Corvir

The corvir are a race of raven-like people in the World of Shaston.

Appearance
The corvir generally have the appearance of humans crossed with birds; however, unlike the aarakocra and kenku, which look like birds of humanoid size and stature, the corvir look more like humans with bird-like characteristics. Specifically, the corvir look similar to ravens.

Corvir have almost exclusively black, shiny hair, similar to ravens' feathers. Their hands and feet are similar in appearance to birds' feet, with a slightly scaly texture and ending in claws. The skin of most corvir is very pale, often compared to ash; combined with a generally skinny physique, the corvir consistently look malnourished and sickly to most other races, even when perfectly healthy. Corvir eyes are generally very bright and can be any number of colors, although red and blue are most common. Finally, most corvir have patches of black feathers covering parts of their bodies, usually where ordinary humans would have hair, such as on their arms, legs, and chests.

When transformed via the Raven's Curse, the corvir take on an appearance that is usually compared to lycanthropes' hybrid forms. Their entire body becomes covered in black feathers and their head takes on a much more bird-like appearance, complete with a sharp beak. The claws on their hands and feet elongate and sharpen, resulting in much more effective natural weapons. Their eyes, already bright, begin to supernaturally glow.

Lore and History
Sources generally disagree on how long the corvir have been around and where exactly they came from. One distinct possibility is that corvir are natives of Dytana or one of the surrounding areas, as they are mostly found there (specifically the nation of Shadows). However this is still unknown for sure. What is known is how the corvir came to be.

The group that became the corvir race was originally a tribe of nomadic humans. In ancient times, they were cursed by the Raven Queen, goddess of death and ruthless justice and ruler of the Shadowfell. What they did to earn such a curse is unknown, but many suggest that necromantic rituals or broken power bargains were involved. As a result of the curse, all future men and women born to the tribe possessed raven-black hair, feathers, claws, and the ability to undergo a ghastly transformation into a half-human, half-raven monster. This was enough to separate them from humanity and turn them into their own recognized race. Various reactions to the Raven's Curse led to their tribe splitting further.

Throughout history, the corvir were generally feared because of the great power the Raven's Curse gave them and the darkness and violence some of them showed as a result. However, many of the corvir just wanted to be left alone to live their lives and, if possible, develop their own culture - something they had been unable to truly do since the Curse.

The corvir were a major part of the Exotic War. Labelled as "exotic" by the surrounding peoples, the corvir, along with many other races, were marginalized and treated with great amounts of fear and contempt. The corvir in particular were enslaved by much of the Dytanite population without the King's knowledge due to the prejudice and machinations of the current royal advisor. Eventually, fed up with their treatment, the corvir led a rebellion against the country of Dytana, which led to the war.

Once King Aaron Dytana learned of the corvir's reason for the war, he quickly shut the war down via a peace treaty. As a part of that treaty, he gifted Dytanite land to the exotics, specifically the corvir general who led the rebellion, Vanta Black. This land became the new nation of Shadows, primarily home to exotics and where the vast majority of corvir live to this day.

Because of its dark powers and affiliation with ravens, it's possible that the Dark Raven was created by the corvir in ancient times, although this has not been confirmed.

Ability Score Increase
Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

Age
Corvir physically age and mature at approximately the same rate as humans; however, the reach social maturity much earlier, during their early teens. They tend to live much shorter lives, often reaching their late thirties to early forties.

Alignment
Corvir avians are generally good, while corvir abyssals are generally chaotic; though exceptions exist in both cases, and it is obviously possible for a corvir to embrace both good and chaos.

Size
Corvir are usually somewhat shorter than humans, averaging at around 5’4”. Your size is medium.

Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Raven’s Curse
All corvir have an ability known as the Raven’s Curse. This separates them from the rest of the races, turning them into monstrous ravens not unlike lycanthropes. However, this ability does come with its perks. The details of what this ability does are described below.

Language
You can speak, read, and write Common.

Subrace
Differences in attitude towards the Raven’s Curse have divided the corvir into two distinct subraces: avians and abyssals.

Avian
Corvir avians are those who have rejected the dark calling placed upon them by the Raven’s Curse. They are usually fairly shy, preferring to be left to themselves, or to simply be allowed to live their lives.

Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Aerodynamic
Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet, and you gain proficiency with the Acrobatics skill.

Natural Curiosity
You have advantage on all checks used to learn or determine something you previously had no knowledge of.

Auran
You can speak, read, and write Auran. Auran is the language of the elemental plane of air, and is spoken by most bird-humanoids and similar creatures.

Abyssal
Corvir abyssals consist of those who have embraced the Raven’s Curse. They consider it more of a blessing than a curse, and use its power to its full extent, to the point where for some of them, the transformation is a part of their daily lives. They are generally seen as much more aggressive than other races, especially the corvir avians – though, this is obviously not always the case.

Ability Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 1.

Monstrous Power
You gain proficiency with the Athletics and Intimidation skills.

Darkvision
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Abyssal
You can speak, read, and write Abyssal. Abyssal is the language of demons, dark creatures of chaos that live to deceive and destroy.

Raven's Curse
Once per day, you may activate the Raven’s Curse. This causes you to transform into a monstrous half-human half-raven, similarly to a lycanthrope’s transformation. However, the actual effects of this transformation are much different.

Once per day, you may use your action to undergo this transformation. The transformation lasts up to a number of minutes equal to your character level, or up to four rounds of combat, whichever completes first. Once either of these time limits have been reached, you revert back to your normal form.

This transformation is extremely painful. When you transform, you take (character level)d(hit die) – (character level) * (CON) necrotic damage. If this damage reduces you to 0 hit points or kills you outright but you return later, you may not transform again until the next day.

When you transform, you must make two DC 10 WIS saves. If you fail these saves, your alignment changes for the duration of your transformation. The first save causes your alignment to become chaotic, if it is not already. The second save causes your alignment to become evil, if it is not already. You have advantage against the second save if you are a corvir avian, and against the first if you are a corvir abyssal.

While you are transformed, you are immune to all forms of damage. However, you must still keep track of how much damage you would have taken. When you revert to your normal form, you take all damage you received while transformed.

While you are transformed, your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 of damage, unless the damage die for your unarmed attacks is already 1d6 or larger, in which case you may use the next largest damage die. If, for example, your unarmed attacks already deal 1d8, you may use 1d10 instead. Your unarmed attacks also now do slashing damage instead of bludgeoning.

Notable Corvir

 * Queen Vanta Black - Abyssal - NPC in the Quartz Watch
 * Ebon Yore - Abyssal - NPC in the Quartz Watch - Queen Vanta's heir

Trivia

 * The corvir were inspired by of a drawing from an unknown artist depicting a bird-like woman transforming into a bird monster. Because the source is unknown, the image has not been included here.
 * The corvir were the second homebrew race created for the World of Shaston, after the unliving, and as such played a major role in the second campaign.
 * No one has yet to play a corvir.