Hadozee

Hadozee, also known as "deck apes" or "winged deck apes", were simian humanoids with distinctive patagia who were known for being master mariners and famed for their sailing skills and love of their ships and the sea. "So far we've charted a new island in the Spice Archipelago, fished for dragon turtles, visited the Pearl Citadel of the sea-elves, and escaped from pirates no less than seven times. And this voyage isn't over yet. What fun!"

- Bansh Midnightchild, a hadozee deckhand of another world

Description
While their nicknames described them as apes, hadozee were taller and skinnier than apes, and some said that they looked more like baboons. Hadozee were covered in fur of all varieties of brown &mdash;from light tawny to dark chocolate &mdash;and it was so thick that they really had no great need to wear clothing. Their faces were surrounded by a shaggy mane. A hadozee's snout protruded outwards from its face,  and had a mouth full of small but sharp teeth. Their eyes were black and tended to sparkle.

Hadozee had no tails. Their feet were fully prehensile, complete with opposable thumbs, allowing them to hold onto things with both hands and feet.

The most distinctive physical feature of the hadozee were their patagial wing flaps, much like a bat or flying squirrel. This membrane of skin hung loosely between the arms and legs, from wrists to ankles. When hadozee raised their arms, the membrane stretched taut.

Hadozee had a moderately stooped posture, so it was not obvious that they stood about tall when fully upright. Some could even reach in full, outstretched height. Muscularly built, they usually weighed roughly.

While not needing clothing, hadozee often wore harnesses or belts to hold their tools and weapons.

Abilities
Hadozee were nimble and dexterous, with excellent balance and natural climbing skills that meant they were able to scale poles, ropes, trees, and most walls with ease and walk across any platform no matter how narrow and without fear. These skills made them especially suited for a life on sailing vessels of all kinds. With four effective hands, they could climb and carry items at the same time and were not vulnerable against attack while scaling a surface. They had a natural inclination toward all manner of melee weapons and were ambidextrous. They could even fight with a weapon held by a foot!

When the arm-flaps were stretched tight, a hadozee could leap into the air and glide for limited but impressive distances, such as between the rigging of two different parts of a ship, though they were not capable of true flight. Should a hadozee be happen to fall, they could glide and land safely, over any distance.

Personality
Having an inherent love of travel and exploration, hadozee were eager to see the world by sailing over the horizon. For them, a life well lived was one in which they'd seen and experienced all that they could. A few hadozee focused this drive on specific goals, such as journeying to uncover magical secrets, the lore of fallen empires, or just hidden pirate treasure. A hadozee adventurer was not too different from a regular hadozee. While many hadozee felt called to the sea at some time in their lives, those who journeyed inland were considered a little odd by other hadozee but no more—"to each their own" was a hadozee saying.

Most hadozee were innately and actively curious and were unquenchable optimists. This latter quality lent itself to a tendency to make good-humored jokes in even desperate circumstances, and some to have a dark or bitter sense of humor, at least when it suited the situation. They were very expressive&mdash;intensely so&mdash;whether laughing or loudly whooping when having a good time, and fang-baring and snarling when angered. Nevertheless, they were a highly peaceful people who fought only when they had to, but when they did, they did not shy away from battle. They felt totally comfortable in the midst of combat; it seemed to come naturally to them. A friendly brawl was good a bit of fun and rarely held grudges.

Hadozee were naturally as intelligent as humans; only people who didn't know better treated them as mere apes. They were practically minded and wanted only to be happy and to live and work in peace and let others do the same. They were not philosophers and gave little consideration to ethics and morals, being more neutral in nature. They loved operating ships and looked forward to their shipboard tasks and chores, not considering them inconveniences, giving them a reputation as hard workers as well as capable fighters. Although a few unprincipled sorts might exploit this, most captains considered them quite highly and welcomed them on their crews.

Combat
Most hadozee seemed to favor longswords, spears, or halberds or cutlasses and falchions if at sea. They favored a mobile style and a common tactic was to climb to higher ground then leap or glide down on their foes. They rarely killed an opponent and were quick to forgive offense.

Hadozee who had spent time on spelljammers&mdash;which was nearly all of them&mdash;had learned how to use the gravity planes of vessels to their advantage. They knew how to dive into a plane, flip themselves, and land on the other side oriented just how they wanted to be to attack.

Society
Hadozee were known as wanderers and sailors. Both sexes served as the latter and as mercenaries.

Despite their superb skill as sailors, hadozee had no spelljamming capability of their own as a race and relied on being hired by other spacefaring races.

As young adults, hadozee formed groups of 20 to 30 persons, who trained together until ready to join the crew of a vessel. Hadozee only took mates after they were too old to sail. After pairing off, they settled on a world with port towns to raise their young, such as the Rock of Bral. Here, children were raised communally, often being left by their parents with adults of a shared ship-name for up to months at a time.

