The Mikori
DnD has a bad habit of treating snakes as the bad guy. Whether it's constrictors at level 2, yuan-ti at level 7, or dragons at level 16, serpentine creatures are almost always villains, and that extends to player races. Yuan-ti in Volo's are naturally diabolical, not to mention blatantly overpowered. However, all is not lost. Now, with the Mikori, there is finally a snakey race that doesn't force a player to write half a novel to explain why their character has a shred of empathy. Let us know what you think, and tell us about your Mikori PCs once you make one! Happy constricting.
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Mikori
The mikori are upon first glance a bestial people, with ophidian lower bodies and humanoid features above the waist. Their skin can range in pigments, but often is darkened by exposure to the sun, and they rarely lack in muscle or athleticism. With their long, sinuous bodies they can ensnare opponents up to twice their size, and even a single mikori is an imposing sight darting across the desert sands, spear and shield at the ready.
Predominantly found in deserts and regions which border jungles and forests, mikori society is formed around a noble family and a single city that presides over their territory. Encampments, outposts, and rarely a proper fortress will be constructed as needed to keep their land secure, but all resources are committed to the support, betterment, and defense of the capital. Their capitals are heavily fortified and, when possible, difficult to find. Every mikori is trained in the use of their body for conflict and survival, with wrestling, hunting, scouting, and racing common games amongst youths and young adults to hone these skills. Most learn to use simple weapons, and few do not serve some role which directly or indirectly benefits the defense of the capital city.
Taming the Wilderness
The mikori are stunningly competent agrarians on top of being diligent hunters. Mikori druids are able to coax life out of ritually cared for sands and oases. This process is a complex mixture of druidic magics and practical methods which are closely guarded from outsiders, as the mikori consider control over nature to be the penultimate power a culture can achieve.
To the mind of the mikori, survival is best achieved through control, and what cannot be controlled must either be understood and adapted to, or if necessary, destroyed. This philosophy lets them thrive in inhospitable environs but makes them isolated and skeptical of outsiders, and can lead to unnecessary hostilities.
Serpentine Warfare
The mikori were at one time at home in the same jungles their long time rivals, the yuan-ti, inhabit, but years of open conflict and many more years of tense stalemates have driven them to adapt and learn to thrive in more harsh climates. It came to pass that the mikori realized they could not defeat the yuan-ti with martial prowess alone, so they turned to less conventional means of waging war.
If mikori believe valuable land to be at risk of falling into enemy hands they will do all in their power to deny the boons of the land to their foes - even going so far as to slash and burn trees, salt fields, and slaughter animal populations. The mikori can survive in barren lands and their enemies cannot; if necessary, they will starve out their foes, and their later generations will see to it the land is restored, if possible.
Unhappy Associations
The mikori are, perhaps unsurprisingly, often associated by outsiders with the likes of the yuan-ti and their worship of foul forces. Mikori balk at the association, their peoples having long been at war. Conflict with the yuan-ti has only reinforced the mikori’s concepts of sufficiency and domination of nature. The mikori distrust outsiders that have yet to show prowess or a respect for nature, especially those from cultures entirely foreign to them or have in the past shown a propensity for seeking personal gain before all else.
Mikori Names
Mikori societies are small and centralized and therefore lack the clan or surnames common to other races, but they are numerous enough that redundancy of names can occasionally be problematic. Because mikori orient themselves around a capital city, the government of that city - often monarchical - establishes the cultural norms that determine the heads of families.
Some mikori put males first, others females. Some prioritize the eldest of a bloodline, others the most martially capable or talented. As such, important members of mikori society, especially the heads of prominent families, heroes, famous artisans, and the city’s leadership, take on honorific titles unique to each mikori. These titles are self-ascribed, usually in reference to reputation, station, or achievement. It is considered an insult to omit one’s title when addressing them in public, and it is greatly shameful to self-ascribe a title without cause.
Male Names: G’rril, Issik, Ivvik, Lihdskha, Liv’vyk, Nahs’k, Phael’ik, Rilk, Shiz’zkha, S’sulk, Vid’rhsk, Yiln’ok
Female Names: Ee’ssik, Eevvyk, G’rreel, Hahmee, Heela, Leehdshka, Leev’vyk, Ohmleesh, Reelk, Syeek, Veel, Yeel’ak
Mikori Traits
Your mikori character has the following traits:
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 2 and your Strength increases by 1.
Age. Mikori reach adulthood at the same rate as humans and can live up to 400 years, though most perish before they reach 100 due to their warrior culture and hazardous living.
Alignment. Lawful Neutral.
Size. Mikori have long, muscular tails instead of legs which coil beneath them for support. Their proportions above the waist are similar to that of a human. Mikori are usually between 5’6” and 7’0” when standing upright. Their full body length is rarely longer than 15’. Your size is Medium.
Speed. You have a base walking speed of 30ft.
Serpentine Body. You can forego one of your attacks on your turn to restrain a creature that you are grappling. Make a grapple check against a creature you are grappling. On a success, the creature is restrained until the grapple ends. Your speed becomes zero and you cannot benefit from any bonuses while you have a target restrained in this way.
Constrict. As a bonus action, you can deal 1d4 + your Strength modifider bludgeoning damage to a target restrained by your Serpentine Body feature.
Desert Survivor. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills; Athletics, Perception, or Survival.
Slither. You are unaffected by difficult terrain caused by sand, loose earth, loose rock, and water.
Languages. You speak, read, and write Common and Mikori. Mikori is characterized by hissing sounds wherein meaning is partly determined by pitch and volume.