Biata: Basic Cultural Information
According to legend, Biata are decended from a northern
Barbarian tribe, but they
do not act or look like Barbarians.
They have large, upturned feathery eyebrows,
and often grow feathers in their hair and claws on their
fingers (the claws are decorative in nature, and cannot
be used as weapons).
Biata tend to be very orderly in their philosophy of life -
they always act with a purpose. They will not do things "on a whim" and are
always working towards some goal. To other races, this tends to make them seem
like extremists - either very good or very evil - but even the most evil Biata will
will have his or her own code of ethics and will never act erratically or randomly.
This also makes the Biata seem very stubborn.
They are also very secretive about the origins of their race, and will treat all other races as "outsiders",
rarely worthy of complete trust.
It is said that Biata were formed through magical mating of a Gryphon and a Human (or perhaps a Barbarian).
The Gryphon Barbarian tribe was made up entirely of
Biata, and until the last Great Celestial Change of 590, all Biata looked Human.
Having Celestial protective spells cast upon Biata causes them great discomfort, and some will refuse to sleep behind
Wards. This distrust only applies to Celestial protective spells,
and does not apply to Celestial magic items. It should be noted that there are some characters that refuse to use Celestial magic items for
roleplaying reasons of their own. This "Celestial Abstinence" is not required by the rules in any way.
All players are encouraged to play their characters in any way that they consider fun.
Biata, like Stone Elves, have spent
years honing their mental skills, and as such can perform
certain mental mind abilities. These abilities are all
complete roleplaying in nature. Generally speaking, a Biata can
remove roleplaying insanity based on emotions or otherwise "cure"
mental damage on any willing subject. You cannot use this
ability to tell if another player is telling the truth, or to
have another player remember memories lost to Forget-it
elixirs, or otherwise get around any NERO rule. A player
always has the right to refuse to roleplay any of these skills,
and can at any time decide to "break off" contact or be cured.
In order to use this roleplaying skill, you must touch the other
person and concentrate completely. Any Biata who simply touches
someone and says, "There, you no longer have a fear of heights
(or whatever)..." is not playing the race properly.
The definition of Mind Abilities in NERO:
"Some creatures can perform mental abilities such as
"mind melds". These abilities are all completely roleplaying in nature.
Generally speaking, a creature with this ability can instill or
remove roleplaying insanity based on emotions or otherwise
"cure" mental damage. This ability can not be used to
tell if another player is telling the truth, or to have that
player remember his or her death or otherwise get around
any NERO rule. A player always has the right to refuse
to roleplay any of these skills, and can at any time
decide to "break off" contact or be cured. In order to use
this roleplaying skill, the players must be touching
each other and be concentrating completely by staring in
each other's eyes or having their eyes closed. You cannot
perform any in-game skills while roleplaying this."
Biata: Rules and Racial Abilties
Biata distrust celestial magic as do Barbarians,
and dislike having celestial spells cast upon them.
Biata cannot buy Read Magic.
They can buy Resist Charm, Break Charm and Resist Sleep.
There is currently no Local Culture Marshal for Biata in the Ravenholt Campaign.
Questions regarding Biata and their culture local to the
Ravenholt area/campaign may contact the Ravenholt Campaign Plot Committee
via the email address:
biata@neromass.com