The Aer

Aer

A hunter is tracking a strange big white hawk through the woods, intrigued by it. In a split second of distraction he loses it, and then suddenly a woman appears on a nearby tree branch and eyes him intently. The hunter realises, he has been the hunted the entire time.

Humans or something more?

Aer look completely indistinguishable from regular humans on the outside, other than the fact that they have 4 fingers. However, they are extremely different, from the hollow bones to the extremely sharp perception and the amazing ability to shapeshift into various birds.

Ritualistic Mountain Dwellers

Aer live in small societies in high altitude locations, usually atop mountain peeks, and are very ritualistic. They frequently go on pilgrimages to find out more about themselves and the world, and hold tradition to a very high esteem. They usually live out their lives as monks, learning more about themselves and their inward being, or hunters, learning more about the world and bringing food for the rest of their society. They are graceful in everything they do, and are commonly mistaken for half-elves at a first glance because of this.

The Bridge of the Natural World

How the Aer came to be is a mystery even to them, as they do not write down their history other than their traditions. However, what is known is that they are closely related to the Natural World and the Feywild, and serve as a bridge between regular Humanoids and Fey.

Aer Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Aer mature at the same rate as humans, but they tend to live shorter, up to 70 years.
Alignment. Aer are free spirited folk, who value freedom above all else. While they don't usually get involved in matters of good and evil, they tend towards good more easily than most.
Size. Aer average from anywhere between 5 to almost 7 feet in height with the same builds as most humans but weigh much less, at about 140lb average. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30ft.

Shapeshifter. Choose a bird of prey (eagle, hawk, owl, falcon, etc.), that is your alternate Bird form and you cannot change it. You can, as an action, shift between your Human from and your Bird form. All the equipment on your person molds into your Bird form. You keep the stats, feats, weight, size, eye colour and skin colour (which changes to feather colour) from your Human form, but you don't get to use any of your Human form attacks or spells. In the Bird form you gain a flying speed of 60ft and the ability to use your talons to attack. Talons are finesse weapons that do 1d4 slashing or piercing damage (you choose each time you attack). You cannot attack with anything other than your Talons. You cannot use any equipment or wear any armour in this form and can only carry up to 2 objects whose total weight must be equal to or under half of your weight.
Natural Hunters. You gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Perception, Nature or Survival.
Bird Speak. You can communicate simple ideas to birds through hand gestures and sounds.
Languages. You can speak, read and write both Common and Auran.