The lands of Kesh, or Nyambe-tanda as it is known locally, are very different from Khemti to the north. Though they are not all impenetrable rain forests or rolling savannahs, the nations at the southern edge of the known world are deeply in touch with the fey energies of the otherworld where the orisha live and step through to the mortal realm to direct their followers.
Dragonborn
The unthlatu dragonborn are the descendents of dragons and humans slaves of the kosan orcs. They differ from dragonborn of other lands in many ways and many travelers used to more phlegmatic dragonborn hardly recognize the shy, reclusive unthlatu. The cultural norm for unthlatu is "do not look for trouble, the wise and patient will live on."
Typical unthlatu are reserved and quiet, preferring to stay in the background instead of leading. Whatever their reason for adventuring, unthlatu are rarely the "face" of the party since such a role does not come easily to them. When traveling in other lands, unthlatu sometimes find themselves in tense situations when foreigners expect them to react as violently as other dragonborn.
Unthlatu Dragonborn
- Skill Bonuses, Draconic Heritage, and Dragon Breath as per the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
- Draconic Resilience: When you're bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to defenses.
kUakUa "lizard clan"
cUngld "poison water"
Dwarf
Eladrin
Elves
Halflings
The agogwe halflings of Nyambe-tanda are very different from halflings in other lands in appearance as well as temperament. They are short and lithe like other halflings, but their features are much more feral and their fingers end in fierce claws. These claws are usually used for digging the traditional burrow homes of the agogwe but some learn to use them as weapons, an instrumental advantage when the agogwe overthrew the necromantic Zombi Empire in the past. Though many outsiders think of them as reclusive and shy, the agogwe are in reality fierce warriors who ruthlessly defend their home burrows. Mysterious and determined, the cultural norm for agogwe halflings is hide well and strike hard.
Embodies: Though they have a well-deserved reputation as fierce warriors, most agogwe want nothing more than to live among their family in their hand-dug homes. Those who do choose to leave might do so to study outsiders and bring back new strategies to their people, find relics lost during the days of the Zombi Empire, or to engage their natural curiosity and investigate rumors of other halflings in other lands.
Agogwe Halflings
- Bold, Nimble Reaction, and Second Chance as per the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
- Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Nature
Those familiar with the agogwe know them as fierce, vengeful ghosts of the forest, but the warrior path is a new one for the diminutive humanoids. Traditionally, they are farmers and hunters who want to live alone in the deep forest and many still follow the more pacifistic and secretive culture of their ancestors.
Burrow Wardens
- Bold and Second Chance as per the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
- Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Nature
- Communal Defense: Allies within 2 squares of you gain a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.
Though they are at home in the bIda Rainforest, some agogwe leave to live in the cities and nations of humans. Though they are known among other city residents as xenophobic and strange, they are very different from their jungle cousins and rarely find life comfortable if they return to their people's homelands.
City Agogwe
- City agogwe are unmodified halflings as found in the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
Changed-By: The Zombi Empire has not been a threat for over a century but some agogwe families have never stopped preparing for the next threat. These individuals, known as leopard souls, are fierce and intense, often somewhat apart from the simple communities of the traditional agogwe.
Leopard Soul
- Bold and Nimble Reaction as per the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
- Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma
- Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Nature
- Agogwe Claw Fighter: You gain the Agogwe Claw Fighter feat as a bonus feat.
Feats
The following feats are available to Nyambe-tanda halflings.
Agogwe Burrowing Shift
Prerequisites: halfling, Nyambe-tanda origin
Benefit: You gain the burrowing shift encounter power.
Agogwe Claw Fighter
Prerequisites: halfling, Nyambe-tanda origin
Benefit: The benefits this feat is identical to the Claw Fighter feat for gnolls given in Dragon 367.
