Thri-Kreen

From the diverse and warring tribes in the Great Plains of Tak-tha formed the Thri-Kreen Nation. A tall, insectoid race of proud warriors and skilled workers making the south of Gaelach Talamh their home, spread throughout the plains and the surrounding landscape. Throughout Edrador they are known as fierce and protective of their lands, making the Thri-Kreen an isolated and independant race.

Physical Description
Almost towering over most races, Thri-Kreen are a people almost alien in appearance to others. They are humanoid mantids, possessing six limbs in total. Two limbs are used for locomotion, while the other pairs function as arms, one set being dominant. Due to their unique phisiology, Thri-Kreen are exceedingly powerful despite their thin, almost brittle-looking forms. Chiten protects their body, usually being golden-brown in coloration. Their eyes are notable for their size and complexity, an inner sphere acting as the axtual sight receptors covered by a translucent black shell, the eyes actually being a compound system of light receptors and motion detectors.

While there is little variation between Thri-Kreen, the hue of their chitin can differ, and depending on the position the Kreen was born into, so can their color. J'ez Thri-Kreen, also called Noble Kreen have shiny black chitin, and are slightly smaller than their more common brethren. Their coloration marks them as part of the leading caste within the clutch.

Males and females are, outwardly, identical to one-another, only producing different pheremones and having differing reproductive organs. This can lead to some confusion from outside races conversing with Thri-Kreen.

While short-lived compared to many other races, Thri-Kreen do not sleep, allowing them to spend every moment of their lifespans being productive, and experiencing the world. Combined with how quickly they mature, Kreen are considered to be wise beyond their years by many outsiders.

Society
Many of the other races mistakingly refer to Thri-Kreen as having a sort of hive mentality. While it is true that they have an innate link with others in their clutch, Thri-Kreen do not opperate via hive mind. There are several layers to Kreen society which are poorly understood by outsiders.

The Clutch is the smallest grouping of Thri-Kreen, and can indluce a birth clutch, or any other group the individual may become bonded to. The Clutch is a group of linked idividuals, who typically work closely together to accomplish tasks within the Nation. A Thri-Kreen tends to have two clutches, a birth-clutch, and one formed later in life, taking new clutchmates and forming new bonds.

This clutch mentallity leads to Thri-Kreen who form bonds with other races often being viewd with suspision, as within the clutch, little value is given to personal possessions, and such things are shared freely. To a Thri-Kreen money is less interesting than something edible or useful, so it's not uncommon for a Kreen to simply give what c urrency they have to their non-Kreen clutchmates, a practice that often baffles other races.

Beyond the clutch is the Pack, a group of clutches working toward the same goal. Packs are intricate, in that each clutch within the pack has members also belonging to other clutches in the pack, creating a tapestry to relations between the clutches, and binding them together for whatever purpose they were formed to execute.

The greatest of the Thri-Kreen groupings is the Nation, a relativly new concept within Thri-Kreen society. The Nation is the result of members from each of the splintered packs forming a group called the Highest Clutch, a clutch considered leaders of the Kreen as a whole, and dictating Thri-Kreen policy, affairs, and managing their lands. Without any central cities, and in fact being a nomadic people who tend to make above-ground warrens and temporary structures rather than settle permanently, the Highest Clutch convenes wherever they might meet, and from them come down decisions shaping the whole of the Thri-Kreen Nation.

While they are fiercly protective of their lands and their people, Thri-Kreen have recently opened up trade with outside races. typically in textiles and garments. Drik-ka’s Clutch is responsible for bringing the Kreen to the outside world, looking to trade and build relations. They have since become world-renowned for their masterful craftsmanship and the swiftness of their work.

The Thri-Kreen do not have an organized military, as every individual within the Nation is expected to be trained and fit for combat. Having an entire race of warriors, all with an intricate tapestry of inter-personal relations and an innate drive to fight and conquer has lead them to going virtually unchallenged in their claims to their lands. Combined with their willingness to do whatever it takes, and their use of spirit binding via Kathik’ta’s Clutch to create objects of great power which are held as sacred to the Thri-Kreen, it makes them a force to be feared, and avoided.

Beliefs
Thri-Kreen are, for the most part, animist. They believe that all things have a spirit, some etherial form that is to be respected. This is one reason they so fervently defend their lands, as the plains themselves have a will, and part of that will are the Thri-Kreen themselves. Their reverence for all things, living or not, could be said to conflict with their agressive and war-like nature, but the way the Kreen rationalize their actions doesn't present such a problem.

Their belief in utility over greed is also clear in that they freely share their belongings with clutchmates, having no real attchment to physical objects beyond their immediate usefulness. Some would call the Thri-Kreen generous, but in their minds they're only doing what is logical. It is better for the group if no one Kreen has more than any other.

Supersitions are common amongst Thri-Kreen, such beliefs include the the idea that if an egg is laid where a Kreen fell, that their spirit will inhabit the body of the newborn, that the lack of a racial memory in other species is due to a failing in their culture and that they too could be reunited with their people if they only tried, that animals and races with fur are removed from the spirit of Edrador, and are inherently inferior, and that staying in one place for longer than three nights is inviting bad fortune.

Racial Traits
+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: The Thri-Kreen are a powerful race with a long and storied spiritual history, but their monstrous appearance and crass attitude can freighten others.

Monstrous Humanoid: Thri-Kreen are Monstrous Humanoids with the Insectoid subtype.

Medium Size: Thri-Kreen do not receive bonuses or penalties due to size.

Fast Speed: Thri-Kreen have a base speed of 40 feet.

Dark Vision: Thri-Kreen can see up to 60 feet in conditions with no or dim light.

Natural Armor: Thri-Kreen receive a +1 natural armor bonus to their AC

Secondary Limbs: Thri-Kreen have a pair of secondary arms under their dominant arms that can be used to grasp and carry objects. They can not wield weapons with these limbs, but they can retrieve small, stowed objects carried on their person as a swift action.

Survivalism: Thri-Kreen gain a +2 racial bonus on Survival skill checks.

Torpor: Thri-Kreen are immune to both magical and non-magical sleep effects, but must still rest for the purposes of regaining spells.

Languages: Thri-Kreen begin play speaking only Kreen. Thri-Kreen with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Common, Draconic, Trollish, Infernal

Favored Classes
Thri-Kreen are warriors, first and foremost. They use martial skill to overpower their enemies, defeating them in contests pitting power against power. This direct approach to combat influences what a Kreen is likely to choose as a class.

Thri-Kreen have the following options when selecting favored classes:

Barbarian
Add +1 to the Thri-Kreen's total number of rage rounds per day

Monk
Add +1/4 point to the Thri-Kreen's Ki Pool

Ranger
Add +1 hit point to the Thri-Kreen's animal companion

Inquisitor
Select one Judgment, add +1/5 to the bonus provided by that Judgment to a maximum of +1 for any single Judgment

Soulknife
The Thri-Kreen gains +1/6 of a new Blade Skill