Darfellan

The Darfellan are the most prolific race of the great Ochine, and their wandering bands can be found from one coast to the other. It is not certain if their race is descended from actual orcas, or the descendants of were-whales, but they share much in common with them.

As the deep ocean is the closest that the remnants of Oorsa have to home, aquatic abberations are prone to rise up in the night to feast, mutilate and perform uncomprehending acts upon those that are not wary. As such, much of whale, and subsequently darfellan, history consists of war against the unnatural intrusion.

Personality
Darfellans appear to other races as brooding if in a foul mood, or serene when not. They are a noble people, with great patience and depth of thought, though with a hint of tragedy to them. To many they are simply aloof, and to a degree this is true, but they have a passionate side to them that is usually only seen when they battle or perform. They have a love of song that rival even normal humans, though these tend to be more melodic than lyrical, though no less complex and with great feeling and emotion.

Physical Appearance


A typical darfellan has a hulking, muscular build with a broad back, powerful arms, and a wide neck and head. The women have great wide hips and are voluptuous by even Empirical standards due to the extra subcutaneous fat that protects them from the cold waters. Their mouths are also very large, with the majority having gleaming white teeth that come to a slight point. Rarely one will be born with baleen, a throwback to a distant plankton-feeding ancestor. These tend to be the most beautiful singers of the darfellan and are much larger.

A darfellan stands not much over 6 feet tall and weighs nearly 200 pounds, though baleen darfellan are closer to 7 feet and all are over 300 lbs.

A darfellan's most striking feature is his or her jet-black skin, glossy and hairless, broken by varied white markings. The size, shape, and location of the white areas distinguish family groups and quickly identify an individual's heritage to other darfellans and those who know how to read darfellan markings. Occasionally individuals are born who are entirely black or, much more rarely, wholly white. Such births are always seen as portentous, and the children are destined to hold positions of importance among the people -- whether they are so inclined or not. The appearance of an entirely white darfellan is taken as a sign of great events, and the people's history is filled with stories of the upheavals that followed such births.

Relations
Tribes of darfellans like to keep themselves hidden, but sometimes a darfellan community will develop a trading or mutual defense relationship with nearby maenid, coastal humans, or aquatic shifters. But such relationships rarely blossom into outright friendship because of secrecy on the darfellans' part; they tend to be businesslike arrangements where the two races remain at arm's length.

They do frequent trading with inner human towns as well, and even some hundreds of miles inland, following the rivers as well as they are able. The Bazaar, in particular, are on good terms with a number of Darfellan communities.

Alignment
Darfellans vary as much as their human cousins, though tend toward neutral alignments. Many younger darfellans have an affinity for chaotic alignments because they've never lived in an ordered society.

Darfellan Lands
Darfellans consider the entirety of the coasts and the Ochine itself to be their land, though have little sense of ownership. Many have a roaming society, never staying in one place, while others form communities in underwater caves with a source of air or take up residence on remote islands.

Religion
The religion of the Darfellan is where their alieness comes full force, and is almost incomprehensible by humans. Known as the Whale Dream, it is a mixture of cetacean instincts and longings combined with complex metaphysical concepts and astrology. It is inborn to their psyche and cross all darfellan boundaries, with clans separated by half the world and thousands of years holding the same belief. Part of this belief seems to be concerned with ultimately leaving the planet, both body and mind, or body converted to mind; this last bit is difficult to interpret by even the most skilled non-darfellan sages. It is both a cause for serenity and a source of alarm. They seem to be all striving for something that they can only express through their heartful, wordless songs and is ever present in their minds.

A darfellan by the name of Karribi!dingi is said to be a prophet of their philosophies, with pure white hide aside from a single dot within the middle of his head. Almost none have ever met him, for it is said he prefers to live as a beast far out to sea, only returning to spread his relevations or pursue some urgent task. He does not turn away those that find him, and will tell what he knows, but for even Darfellans his responses are difficult to grasp.

Language
The Darfellan language has many compound and multisyllabic words, so it can take a long time to say something. A mix of aggressive consonants, long vowels, and clicks gives the Darfellan tongue an animated, heavily enunciated quality. Very few non-darfellans can repeat this language for some words take longer to say than one without their lung capacity can produ

Character Names
Akilu, Ekitilooit, Fee'itii!, Keitilili, Likiki!ta, Ootiliktik, Shooki!alui, Silooti!oo, Weililkoo.

Darfellan Traits

 * +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity: Darfellans have a powerful physique but are somewhat clumsy, especially out of the water.
 * A darfellan's base land speed is 20 feet; darfellan webbed feet are more suited for moving through water than on land.
 * A darfellan's base swim speed is 40 feet. A darfellan has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. A darfellan can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. A darfellan can use the run action while swimming, provided he swims in a straight line.
 * Hold Breath (Ex): A darfellan can hold his breath for a number of rounds equal to 8 x his Constitution score before he risks drowning. For a typical darfellan, this is 96 rounds, or almost 10 minutes.
 * Natural Attack: A darfellan has a natural bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. If fighting without a weapon, a darfellan uses his bite as a primary attack, adding 1-1/2 times his Strength bonus to damage. If armed with a weapon, he can use his bite or weapon, as he chooses. When making a full attack, a darfellan normally uses the weapon as his primary attack along with the bite as a natural secondary attack (at -5 attack). If the darfellan gets extra attacks by virtue of a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, he gets them only with his primary attack.
 * Echolocation: In the water, a darfellan can emit a series of whistles, then instinctively pinpoint nearby creatures by hearing the echo. Darfellans have blindsense out to 20 feet, but the blindsense doesn't extend beyond the water.
 * Racial Hatred: A darfellan normally exudes a brooding calm, but the mere presence of an aberration is enough to send the darfellan into a blood-mad fury. Darfellans gain a +2 racial bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls when fighting aberrations with the aquatic subtype.
 * Automatic Languages: Darfellan. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Common.
 * Favored Class: Barbarian.