Human
The humans of Nyambe-tanda as they call their southern land, are a varied and do not always get along. To outsiders, the humans of Nyambe-tanda seem intolerant and sectarian, but they see their attitudes as healthy competition. Across tribe and nation, humans repeat the following rule: a people's homeland is an extension of themselves, and this bond is to be protected always.
| Group | Characteristics | Religion |
|---|---|---|
| Azzazza | Cautious and superstitious; collection of different related groups with an emphasis on ritual. | Celestial orisha |
| Hutali | Communal and semi-nomadic; live in volcanic foothills alongside the utuchekulu dwarves. | Ancestor orisha |
| Marak'ka | Emotional and passionate; slow to give trust and protective of their homeland's privacy. | Elemental orisha |
| Mbanta | Secretive and dramatic; refugees from a destroyed island country known for mystical practices. | cell-content |
| NaBula | Competitive and proud; heavily influenced by the customs of nearby Khemti. | Celestial orisha or Khemtian |
| Nghoi | Curious and fey; short for humans and very much at home in the rainforests they share with halflings and elves. | Celestial orisha |
| Shombe | Brave warriors; eager to defend their lands from outsiders, human or otherwise, and reputed to be some of the best warriors around. | Ancestor orisha |
| Tembu | Flamboyant and wealthy; a widespread people united by the cultural influence of a single emperor. | Celestial orisha |
| Tisambe | Stern and hard-working; one of the oldest peoples of Niyambe-tanda and the first to rise up against the orcs. | Ancestor orisha |
| Tuslan | Talkative hunter-gatherers; renowned for their connection to the natural world as scouts, hunters, and even shapeshifters. | Natural orisha |
| Xon'mo | Practical and calculating; approach life with a disconcerting intensity and a reverence of fire. | Elemental orisha |
| Zamara | Self-righteous and paranoid; suspicious witch-hunters with a reputation for producing power-hungry necromancers. | Ancestor orisha or Naranjan |
Embodies: The typical human tribe member in Nyambe-tanda lives according to traditions which have existed for generations. They honor the orisha, protect the homeland, and do not question the wisdom of practices which have been proven over centuries.
Nyambe-tanda Human
- Typical humans are unmodified humans as found in the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
Twists: Some humans hold the influence of the orisha above concerns of tribe and family. They still believe strongly in the tie between the people and the land but they view all followers of the orisha as one people who must work together to protect the sacred lands of Nyambe-tanda.
Orisha Demagogue
- Bonus Feat and Human Defense Bonuses as per the D&D 4E Player's Handbook.
- Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 one other ability score of your choice.
- Skill Bonuses: +2 Religion, +2 Diplomacy
- Communal Fortune: Once per encounter, you can use divine mettle (paladin class feature). This power does not count as a use of Channel Divinity when used in this way and you do not need the Channel Divinity class feature to use the power.
Breaks: There are some humans who believe that the obsession with homeland has held the people of Nyambe-tanda back. This is particularly common among those who live in the north or along the coast, where they can see the great ships of the Solaran Empire and Naranjan or the kingdoms of Khemti. In Khemti they are called "aten'mir" or sun-wanderers because they have traveled from the south and this term has been adopted in Nyambe-tanda as well with distaste or pride depending on the speaker. Eager to leave their people's customs behind, these individuals are some of the most likely to travel the wider world and often prefer foreign company to others from Nyambe-tanda.
Aten'Mir Wanderer
- You do not receive the Bonus Feat or Bonus Skill traits.
- Foreign Training: You gain an Arcane Implement Proficiency, Armor Proficiency, or Weapon Proficiency feat for which you meet the requirements as a bonus feat.
- Skill Bonuses: +2 History, +2 Streetwise.
Changed-By: Ancestor orisha have been known to take personal interest in mortals, sometimes even granting them portions of their power to care for the tribe. These umbala or "reborn" have a strong connection with a specific ancestor and are granted special powers because of this. Umbala are sometimes considered a race apart, though they have no cities or nations of their own. They are born to human parents and look like the ethnic group they are born to, except for the silvery tattoos in the style of their people that appear on their head and face from birth. It is generally considered an exceptionally good omen for a family to have an umbala child, particularly among the semi-nomadic Hutali and the warrior Shombe, but many parents see it as a mixed blessing given the umbala's well-known wanderlust.
Umbala (Deva)
Umbala use the same statistics as deva from the D&D 4E Player's Handbook 2 except for the following changes.
- Human Heritage: You can take feats that have either deva or human as a prerequisite, as long as you meet any other requirements.
- Natural Origin: Umbala are natural creatures, not immortal creatures like deva.
