Arctic & Tropical Eladrin Variants
While it is true that eladrin, children of the Feywild, are as variable as the seasons, there exist more than just the standard array of autumn, winter, spring, and summer. Eladrin dwell in many climes. The arctic and tropical regions of the Feywild have their own rhythms, which shape their native elves.
Arctic Eladrin
In a wild, frigid realm that most elves would find inhospitable, to say the least, arctic eladrin thrive alongside the hardiest beasts. They have a particular affinity for reindeer, which they are said to resemble. Their seasons follow the patterns of melting snow, the shedding of antlers, the death and resurrection of the sun.
- Tjakttja is the season of aggression and vigilance, when the world gathers itself in preparation for hardship.
- Dálvvie is the season of care and patience, shrouded in deep snow and the Long Night’s pale shadow.
- Gijirra is the season of hope and trust, rich with the promise of sunlight and fresh blood.
- Giessie is the season of wanderlust and contemplation, when the world exhilarates under the gaze of the Midnight Sun.
These elves most commonly associate themselves with the appropriate season while in their homeland, but an arctic eladrin adventurer’s seasonal rhythms are easily disrupted once they venture to new, warmer lands. Depending on the individual, this may result in an eladrin settling into a single comfortable season, relying on temperate seasonal cues, or shifting between different seasons seemingly at random.
The following tables offer personality suggestions for arctic eladrin of each season. (Entries marked with * are borrowed from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, pages 61 & 62.)
Tjakttja
| d4 | Tjakttja Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | A dangerous world demands constant vigilance. |
| 2 | You see it as your duty to hunt and forage at every opportunity. |
| 3 | You eat more than your fill at every meal and insist that your friends do as well. |
| 4 | Overwhelming force can accomplish almost any- thing. The tougher the problem, the more force you apply.* |
| d4 | Tjakttja Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Honeyed words and flattery will endear just about anyone to you, for a brief while. |
| 2 | Seduction is your first solution to every obstacle. |
| 3 | Punch first. Talk later.* |
| 4 | Your needs come first. In the arctic, all must watch out for themselves.* |
Culturally Appropriate
Both of these eladrin variants draw heavily from cultures that have long inhabited their respective regions, which deserve to be acknowledged.
The arctic eladrin was inspired by the calendar and reindeer herding of the Sámi people, who inhabit northern Scandinavia. The illustration of the arctic eladrin depicts traditional gákti clothing.
The tropical eladrin borrows from many equatorial cultures. Monsoons are well-known all over the world. Harmattan refers specifically to the cool, dry wind that blows from the Sahara Desert through West Africa, but it’s here used as a generic term for any dry season caused by such a wind. The tropical eladrin’s outfit is inspired by traditional Somali clothing.
Dálvvie
| d4 | Dálvvie Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | You move with slow deliberation in order to save your strength. |
| 2 | You face each day with stoicism and a grim pride. |
| 3 | Only stargazing quiets your darkest thoughts. |
| 4 | Your careless friends would die without you, and you make sure they know it. |
| d4 | Dálvvie Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Why fight your enemies when you can just hide and wait them out? |
| 2 | Nothing matters to you, and you allow others to guide your actions.* |
| 3 | Everything dies eventually. Why bother building anything that is supposedly meant to last?* |
| 4 | You speak only to point out the flaws in others’ plans.* |
Gijirra
| d4 | Gijirra Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | You adore babies of every sort. |
| 2 | Each ray of sunshine is a blessed miracle. |
| 3 | Your favorite pastime is bathing. Ah, to be clean! |
| 4 | You approach everything with enthusiasm, even the most mundane chores.* |
| d4 | Gijirra Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | You hate arguing and will pout shamelessly to get your way. |
| 2 | Each day begins at the crack of dawn, and no later. That goes for your companions, too. |
| 3 | You trust others without a second thought.* |
| 4 | Everyone is your friend, or a potential friend.* |
Giessie
| d4 | Giessie Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | The brilliant sun works through you, to banish the shadow of evil from the world. |
| 2 | The grass is always greener beyond the next hill. |
| 3 | You can’t stay still.* |
| 4 | You love music and song. You supply a tune your- self if no one else can.* |
| d4 | Giessie Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | It’s never a bad time to stop and smell the flowers. |
| 2 | You become lost in thought more often than not. |
| 3 | You wear as little clothing as possible. |
| 4 | Toil is for drudges. Yours should be a life of leisure.* |
Tropical Eladrin
The Feywild of the tropics can be a paradise, but it too has seasons. The constant sunlight and balmy temperatures leave the winds to manage the yearly cycle. Change can be sudden, a clear breezy day shattered by a tempest. In most areas, the seasons can be broadly described as “warm and wet” and “warm and dry,” while some have a third chill season.
