The Reasonable Folk

The Reasonable Folk
The Reasonable Folk - sing. 'Reason' - are created by Servants, composite beings fully mature at the moment of their birth.

Description
A Reason's default state is somewhat amorphous, though not incorporeal. They resemble wraiths, humanoid and slightly translucent. As composite beings, The Reasonable Folk will often have affinities for the forms of several humanoids (and, rarely, non-humanoids), and often bear close resemblence to the most vital of their past lives, or a group thereof.

The translucence and size of a Reason is indicative of its youth and strength- weak or young Reasons are slight and ghostlike, with blurry features. Old and powerful lords of The Reasonable Folk are well-defined and powerfully built, appearing composed and commanding.

With training and will, The Reasonable Folk can alter their own appearance.

Abilities
The Reasonable Folk are fast, capible fighters who prefer a mixture of swordplay and sorcery rather than reliance upon one alone. They possess a measure of innate transmutative power, and become quickly adept at its practice, which they use in complex and potent rituals to forge swords of indisputable quality and (often) arcane power.

The magical arts of The Reasonable Folk are instinctive and powerful; they retain a connection to the divine font of power which gave them birth in another life, and so they disdain conjuring and binding lesser forces.

Though the strength of the innate powers of The Reasonable Folk vary wildly from one to another (due to the uncertain nature of metamorphosis), a Reason need not be content with a poor lot in life. Using a unique binding, a Reason may absorb one of the Servants, adding to its own power and mind at the cost of diluting its personality. Success at this requires purity of will and careful work; a miscalculated binding can instead cause the Servant to absorb the Reason, a terrible and lengthy embarassment.

Society
The society of The Reasonable Folk is strict and meritocratic- all citizens are considered adjuncts of The Knights of the Silent World, and are expected to bear a sword decorated with their insignia of rank and marks of distinction. The master scholars, sensei, magi, smiths and philosophers of the City of Peace Abiding determine each of their student's ranks in each of their disciplines, and skilled Reasons are not long for official promotion.

Given time, however, few people of any race are talented at all things. Eventually, elder Reasons find the limits of their talents, and reach the apex of their rank. Thus, the highest among the citizenry play elaborate games to garner unofficial power and support. This politicking seeps down throughout the City of Peace Abiding, and many young Reasons (or old Reasons, tired of the city) move into the vast mountain ranges and forests of the continent, some even choosing to dwell on the shores of the Starlit Sea.

Many young Reasons, wanting nothing to do with politics and having past lives still fresh in their minds, desire to leave the continent entirely. Some few even possess almost all the memories and personality of a newly-departed member of another race, and desire to return to their friends and loved ones. With a few exceptions, they all meet with failure.

The Reasonable Folk are forbidden by The Placid Lord from living- or even remaining long- in any place where they are not invited. Only with potent magic or the aid of a willing human trader will a young Reason manage to leave the continent and return to the world beyond, and the elder politicos of the Council of Custodians strongly discourage mages and ship captains alike from taking Reasonable refugees. Those who try to leave anyway soon find themselves hunted by The Knights of the Silent World.

It is this forbidding which gives the people their name- when refused an invitation to a ship, home or country, they offer the ritual reply of 'That is only reasonable.'

History
The Reasonable Folk have their genesis centuries after the first Servants arose from the Starlit Sea; the first metamorphoses were met personally by The Placid Lord, and taken to The City of Peace Abiding. These first Reasons were also the Commendatores of The Knights of the Silent World, accomplished and powerful lords among their brothers.

Society within The City of Peace Abiding developed according to the Canons of the Placid Lord, which defined the role of The Reasonable Folk as gaurantors of the safety and happiness of the free peoples of the world. The entire race developed according to a military heirarchy, with all citizens expected to train themselves as smiths, swordsmen, scholars and magi in readiness for the day The Placid Lord would send the race into the world as an order of knights errant, come to create a perfected world.

So waited The Reasonable Folk... for centuries.

As time went on, dedication to the Canon of the Placid Lord became less and less absolute. Fervor and expectation turned to impatience, then to exasperation, then boredom. The eldest of The Reasonable Folk, having spent centuries perfecting their arts, found themselves unable to travel to the kingdoms they dreamed of heroism in, bound by the Regent's decree to never depart for another land without the permission of those abiding there. The elite of The Reasonable Folk turned inward, and a great game of pointless politicking and elitism grew like mold over the peace of the ancient city.

As the political games overtook the city, the leaders of the race began to see themselves less as officers of some divine order and more as oligarchs- and over time, they grew more and more bold in defiance of the rules the Regent had set upon them. Finally, some of the strongest of the young Reasons sought to break the stagnation forcibly- by creating a weapon to usurp The Placid Lord.

