Nelji

Nelji are a diminutive race of hirsute forest dwellers. Their society is matriarchal and poorly understood by outsiders. They are intrinsically linked to their forest and draw strength form the tree themselves. Mostly, Neljis keep to themselves, but a few youths leave every decade to seek adventure in the outside world.

Forest Folk

The Neljis are not just forest dwellers; they draw physical and spiritual strength from the trees themselves. Underneath the forest canopy they can heal from grievous injuries, conjure up magics, and call upon their forest allies. Few Neljis leave their forest homes, and those that do feel a constant calling to go and run beneath the nearest stand of trees.

Lead by Nurturers

Neljis form small tries that are lead by magic using Nurturers. These matriarchs guide their people for only a thirty moons before handing off the job to another, thus keeping the near total power of a Nurturer in check. Most often Nurturers are spellcasters, usually druids, but mighty warriors and cunning sorcerers can be found among their number. The nurturers of the tribes gather together to form the Council of Abundance, which oversees the needs of the race as a whole.

Master Craftsmen

Despite living in primitive conditions, the Neljis are master workers of wood and leather. They are known as the finest carpenters, though they only make items they would normally use such as tools, sculptures, jewelry, and hunting weapons. Their scrolls re said to be of the finest quality and are much prized by wizards throughout the Lost Lands, both for their use in crafting spell scrolls and as pages for spellbooks.

Hunters

While it is the Nurturers who lead the tribes of the Neljis, it is the hunters who hold the highest social positions. A hunter who is bold yet humble, skilled yet wise enough not to overhunt prey, and brings in the finest game is afforded the greatest respect. Those few who have faced extraordinary prey, giant animals and monsters, find their names immortalized among their people.

Standard Racial Traits

• Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
• Age. Neljis age much as humans do for the first fifty or so years of life, reaching adulthood at around sixteen. After reaching fifty years of life they age much slower, living to two centuries before their bodies give out.
• Alignment. The Neljis have an ordered society that goes to great lengths to tend to its peoples and lands needs, making them both lawful and good.
• Size. You stand between four and a half and five feet tall, and weigh around 115 pounds. You are medium sized.
• Speed. Your base speed is 30 feet.
• Feral magic. You know one druid cantrip of your choice. Wisdom is the spellcasting ability for this cantrip.
• Embrace of the Trees. If you are in a natural forested or wooded setting, when you take a long rest you add your Wisdom modifier to any hit points you recover through the expenditure of hit dice.
• Hunter. You are proficient with the Stealth and Survival skills, as well as the atlatl.
• Low-light vision. You can see in dim light as if it were bright light.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Neljium. Neljium is a language of chirps, chitters, and growls, but has many subtle complexities.