Ceptu are a keenly intelligent race of large, telekinetic jellyfish. They leave the oceans where they rule great kingdoms and come to land to civilize and enlighten the races above the surface. They are natural leaders and bureaucrats, who place great importance on art, education, music, and history, and desire to share this with the people of the Forge.
Fish Out Of Water
Ceptu resemble immense jellyfish, with a 3-ft. dome and long tentacles that trail below them. Ceptu who become adventurers must leave the salty cradle of the sea where they are born to come to land. They are capable of breathing both air and water, and though their bodies lack bones, they can telekinetically float through the air, and manipulate items with telekinesis. They can't sleep while floating, however, so many ceptu bring small aquariums or water-filled bags with them to use as beds.
Patronizing Reformers
Ceptu believe their civilization to be the height of culture and refinement, and they often seek to elevate others to their level of social grace and complexity. Ceptu-ruled areas are peaceful, calm, and artistic, so they certainly have a history of success. However, the ceptu see other races as inferior, as creatures in need of their help to become properly educated and civilized. The ceptu guide other towns toward their own ideals subtly over time, and the borders of their lands are filled with revolutions and revolts of those who seek to throw off ceptu rule. The ceptu regard these rebels with a patronizing pity - if they would just work with the ceptu, instead of against them, the ceptu believe everyone would be better off.
Alien High Culture
Ceptu have a great appreciation for art, music, and history, and place a primacy on the enjoyment of life and the understanding of the world. Simply to live and get by is degenerate savagery - the true visionaries must bave an appreciation for what has come before, what is, and what will be. The ceptu language, for instance, is beautiful and complex, with wails, chirps, and other sonic effects, based in complex pitch, but in the air, this language is distorted and bizarre. Ceptu delight in beauty, but their radial symmetry, 360-degree, three-eyed vision, and inhuman form lead ceptu depictions of beauty to often be twisted and unsettling to those used to more humanoid representations.
Ceptu Names
The ceptu language is beautiful in its natural environment…that is, underwater. In the crude, empty medium of air, they prefer to adopt nicknames more suited to the common tongue. Because each ceptu passes through multiple genders in their lifetime, they don't adopt names based on gender, and the nature of their birth means that family lineage is indistinct and unimportant. If a ceptu must distinguish itself from another with the same name, they prefer to be identified by their communities — in some ways considered their greatest artworks.
Ceptu Names: Haailuurun, Mraakaai, Aieuuroo, Naiaiuuzz, Ouuilouul, Eeohchiee
Nicknames: Greylash, Wideye, Wailtongue, Sting, Master, Mindfloat
Ceptu Traits
Your ceptu has the following traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence increases by 2. Your Wisdom increases by 1.
Age. A ceptu is considered to have come of age by age 35. They live until very old, dying naturally only after about 450 years.
Alignment. Ceptu tend toward Lawful Good, though their version of treating other creatures with respect is often to change them to be more like what the ceptu envision as "civilized." Many ceptu who are not lawful good still adhere to law, but use it for more personal or abusive ends.
Size. Ceptu are about five feet long, including their tentacles, though they are light, typically weighing no more than 110 lbs (and little of that weight actually touches the ground). Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your swim speed is 40 ft. On land, your telekinetic hovering gives you an effective land speed of 30 ft.
Unusual Anatomy. You cannot wear most equipment without prior modification. You cannot wear clothing or armor.
Sting. You can attack with a stinging tentacle (dealing 1d6 acid damage). You are proficient with this natural attack.
Telekinesis. In addition to providing you with a land speed, your telekinesis allows you to manipulate nearby objects with your mind. You can wield weapons normally with your telekinesis, but you use Intelligence instead of Strength, and Wisdom instead of Dexterity to modify your attack and damage rolls with your melee and ranged weapons. You can also manipulate objects within 5 ft. of you with your telekinesis, just as if you were using a hand. For the purposes of determining how much you can lift and carry with this telekinesis, use your Intelligence score rather than your Strength score. Your telekinesis does not function when you are unconscious.
