Hylian
Table of contents
Varied as the blades of grass in Hyrule Field;
each an individual, yearning for the light.
Overview
Average Height: 5’ – 6’ 3”
Average Weight: 125 – 150 lbs.
Life span: 70 – 100 years
(Mature in 15-20 years)
Skin colors: Alabaster to Tan
Eye colors: Blue, Green, Brown, Purple
Hair colors: Blonde, Red, Brown, Black, Blue, Green
Vulnerability: Dark
Bonuses:
- Gain a free Technique or Spell that you qualify for. It must cost 3 Tokens.
- Gain a free Feat that you qualify for. This Feat must cost 3 Tokens.
- When you Spend Magic or Stamina (but not when you Bind or Burn them), you may reduce that expenditure by 50% for just that use. You can’t do this again until you take an Extended Rest.
- When you would be knocked unconscious, you are instead left with 1 HP. You can’t do this again until you take an Extended Rest.
Play a Hylian if you want…
- …To have a wide variety of Spells or Techniques in combat.
- …To embrace new cultures and new customs in your travels.
- …To be an average person, embarking on a Heroic journey.
- …To be destined for greatness by near-forgotten Goddesses
Description
Hylians are the most plentiful and common race in Hyrule and beyond, claiming a heritage that stretches back to the Goddess Hylia. The greatest skill of the Hylian race is their adaptability: moreso than other races, Hylians can adapt to any challenge.
Hylians are humanoid, and look much like you or I do - with the sole difference of long, pointed ears, extending either upwards or outwards, depending on the person. Legend says that the unique structure of their ears allows Hylians to hear the words of the Goddesses, but most scholars agree that this is simply apocryphal.
Hylians live wherever they can, and are the most likely among all races to make their home in towns built by other races. It’s not uncommon to find a few Hylians in every town, wearing specially-made clothing to handle the climate. Given the choice, however, Hylians prefer temperate weather and grassy fields, and their towns tend to sprawl across whatever land is available.
Hylians are perhaps the most musically inclined of all races, and love a good song. A song tells something about the place it was written, and the person who plays it. Hylians feel that music is a way for the Goddesses of Hyrule to make their will known, and to enact it upon the world. Many of Hyrule’s greatest composers, musicians, and traveling bards, were all Hylian.
Playing a Hylian
Hylians place a heavy importance on myth, legend, and destiny. Many Hylians feel called to their fates, a subtle, inescapable tug that pulls them to where they need to be. To a Hylian, fate is not something to be avoided - even a prophecy of doom can be embraced, so long as there’s hope of salvation on the other side.
Hylians are quite willing to accept different cultural mores and practices. They’ll dive headfirst into new food, new clothes, and new customs. However, this openness ends where injustice begins: Hylians have a strong sense of right and wrong, and will fight tooth and nail against evil.
While not every Hylian is a musician (far from it!), even the most tone-deaf Hylian loves a good song. It’s not uncommon for Hylians to carry a musical instrument, and to use music as a way to pass the time. More skilled Hylian musicians will not only play Magical Songs, but also use melodies to communicate their feelings, offer prayer to the goddesses, or try to build camaraderie.
Rather than focusing on a single style of combat, Hylians often carry many different kinds of weapons with them, using different weapons and tactics in different situations. A well-armed Hylian is dangerous more for the breadth of their Spells and Techniques than for their sheer power.
Characteristics: Accepting, Courageous, Curious, Honest, Kind, Musical, Pious, Quick-Learning
Hylian Names are varied as Hylians’ homes, but fall into a few patterns:
- Names you or I would find ordinary.
- Names based on plants, particularly herbs or crops.
- Names based on natural things, like birds, weather, or minerals. Regardless, Hylian names are often spelled in a unique way, to help distinguish them from their source words when written down.
Female Names: Ashei, Celessa, Flaxel, Gaile, Hilda, Ivee, Malon, Onya, Peatrice, Ruli, Suzuna, Toma, Traysi, Vilia
Male Names: Agus, Cloyne, Dai, Ferrus, Garini, Kinov, Letty, Kafei, Maypin, Nack, Rhoam, Sayge, Trott, Varke, Zyle
Hylians and Kokiri
In some worlds, there may exist a race that appears, at first glance, to be very similar to Hylian children: the Kokiri.
Kokiri are forest-children, both metaphorically and literally. They hail from dense, unnavigable forests, and they never age beyond puberty, though they live as long as Hylians do.
Kokiri forests are watched over by a guardian spirit of great power, such as the Deku Tree. This spirit keeps evil interlopers out – and keeps the Kokiri in. Those Kokiri who travel the world either escaped from their forest, were sent on a mission by their guardian spirit, or were forced from their home by ill circumstance.
Scholars are unsure whether the Kokiri were directly created by that guardian spirit, or were originally Hylian children that the spirit adopted and enchanted.
Mechanically, Kokiri are identical to Hylians, with the same Vulnerability and bonuses.