- Monsoon is the season of dread and joy, when the winds summon the rains to water the land and swell the rivers.
- Secchezza is the season of yearning and goodwill, when the rains retreat and all creatures peacefully slake their thirst.
- Harmattan is the season of restraint and intrigue, when the winds grow cold and choke the sky with dust.
Tropical eldarin are typically more at-ease outside of their native environment than their arctic cousins. That is, except for that “unseasonal” phenomenon known as winter.
True cold is deeply uncomfortable for these warmth-loving elves. Perhaps due to their racial sensitivity to their environment, a tropical eladrin can never truly feel warm, unless immersed in heated water. No amount of cozy hearths, wool sweaters, or down-stuffed duvets will drive the chill from their bones. In such a scenario, an eladrin usually resorts to adopting a single seasonal mode for the duration. Maintaining a monsoon outlook is a way of simulating familiar comfort. Harmattan is sometimes chosen as the closest analog to winter and a way to make others feel their discomfort, while secchezza is a total rejection of even the concept of cold, a strange form of denial.
Monsoon
| d4 | Monsoon Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your brightest moods will darken suddenly, like clouds passing in front of the sun. |
| 2 | When all around you is chaos, you are an island of calm. |
| 3 | You delight in arguing about even the most inane topics. |
| 4 | You have a distinctive booming laugh. |
| d4 | Monsoon Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | You laugh in the face of imminent disaster. Let the world do its worst. |
| 2 | No one is safe from your vicious practical jokes. |
| 3 | You never truly feel safe, ready to cut and run at a moment’s notice. |
| 4 | Some might call you a crybaby. |
Secchezza
| d4 | Secchezza Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Loose, billowy clothing is an absolute must. Fashionable and comfortable! |
| 2 | Whenever disagreements arise, you are there to make peace. |
| 3 | You would rather rest during the day and go about your business at night. |
| 4 | If someone is in need, you never withhold aid.* |
| d4 | Secchezza Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | You are a mild-mannered pacifist surrounded by hooligans. |
| 2 | You covet the resources of others, never satisfied with your own lot. |
| 3 | You overdrink.* |
| 4 | You give to others, to the point that you leave yourself without necessary supplies.* |
Harmattan
| d4 | Harmattan Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | All of your clothing, food, and lodging must be meticulously clean, or suffer your displeasure. |
| 2 | You always feel either too warm or too cold, no matter how appropriately you dress. |
| 3 | Every situation reminds you of something vague yet fascinating from your mysterious past. |
| 4 | You avoid direct confrontation with others, preferring a passive-aggressive approach. |
| d4 | Harmattan Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | When upset, you have trouble breathing and occasionally faint. |
| 2 | Your sense of direction is nonexistent. |
| 3 | In tense situations, you prefer to wait for someone else to act first and then copy them. |
| 4 | You just cannot get enough gossip. The wilder, the better. |
Seasonal Abilities
Substitute the appropriate set of traits for the one provided for the Fey Step trait in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.
Arctic Traits
- Tjakttja. If you use your Fey Step at the start of your turn, you have advantage on melee attacks against all creatures within 5 feet of where you appear until the end of your turn.
- Dálvvie. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, you summon a magical darkness within 5 feet of you that lasts until the end of your next turn. Non-magical light cannot illuminate it. You can see through the darkness clearly, but a creature with darkvision cannot.
- Gijirra. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, each creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you takes radiant damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 damage).
- Giessie. When you use your Fey Step, you can teleport a number of additional feet equal to your Charisma score, rounded up to the nearest 5 feet.
Tropical Traits
- Monsoon. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, stormy winds swirl around you. Within 5 feet of you, all non-magical fires are doused and all creatures must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
- Secchezza. When you use your Fey Step, one creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of Exhaustion for up to 1 minute. This effect has a range of 30 feet and requires concentration, as if on a spell.
- Harmattan. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, a dust devil kicks up around you that lasts until the end of your next turn. The area within 5 feet of you is heavily obscured. You can see through the dust clearly, as can any creature with Devil's Sight.