Steamwraith (Homo vaporis mutatis)

The Steamwraiths were created during the Psionic Holocaust of 2,450. That year, the first true psionic manifested in the nation of Amareidonia during a confrontation between the Amareiodian government and rebel separatists guerrillas. A young guerrilla soldier named Stanislav Romanenko manifested apocalyptic level psionic powers that were beyond his control. He was able to fundamentally alter reality around him and indiscriminately killed hundreds with his unbridled powers. Ultimately, his rampage was stopped in the town of Varezia when the Amareidonian government decided to make the ultimate sacrifice and drop a Steam-powered bomb on the town. Stanislav was killed in the explosion and his threat ended, but at the cost of the complete destruction of the town and most of it's population. Some miraculously survived, but they were changed forever.

Some scholars theorize that perhaps the psionic backlash that resulted from Stanislav's death might have mixed with the energy released from the Steam bomb, mutating the surviving individuals and giving them particular traits beyond what we could consider Human. The survivors and their descendants, or as they call themselves, The Afflicted, have several physiological differences that mark them as Post Humans. Their skin and hair color has a blue or silver hue to it with a dim glow. Besides that, their bodies have an ethereal quality to them, almost translucent, but perhaps most peculiar is their light weight. Upon reaching adulthood, Steamwraiths starts to slowly evaporate. They lose substance until they dissolve into nothing. The process usually takes around 20 to 25 years. As mentioned before, their characteristics are passed on to their children. If they interbreed with base line Humans, the result would be a Steamwraith.

The current Steamwraith population in the world of Elysium is small, but as a race, they have learned to master their abilities and make the most with the limited time they have. Many of the Afflicted go for a life of adventuring in order to enrich their lives and leave a mark on the world before they fade away.

Steamwraith Traits

• Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

• Age: Steamwraiths develop physically at the same rate as humans. They are considered adults at 18, but their lifespan usually doesn't exceed 40 years as they start to slowly evaporate after reaching adulthood.

• Born of Steam. You have resistance to force damage.

• Size. Steamwraiths are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. They are quite light—only about 60 pounds—and their weight diminishes as they age and more and more of their substance evaporates - like steam. They usually weight around 20 pounds by the time they completely fade away in a final evaporation. Your size is Medium.

• Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

• Psionic Mind. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. You can speak telepathically in this way to one creature at a time.

• Flight. Starting at 5th level, you can use a bonus action to psionically manifest the ability to fly. These ability last for 1 minute. For the duration, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover. Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

• Light of Step. You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.