Leonin

The Leonin guard the Bastion Kingdom of Tau, a city sitting on the point where all four elemental planes meet and a place where even the gods rarely trespass. Prides of these lion-like humanoids rarely interact with other peoples, having all they need in their shimmering homeland and knowing the treachery of strangers. Still, many Leonin wonder what lies beyond Tau’s ever shifting borders and seek to test themselves in a wider world.

Leonin mechanics

Leonin extra trait:

• Elemental Resistance. As part of their rigorous training in Drahak the Leonin specialize in combatting one of the four elements, and have resistance against damage done by that element.
• Age: Leonin mature when they reach around 20 years old, and can live to be up to 200 years old.

Leonin Culture

The origins of Leonin are a mystery to most - one they keep to themselves more often than not: At the point where the four elemental planes meet, in the ever shifting meadows and oasis of Drahak we find the gilded city of Tau. A kingdom unlike any in the Prime Material plane, this bastion has withstood the test of time and elements for more than a millennium and during that time it has bred some of the fiercest mortal warriors to have ever lived.

Central to the Leonin culture are two values:
1. The Pride above all.
2. Honor over life.

The Pride & Honor

A Leonin's Pride is a central pillar to Leonin culture. The pride is not simply ones blood relatives; it is any group the Leonin is a part of; their family, their hunting pack, their kingdom. Their pride is their honor, and one shall honor the pride before one honors oneself.

Honor to a Leonin comes two fold: To better their pride according to their shared values (which may shift from pride to pride), and honing of one's abilities. These two go hand in hand, for one betters their pride when one hones their abilities, and one can hone their abilities when one betters their pride.

A Leonin will always be part of at least one Pride: Tau. Even when one is away from Drahak, one still seeks to better oneself in honor of Tau. To speak ill of Tau is to dishonor oneself. To allow harm to come to Tau is to dishonor the kingdom. To die protecting Tau is the highest honor one can achieve, the second highest being to die for any other pride.

To die in battle is to die with honor. As such, most Leonin will never reach more than 120 years old, so as to die when they are still fully capable. While exceptions are made culturally for a handful, to die of old age is often regarded as cowardly.

The Call

Despite their love for Tau, most (if not all) Leonin feel The Call. To wander the planes, to learn, to grow, to hunt. For some this call is so strong that once they leave Drahak they never return, for others the call is weaker and they will find their way back in a manner of years or decades.

The Material Plane

The Prime Material is to most Leonin the perfect place to wander. Relatively safe, compared to their home, and filled with curious mortals. Some Leonin of generations past found themselves called to the wars on the Material plane, going as far back as the War of Heaven and before, though others prefer to wander with the animals, or find solitude elsewhere.

Planar Travel

Extra Planner travel does not come naturally to Leonin, though part of their extensive training engages with finding where the very fabric of spacetime and reality sometimes allows for the shifting between planes. From Tau they are guided to their chosen plane of wander, but to return they must find their own way back.