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Grey Elf
Str:-3 Dex:+3 Con:-3 Int:+3 Wis:+4 Cha:+2 Luc:--
Favoured Classes: Mage, Priest
Experimental: Grey Elves are not a Core Incursion race.
Grey elves are reclusive and frail, physically weak but possessed of incredible mystical and intellectual potency. Not a true ethnicity, they are instead a metamorphosed form of normal elves, having survived for over a millenia and attained true immortality through spiritual kinship to the realm of Faerie. Grey elves are terribly wise creatures, but also filled with grief, for their race's bondage to Maeve strikes them more deeply than any other elves.
Grey Elves are an Elven subrace, and share all Elven traits, except as noted below.
GREY ELVEN RACIAL SKILLS
The Grey Elf racial skill list represents the true depth of their knowledge and the unending centuries they have had to acquire such skills. Their racial skillset includes Animal Empathy, Concentration, Decipher Script, Intuition, Knowledge, Metamagic, Mythlore, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device and Wilderness Lore. In addition, they gain a racial bonus to each of those skills equal to their level as their experience adventuring teaches them how to apply the vast storehouse of facts they hold in their minds.
GREY ELVEN RACIAL TRAITS
* Racial Attributes -- Grey Elves are weaker and frailer than their cousins. In fact, they are weaker than all other human-sized inhabitants of Therya. However, their wisdom and erudition are unparalleled. Grey elves also have an awesome presence and force of personality, much of it coming from their connection to the realm of Faerie.
* Atrophy -- The physical bodies of Grey Elves are in a somewhat active decline even as their mental prowess reaches new heights. The more time they spend contemplating the Faerie realm the less they are actually of this world ... until their bodies are but frail husks. Grey Elves lose a point of Constitution at every even level and a point of Strength at every odd level (starting at 3rd). Starting at 10th level they lose a point of each with every advancement. This loss is an inherent penalty and can only be addressed directly by magical tomes or other truly supernatural powers.
* Magical Nature -- Representing the pinnacle of magical power in an already eldritch race, Grey Elves start with an extra 10 mana points and gain three points for every level they achieve above 1st.
* Racial Weapons -- Grey elves are familiar with the use of the short bow and thinblade in the same sense that most humans are familiar with breathing. Scores of decades of an immortal life spent in the pursuit and study have given them the benefits of Weapon Mastery in these weapons ... even if grey elves would not normally be called warriors. Grey Elves are also merely passingly proficient with all other non-exotic weapons. By the time they are moved to begin adventuring, most grey elves have given up the use of the sword and bow for more magical pursuits, however. In fact, the neglience with which most grey elves treat their marital knowledge often makes them appear arrogant even to other elves. Most grey elves view their martial knowledge through the bitter lense of irony: their razor-sharp minds and reflexes remember the steps, the twists and the turns ... but their frail bodies mean they are easily defeated by younger, unskilled oppponents. If the sword and bow are nothing compared to the wand and spellbook and if they will not save one from Maeve's clutches, what is the point?
* Immortality -- Grey elves are immortal in the sense that they will never be directly conquered by time. Mara and Xel will come with scythe and sickle to cut the cord of life for a grey elf only in cases of extreme bodily trauma. From a human perspective, all grey elves are impossibly old and have had centuries to study. As a result, grey elves begin with three feats representing choice pieces of learning remembered from their earlier training.
* Manifestation -- Compared to their more mundane cousins, Grey Elves constantly manifest a fraction of their race's magical essence. They gain an enhancement bonus of +4 to their Charisma, a +2 awe bonus to Defense versus foes that are neither blind nor mindless. In addition, they can always strike and be struck by incorporeal creatures. Their radiant grandeur prevents them from hiding in the shadows, however.
* Magic Resistance -- Grey Elves have an innate ability to shrug off the magic of others. Like the drow, grey elves do not resist magic so much as simple negate adverse effects. Unlike the drow, however, this defense has more to do with willpower and personal experience and less to do with flat, inborn powers. They have a low 25% natural magic resistance associated with their grey elven physiology and gain a +5% inherent bonus for every character level gained.
* Inner Grief -- Even more maudlin than normal elves, grey elves feel the touch of Maeve in their daily lives and racial destiny. Her aegis seems inescapable, and grey elves, with their seemingly endless time for personal reflection, invariably come to the conclusion that this is not necessarily such a good thing. Still, they are drawn to her by the magic of their very beings. This inner turmoil results in a -1 Morale penalty to saving throws and attack rolls. This penalty increases by -1 at every third level.
* Starting Equipment -- Grey Elves start with a medium backpack, elven waybread, a bow, a thinblade, and torches. They also start with antitoxins because they are notoriously vulnerable to poisons. Starting weapons and armour are assumed to be of Elven make and thus light, fast and less restrictive than the norm. Starting metal items are made of silver (out of homage to Maeve) when possible.