Zora
Table of contents
Serene as a placid lake on the surface,
passionate as a stormy sea underneath.
Overview
Average Height: 4’ 6” – 9’
Average Weight: 100 – 400 lbs.
Life span: 250 – 300 years
(Mature in 40-50 years)
Skin colors: Any
Eye colors: Blue, Green, Red
Hair colors: None (Hairless)
Vulnerability: Shock
Bonuses:
- You are a Natural Swimmer. Further, you can breathe underwater.
- You gain one of the following Techniques or Spells for free: Great Bay Barrier (Spell), Push-off Kick (Technique), Trick Shot (Technique), or Zola’s Fireball (Spell).
- Treat the Accuracy Bonus of all Boomerangs, Crossbows, Fists, Rods, and Spears you use as 1 higher.
Play a Zora if you want…
- …To be equally at-ease on land and in the water.
- …To hail from a beautiful and mysterious civilization that has withstood time and tide.
- …To commune with the strange and wondrous creatures of the ocean.
- …To always have your attacks strike true.
Description
As comfortable above the waves as below, the Zora are a race of amphibious people known for their architectural splendor, and for a reserved demeanor that hides deep passions. Zora communities can sometimes be wary of outsiders, but that doesn’t stop adventurous individuals from exploring the world’s lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Zora are humanoid, but with many fish-like traits. Their skin is smooth and scaly, like a shark’s; their hands and feet are webbed, and small fins adorn their arms and legs; they have gills, allowing them to breathe underwater. Instead of hair, Zora feature long, fish-like tails on the backs of their heads, which work as a dorsal fin to help them move gracefully underwater. Individual Zora’s head-tails may take after different types of fish, such as sharks and manta rays.
Zora skin is typically two-toned, featuring a nearly-white chest, thighs, and face, with the rest a bright, vibrant color that varies from Zora to Zora. (Some Zora clans, however, feature more muted gray-blue tones for their primary coloration.)
Zora make their homes in or near large bodies of water, such as waterfalls, lakes, and beaches. They typically build close to shore, if not above the water, in order to better access the bounty of nature both above and below the water. Their homes are often seen as breathtakingly beautiful by other races, constructed of coral or hewn into sparkling underwater grottos.
Playing a Zora
Zora Heroes are often creatures of deep and abiding passion, but with an outer shell of propriety and grace. When first met, they may be focused solely on the task at-hand, or on a long-term goal, and have little time for social chatter. Once someone has proven themselves a friend to a Zora – or when something exciting or unexpected happens – they may drop this facade without fanfare, and become all giddy, shark-toothed smiles.
Zora think about cultures, people, events, and consequences as a network of rivers and lakes, all intertwined. Actions flow downstream, continuing on to other, once-uninvolved people in unpredictable ways. Consequences can tumble downriver quickly, or be buried in the muck only to be unearthed ages later. Evil pollutes the stream, subtly harming everyone it touches. Whether action is taken or deferred, everything is carried by the currents of fate.
Zora Heroes typically prize accuracy over damage, preferring not to waste a single blow. This serves them well underwater, where foes and prey can be more agile than land-dwellers might be used to. It also makes them well-suited to use magic spells that have additional effects for an accurate casting, allowing a Zora mage to speak with (relative) certainty when they say they’ll neutralize an opponent.
Characteristics: Amphibious, Graceful, Passionate, Proper, Sensitive
Zora Names tend to be based on fish and musical terms.
Female Names: Dunma, Finley, Keye, Kodah, Laruto, Mei, Oren, Rutela, Tula
Male Names: Bazz, Cleff, Gruve, Jiahto, Mikau, Muzu, Torfeau, Ralis, Rivan, Toto
Zora and Zola
Zora generally keep to crystal-clear lakes and rivers, and stay away from stagnant mires or polluted streams. This isn’t merely an issue of preference, though – long-term exposure to polluted water can have a powerfully negative effect on Zora.
In some regions of Hyrule, generations of Zora who have lived in foul water, or who have been corrupted by evil, have had their appearance change and become more bestial. Their minds, too, are altered, becoming more primitive and territorial, and many are unable to read, write, or speak.
The Zora call them “Zola”, though most other races might call them “River Zora”, for their propensity to shoot Zola’s Fireballs at anyone who nears their territory.
Zora consider the Zola a touchy subject. They feel that their mere existence highlights a great weakness in themselves, either biological or spiritual, depending on what might have corrupted the local Zola population. (They also find the phrase “River Zora” offensive.) Most Zora only speak of the Zola with people they trust implicitly; some may see them as enemies to be wiped out, while others may pity them as lesser reflections of themselves.
To prevent this fate from befalling their offspring, Zora communities will keep their eggs (each about the size of a melon) in special aquariums. These tanks are closely monitored by scholars, checked for pollutants, acidity, and evil magic. Some of these aquariums are kept under heavy guard at all times, particularly in Zora communities that face a direct threat. Stealing a Zora egg from one of these aquariums is the highest of crimes, and the most difficult of capers.