who believe in jus­tice, the val­ue of hard work, and the impor­tance of respect­ing oth­ers
  
  
• Size: Ter­vis are the most var­ied of the bird­folk races, rang­ing from just under 4 feet to just over 5 feet tall, and show­ing many unique builds. The vari­ety of shapes and sizes means they also encom­pass a vari­ety of weights, but most aver­age around 90 pounds. Your size is Medi­um.
  
  
• Speed: Your base walk­ing speed is 30 feet.
  
  
• Glide: Using your feath­ered arms, you can slow your fall, and glide short dis­tances. When falling you can use your reac­tion to spread your arms, stiff­en your wing feath­ers, and slow your descent. While doing so, you con­tin­ue to fall gen­tly at a speed of 60 feet per round, tak­ing no fall dam­age when you land. If you would fall at least 10 feet in this way, you may fly up to your move­ment speed in one direc­tion you choose, although you can­not choose to move upwards, land­ing in the space you fin­ish your move­ment. You can­not glide while car­ry­ing heavy weapons or wield­ing a shield (though you may drop any held items as part of your reac­tion to spread your arms). You can­not glide while wear­ing heavy armor, or if you are encum­bered.
  
  
• Wing Flap: As a bonus action, you can use your pow­er­ful feath­ered arms to pro­pel your­self upward a dis­tance equal to half your move­ment speed. You can use it in con­junc­tion with a reg­u­lar jump, but not while glid­ing.
  
  
• Com­mu­nal: When­ev­er you make an Intel­li­gence (His­to­ry) check relat­ed to the his­to­ry of your race, cul­ture, or com­mu­ni­ty, you are con­sid­ered pro­fi­cient in the His­to­ry skill and add dou­ble your pro­fi­cien­cy bonus to the check, instead of your nor­mal pro­fi­cien­cy bonus.
  
  
• Mili­tia Train­ing: You have pro­fi­cien­cy in sim­ple weapons.
  
  
• Of the Peo­ple: You gain pro­fi­cien­cy with the arti­san tools of your choice: brewer’s sup­plies, carpenter’s tools, or smith’s tools.
  
  
• Lan­guages: Your char­ac­ter can speak, read, and write. Com­mon, bird and one oth­er lan­guage that you want.
  
  
• Sub­race: There are two main sub­races of Ter­vis: bright and huden. Choose one of these sub­races.
  
  
• Bright Ter­vis: As a bright Ter­vis, you are a nat­ur­al leader. Grow­ing up in your close-knit com­mu­ni­ty has taught you how to inspire oth­ers and ral­ly folks to a com­mon cause. This air of com­mand fol­lows you wher­ev­er you roam.
  
  
• Abil­i­ty Score Increase: Your Charis­ma score increas­es by 1.
  
  
• Inspir­ing:By spend­ing an action and giv­ing words of advice or encour­age­ment, you can inspire an ally who is able to see and hear you. The ally can roll a d4 and add the num­ber rolled to their next abil­i­ty check, attack roll, or sav­ing throw.
  
  
• Under­stand­ing: You have pro­fi­cien­cy in the Insight skill.
  
  
• Huden Ter­vis: As a huden Ter­vis, you are of the land. Like the Ama­ran­thine Han­era, you have a unique con­nec­tion to the Great Rhythm of nature, and in return the Rhythm grants you many gifts. This innate bond with nature may alien­ate you from city life, but you will always have a home with­in the more remote parts of the Wood.
  
  
• Abil­i­ty Score Increase: Your Dex­ter­i­ty score increas­es by 1.
  
  
• One With the Wood: You have pro­fi­cien­cy in the Nature skill.
  
  
• Seed­speech: Your con­nec­tion to the Great Rhythm is such that you can speak with the green­ery of the for­est itself. Through speech and touch you can com­mu­ni­cate sim­ple ideas to liv­ing plants. You are able to inter­pret their respons­es in sim­ple lan­guage. Plants in the Wood do not expe­ri­ence the world in terms of sight, but most can feel dif­fer­ences in tem­per­a­ture, describe things that have touched them, as well as hear vibra­tions that hap­pened around them (includ­ing