Insectile Earth-Walkers

The Coried are buglike humanoids. They came from the Underdark, created as experiments by Mind Flayers and used as slaves. In time, there was a rebellion that was successful enough that the Coried could flee to the Mountain Dwarves for refuge. Dwarves are held in high regard, because in Coried society, discipline is second only to loyalty. Coried have frequent mutations, but at first, none were known to them because the Mind Flayers would kill the defective ones as soon as they were born. But the Coried do not condone such cruelty and let mutants live, reclassifying the common mutations as subraces.

Coried can walk and talk at birth, and thus are trained in fighting from the moment of their birth to age thirteen. When they turn six, they have the option to have their shell modified to fit the niche that they want to occupy in society. This is a very important choice in the life of a young Coried.

Escape from the Illithid

Seven years before the Coried uprising against the Illithid, a Coried by the name of Orna was born. As the first Orna, he was taken to be slaughtered like all of the other 'defective' Coried. Unlike the others however, he escaped. When he escaped, he ran to the Githyanki and struck up a deal with them; the Githyanki would free them from the Illithid, but in turn, the Coried would pledge their allegiance to the Githyanki. Seeing that the Githyanki were on a similar dark path of slavery as the Illithid, the Coried betrayed the Githyanki and ran to the surface, bumping around the Underdark until they stumbled into a colony of Mountain Dwarves.

Anatomy

These humanoids have buglike structures complete with segmented bodies and hard, exoskeleton-like natural protection. Their faces have humanoid features, and without a shell, their silhouette would look incredibly similar to a stocky male Elf. They are born out of eggs at about nine inches tall. They are born with detachable shells, or Ekriis that they use as shields, packs, weapons, and other things. Their coloration depends on their subrace. Coried are extremely androgynous, and their society has no gender roles.

Coried Names

Coried society is based on battle prowess (similar to that of ancient Rome), and as such, they are all named after weapons. Coried are always named after their mother, as a show of respect.

Example: Lance of Fairbairn. Lance is their first name, and Fairbairn is their mother's name.

Coried Traits

Your sturdy build and natural weapons give you a variety of

traits that you share with other Coried.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 1.

Age. After a three month pregnancy, females lay their eggs. The eggs then incubate for three years. Within those three years, the Coried are taught the history of their people. They hatch at full mental maturity and have lifespans comparable to that of a Human's.

Alignment. Despite their dark origins, they have no inclination towards evil or good, which instead depends on how each Coried is raised. They tend to the lawful side.

Size. At birth, Coried are typically about nine inches tall. By age thirteen, they are fully matured and are over 4 to under 6 feet tall. This varies by subrace.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30.

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.

Sundry Shell. Coried have shells that grow on their backs. Over time, they have developed techniques to change the shell, or Ekrii's function to suit their needs. Add this to your inventory. These Ekriis do not affect your carrying capacity. Coried have proficiencies with their shells, whether those shells function as shields or other things. At the age of 10, Coried have the option to modify shells based on one of the following options:

• Unmodified. Your Ekrii functions as a shield. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to use your Ekrii to try to shove a creature within 5 feet of you.

• Dual Wielding. Your Ekrii is cut in two and the ends are sharpened so that they can be used as melee weapons. Each half does 1d6 slashing damage. They have the finnese and light properties. When you're dual-wielding these weapons and you are hit with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to move 5 feet away. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.

• Concealing. Your Ekrii is carved so that you can easily conceal small weapons and items within its bowl. It is thick enough to resist the effects of the Locate Object spell. If an object in the Ekrii is scried upon, you This acts as a backpack.

• Casting. A rune or holy symbol is carved, marked, or branded on your Ekrii. It now can act as any spellcasting focus except for a bard's instrument. When this is used as a spellcasting focus, you can add half your Constitution modifier (minimum 1) to your spell attack bonus.

Spider Climb. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. In addition, at 3rd level, you can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free.

Launguages. You can speak, read, and write Coried, Dwarvish, and Common. Coried language consists of clicks and whirs and is written in Dwarvish. It has no gender pronouns.

Subrace. There are six main kinds of Coried; five mutations and one unmutated subrace. Choose from the options below, (listed in order from most to least common) or role on the table detailed later in this document.