Mrissi

Description

The Mrissi are taken from the Star Wars books, though I think they make a fine AD&D race.

The Mrissi are a small, delicately boned race descended from avians. They have lost the power of flight long ago, and instead posses long, fine-boned arms with two fingers and a thumb at the end. They have a fine covering of grayish, fur-like feathers, with brightly colored feathers where a human's head of hair would be. They have no beaks, but more mammalian mouths, and have large, liquid eyes. In height they are about four feet or so.

Mrissi are accomplished scholars and researchers, and in an AD&D setting would make ideal sages, savants, alchemists, and wizards. Mrissi communities will center around large, sprawling campuses, where those with a gift for research and magic will be able to perform feats of abstract reasoning and share what they have learned with others. The Mrissi are a open race, and gladly take other species under their tutelage; in peaceful times, many species humans, elves, and others may be found reading and taking classes in Mrissi communities.

Although the Mrissi have the more traditional apprentice system found in traditional Medieval and Renaissacne human societies, they tend to favor a more communal approach. As a result, any individual Mrissi that is encountered is likely to have been taught by many teachers, and his or her progress well known by many. Owing to this high level of training, Mrissi adventurers effectively begin at 2nd level of advancement in their classes. Also, owing to their broad education, this highly literate race has a great many adventurers who are multi-classed.

Mrissi tend to live in quiet areas of the world, peaceful areas away from the conflicts of nations. This does not mean that they shirk from their duty, as many Mrissi have fought long and hard to oppose evil where it may lie. Still, their ideal existence is one of friends, family, study, and just plain quiet contemplation.

Mrissi communities tend to not be centralized cities as with most races, but instead a mixture of farmland and city, with no real limits as to where one city begins and another ends. Most cities, if can they be said to have a center, focus on the campuses, which receive the care and attention that cathedrals and castles do in human societies. As a result, more outlying universities often have high walls and some fortifications, for they are the natural center the race retreats to in times of crisis, and owing to the knowledge contained within their chief concern when it comes to securing things.

A typical Mrissi civilization will be in warm temperate or tropical lands, preferably near seacoasts. Mrissi buildings, when not built for defensive purposes, are generally made with preferably white stone and a lot of glass (they excel at glass making). Massive Mrissi trees dot their communities, huge plants with gigantically thick trunks that stand out like huge green columns. These trees, called "greenstalks," are easy to climb, and their summits often house ramshackle communes of artists, musicians, and poets.

A favorite food of the mrissi is the wuorl, tiny, tree dwelling amphibians that live in huge colonies on the shady areas of greenstalks. They are often eaten live. Their diet also includes some fish and a great deal of fruits and vegetables.

In a mrissi community, one will generally find about 1 wizard per 50 inhabitants, generally between levels 1-4, with a 25% chance to be between levels 6-10. The most common classes found among the mrissi are wizards, specialty wizards, sages, and alchemists, in that order. Generally only a small cadre of warriors are maintained in any community, a few souls who have volunteered to learn the martial arts in return for free schooling for life. Such warriors tend to favor missile weapons, as they are generally too small and light-boned to do well in melee with most creatures.