Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting
Quotes from Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting
"Yells and chuckles are common sounds around the home of any rakin (RACK-in) thanks to their shared love language: pranks. From sewer-side burrows to palatial penthouses, wattle-and-daub huts to intricate treetop villages, rakin can be found at all levels of society, a product of their ingeniousness and habit of getting into trouble. One is rarely bored around a rakin.
The mistaken spawn of a passionate tryst between deities of trickery and nature, rakin hold a deep affinity for both domains. Since their creation, they have had little contact with either god, learning to rely on their own wits to survive. Trickery. As rakin society progressed, their culture grew to value trickery and subterfuge. Good-natured pranks sprang from their paws as instinctively as breathing. Honed against the fearsome beasts of the forest, this innate talent to deceive helped the rakin bloom as a civilisation. Tales are still told of how Mack Gyver fought off a rampaging owlboar with nought but a goodberry, a silver needle, and a pig’s bladder. Pranks. Rakin politics, religion, and interpersonal relationships revolve around the idea of practical jokes. An atmosphere of one-up-manship and lighthearted merriment suffuses all of their wheelings and dealings. Even when faced with the most horrid of circumstances, a rakin’s first instinct is to crack a joke.
After centuries of living in chaotic mirth, an ideological battle split rakin culture in two when they first made contact with other humanoids. Many of the rakin were intrigued by cities—forests of stone and steel; organized, yet unpredictable, and full of opportunity. The elders forbade them to interact, alleging such civilization to be directly counter to the chaos that nature intended, the principle upon which rakin culture was built. The debacle spiralled into a full-on feud between the opposing rakin factions, sundering the once united race. The urkin broke with tradition and followed their ambition into the cities, whilst the tanukin remained in their indigenous forests, adhering to their ancestral ways.
Urkin society values cunning, savvy, and— above all—the thrill of the heist. This leaves the urkin with a bit of a nasty reputation, a fact that utterly fails to curb their ambitions. Adaptable and resourceful, urkin excel as confidence tricksters and pickpockets.
Eager to fit in, urkin have adopted the first and last name format of other humanoid races. Typically, an urkin will name themselves, taking the name of a well-known figure and wringing from it the most humorous pun imaginable. Urkin pride themselves on having the cleverest name they know and will go through dozens in their lifetime."
Size. Rakin are between 3 and a half to 4 feet tall. They have light gaits but sturdy frames, weighing between 50 and 90 pounds. Your size is Small.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Deft Climber. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
Streetwise. You gain proficiency in your choice of the Sleight of Hand or Stealth skills. Additionally, you know thieves’ cant.
Nimble Dodge. When you are forced to make a Dexterity saving throw against an effect you can see, you can use your reaction to gain advantage on the saving throw. Success or failure, immediately after the effect occurs, you can move up to your speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Once you use this trait, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.