Githyanki

The githyanki (, meaning "followers of Gith" or "children of Gith" in the Gith language) were a race of Astral Plane-dwellers. Survivors of a long enslavement by mind flayers, they became ruthless pillagers and raiders of many worlds in the Prime Material plane.

Description
Like all gith, Githyanki were tall and slender humanoids with rough, leathery yellow skin and bright black eyes, that were sunken deep in their orbits. They had long and angular skulls, with small and highly placed noses, and ears that were pointed and serrated in the back side. They typically grew either red or black hair.

As a result of their long period of enslavement and manipulation by the mind flayers, all githyanki possessed psionic abilities. They were all capable of minor telekinesis in a similar fashion as the mage hand spell and could also hone their abilities to become capable of innately casting jump and misty step.

Society
Githyanki society was martial, with both males and females training heavily in magic and combat. Although they were loyal to each other, they were also fiercely individualistic. Raiding illithid strongholds was considered a rite of passage.

Dwelling in the timeless Astral Plane, the githyanki inhabited numerous fortresses constructed from materials imported to the plane, as well as numerous cities built upon god-isles, the corpses of dead deities that could be found throughout the Astral Plane. Their capital and largest city, Tu'narath, was built on the corpse of a deceased power known only as The One in the Void.

Family and Parenting
Githyanki reproduced by laying eggs. It was unknown whether this trait had been acquired during their period of enslavement or as a result of exposure to the Astral Plane.

Since time did not pass in the Astral Plane, githyanki needed to raise their young in other planes of existence until they reached maturity. This difficulty, added with the githyanki's extremely long life span while in the Astral, led to a very low birth rate. Their favored locations to raise and train young githyanki were hidden crèches located in remote places of the Prime Material plane. There, caretakers known as varsh were responsible for hatching the eggs and collectively raising the young. There were no families in githyanki society.

From a very young age, githyanki went through a rigid regime of training and combat practice, with increasingly higher expectations and more severe punishments, all the while hearing tales of their leader Vlaakith and her immortal warriors. Fights to the death during training were not uncommon. Finally, at the conclusion of a young githyanki's training, the last test was to slay a mind flayer and bring its head to Vlaakith in Tu'narath. This rite of passage marked the githyanki's entry into adulthood and into the community.

Language
The githyanki spoke their own dialect of the Gith language, which used a unique form of writing called tir'su. It was an alphabetical set of runes in which words were formed in circles instead of linearly, with the letters of a given word being linked in a ring clockwise from the top. Sentences were formed by a series of these rings. Much as runes were given a mystical significance, the Githyanki employed the tir'su when creating magical wards and symbols.

Dissidents
There was a small sect within githyanki society that fostered a reunification between the githyanki and the githzerai, known as the Sha'sal Khou. Led by Zetch'r'r from his stronghold in Tu'narath and composed of both githyanki and githzerai agents, the group acted by discouraging skirmishes between the two gith races, while at the same time looking for new recruits. The group maintained redoubts in the Prime Material plane and hoped to build a nation where members of both races would call their children simply "gith".

History
The origin of the gith race before their enslavement was largely unknown. Not even the original name of the race was remembered. Some historians believed, however, that the ancestors of the githyanki were once humans that had become slaves of the illithids, a race devoted to mentally dominating sentient humanoids to work as the backbone of their vast empire. According to that hypothesis, these slaves were transformed through selective breeding for several millennia.

After eventually developing mental resistance to their masters' mind control, the slaves revolted. Led by Gith, the several rebellious factions united, thus causing the fall of the illithid empire.

Not satisfied with regaining their freedom and splintering the illithids' empire, Gith advocated for a campaign of total annihilation of the mind flayers, and that after that the war spread to any race that could potentially enslave them again. However, a faction within the society fostered peace, arguing that the race should focus on rebuilding their society in seclusion instead of persisting in a tyrannical conflict. Led by Zerthimon, the splinter faction started undermining the githyanki's war efforts. After a long civil war, Zerthimon was killed and the githyanki moved to the Astral Plane. The defeated faction, who called themselves githzerai, retreated to Limbo. A third faction chose to relocate to wildspace to hunt down spacefaring mind flayers. They were known as the pirates of Gith.

In the aftermath of the civil war, the once-slave race had been splintered into the githyanki and the githzerai, the latter of whom were hated by the githyanki because their betrayal allowed the surviving illithids to retreat to isolated subterranean strongholds. The two races then began pursuing their separate agendas, but they grew a deep hatred of each other and were at war ever since.

In the late 15 century DR, a group of githyanki led by Al'chaia maintained a crèche in Stardock, which they called Crèche K'liir.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Tales from the Infinite Staircase
 * Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Books:
 * Charon's Claw (mentioned)
 * Video games:
 * Planescape: Torment
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
 * Neverwinter Nights 2
 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone