Hevier (3.5e Race)

Hevier
Hevier are undeniably human, but though they seem natural on the outside, something feels off when you meet one. For Summary::Hevier are humans who have been touched by undeath, and where positive energy fuels man, negative energy fuel the Hevier. Was it by natural evolution, or some manner of magical tampering, the origin of this human subrace has been lost to the ages, or perhaps hidden purposefully.

Personality
For creatures which are powered by the warped energy of the negative plane, one would think such beings to be grim and vile, unfriendly and unthinking. Yet one could hardly tell a hevier from a human, personality wise. While many of their ranks do fall into a grim stereotype, those found outside of their home nation of Ghremlond are often as varied and perhaps even more quirky than humans. This may be in part due to cultural beliefs, which encourage their people to experience all manner of things. Such beliefs inevitably drive a stready stream of their kind into the ranks of adventuring, a dangerous gambit given their unique healing requirements, requirements which are not always readily apparent and often cause for suspicion. The suspicion around their kind leads experienced hevier to be slow to trust and open themselves up to the positively aligned world.

Physical Description
The average hevier is nearly identical to a human in build and appearance, but hair is nearly almost always black, gray, or white, eyes muted color or rarely bright red or pink, and skin unusually pale. They tend towards gaunt builds with thin stretched skin and lanky bodies. Long hair is common in both male and females, and their voices have a slight whispering rasp.

Relations
Heviers are not an evil race, but their allowance, nay even celebration of both death and undeath and their biological alignment to negative energy makes many see them in poor light, as half-undead monstrocities. Because of this, hevier civilization works on the defensive and tries to keep to itself on a whole, but this only further lets rumor run rampent as to what they are doing or planning. It is ironic, and perhaps a bit hypocritical, that one of the main tenents of Ghremlondian government is that information beyond all other things must be free, and that knowledge does not have a price. For those which can get over their creepy nature, they can find a land of intellectuals and philosophers, and those seeking to live life to its fullest.

Alignment
Hevier themselves come in any alignment, as varied as any human, but the homeland nation of Ghremlond is solidly lawful neutral in its dealings. Information is free, but other laws are taken seriously, especially concerning laws about the treatment and regulation of the living, the dead, and the undead which populate the land.

Lands
The nation of Ghremlond came to be by matter of accident. After a major war which left the surrounding land devestated, the as yet then scattered hevier gathered here as exiles, criminals, and other outcasts, until their masses grew to the point where they found themselves building a nation on a land no one wanted. Through their heavy efforts in terraforming, the land has begun to recover, reclaiming its riches, and re-attract the attention of those who would have it. However, the land now stands strong, for the hevier do not shy away from undeath. They see it as both a natural part of life, a matter of pragmatism, and in some cases, a blessing. They keep a standing army of both living and undead, and with warriors who never sleep, eat, or complain, they have formed a potent defense against intrusion, at the cost of making enemies with those would would smite undeath from the world.

Religion
The hevier are unique in their beliefs on the afterlife. While they do not deny there is an afterlife, they believe the soul ultimately belongs in the material plane, not the outer planes. Often when a hevier dies, they will eventually become an aethra, and continue to persist in the world a while longer, until the day they join the planet and become part of a growing, unliving god on earth. Those who die with great honor are sometimes artifically given a second life in the form of a sarg, if they do not ascend as aethras of themselves. It is this belief of an unliving material god which frightens outsiders the most, for the hevier believe that all their experiences in life are saved, joined with the experiences of others, and pooled deep below the earth where a physical, material god, an undead god at that, will rise immortal and ascend to diefic status. With disturbing temples and effigy built for yet unknown purposes, but rumored to be trying to feed and hasten the birth of their unliving god, it has given many much to worry about.

Regardless if their belief in an unliving god is true or not, one thing is certain. The underground of Ghremlond is populated with a thousand nameless spirits which form a massive "wall" of souls called the Spiritveil. Within it, a cryptic ideal, and empty, paradise awaits, hauntingly beautiful and utterly haunted. Is this the final resting place of all hevier?

Language
Common.

Names
As humans, the hevier gain names as humans are ought to.

Racial Traits

 * Hevier have no adjustment to ability scores. Racial Ability Adjustments::None
 * Type::Humanoid (Subtype::Human): In spite of biological polarity, hevier are undeniably human.
 * Size::Medium: As medium creatures, hevier have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Hevier base land speed is 30 ft.
 * Add +1 to the DC for all saving throws against necromancy spells cast by hevier. Their innate familiarity with these effects make their necromancy more potent.  This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
 * Hevier recieve 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level, since as humans they are versatile and capable.
 * Hevier recieve a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against necromancy and death-effects. At 4 HD, the bonus becomes +4, and at 8 HD the bonus becomes +6.  At 12 HD and above, the hevier becomes immune to death-effects.
 * Disturbing Aura (Ex): The hevier seems unnatural to many creatures, and they take a -2 penalty to all social skill checks (except intimidate) and to wild empathy checks. To undead, they instead gain a +2 racial bonus.
 * Negative Soul (Ex): While most living creatures are harmed by negative energy and healed by positive energy, hevier are instead healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy.  They are not undead however, and cannot be turned as such.  If the hevier takes the Tomb-Tainted Soul feat, it instead becomes Natural-Life Soul, reversing the effects of healing and harming to "normal".
 * Undead Empathy (Ex): Hevier gain a sort of wild empathy which can only be used against undead. They add their hit dice + their charisma modifier as the diplomacy check made against the undead.  They may attempt to use undead empathy on a mindless undead, but at a -4 penalty.  Their disturbing aura applies its bonus to these checks.
 * Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (except secret languages like Druidic).
 * Favored Class: Favored Class::Any
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1