Sheikah
Table of contents
Keepers of knowledge, hidden in darkness,
in service to ancient vows.
Overview
Average Height: 5’ – 6’ 3”
Average Weight: 125 – 150 lbs.
Life span: 100 – 130 years
(Mature in 15-20 years)
Skin colors: Tan, Caramel, Brown
Eye colors: Red
Hair colors: White
Vulnerability: Light
Bonuses:
- You suffer no additional Movement cost while Sneaking.
- When you perform a Sneak Attack on a foe, you may immediately perform a Combat or Social Maneuver on that foe as a Free Action.
- You have a Knack for the “Learn Lore” Maneuver.
- You gain one of the following Spells or Techniques for free: Impa’s Disguise (Spell), Pinning Shot (Technique), Skirmish Strike (Technique), or Vanish (Spell).
Play a Sheikah if you want…
- …To keep ancient, forgotten knowledge.
- …To use darkness in a fight against evil.
- …To use stealth, guile, and cleverness against your opponent.
- …To seek restitution for an ancient slight against your people.
Description
The Sheikah are mysterious and guarded; little-seen, but often influential. Driven into hiding by the rise of Calamity Ganon and the raids of the Yiga Clan, the Sheikah have long lives and longer memories; they have forgotten neither the slights against them nor their duties to Hyrule.
From a distance, Sheikah look quite similar to a Hylian, featuring the same pointed ears and plain complexion (though they tan more easily than Hylians do). However, a closer inspection reveals a few key differences: nearly all Sheikah feature white hair and red eyes, though they may disguise these when venturing into places that are suspicious of the Sheikah race.
Sheikah live in hidden villages, isolated from the rest of the world. Those merchants and travelers who visit them must be blindfolded, and guided by a local. Sheikah who travel to the outside world rarely discuss their origins.
Sheikah buildings are built in ancient, traditional styles, and it isn’t uncommon for them to feature traps - from squeaking floors that announce the presence of intruders, to hidden trap doors, to even more clever and dangerous hidden architectural features.
Playing a Sheikah
Sheikah families pass down ancient legends, the journeys of heroes past, and the knowledge of forgotten smithing techniques, as other races might pass down nursery rhymes. Sheikah are often versed in the lost knowledge and latest scuttlebutt of people, places, and events. Some Sheikah cultivate an air of quiet omniscience, in order to intimidate superstitious foes. Others might prefer to seem simpler than they really are, lulling opponents into a false sense of security.
Sheikah tend to be observant, watching both their foes and their friends for weaknesses – either to exploit them, or to shore them up. Once they’ve sized up a problem, most Sheikah prefer to act subtly and stealthily, attacking a problem in a swift, decisive manner from which there can be no recovery. For a Sheikah, there are few joys greater than felling a foe or overcoming an obstacle through a single clever move.
Sheikah warriors often use subtle magic to aid their stealthiness, using the Impa’s Disguisespell to conceal themselves,or the Vanish spell to slip in past their target’s bodyguards.
Sheikah have famously used bows and two-handed swords to great effect in past conflicts, though some Sheikah like to keep a hand free for clever use of items.
Characteristics: Conniving, Knowledgable, Secretive, Stealthy, Subtle, Traditional, Wise
Sheikah Names tend to be made of simple sound pairs, intended to be easily understood when shouted or whispered.
Female Names: Claree, Koko, Mellie, Rola, Trissa
Male Names: Cado, Dorian, Lasli, Olkin
Sheikah and Yiga
The Sheikah are but one half of their race. The other half, the Yiga, are even more secretive, and bent on aiding the Calamity and its minions.
In the distant past, before Calamity Ganon first appeared, the Sheikah were a single people, and were renowned for their magical and technological skill. When the Calamity arrived for the first time, though, the people of Hyrule shunned the Sheikah and cast them out, viewing their creations to be dangerous.
The Sheikah became outcasts, even as an ancient hero laid Calamity Ganon to rest for ten thousand years. The Sheikah who felt resentment towards the kingdom of Hyrule, stripped of their technology, banded together to form the Yiga clan. Cloaked in shadow and secrecy, and skilled in the arts of disguise and dark magic, Yiga warriors strove to end the Hero of the Wild’s attempt to end the Calamity once and for all.
Though they failed, and Calamity Ganon was ended, the Yiga clan has not abandoned their mission. Even now, they persist, striking quickly in small number, and forming new plans to revive Calamity Ganon.