Aperusa

Aperusa were an itinerant human people group common to wildspace.

Description
A handsome race, Aperusa had dusky skin and stood between about 5 and 6 feet tall (150 and 180 cm). They tended to be in prime physical condition.

Both men and women usually dressed in flamboyant, colorful, silken clothes and wore a good deal of jewelry. They were never seen wearing armor of any kind.

Abilities
Aperusa had several abilities that were either trained from an early age or inherited after generations of wildspace survival. Nearly all Aperusa were skilled in a variety of skills typically associated with thieves, and they inherited the nimble dexterity of their ancestors.

Long exposure to wildspace had somehow given them a mild resistance to magic, and they were immune to mind-reading magics and nearly immune to other detection magics. (This also prevented them from becoming psionicists.)

Aperusa required much less oxygen than other humans and so could survive for longer in situations where an air envelope was depleted. They also had learned a way to fake death, almost entering a state of hibernation. They could remain in such a state for multiple days.

Personality
Aperusa had a natural wanderlust for wildspace, taking joy in exploring the stars and collecting trinkets from their travels—usually from the gullible or unwary —"earning a living" as they did so, as if it was the multiverse's payment to them for existing. Their con-games were not large-scale operations, and they did not steal from the poor or starving. A typical wildspace sailor, however, was fair game. They did not so much desire wealth for wealth's sake.

Asperusa had a libertarian world view and were slightly more likely to be good than evil at heart. While Aperusa were natural con-men and tricksters, they could be strongly loyal to a larger group. Their immediate family was their first loyalty, followed by their clan, and then their entire race. They usually traveled with their clan, not alone, but an adventuring Aperusa was not at all unheard of.

Aperusa were generally nonaggressive. They were unpredictable in most things, but they rarely would cause hurt to another. They did not like combat and would rather woo an opponent than fight one. They saw battle and war as sources of pain, and they saw the pursuit of others' money as a pleasurable alternative. If forced to fight, an Aperusa would try to delay the battle as long as possible to gain some advantage. If things turned sour, they would often use their trained ability to feign death, hoping the opponent would simply abandon their "dead" body and depart. If Aperusa lost a fight, they would patiently plan revenge, however, waiting for a time when they could strike quickly and overwhelmingly. They had long memories.

Because of their propensity to steal other's things, many races disliked the Aperusa. No races trusted them. Mind-reading races, such as the dohwar, often despised them. (In that case, the fact that the Aperusa competed with them for customers did not help.) The giff did not like the Aperusa, but they tolerated them, because giff were often hired aboard Aperusa spelljammers. The Aperusa and the tinker gnomes of Krynn liked each other. The former enjoyed gnomish inventions; the latter enjoyed the haphazard creativity of the Aperusa's vessels. Both races sometimes celebrated wild parties together.

Perhaps the favorite race in the Aperusa's eyes was the reigar, but the reigar didn't care one way or the other about the Aperusa as a race.

For their part, the Aperusa claimed no hatred of other races, acting innocent and naïve of such opinions. The Arcane seemed to be a rare exception to this; the Aperusa found them exceptionally confusing, to the point of fear. The Arcane had no qualms with working with the Aperusa, however.

For some reason, all Aperusa were secretive about their people's origin, never revealing their true homeworld—if one even existed. This avoidance of discussing their past has been described as "fanatical".

Notable Aperusa
The most famous of the Aperusa clans were the Astralausians, the Phlogestos, and the Wildjammers.

Rozloom was an Aperusa man who traveled with the Cloakmaster Teldin Moore during the events of the Second Unhuman War. He was the leader of the Astralusian Clan. He ultimately made an agreement with the Elven Imperial Fleet to perform a suicide mission to the planet Radole, during which he assassinated a group of orcish witch doctors to release the primary witchlight marauder that they had there trapped in stasis. It was generally presumed that the witchlight marauder so freed eventually caused the full annihilation of all life on the Ice World, causing an irrecoverable blow to scro and their allies in the war.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Maelstrom's Eye • The Radiant Dragon