Truskin

Of all the planes, the one that is at once the most familiar and the most inscrutable is the Material plane. Home to the natural world, and to the human race, the Material plane is host to a great many secrets, perhaps the most wondrous of which is the fact that it is not one plane, but simply one of many. Known to the majority of its inhabitants as a single localized place, the Material plane stretches vast across innumerable multitudes of worlds, each largely ignorant of the others’ existences. These worlds often share many similarities, from the overall climate and weather patterns to the many varieties of flora and fauna. But there’s something else that’s common to all these material worlds.

Each world that plays host to a typical ecosystem also produces a race of beings known to human scholars as the truskin (“truss-kin”). By all accounts, the truskin are a most peculiar species, differentiated from the rest of the natural world by their unique birthing pattern: Truskin hatch from eggs that seem to grow out of the very earth. When asked, a truskin will claim that his only mother is nature herself, and his only father, time. Mortal scholars who know of the truskin have tried to study this phenomenon, but are at a lost to explain when or where a truskin egg will surface, or indeed, how or why the race can even exist at all. All that’s known for sure is that, once hatched, a truskin lives much like any other living being—not only breathing, eating, and sleeping, but striving, dreaming, and loving—until its time is done.

Personality: The truskin are among the most unusual of traveling companions. Wise from the moment they first crawl from their shells, they have a boundless wonder for the natural world that’s almost child-like. Many eschew the trappings of civilization, but that’s due more to a lack of need than a lack of understanding. There is little that the average truskin wants, and as a result, most want for little. Truskin aren’t so blithe as to allow others to cheat them of that which they’ve earned fairly, but their overall regard for material things falls well short of that held by most other humanoid races.

Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the truskin persona is its wanderlust. All truskin are gripped with a desire to walk the world, to witness nature in both its beauty and horror with their own eyes. This isn’t to say that truskin never stay in one place for long; many do, but only when sufficient motivation compels them. Left to their own devices, most truskin will return to the open road sooner or later.

Physical Description: A truskin appears like nothing so much as a bipedal praying mantis. The coloration of his chitinous exoskeleton shifts constantly to blend in with its surrounds, like chameleon skin, but returns to a shimmering off-white in its “uninspired” state. The average truskin stands between 6–1/2 and 7 feet tall, usually weighing between 200 and 230 pounds. He has six powerful limbs—two “legs” for walking, and four “arms” off his torso, each ending in a claw. A truskin’s head is bulbous, with wicked mandibles over his mouth, two compound eyes, and a pair of short antennae sprouting from his forehead.

All truskin reach adulthood incredibly early, after roughly one year of rapid growth, but accounts differ as to their lifespans. On one remote world, reports abound of a local truskin elder who has endured for at least the last millennium. The vast majority of truskin meet their ends through means other than old age, and since truskin receive no adjustments to their ability scores as they advance in age, it’s even less of an issue—though certainly no less of a mystery.

Relations: A truskin’s relations with other races will almost always vary by the individual. As a race, though, they tend to get along best with halflings and elves, who seem to grasp on some level what the truskin represent. Truskin find dwarves and gnomes industrious and fascinating, but often spiritually lacking. Exceptions to this, however, provide some of the most engaging and interesting of partnerships. Interestingly, truskin tend to get along the worst with humans, who rarely take the time to look past their solitary nature and monstrous countenance.

Alignment: The overwhelming majority of truskin are true neutral. Their essential nature as the living world’s “children” predisposes them against moral and ethical absolutes of any kind. When a truskin does deviate from this, it tends to be along the ethical axis, with lawful neutral being slightly more common in such cases than chaotic neutral. The truskin mindset can vary on the exact shape the natural world should take, but few are inclined towards moral imperatives of any kind.

Truskin Lands: Truskin land is the natural world, itself. Wherever there is sand, soil, or stone underfoot, a truskin feels at home. His nomadic calling often makes the point a moot one, and since truskin don’t congregate in great numbers, he often needs very little space to call his own if and when he does settle down.

Religion: Truskin aren’t religious in the common sense of the term. Almost all truskin are extremely spiritual, but for one to offer prayers and worship to a single personified god is unheard of among their kind. Rather, truskin are reverent naturalists, and their affinity for nature draws many to the calling of the druid.

Language: Truskin speak Common and their own language. In addition, they can converse with any intelligent creature by way of their psionic tongues ability.

Truskin Names: Truskin names are impossible to pronounce outside their own tongue, so most truskin adopt an additional name for use around non-truskin. These names often involve or invoke the natural world, but often in odd or striking ways. Examples include Cloud-heart, Lotus-mark, Stag-walk, and Water-mask. In some cases, a truskin will allow his compatriots to choose a name on his behalf, to put them at greater ease around him.

Adventurers: A truskin’s wanderlust is most often the source of his adventuring, with his travels often taking him across the breadth of the world around him. A truskin will also actively seek out adventures that involve investigation or protection of the natural world, such as when a great evil threatens to disrupt the environment or destroy a fragile ecosystem.

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Lions Den Press — Secrets of the Planes: Planar Races Copyright 2007, Lions Den Press; Author Ari Marmell and C.A. Suleiman