Githzerai

"Better the heartfelt devotion of a free soul than the grudging obedience of a slave."

- Common githzerai saying

The githzerai were a humanoid race that dwelt primarily in the plane of Limbo. They descended from a splinter group of gith, a race that had been enslaved by mind flayers for centuries until they rebelled for their freedom. Philosophical differences led to a long and bloody civil war among the gith, who ended up divided into the militaristic githyanki and the ascetic githzerai.

Description
Like all gith, githzerai were tall and emaciated-looking humanoids, but, thanks to their rigid training, had more muscular bodies. They had pale yellow skin, sometimes with greenish or brownish tones. Their skulls were long and angular, with deep-set eyes, flattened noses, and long pointed ears. Typical hair colors included black, russet, and sometimes gray, which male githzerai either shaved or wore in braids. Their facial hair was also carefully groomed. Female githzerai usually wore their hair in buns or braids.

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

As an austere and frugal people, githzerai usually favored practical and unadorned clothing, with at most some simple jewelry.

Personality
Since their hard-won victory against the mind flayers, followed by their dissent and defeat at the hands of the githyanki, the githzerai became ascetics and philosophers, pursuing self-knowledge in the face of adversity. As a splinter group of an opressed race, they were extremely distrustful of outsiders and were devoted to their self-preservation.

An intense and sometimes fanatical people, the githzerai kept the memory of their origins always alive and carried out all their affairs with a burning sense of righteousness.

Combat
Many githzerai, following their moastic lifestyle, tended to train in martial combat and fought as monks. Githzerai monks who most closely followed the teachings of Zerthimon were known as zerths. Through intense training and meditation, zerths had access to many psionic powers, such as the ability to innately reproduce effects similar to the feather fall, phantasmal killer, plane shift, and see invisibility spells. Particularly advanced zerths reached the rank of "enlightened", acquiring the ability to explore the nature of reality itself. Enlightened githzerai could use their psionic abilities to produce additional effects similar to blur, expeditious retreat, haste, and teleport.

Society
Githzerai society was monastic and introspective. Many githzerai trained as monks, while others chose to lose their natural magic resistance and became Wizards. Some multi-talented githzerai became zerths, blending magic, combat, and psionics into their fighting. The zerths also held special significance as religious leaders in githzerai society. Like their cousins and enemies, the githyanki, githzerai often formed hunting bands for the purpose of seeking out and destroying the hated illithids.

The githzerai dwelt mostly in the chaos of Limbo, using their natural psionic abilities and mental focus to form the swirling chaos of the plane into great adamantine fortresses and monasteries.

They were fiercely loyal to their leader Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith, who led the surviving githzerai to Limbo following the battle between Gith and Zerthimon. Despite their strong sense of loyalty, the githzerai also placed immense value on their personal freedom.

The githzerai kept several outposts in the Underdark, in particular in the region of Old Shanatar, from where they observed githyanki and mind flayer activity. One particularly large fortress was the secret hold of Karokrath, from which they observed activities in Oryndoll and the githyanki enclave of Gatchorof.

There were also a number of githzerai settlements located in the Elemental Chaos.

Language
The githzerai 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 counter-clockwise from the bottom. Sentences were formed by a series of these rings.

History
The Githzerai and the Githyanki were once one race referred to as the People. They were thralls, slaves to the Illithids, and were completely subservient for many years. Zerthimon, one of the People and now a God-like figure to the Githzerai, was the first of The People to gain true self-awareness and resistance to the mental shackles of the illithids. He made others aware of their predicament and showed them how to resist the illithids as well. The process was kept underground for a great time until enough of the People were turned that a full-scale uprising against the illithids was staged. The People were victorious, destroying the last vestiges of the illithid empire (some say the most powerful empire to ever exist in the multiverse) upon the Blasted Plains.

It was in the light of this victory that Gith, a warrior-queen and leader of the rebellion, declared that the People would not rest until they had discovered and destroyed all remaining illithids in the multiverse; then, the People would be free to conquer all of the planes of existence and bring war to all other races. Many of the people's hearts shared this goal. Zerthimon argued that the People already knew freedom and should begin to mend the damage done to their race. He too expressed a goal that was in the hearts of many of the People. Still, Gith insisted that hers was the only path and that they would be "under the same sky" in the matter.

Zerthimon then told Gith that there "cannot be two skies." This became known as the Pronouncement of Two Skies, a declaration of war that splintered the People into the races of githyanki and githzerai. Battle was waged on the Blasted Plains, and the githyanki retreated to the Astral Sea while the Githzerai withdrew to the Elemental Chaos. The two races have remained enemies ever since.

In the late 15 century DR, a small group of githzerai zerths led by Yrlakka, a member of the Sha'sal Khou, dwelt in the 15 level of Undermountain.

Notable githzerai

 * Grimmbold

Appearances

 * Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage