Githyanki

1. W.P. Sword (+20%)
2. Prowl (+10%)
3. Armour/Weapons Decoration
4. Military ettiquite

Description: Githyanki are an ancient race descended from Elves. Beyond the inner planes (continuing with the spheres) is the Astral plane. Like the Ethereal planes, this plane serves as a connector between the different realities. It links the various Primes to each other (one travels from one Prime to another by crossing the Astral plane, not the Ethereals) and connects each Prime to the outer planes. The Astral plane is a barren place with only rare bits of solid matter. Indeed, the most common feature is the silver cords of travelers in the plane. These cords are the lifelines that keep travelers of the Plane from becoming lost, stretching all the way back to the traveler's point of origin. The Githyanki dwell upon the Astral plane but will often leave that plane to make war on other races. They are engaged in a lengthy war with the githzerai.

Githyanki are strongly humanoid in appearance. They are approximately of Elven height but tend to be much more gaunt and long of limb. They have rough, yellow skin and gleaming black eyes that instantly betray their inhumanness. Like the elven races, their ears have sharp points and are serrated at the back. Dress for the githyanki is always an elaborate affair. Their baroque armor and weapons of war are decorated with feathers, beads, and precious metals and gems.Githyanki speak their own tongue, and no others.

Combat: The githyanki have had long years to perfect the art of war. Their very existence attests to their battle prowess.

Githyanki knights are evil champions who take up the causes of the githyankis' mysterious lich-queen. Githyanki knights are very powerful and highly revered in their society. Githyanki knights have all of the powers and abilities of a paladin except these are turned toward evil (e.g. detect good instead of detect evil, command undead instead of turning undead, etc.).

Githyanki mages, fighter/mages, and illusionists use spells that are by nature destructive—offensive spells.

The githyanki soldiers use arms and armour similar to elves, however these are normally highly decorated and have become almost religious artifacts. A githyanki would likely show greater care for his weapons and armour than he would toward his mate. Half of the githyanki fighters, fighter/mages, or knights that progress to 3rd level receive a magical two-handed sword as a gift from their lich queen. Githyanki fighters of 7th level and above carry an additional magical long sword. Knights of 7th level and above will always carry a silver sword -- a vorpal two-handed sword +3 that, if used astrally, has a 5% chance per hit of cutting an opponent's silver cord (see The Astral Plane), but mind barred individuals are immune. Knights of 10th level and above will carry a special silver sword that is +5 with all the abilities of the lesser silver sword that also affects mind barred individuals.

Githyanki will never willingly allow a silver sword to fall into the hands of a nongithyanki. If a special silver sword should fall into someone's hands, very powerful raiding parties will be formed to recover the sword. Failure to recover one of these highly prized weapons surely means instant death to all the githyanki involved at the hands of their merciless lich-queen.

All githyanki have the natural ability to plane shift at will. They will rarely travel anywhere besides back and forth from the Astral plane to the Prime Material plane.

Habitat/Society: History provides some information on the githyanki -- their race is both ancient and reclusive. Sages believe they once were drow that were captured by mind flayers to serve as slaves and cattle. The mind flayers treated their slaves cruelly and the people harbored a deep resentment toward the illithids. For centuries these drow increased their hatred but could not summon the strength necessary to break free. So they waited for many years, developing their power in secret, waiting for an opportunity to strike out against their masters. Finally, a woman of power came forth among them, a deliverer by the name of Gith. She convinced the people to rise up against their cruel masters. The struggle was long and vicious, but eventually the people freed themselves. They had earned their freedom and become the githyanki, (which, in their tongue, means sons of Gith).

These astral beings progress through levels exactly as an elf would. However, there has never been a githyanki that has progressed beyond the 17th level of experience and very few progress beyond 9th. When a githyanki advances to 9th level, he is tested by the lich-queen. This grueling test involves survival in one of lower planes for a number of weeks. Failure quite obviously results in death. Githyanki that reach 17th level of experience are immediately drawn out of the Astral plane and into the presence of the lich-queen where their life force is drawn to feed the ravenous hunger of the cruel demi-goddess.

Githyanki dwell in huge castles on the Astral plane. These ornately decorated castles are avoided by all other dwellers on the Astral plane for the githyanki are infamous for being inhospitable to strangers.

A githyanki stronghold will be ruled by a supreme leader. This leader will be a fighter/mage of 10th/8th level or 11th/9th level. The supreme leader is the undisputed overlord of the castle with the power of life and death over all who dwell there. A typical leader will be equipped with 2-8 random magical items in addition to the weapons described above.

All castles have a retinue of 20-80 knights of 9th level that serve as the supreme leader's elite shock troops. They are fanatically loyal. There will also be up to 1,000 githyanki of lesser status.

Githyanki, having the ability to plane shift at will, often travel to the Prime Material plane. These treks across the planes often lead to the formation of underground strongholds used to mount surface raids, though their hatred is more often directed against mind flayers. Outside the war with the githzerai, these raids are conducted largely for the perverse pleasure of the kill.

A typical githyanki stronghold on the Prime Material plane will contain the following:

One supreme leader: 11th-level fighter or 7th/8th-level fighter/mage
Two captains: 8th-level fighter and 7th/6th-level fighter/mage
One knight: 8th level
Two warlocks: mages of 4th/7th level
Three sergeants: fighters of 4th/7th level
Two `gish': fighter/mages of 4th/4th level
20-50 lower level fighters: 1st-3rd level

On the Prime Material plane, githyanki have a pact with a group of red dragons. These proud creatures will act as mounts and companions to the githyanki. When encountered on the Prime Material plane, a githyanki group will typically consist of the following:

One captain: 8th-level fighter
One warlock: 4th to 7th-level mage
Five lower githyanki fighters: 1st-3rd level

An interesting aspect of githyanki society is the apparent bond between military leaders and their subordinates. This bond allows a leader to give his men short, almost senseless commands and actually relay complex and exacting messages. Although this has no actual affect during the melee round, it often leads to more effective ambushes and attacks and allows complex military decisions to be relayed quickly.

Ecology: Githyankis have similar ecology to that of Drow Elves. However, the Astral plane does not offer the same type of environments as the Prime Material plane, so their cultural groups are much different.

G''lathk: The g''lathk, (admittedly nearly unpronounceable in human tongues) are the equivalent of Servents. Due to the barrenness of the Astral plane, the githyanki are forced to grow food in vast, artificial chambers. They rely upon a variety of fungi and other plants that require no sunlight to grow. The g''lathk are also experts in aquatic plantlife, sometimes tending gigantic water-gardens.

Mlar: Not all magic-using githyanki ever attain the power and self-discipline necessary to become wizards. Some use their magical talents in the field of architecture and construction. The mlar are such individuals, focusing their creative energies toward designing and constructing the buildings and structures used in day-to-day life in githyanki society. The mlar have developed their jobs into an art form.

Hr'a'cknir: The Astral plane has many strange energies moving through it. Some of these energies are obvious to the senses, such as heat and light. Others are not so easily observed. There are many psychic and strange astral energies that other races generally are not aware of. Being a psychically aware race, however, the githyanki cannot only sense these energies, but harness them too. The hr'a'cknir are the collectors of those energies. They are similar to the mlar, in that they use innate magical powers to perform their crafts.

Githyanki are hunters and predators. They will typically engage in raiding and plundering seemingly for the joy they derive from it. It is likely that the long centuries of enslavement of their race has caused the githyanki to bully those weaker than themselves.The githyanki never war amongst themselves. The split of the githyanki and the githzerai (q.v.) is the closest thing the gith races have known to civil war. Githyanki never battles githyanki. It is the unwritten rule of gith society and is never broken. This, too, may be an effect of the race's enslavement.