Hadozee enjoyed living in large groups together and slept in hammocks in large communal houses. Groups would pool their money to purchase and keep up a large communal dwelling house, sometimes called a 'Hadozee House', and thereby have a place to easily host visiting hadozee. A hadozee who arrived in a port with no Hadozee House would likely stay onboard ship. They were hospitable to these visiting hadozee, always willing to listen to the latest stories from sea or space. In return, hadozee visitors chipped in on rent or helped with repairs and chores as needed. Hadozee maintained their living quarters well; if hadozee tenants left a house, they left it in much better condition than when they first rented it. Mothers, visitors, and hadozee recovering from injuries would help care for any children left there. Grown hadozee remembered these Hadozee Houses as happy homes with many new faces and stories.

Away from their homes, hadozee could be encountered singly or in a bands of up to four. They could also be found piloting their own seagoing ships with all-hadozee crews, including crewmembers, cabin boys, mates, first mate (often a ranger), and captain.

Language
The native tongue of the hadozee consisted of low vocalizations, barks, and hoots, but it also used a small amount of body language that was easy for non-hadozee to learn. They were adept linguists and enjoyed learning many other languages, and they were happy to find a non-hadozee who could speak their own.

Hadozee did not use surnames. Instead, they created a "ship-name" for themselves, derived from the name of a vessel on which they took great pride to serve. If that vessel's name was feminine, then they treated it as if a mother, and included a word like 'child', 'son', or 'daughter' to reflect this. For example, a female hadozee named Dashi might call herself Dashi Pearldaughter after serving aboard a vessel named The Lady of the Pearl. Hadozee who had served aboard the same respected vessels might consider themselves stronger family than even true kin. However, they did not change their names with their ships; the ship, crew, captain, or voyage had to be truly great to be worthy of a new name.
 * Example masculine names
 * Bansh, Darsh, Falth, Garsh, Grath, Groh, Harth, Krath, Marn, Polth


 * Example feminine names
 * Bahasha, Bannithi, Dashi, Kalla, Kasha, Mara, Risha, Yasha, Yetha


 * Example ship-names
 * Dawnwarrior of The Dawn Warrior, Midnightchild of The Midnight Lady, Nightdream of The Dream of the Night, Pearldaughter of The Lady of the Pearl, Swiftson of The Swift Lady, Swordstorm of The Sword in the Storm, Wavedancer of The Wave Dancer

Religion
Most hadozee were not very religious, though they did offer respect to the gods and goddesses of the sea venerated by the sailors alongside whom they served. However, a hadozee might choose to revere a single sea god after serving alongside a shipboard cleric.

Relations
The hadozee had a great love of the elves. (The elves employed hadozee often, but did not mutually respect them.) They favored working on elf ships with elf crewmates. Oftentimes, this love of elves resulted in flattery towards them. Otherwise, hadozee had good relations with most people, except those who would not do a hard day's work.

Ecology
Hadozee reached adulthood earlier than humans but had similar lifespans. They had a similar diet to humans, but they were less picky, being content to eat insects and grubs. Similarly, while they preferred tropical climates, they could survive in any environments in which humans were found by bundling up in warm clothes.

Homes
Owing to their seafaring society, hadozee were invariably found on the coasts, in port cities, and on the sea itself. They did prefer warmer weather and tropical climates, and hence rarely took work on ships sailing to temperate climates, let along to arctic regions.

History
Whatever homeland the hadozee once had was forgotten, nor did they particularly care. In their cultural memory, they had always been asail.

There was a long tradition of hadozee serving as spelljammer crewmen or mercenaries for the elves of wildspace. This tradition extended back to the time of the Unhuman Wars, when the elves soon realized that the hadozee were far more civilized and cultured than the "unhumans" with which they had first grouped them. The hadozee allied with the elves at that time, and they happily served on elven vessels ever since.

Background
The hadozee are based on the Yazirian race, also called Hadozee, in the Star Frontiers RPG also from TSR, first published in 1982. They were later adapted as the Shadow People in the Dragonlance setting and in 1990 as the hadozee for the Spelljammer setting in 2-edition Dungeons & Dragons. These latter hadozee were primarily a spelljamming race. In 2005, for 3.5-edition, Stormwrack adapted the hadozee again for a seafaring setting. Hence, the above article covers both spelljamming and seafaring hadozee. The relationship between the space-dwelling and planet-dwelling hadozee is unknown; likely, some hadozee likely settled on other planets. Moreover, while spelljamming hadozee are known in Realmspace, the seafaring hadozee are not, but the lore is included here for completion.

The nickname "deck ape" is likely derived from United States Navy slang for a boatswain's mate or other seaman roles, owing to the skills and work required.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Maelstrom's Eye
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards