Okanta

Physical Description: Believed to be descended from giants, the okanta have a powerful, towering stature that is a testament to their great strength. They typically stand between 7 and 8 feet tall, and while they are powerful in stature, the okanta are also surprisingly quick for creatures of their size.

While all okanta share the trait of being impressively sized, the features and builds of individual okanta vary wildly. Each okanta shares physical characteristics with a specific mammal, including both those native to Orbis Aurea and those not. This animalistic distinction is not shared across bloodlines; an okanta with boar features may have children that have bear and ram qualities. In spite of this variance, all okanta have impressive horns, irrespective of their other animal traits. Okanta horns, regardless of appearance, grow with age and are never shed. An okanta’s horns are a point of personal pride, often adorned with inlaid runes, scrimshaw, or other adornments often detailing pictographs that tell an okanta’s personal or familial history. Removal of an okanta’s horns is taboo in their society, even as a means of punishment, and perpetrators of such an act are viewed with contempt.

Society: Okantan society can be found in several regions, the majority of which are scattered across the temperate band at the world’s equator and into the edges of the tundra to the north and south. However, okanta are a nomadic race and have formed a relationship with clans of giants (stone and taiga clans, primarily) in order to survive against the incursions of the frost giants who dwell in the subpolar and polar regions of their planet.

Though all okanta share a nomadic lifestyle with a long history of oral tradition and songs, each tribe holds different values. Tribes are led by shaman elders who practice varying degrees of animism unique to each tribe, though all okantan shamans trace their traditions back to a fabled city that stood when the okanta were not a nomadic people. While each shaman may each interpret the whispers of the spirits in a different way, this unifying historic anchor ties a binding thread between all clans.

Okanta have revered aetherite as a sacred and spiritual material for as long as their society has recorded history.

While aetherite is a highly toxic and dangerous substance, okanta long-ago discovered its supernatural properties, especially pertaining to the spirits of the dead and yet to be.

Okantan shaman claim that aetherite is a window through which spirits of the dead can interact with the world. The okanta even discovered the morphic qualities of aetherite but did not deign to turn it into a power source. Okanta have no strong opposition to the utilization of aetherite as a power source, provided that it is done with respect towards the environment the aetherite is harvested from, and even this is a strictly practical outlook. Okanta became keenly aware of the folly that befell humanity during their aetherite rush, thanks to stories from the first human survivors to land on Orbis Aurea, and the okanta would not wish such a thing to happen again. As such, large tracts of surface-level aetherite on are strictly off-limits to mining operations, as these sites are used as holy places of pilgrimage for the okanta, where their shamans tap into the aetherite to commune with spiritual forces.

Strength is valued highly by all okanta, but not merely physical strength. Mental and spiritual strength are often more important than brute force and the okanta value well-rounded individuals more than exemplars of a singular aspect.

More so than even humans, okanta are a gregarious species that is quick to adept to change. The driving force behind this outlook is the okantan lifespan, which rarely extends beyond 25 years. Okanta are bold and passionate, making the most of their lives and striving to create a lasting memory that will be recorded in the traditional songs and chants of their people. It is rare that okanta tribes ever war against each other.

Disagreements are settled by duels of honor between individuals, and exile from one’s tribe is considered a fate worse than death. Exiled okanta were once consigned to an isolated life in the frozen wastes, but now these renegades can find a new future in the stars beyond their shrouded homeworld.

Relations: Having co-existed along with stone and taiga giants for generations, okanta understand the importance of forming alliances with others. Foreigners who do not openly display hostility are welcomed by most okanta tribes and treated with hospitality. Stories are always expected to be exchanged by those invited into okantan homes, and they are suspicious of those who are reserved and unwilling to share knowledge.

Adventurers: Wanderlust has always flowed through okanta veins, making them travelers who rarely settle down for long. Though raised in tight-knit tribes and communities, this short-lived race is restless and has always heard the call of something more in the wider world.

Names: Okantan names are typically consonant-heavy and are followed by their clan name. Typical names include Arakhu, Tauth-el, Kithare, Lenshura, Yashka, and Zureen.

Racial Traits

• Ability Score Modifiers +2 Strength, +2 to One Other Ability Score: Okanta are powerfully built, but also flexible and varied.
• Type: Okanta are humanoids with the okanta subtype.
• Size: Okanta are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Speed: Okanta have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Low-Light Vision (Ex): Okanta can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
• Fearless: Okanta gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear effects.
• Adaptive Mimicry (Ex): Once per day, an okanta can spend 1 hour observing a creature actively using any skill that the okanta has no ranks in. After this observation period, the okanta gains a number of ranks in the observed skill equal to her level and treats the skill as a class skill (if it isn’t already). This effect lasts until the okanta dedicates time to studying a different skill in use, which then replaces her previous selection. This ability does not grant an okanta access to uses of a skill that are normally prohibited (such as the Elemental Harmony skill unlock for Perform) that she would not otherwise have.
• Gore: An okanta’s horns are deadly weapons, granting a gore attack as a natural weapon that deals 1d6 points of damage.
• Powerful Build: The physical stature of okanta lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever an okanta is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the okanta is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. An okanta is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. Additionally, an okanta can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
• Light Sensitivity: Okanta are dazzled in areas of bright light.
• Languages: Okanta begin play speaking Common and Okanta. Okanta with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Aklo, Aquan, Erahthi, Giant, and Infernal.

Favored Class Options

The following options are available to all okanta who have the listed favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the favored class reward.

• Bloodrager: Increase the bloodrager’s total number of bloodrage rounds per day by 1.
• Cavalier: Add +1/4 to the cavalier’s banner bonus.
• Fighter: Add +1/2 to damage dealt on a charge attack.
• Paladin: Add a +1/2 circumstance bonus on critical hit confirmation rolls with a weapon of the paladin’s choice (maximum bonus +4). This bonus does not stack with Critical Focus.
• Shaman: Add one spell from the cleric spell list that isn’t on the shaman spell list to the list of spells the shaman knows. This spell must be at least 1 level below the highest spell level the shaman can cast.
• Spiritualist: Add +1 hit point to the spiritualist’s phantom.