Zora (4e Race)

Zora

The Zora are a proud race, cutting easily through the water

Racial Traits

Average Height: 6' 0"- 6' 4"

Average Weight: 175-200 lbs.

Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares; Swim 6 squares

Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common

Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Acrobatics

Amphibious: You have the aquatic keyword: You can breathe underwater, ignore rough water whilst swimming, and you never need to make an athletics check to swim.

Shark's fury: You gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against bloodied targets.

Natural weapons: The Zora have two sharp fins on their fore-arms that can be used as a weapon to deal 1d6 + Str mod damage, they take up the arm slot, and so cannot be used while wearing something over the arm (Armour is fine). These can be used as a ranged weapon, 1d4 + Dexterity modifier, ranged 10. No action to get them back.

The Zora are a proud people, living in differently sized groups, but mainly a few dozen per group. They love eating fish, and the lesser brained of them could be tempted to give up information for some fish. They have been known to grow thier own food in captivity, but such words are most often rumours.

Play a Zora if you want...

• To be fast yet strong
• To be a member of a great race that is in endangered status
• To be a member of a race that favors the Ranger, Fighter, and Rogue classes.

Physical Qualities

Zora are white in appearance, with black eyes ending in a curved point. Instead of hair, they have a very short, non-prehensile, tentacle-like appendage that protrudes from the back of their head that can be blue, red, green, or even black. They also have sharp fangs, and like all amphibians, have no hair anywhere on their bodies.

Zora are a slender, bipedal, amphibious people that can live on water or land. They are distinguished by the sharp fins on their forearms, their pale skin and dark eyes, and the colored, ornamental appendage on their heads.

Playing a Zora

Zora have a little bit of a grude against humans because of them turning them away when they needed help. They also hate Skum and take every opportunity that they can get to kill them. Otherwise, they're quite happy and enjoy swimming in the sea and catching fish.

Zora Characteristics: Bitter against humans, hateful toward Skum, happy.

Male Names: Resh, Zorak, Ellenor, Felsar, Miku, and Venar

Female Names: Karen, Nelar, Ruto, Weystraf, and Kess.

Zora Adventurers

Three sample zora adventurers are described below.

Zorak is a Zora Rogue, his job was to scout out for the Skum army that would come every so often. The call of adventuring and revenge called when he was taken prisoner. The Skum would whip him, torture him, trying to give him as much pain as possible. One day, a group of adventurers found him deserted on the ground, half-beaten to death. Once back to health, he wanted to exact revenge on the Skum colonel, who did him the most pain.

Weystraf is a Zora Ranger who was the captain of the guard of Strath, their fort. When with her king, on a mission of diplomacy, they were ambushed. She fought valiantly defending her king. Once the battle was over, she brought the king to a human village. After booking their room for the night, she sat over a mug of ale, talking to some elves about the adventure she had protecting the king. Some adventurers overheard her, and wanted to help her. After her quest was done, she wanted to help the adventurers, who were on a quest to get back a holy book that contained the power to create a devastating power, for good or for evil.

Kess is a Zora Rogue. When she was young she was taken from her home and kept in a cage. When they had their back turned she cut her way free and escaped. When the skum attacked again, she took that as an opportunity to take over and destroy their base, waiting for their return with a small army to cut them down. During the battle she faked her own death, only to awake many hours later. She ran away from her homeland, always looking for somewhere new, somewhere where she could be a part of the land again, somewhere where her skills can be put to the test.

History

The Zora used to be an ancient race who dominated the seas. But ever since the uniting of the Skum lords, the Zora empire fell. When they tried to get help from the governor of Calladir, the governor refused, and wasted his days counting his gold that he collected from his oppressing taxes. They moved away. Many of them dying in the quest for a more merciful place. Finding some villages along the way, the Zora would stop to offer what services they could. Appalled, the people would turn them away. Just as they were getting to the last 50, they found a place where they could reside. Strath, they called it. It had fertile soil, fruit trees, and fresh water. They made it into a fort, being that it was by the sea where the Skum could appear out of nowhere. Many a bloody battle was fought there. Zora and Skum would both die, because the Skum would always manage to get through their wall. The Skum would send their magic users to blow the wall down, leaving free access for their lesser pawns to weaken the Zora, then send in the Skum elites. The Zora survived by their poison and ferocity. Even the elites died by Zora poison. But even with their poison, they couldn’t hold out much longer. Help has come to help the Zora.

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