Vanara

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

Artwork depicting a Vanara

Vanara are a race of intelligent monkey-like humanoids who spontaneously arose during Quelmar's PR era.

Racial Traits

Speed. You have a walking speed of 30 feet.

Size. Your size is Medium.

Age. Vanara reach adulthood in their mid-teens, and often live over a century.

Alignment. Some Vanara practice “Gimko,” a pacifistic peaceful lifestyle of good and law, while others practice “Aki” a violent, vengeful, and chaotic lifestyle that Vanara are often identified with, despite the Gimko practitioners outnumbering the Aki three-to-one.

Nimble Footed. You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. You can Disengage as a bonus action.

Natural Talent. You gain proficiency in two of the following skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Survival, Nature

Prehensile Tail. You have a flexible tail that can be used to manipulate an object, open or close a door or container, pick up or set down a Tiny object, or wield a weapon that has the light property.

Languages. You can speak Common and Vanara.

History

Creation Story

While the true reasons behind the Vanara emergence are unlikely to be discovered, the Vanara themselves are fond of a specific story of creation, detailed here.

"The story of the Vanara begins on a rather small uncharted island, just off the coast of West Levinkan. Being just inches above sea level, this island disappeared during high tide, with the trees seeming to grow out of the ocean itself. Due to this, the animal and beast life became tree-based: monkeys, insects, birds, and the like. Untouched by explorers and adventurers, the island became a hub of ecological paradise; the animals on the island were peaceful, non-violent, and in a symbiotic relationship with each other and the land itself.

That is, until a magical event shook their entire world.

Adventurers, around ninety years ago, had been traveling frequently across the continents, as the world became obsessed with the gold granted from hunting dragons. Though many dragons chose to fight back and hunt the hunters, there were some that, whether by animal instinct or by intelligent logic, realized they were going to be extinct. These dragons, more ancient beasts who had amassed a great fortune and many treasures, took what they could carry and fled the main continents.

One such dragon, a wizened and ancient dragon, though small, landed on the island during low tide. Weak and wounded from her travel from her homeland Breme, the dragon hadn’t considered the implications of this island with no land-based animal life. She snuck deep into the forests, hidden from sight, buried much of her treasure in the sand, and fell asleep. The water levels rose and she tried to fly, but found herself trapped from escaping by the canopy of trees. Unfortunately, she drowned, but the trunks of the trees made it impossible for her body to go anywhere, so it rose again at low tide.

The animals, particularly, the monkeys, investigated her corpse and the treasure now uncovered around her. One particular treasure was a cursed tome, one that, if opened, gave the gift of language and logic to whatever creatures surrounded it. The latch on it, rusted and locked, was easily broken by the monkey’s strong and curious fingers, awakening a small group of them and granting them the gift of speech. This small group contained seven monkeys: two adult males around 60, an adult female of 40, a younger adult couple in their thirties, and their two four year old twins, one male and one female.

Less than a year after this, the seven with speech and intellect grew weary of the island. After seeing the animals go into panic over a passing boat, the monkeys, who now called themselves Vanara, decided to leave the island and head for the mainland, intending to assimilate into the society they had read about in the tomes and stray papers that floated to the island. Studying the boats passing, the Vanara fashioned a raft and floated over to Levinkan."

Arrival

What is documented, however, is the arrival of the first seven Vanara in Fulgur, the largest city located in the domain of West Levinkan. The super intelligent monkeys entered the city and were treated as circus acts, as freaks, and were not able to assimilate. They soon grew exhausted of their treatment and decided to flee to the city, but not before a few more Vanara had been born. Census studies done at the time reported that the Vanara were now a group of roughly twenty. The eve before they planned to leave Fulgur, their room in the Levinkan city was raided by a group of human tricksters and one of their young was kidnapped. Rather than fight back, they fled, the fate of that young Vanara unknown.

Clan Disputes

The twenty lived for several decades, with the clan growing and extending throughout the jungle. The twins, Gimko and Aki, were leaders, but had vastly different interpretations of what that meant. Gimko, the male, believed in a pacifistic lifestyle, while Aki had a more violent outlook. As the Vanara clan grew, the dissention between the leaders grew, until the two had to split into two groups. Gimko, havin discovered an abandoned temple, moved into what he called the Siksa Oposs Monastery, settling with the pacifists and non-violent Vanara in its walls. Aki took the vagabonds and rogues, letting them form their own colonies in the forests. These smaller villages soon developed their own governments of sort, under the assumption that Aki’s command would rally them together.

Many of the militant Vanara tribes, when left alone, had settled back into a peaceful lifestyle, nearly matching that of their relatives in the Siksa Oposs Monastery in terms of divinity and their monk-lifestyle. Nearly thirty years without interactions from adventurers had accommodated them to a much more relaxed existence. The youngest Vanara did not even remember the oath to take arms for Aki, should the time arise, nor did they remember the hatred towards humanity. The eldest members did, but seemed too lethargic to do anything should the opportunity present itself. As for Aki, she moved from tribe to tribe, an exceptionally ancient Vanara, but has recently disappeared. There are those who wonder if she is dead and those who wonder if she is preparing an attack on the ever-growing Church of Kragnux.

Those Vanara in the Siksa Oposs Monastery, by contrast, kept their peaceful ideas, instead forming schools and educational institutions and training their young to be peaceful monks. They treated Gimko, now frail and weak, as a wise ruler, keeping him safe and protected. Though he was no longer in charge, having stepped down decades ago, he is still an advisor to the government and a local hero; he often treats the young Vanara to stories of the island he remembers, the dragon who gave him the gift of speech, and the sister who he loved so dearly.

Notable Vanara

• Atman
• Riiko
• Carl
• Thetsu (honorary Vanara, technically a beastfolk that predated the Vanarans)