As the Second Age drew to a close, a cabal secretly assembled by the newly-formed Council of Custodians reached the lonely isle of The Wishing Star by stealth and called the Magma Kraken from the depths of the earth. Before the agents could use the Star to command the Kraken, a Commendatore dispatched from The Shrine of Reflection arrived and assaulted the agents, killing most of them and sending the rest into disorganized flight. The cabal sought either to reach the Star anew or harvest one of the Kraken's primary limbs for forging, but met with no success. Reluctantly, the cabal disbanded, and peace returned to the city for the rest of the Age.

As the Third Age rose, the constant trickle of new Reasons slowed to a crawl. The alarmed lords of the Council of Custodians studied the movements of the Servants for several years, and came to the unpleasant conclusion that the slowing was not a passing thing. As the many races of the world grew more savvy and sophisticated in the ways of magic, their interactions with the Servants had lessened and the bindings they forced the Servants into had become less lucrative.

Seeking for a solution, individual members of the Council of Custodians spun elaborate schemes to increase the prospects of the Servants among the other races, sending agents, spells and plots into the cities of other races to encourage various Bindings, arranging effective deals in secret and attempting to influence the priests of the other gods into encouraging the practice.

The efforts of the Custodians met with some success, counteracting the decline in the frequency of metamorphosis. The success of these plans had another effect too- some of the most powerful of The Reasonable Folk began to wonder if they couldn't increase their prospects even further, to historic highs.

After some years of contemplation, the Council of Custodians decided that the great violence which had been slowly growing amidst the cities of the Trolls and Crag Scholars to the distant south presented an unprecedented chance for expansion. With careful planning and a concerted strike, one of the strongest Reasons on the Council attacked the Commendatore guarding The Wishing Star and pressed him into battle, distracting him while other members of the conspiracy used the Star's power to create the The Gate of Desecration in the fog-shrouded swamps to the north of the Trollish lands, then took themselves and a number of bound Servants away there.

Though The Knights of the Silent World sought to persue the fled cabal, they found themselves confounded by the power of The Wishing Star- since it had been invoked to send the traitors to their new home, the authority of The Placid Lord stood overruled.

Meanwhile, the cabal successfully created alliances with both sides of the Trollish divide, stoking the fires of war and providing weapons of incredible potency and magical aid. Insinuating their Bindings into the war, they began to capture thousands of souls entire every year, swelling their ranks in unprecedented numbers.

The cabal suffered a minor setback during The Demon Ritual, when a trollish acolyte unleashed the fury and madness of the Elder Servant Etymidion. The berserking spirit caused considerable devestation, but began hunting the traitorous Reasonable Folk, forcing them to limit their aid to the Crag Scholars and re-evaluate their plan to relocate the secret masters of the traitor to the swamps.

Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength:

Native Outsider: The Reasonable Folk are outsiders with the native subtype.

Medium: Reasonable Folk do not receive bonuses or penalties due to size.

Normal Speed: Reasonable Folk have a base speed of 30 feet.

Dark Vision: The Reasonable Folk can see up to 60 feet in conditions with no or dim light.

Lesser Change Shape: Reasonable Folk gain the following supernatural ability: A member of this race can assume the appearance of a single form of a single humanoid race of its size. The form is static, and cannot be changed each time it takes this form. The Reasonable folk gains a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks made to appear as the member of the race whose appearance it assumes. Changing its shape is a standar action. This trait otherwise functions as Alter Self, save that the creature does not adjust its ability scores.

Cold Energy Resistance: Reasonable Folk gain 5 resistance to Cold.

Iron Will: Reasonable Folk begin play with the Iron Will feat.

Weapon Familiarity: Reasonable Folk treat Scimatars and any weapon with the word "Reasonable" in it as a weapon they are proficient in.

Languages: Reasonable Folk begin play speaking Common and Reasonable Tongue. Reasons with high Int scores can choose from the following: Elven, Orcish, Yiffish, Kreen, Celestial, Draconic, Aquan.

Favored Classes
Magus - The Magus gains 1/6 of a new Magus Arcana

Wizard - Add one spell from the Wizard's spell list to the character's spell book. This spell must be at least one level lower than the highest spell level the character can cast.

Cleric - Add +1 on Caster Level checks made to overcome the spell resistance of outsiders

Summoner - Add +1/4 to the eidolon's evolution pool

Inquisitor - Add one spell known from the Inquisitor spell list. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level the character can cast.

Class Perspectives
Full Article: Classes - The Reasonable Folk

Society
Full Article: The City of Peace Abiding